Aug 06

Playing With Fire at Pink Petal Books

playing_with_fireAuthor Christine Pope’s new paranormal romance novella, Playing With Fire, launched August 5 and is available for purchase in multi-format at Pink Petal Books and ChristinePope.com. Christine is bordering on the prolific if you remember the April 2010 release of her novel, Fringe Benefits, also bearing the Pink Petal Books imprint.

Here’s a taste of what you’ll find in her latest offering:

Samael calls the City of Angels home, but he’s far from angelic. His assignment: Bringing the souls of L.A.’s unquiet dead to the underworld. His duties don’t preclude more earthly entanglements, as long he keeps things purely physical.
When he meets Felicia McGovern, he soon realizes his attraction to her goes far beyond her admittedly enchanting flesh. Her unexpected discovery of his true nature separates the lovers, but when her life is in danger, Samael risks everything to keep her safe. He faces certain punishment…or possibly a redemption he never imagined could be his.

Find out more about Christine Pope at her website.

Aug 05

Barnes and Noble For Sale?

The Globe and Mail has a story about Barnes & Noble, the biggest U.S. bricks-and-mortar bookselling chain, preparing to “evaluate strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the company” because of a perception that its shares “are now significantly undervalued.” The news brought B&N shares up more than 19 percent on Wednesday.

So, are we seeing market manipulation, and attempt to re-value B&N shares, or have they claimed a solid enough stake in the eBook Revolution to get the best price possible for a chain that boasts a bricks-and-mortar platform while it also pays for it? I guess we’ll find out soon. The powers that be at B&N have certainly done a heck of a job raising the bookseller’s profile for the digital age.

Aug 04

Barnes and Noble Ready for School

PCMag posted an article about Barnes & Noble announcing a new Web-based textbook rental service that they’ll be offering at back-to-school time to go with their Nook Study software. College students can download the software that allows them to access class materials formatted for PC or Mac. They’ll be able to sign up for the service at Barnes and Noble Textbooks.

More good thinking from B&N.

Aug 03

New Kindles SOLD OUT!

Geeky-Gadgets.com has posted a story about the third generation Amazon Kindle selling out in a week. A trip to the Amazon website will show you that the WiFi and 3G versions are temporarily sold out. (New orders ship Sept. 4, 2010.)

With the recent price-wars and waves of eBook Readers finally reaching the mainstream en masse, this promises to be an exciting Christmas for writers and readers.

Aug 02

Speculation on the Kindle’s Future

Desire Athow at ITProPortal speculates here on the future of the Kindle as a multi-function tablet device.

Athow cites some of the new Kindle’s abilities as clues to the evolution of a hybrid machine that can compete with iPad and the stampede of low-priced Android tablets that are expected on the market.

Aug 01

Nook Boutiques Coming to Barnes & Noble

Barnes and Noble is deflecting the challenge of a low-priced Kindle by using its bricks and mortar presence in an ongoing effort to take the Nook eBook Reader to the top.

PCWorld reports B&N’s plan to create Nook boutiques in its superstores, dedicating floor space near their cafes to display Nooks, Nook accessories and give live and video demonstrations.

This is a shrewd move and exploits B&N’s real world storefronts in direct competition with Amazon’s virtual shops. Like so much tech, eBook readers sell themselves when placed into the hands of potential buyers, something that Amazon is unable to do for Kindle with its mail order and delivery system.

Jul 31

$99 Color eBook Reader Coming from Copia

TechConnect Magazine reports that DMC WorldWide’s Copia will introduce a $99 eBook reader (called Ocean5 or Wave5) this fall with a 5″ color LCD screen designed around the Copia platform.

Additionally, they’ve got plans to release six more eBook readers of various sizes bearing from 6″ – 9″ screens and ranging in price from $199 to $299.

Jul 30

The $139 Kindle

Here we go. InformationWeek (and others) reports on Amazon’s launch of a $139 WiFi Kindle. This dramatic price drop is Amazon’s challenge to the already heated eReader pricing war putting this new Kindle model into the clear lead.

This in conjunction with a release of the third generation Kindle with Wi-Fi and 3G wireless technology for $189.

It’s obvious that Amazon is not willing to give up any ground easily, as this move puts its Kindle options into the must-have category, ahead of nook and Sony’s recently price-reduced offerings.

I’m still waiting for Kobo’s eReader response. (After all, their $150 eReader started the price war.) They’ll either return with a new wireless version of the device to match Kindle’s new price or they’ll take advantage of their economy class, USB hookup and non-touch-screen platform to be the first E Ink eBook Reader for under $99. Since low-priced eBook Readers seem to be the future of the eBook Revolution, can they resist being the first to break that price point? I doubt it, yah?

Jul 29

Amazon Sells out of Kindles after Price Drop. WELL, DUH!

I’m not sure if we’re supposed to be surprised by this, but CNN (and lots of others) says Amazon has sold all of its Kindles. This after the online book retailer dropped the Kindle price from $259 to as low as $189.

So, let me get this straight, Amazon dropped the price of the Kindle (Remember Kindle 2 first hit the market at $379) and as a result more people bought Kindles… Oh and there was a corresponding increase in eBook sales… And the high-price of new eBooks (while still too high) is no longer dominating the news…

Sounds logical. Also sounds like something a lot of us have been saying since the whole eBook Revolution started up. (Don’t you just hate when they try to cover an error by calling it a “change in strategy.”)

Jul 28

The Aluratek Libre eBook Reader Reviewed

At $120 the Aluratek Libre eBook Reader is the “good” part of Border’s online eBook store “Good. Better. Best.” selection of eReaders. Unlike the other book giants, Borders has not released an eReader of its own, and instead sells a suite of options to keep their focus on selling eBooks. It’s an excellent move, and one that I think will be the template for future eBook sellers.

The Libre uses a 5-inch LCD screen, which to me is where the device seriously diverts from the E Ink pack, but with the wide variety of reading options out there, Aluratek’s economy class device might very well find a market.

TabletPcReview.com reviews it here.