Michael Kozlowski

11737 posts
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 4 is sold out

Amazon has sold out of the 8GB and 32GB Kindle Paperwhite 4 e-reader in the United States. This has occured because the company discounted both models recently and it looks like enough people purchased one that the stock has utterly diplited. Both models will be replenished on December 25th, which means if you are looking for a last minute gift, it will not arrive in time for Christmas.

eBook usage in Germany increases by 50%

24.4 million eBooks were sold in the first nine months of 2018, this is massive 19% increase from the same period last year. One of the driving trends of the year is that the average price of ebooks fell from €6.29 to €6.07 per eBook. Tolino released a few new e-readers this year and more competitors are entering the market. Amazon continues to be the dominant force and recently introduced the latest generation Paperwhite 4.

How long do you wait to upgrade an e-reader?

How long do you wait to upgrade an e-reader? Technology in E Ink devices tends to move at a glacial pace and some companies try to sell you on bigger screens, waterproofing, audio and a color temperature screen.  These features are important and ditto with Android e-readers embracing quad-core and octa-core processors and more hardware specs than you can shake a stick at.

The best Android e-readers of 2018

Android e-readers have been around for the past four years and they initially had outdated version of the OS, which severely limited the number of apps that can be installed. Early models did not have an app store or Google Play and instead forced users to sideload in their own content, which was a tall order for newer users. 2018 has been the best year ever for Android e-readers. Energy Sistem is no longer making e-readers and Icarus went bankrupt. New contenders have risen to the top of the field and are pumping out a myriad of devices that have a higher version of Android, but also deadly hardware. Android Lite apps are paving the way for a great app experience. Visit goodereader for the full list.

Get 2 months of Audible Membership for $1.90

Living Social is running a promotion for an Audible subscription. The $1.90 fee will give you access to one free audiobook per month and is available for new members or people who have cancelled their account. If you feel like purchasing an audiobook, once your credits expire, you will save  30% off à la carte purchases. Once the promotional period expires, the normal rate will apply. You can cancel or pause your membership whenever you want too. You’re not obliged to pay the monthly subscription rate when the trial expires.

Apple Texture Relaunch has digital newspaper companies worried

The Texture relaunch will be a premium product that will be rolled into Apple News. As part of this relaunch, Apple is looking to incorporate newspapers as well as magazines, but it sounds like some publishers aren’t sold on the all-you-can-eat approach to news. They worry that Texture may effectively steal subscribers by offering access for less than some of these publications charge for their own subscriptions. Top-tier newspapers like The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times are the primary focus for Apple, both of which provide a small selection of free content in the News app today. But getting just a small piece of Apple’s $10 subscription would be a huge drop in per-reader revenue for those daily newspapers. Apple believes that newspaper publishers would be making a substantial amount of money – potentially more money than some publications make from their existing subscriber bases. The pitch to newspaper companies is that the Apple News app is installed by default in 1.3 billion iOS devices (and is part of macOS Mojave, too). Even if just a fraction of those users subscribe to the premium Texture content, it could mean tens of millions of new subscribers or more. Just a few cents a month from each of them could generate millions in revenue for those newspapers.

Kobo e-readers now get Kobo Forma functionality

Kobo has just issued a new firmware update for their complete lineup of e-readers, and most of the functionality came from the new Kobo Forma. The Kobo firmware 4.12.12111 is compatible with the Kobo Touch, Kobo Glo, Kobo Glo HD, Kobo Touch 2.0, Kobo Aura, Kobo Aura HD, Kobo Aura H2O, Kobo Aura H2O Edition 2, Kobo Aura ONE, Kobo Aura ONE Limited Edition, Kobo Aura Edition 2, Kobo Clara HD, and the Kobo Forma. It has not been released to the Kobo Mini The firmware will be pushed out to all e-readers in the next couple of days via WIFI.

2018 Rakuten Kobo Book Report for Canada

Canadians read on the road, with the busiest reading time being during the morning and evening commute, as well into the evening hours. Sunday is the day where most of the reading (magic) happens. Our theory: it’s the best way to beat the Sunday blues, by relaxing and enjoying your favourite book. Globally, Canadians are our most active readers, having read on average 73 hours this year, with some of our top customers reading eight hours a day–it’s a full time job!

