Latest Stories

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 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.

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

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.

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 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 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 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.

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

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

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.

Just in time for holiday gift giving, Goodreads has released its list…

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.

Digital book sales increased for the second time in two years in October 2018. Publishers saw modest revenue growth in eBooks (4.4%), with increases for the format across all trade book categories. Aside from downloaded audio, eBooks had the largest percent of revenue growth for the month, compared to October 2017. eBook revenue increased in October for Adult Books (3.0%), Childrens/YA Books (17.3%), and Religious Presses (12.0%). However, for the year-to-date (Jan. – Oct.), eBook revenues were down 3.1% from the same period in 2017. Downloaded audio remains the format with the highest percent revenue growth year-to-date (37.7%).

Bookeen has been making e-readers since 2003 and has a long and storied history of developing unique products. In the past few months the company seems to be in trouble. Audrey Keszek has been responsible for Bookeens social media accounts since 2010 and recently left the company in August. A successor was hired, but so far he does not done any work. All of the products on the Bookeen online store are unavailable and the company has stated that they were victims of their own success and everything is out of stock. They recommend everyone buy things from other online companies such as Le Clerc.

Everyone involved in journalism are doing their annual best books of the year lists.  Good e-Reader has decided that instead of doing a megapost, where every single news source will be featured and hopefully aid in book discovery. This post will be constantly updated as new lists come out, if we are missing your favorite website or online publication, please drop a comment and let us know.

The Amazon UK website has quietly been testing an ebook gifting system. This will allow users to purchase an ebook and gift to another person, as long as you have their email address. There are further options to establish a date in which the email will be sent and a little room for a custom message. The ebook gifting system has only been available in the US, since it launched in 2010. I have heard the new system will go live on Friday.

The Amazon Kindle app for Android now allows users to store content on the SD card. This is useful if you have an extensive collection of large files, such as PDF files, cookbooks, comics or magazines. Once you have the new version of the app, simply go the settings menu and grant Kindle permission to write to your SD card and Kindle will prompt you to move all of the digital content over.

Remarkable has just released a series of new carrying cases for their writing tablet. The first is a durable wool felt sleeve available in Rose Burgundy and Petrol Blue and retails for $99 If you feel like you need to dress up your device with a timeless and fashionable look that ages beautifully, you might be interested in the premium leather case that is available in Maple Brown and Graphite Black for $129. They also have polymer weave covers in Charcoal Grey and Coral Red and they are retailing for $79.99.

How to read best sellers before they’re complete and published? Just imagine, let’s say George Martin, the author of “Game of Thrones,” releases his new novel not in full, but publishes it chapter by chapter. Readers engage in discussions of plot twists and character developments expressing their ideas on how the story should proceed. Martin takes some of those suggestions on board and surprises his readers with the very plot twist they’ve been longing for. “Impossible!”, you’re thinking. And you’re wrong. This has become possible with the launch of the English version of Litnet an innovative literary platform that has been successfully operating on the global market since 2015.

Pocketbook e-readers are now available from the Good e-Reader Store. People who live in Canada, United States or customers from all over the world can now purchase a myriad of e-readers.  The models the store currently has stocked is the Pocketbook Aqua 2, Pocketbook Touch HD 2, Pocketbook Touch Lux 4, Pocketbook Basic Lux 2 and the InkPad 3. Pocketbook has been developing e-readers since 2009 and their primarily market was Europe and Asia. They had no retail presence in North America, but this has all changed due to Good e-Reader becoming the sole distributor for these two markets. New orders will shipped out within 48 hours and tracking numbers will be provided.

The Amazon Kindle is ubiquitous with the e-reader and enjoys tremendous brand name recognition. It has sold the most units worldwide over the past ten years than any other company and continues to dominate digital books in Canada, UK and the US. Initially the first Kindle was called project Fiona and it borrowed its design sensibilities from the Blackberry, which was mandated by CEO Jeff Bezos. This is the tale of how the very first Kindle got developed and what made it into the juggernaut that is today. November 19 2007 was the day Jeff Bezos walked on stage at the W Hotel in Manhattan and unveiled the Kindle. There were around 100 journalists in attendance, a far cry from the media circuses that surrounded Apple products.  Bezos stated that Amazon’s new device was the successor to the five-hundred-and-fifty-year-old invention of blacksmith Johannes Gutenberg, the movable-type printing press. “Why are books the last bastion of analog?” Bezos asked that day. “The question is, can you improve upon something as highly evolved and as well suited to its task as the book, and if so, how?” “Instead of shopping on your PC, you shop on the device. The content is delivered seamlessly to the device. Normally you would do Wi-Fi. but you have to find a hotspot. We did not like this technology. decided to use EVDO. As soon as I tell you we are using EVDO that should cause a second set of concerns, because everybody knows there has to be a data plan and a monthly bill. We didn’t like that either. So we built Amazon WhisperNet. it is built on top of Sprint’s EVDO network, but we insulate you from all of those things. there is no data plan, no multi-year contract, no monthly bill. We take care of all that in the background, so you can just read.”

Since the beginning of 2017, The New York Times has continued to expand its already robust book coverage. More recently, New York announced that it would triple its book coverage. In October, The Atlantic launched a Books section and a newsletter, “The Books Briefing,” with plans for “additional products.” Even BuzzFeed is getting in on the action: in November, they launched an online book club, complete with an attendant Facebook group and newsletter. Amazon Charts launched last year in the United States and it is a new bestseller list that gives users a top 20 list of of the most read and most sold books on Amazon. You can get a sense on what is a true bestseller for not only books, but audiobooks and ebooks too. Basically it accurately reflects how readers are really reading and buying books and even pulls data from popular books on Kindle Unlimited. The New York Media organization has also expanded on their books coverage. It’s named Boris Kachka as its books editor, and he’ll be in charge of tripling book coverage across New York Media properties — the print magazine, Vulture, The Cut, Daily Intelligencer, The Strategist, and Grub Street.  Vulture will also have more coverage of audiobooks, genre (like YA and horror), and new releases; it already runs a real-life monthly book club at The Strand. The Cut will run more book excerpts and author profiles, as well as a series called “Yesterday’s Women,” in which essayists will write about overlooked women writers. Daily Intelligencer runs weekly Q&As with authors of important nonfiction books. The Strategist has developed best-of lists and also links to existing ones, and Grub Street will publish new cookbook roundups and excerpts from chef and restaurant memoirs.