Approximately 60 digital e-readers are currently available on the market. Each has unique features such as colour enhancements, waterproofing technology and notetaking abilities. Although Kindle is the most popular and well-known brand, other significant players keep shaking things up. According to Statista, the industry's market value for e-readers is projected to reach … [Read more...] about Who are the leading brands behind digital e-readers?
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Full Review of the Rakuten Kobo Clara Colour e-reader
The Kobo Clara Colour e-reader is one of the year's most essential releases. This is the first time the Canadian company has ever employed Colour E INK technology on e-readers. Public acceptance of this product is critical for the long-term viability of the Kaleido 3 e-paper for future products. If Clara has poor sales, it might encourage Kobo to move away from Colour and focus … [Read more...] about Full Review of the Rakuten Kobo Clara Colour e-reader
Will Rakuten sell Kobo?
Rakuten bought two North American companies a couple of years ago, Overdrive in 2015 and Kobo in 2011. During various fiscal quarterly earnings, Kobo was only mentioned once and they did not talk about Overdrive, even once. On Christmas Eve, Rakuten announced that it sold Overdrive to KKR, a financial company that owns RB Digital (Recorded Books), and Audiobooks.com. The deal … [Read more...] about Will Rakuten sell Kobo?
Rakuten sells Overdrive to KKR
Rakuten purchased Overdrive in 2015 for $410 million dollars and it looks like the company has been underperforming. Rakuten has just sold Overdrive on Christmas Eve to KKR. This company is no stranger to the library scene, they purchased RBmedia last year, which serves magazines, comics, ebooks and audiobooks. They also have a stake in Audiobooks.com, Pandora, WebMD, UFC, … [Read more...] about Rakuten sells Overdrive to KKR
Overdrive rebrands their company to Overdrive Rakuten
Overdrive is the largest company involved in the digital library sector and they were purchased by Rakuten in 2015. As part of a unified branding strategy, OverDrive has changed their corporate brand name to Rakuten OverDrive on July 1 to align with other Rakuten companies in the U.S. Hiroshi Mikitani, founder and CEO of Rakuten said in a statement “To help you to achieve … [Read more...] about Overdrive rebrands their company to Overdrive Rakuten
Kobo Launches Book-Centric Social Responsibility Programs
There are a number of great organizations working hard to fight illiteracy, a plague that still affects nearly one out of every five people on the planet, and two-thirds of all women. But there's a disturbing social issue that in some ways is even more heartbreaking: individuals who have the ability to read but still lack the access to a book. Kobo has decided to fight that … [Read more...] about Kobo Launches Book-Centric Social Responsibility Programs
Will Kobo start selling audiobooks in 2016?
Kobo has been involved in the e-book, digital magazine and newspapers for the last six years. The company has arguably one of the largest international footprints and operate in more countries than even Amazon does. One of the missing pieces of the puzzle is to leverage audiobooks and get customers to buy content directly through them, instead of 3rd party companies. Will Kobo … [Read more...] about Will Kobo start selling audiobooks in 2016?
Rakuten has Completed the Acquisition of Overdrive
Rakuten has been trying to dominate the e-book landscape in North America for a number of years. The Japanese eCommerce giant purchased Kobo in 2011 and are the proud new owners of Overdrive. Rakuten announced they intended to purchase Overdrive last month and the acquisition has finally been completed. The deal is worth $410 million dollars in cash and OverDrive CEO and … [Read more...] about Rakuten has Completed the Acquisition of Overdrive
OverDrive Acquired by Rakuten, Owners of Kobo
OverDrive is the world's leading digital content provider of books, movies, music, and more to the public and academic library space. The company basically powers the digital lending capabilities of more than 33,000 separate libraries around the world, as one of their huge innovations was the ability to borrow content through dedicated library apps to any mobile device. And … [Read more...] about OverDrive Acquired by Rakuten, Owners of Kobo
13 Japanese Companies Band Together to Challenge Amazon
Online retailer Rakuten have joined forces with a dozen other companies in Japan with the aim to sell ebooks from regular brick and mortar bookstores across the country. With this, they hope to bring about a higher degree of awareness among consumers in Japan about ebooks. Such a move, they believe, will also allow the traditional bookstores to remain relevant at a time when … [Read more...] about 13 Japanese Companies Band Together to Challenge Amazon
Rakuten, Aquafadas Provide Digital Services for Japanese Publishers
The e-commerce giant Rakuten and the digital publisher Aquafadas have joined forces to provide a suite of services for Japanese publishers who want to go from print to e-books. In a nutshell, the publisher provides the content, Aquafadas converts it to digital format, and Rakuten sells it. The partnership is part of the Aquafadas Global Partner Network Program, and one of the … [Read more...] about Rakuten, Aquafadas Provide Digital Services for Japanese Publishers
Amazon Launches Instant Online Video Service in Japan
Amazon has unveiled another of its popular services, Instant Video, in Japan as it attempts to match up to the local player Rakuten. On offer will be more than 26,000 films and TV shows that are either of foreign origin or sourced locally. Of these, about 15000 are in HD and are available for streaming or download on compatible devices. Movies or TV shows can be rented for 100 … [Read more...] about Amazon Launches Instant Online Video Service in Japan
Digital Magazine Awards Finalists Include Nine Apps from Aquafadas
Digital publishing solutions provider Aquafadas announced today that a number of its publishing clients have been nominated for various category honors from the 2013 Digital Magazine Awards, the fourth annual honor going to innovative international publications. The honorees who utilized Aquafadas either wholly or in part to produce their publications include: Bande à … [Read more...] about Digital Magazine Awards Finalists Include Nine Apps from Aquafadas
Amazon Japan Overtaking the Competition
One of Amazon's most recent global marketplace initiations has been in Japan, where device manufacturers at one time found a slow adoption of digital reading. Rakuten, at one time the leading e-reader manufacturer in Japan--and now parent company of Kobo--reigned supreme, but that's quickly changing, due in large part to Amazon's model as much as to its devices. So what is … [Read more...] about Amazon Japan Overtaking the Competition