People tend to get their news from social media

Social media’s small edge over print emerged after years of steady declines in newspaper circulation and modest increases in the portion of Americans who use social media, One-in-five U.S. adult (20%) are getting news from social media. Twitter and Facebook remain the most popular, but Youtube is catching up. These days it’s become a hot topic amid concerns that fake news, conspiracy theories, and hate speech can easily spread over these platforms. At the same time, both mainstream media groups and local newspapers have been trying to use social media to gain readers, but algorithm changes on Facebook and Google can tank traffic in a matter of hours.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 4 5.10.1.3 firmware out soon

Amazon is going to be releasing a new firmware update for the 10th generation Kindle, which is the Kindle Paperwhite 4. Within the next few days the 5.10.1.3 package will be pushed out via WIFI and it brings a slew of new features. Recommendations and tips will finally go live, this is a feature that Amazon was hyping when they first announced the e-reader. You will also be able to save your personalization and settings right from the main menu, instead of having to have an ebook open. Kindle Unlimited books can also be returned by long pressing on the title. The battery percentage will also be displayed as a numerical figure, to provide an indication on how much juice is remaining.

Kobo Forma 32GB Unboxing Video

The Kobo Forma is one of the best e-readers ever made and…

Onyx Boox Euclid 9.7 inch e-reader is now available

ONYX BOOX Euclid is Android 6.0 device with the 9.7  E Ink Carta having the MOON Light system, SNOW Field function and touch controlling. The given model can be the perfect choice for those who often have to read academic or technical literature. Its large and comfortable for the eyes display with lighting, a powerful quad-core 1.6GHz processor with 1GB of RAM are optimal tools for reading PDF and DjVu files. A built-in Wi-Fi module allows one to use the device for full Internet browsing and pre-installed Google Play greatly expands its functionality-it gives access to hundreds of thousands of third-party Android programs, including free ones. Low power consumption of E Ink displays and battery capacity of 3000 mAh provides up to a month of autonomous work. The BOOX allows the user to read documents in different world languages. Amongst them there are such languages as Russian, English, German, French, Spanish, Arabic, Swedish, Chinese, Japanese and many others.

Onyx Boox Poke Pro unboxing and review

The Poke PRO features 6 inch E-Ink Carta HD display with a resolution of 1072×1448 with 300 PPI. The screen is not flush with the bezel and has a small dip.  This device has a front-lit display and color temperature system, to give a candlelight effect. Underneath the hood is a  quad-core 1.6GHz processor with 16GB of storage space and 2GB of RAM. The other big difference with the Pro model is that it is using Android 6.0, while the regular Poke has Android 4.4. It is powered by a 2500 mAh battery and also has USB-C and WIFI. This device has Bluetooth, which makes it compatible with audiobooks and music via wireless headphones or a stereo speaker. There are no manual page turn buttons or an SD card to enhance the internal storage. This is a basic six inch e-reader that has really good specs, but the market is flooded with these type of devices.

Amazon Kindle Audible Bundle is now available

Amazon has just released a new bundle for the Kindle Paperwhite 4, called the Audible Bundle. The e-reader comes with a pair of wireless headphones and a three month subscription to Audible for $139 for the 8GB Kindle and $169 for the 32GB version.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 4 on sale for $99

Amazon has discounted the latest generation Paperwhite 4 in the United States. The regular price is $129.99 and it on sale for $99, which is a savings of $30. The 32GB version is also available for $119.99. This is the first time that Amazon has offered a great deal on the Kindle, since it was released in October.

Shonen Jump offers online subscription service for $2 a month

Shonen Jump is one of the most beloved magazines and it has been going strong since 1968 and the online edition was translated to English since 2012. The magazine is going to launch a subscription service on December 17th for $2 per month, delivering the latest chapters from popular series the same day that they’re released in Japan. Not only will you be able to get access to the latest and greatest, but there will be access to nearly the entirety of Shonen Jump’s 10,000-plus chapter English-language back catalog. That’s actually less than what the publication currently charges for an annual subscription.

E-Readers that run Ice Cream Sandwich will lose access to Google Play

Google has announced that they are discontinuing support for Ice Cream Sandwich,…

Christmas and Boxing Day e-Reader Sales – Roundup

Christmas is a few weeks away and Boxing day soon thereafter. There…

Icarus is no longer making e-readers and the company has disappeared

Icarus is based in the Netherlands and has been developing e-readers since 2010. The Icarus brand belongs to Distriread, who first got their start by developing the iRex series of e-readers. It looks like the company has quietly gone out of business. Their website has been down for the past couple of weeks and they deleted their Facebook and Twitter page. Over the course of the past 12 months many of the executives have all fled, including Roberto Damen who was the managing director of the company and organized all of their Indiegogo campaigns. Jeroen Breuer was tapped to replace Roberto, but he left the company a few months later. There are 13 people who have left the company lately and there are no current employees listed on Linkedin.

Barnes and Noble offers tons of books for 50% off

In order to drive traffic to their 600 bookstores and generate meaningful revenue for the holiday season B&N has just announced that over 100 books, including some of the year’s hottest gift books and new releases, will be 50% off starting today, through Monday, December 24th.