Mar 17

John Grisham Gets With the Program

The New York Times “Arts Beat” has a post about bestselling author John Grisham getting over his fear of eBook pirates and diving into the eBook Revolution with his publisher Random House’s announcement that they will release his 23 backlist titles, including his recent short story collection Ford County, as eBooks. According to Random House, Grisham’s books have sold 250 million copies worldwide. Read the full article here.

Avoiding piracy is simple: Use an open format (EPUB). Charge a reasonable price and don’t use restrictive DRM.

This will be interesting to watch, yah?

Mar 16

iPad Orders Fall Sharply

Thanks Jorgen for a link to an update on Apple iPad sales. The post at CNNMoney.com cites trackers that show a sharp decline in the pre-orders that started with estimates of 25,000 per hour before dropping off over the weekend to just over 1,000 per hour. Read the full story for the rest of the stats.

It’s still pretty impressive, and there is bound to be a leveling off in the adoption of any new device, especially a device with over a year of pre-press and rumor bandied about by an intensely loyal cadre of Apple fans.

Mar 15

Delayed Release for Que Reader from Plastic Logic

We’ve mentioned the beautiful Plastic Logic Que Reader before here. Well, it looks like we’ll have to wait until summer for the release of this gorgeous piece of technology if this post at Seven-Sided Cube is correct. This sleek eReader’s bigger touch-screen (8.5″x11″) and futuristic profile is designed for the business sector, and will give other large-format machines like Amazon’s Kindle DX , Sony Daily Edition and the Apple iPad a run for the money.

Mar 14

Text-to-speech does not an audio book make…

Thanks Jorgen for a link to a story at the geek.com that expands on the debate about the text-to-speech function that we mentioned in yesterday’s post about Apple iPad features.

Apparently some authors and publishers are making the case that such an auditory expression of eBooks can be considered as “derivative work” and should entitle them to royalties.

I think it’s a stretch. Wouldn’t that only apply if you recorded the text-to-speech version and tried to sell it?

Mar 13

eBook Details for Apple iPad

While Apple prepares the iPad for shipping to early adopters, they’ve released some more information about how the device will handle eBooks.  Read the full story at Top Tech News. Apparently, the iPad will read ePub open format and is configured to convert text to speech.

The story also suggests that iPad will allow users to buy eBooks anywhere, so that’s very exciting news for the eBook Revolution.

Mar 12

Barnes and Nobles continues to adapt…

Thanks to Jorgen for a link to another example of Barnes and Noble thinking ‘beyond the box.’ This story at zdnet says the venerable bookseller is planning to have a Barnes and Noble App in place and ready in time for the Apple iPad’s release.

This App would allow iPad users to access B&N’s large selection of titles, reading and lending groups. Of course, Apple still has to approve the App, and that might be the sticky part, since iPad has its own iBooks eBook Store. Now we’ll see if Apple truly understands the digital age, or if resists by clinging to the worn out old notions of proprietary formats and content control. The B&N eBook Reader ‘nook’ is really not in competition with the iPad, so allowing iPad adopters options like shopping at B&N should be a win-win for Apple, yah?

Mar 11

Another Bold move at Barnes and Noble

We all know that Barnes and Noble has its own eBook Reader the Nook. What we didn’t know was that the Nook will soon share shelf space with Samsung’s E60 eReader. eWeek.com has the story here. That’s right, Samsung is going to partner with B&N for the upcoming E60’s release so the new device can access the bookseller’s eBook sales and lending features through PC connection or built-in WiFi. Get the specifics on the E60 at Engadget.com.

I’m impressed by Barnes and Noble’s late-stage but solid entry into the eBook Revolution. This kind of democratic, free enterprising stance is exactly the kind of thinking that will assure B&N a place in the future of digital publishing. It’s all about selling books in the end, isn’t it? In fact, when you look at it from the book or eBook retailer’s point of view, it shouldn’t matter what device is used, so long as people buy eBooks. In a marketplace that is quickly filling up with new eReading devices, these retailers might be able to get back to what they do best.

Mar 10

iPad perfect for 55+?

Jorgen sent along a link to a Betanews story that suggests the Apple iPad is perfect for baby boomers (55+ years) and older adopters. The author, Joe Wilcox, suspects the device’s multi-functionality yet relative ease-of-use, makes it a perfect fit. It’s a web browser and shopper, movie, music, email and reading device that doesn’t ask a lot from its user.

I think there’s some truth to the article, though it can be dangerous to generalize about that particular demographic. (I’m reminded of the 85-year-old man at a coffee shop I frequent who was reading an eBook on his iPhone.)

Mar 09

Microsoft Stirs the Pot with Courier

Microsoft is releasing a sweet little dual-tablet called “Courier” that comes with a unique design as well as reading and writing features that are sure to get sabers rattling over at Apple’s iPad headquarters.

Engadget’s got the story here with pictures and video. The device (Microsoft refers it as a “digital journal”) opens from a 5″ x 7″ profile into a pair of similarly sized facing LCD screens. With built-in camera, NVIDIA Tegra 2 graphics and interactive stylus features for inputting information, this is an eBook Reader and foldable tablet that is bound to make ripples in the eBook Revolution.

Mar 08

Duet Navigator – That has a nice ring to it…

Jorgen sent us a link to an ubergizmo.com post highlighting Spring Design’s Alex making its way to the mainstream by way of a visit to the FCC. We’ve mentioned it before, the device is Android-powered with full browser capability offering the juice to compete in the iPad multi-function market.

And don’t forget the Duet Navigator, the patented dual display design that offers a 6-inch E Ink display and 3.5-inch color LCD. I’m especially impressed by the way they’re grounding some of the device’s multi-function capability in the hardware. This might just be the sort of thing that eBook lovers will jump on, giving them the easy-on-the-eyes display of E Ink and the full color option for net, games and video. Very cool.