MobileTechReview has an excellent video review of the Amazon Kindle Touch. It’s worth checking out for the side-by-side comparisons with other industry competitors.
Nov 18
Barnes and Noble: bricks and mortar + service is the winning formula.
PaidContent reports that Barnes and Noble’s startling growth in eBook sales is responsible for its competitive position in a marketplace dominated by Amazon’s overwhelming online presence, and says they’ve got the advantage because of their bricks and mortar pedigree.  They’re able to offer the human touch and cite service as the key to the eBook Revolution.
Nov 17
Book Country at Penguin U.S.A.
PaidContent has a story about Penguin Group USA’s  Book Country, an online genre fiction meeting place that now offers three self-publishing packages ranging from $99 for a user-formatted eBook to $549 for a professionally formatted print and eBook. These are then distributed through various distribution packages from: Basic (via Book Country) to Wide (books appear at all the usual suspects: Amazon, Apple…etc.)
While it’s hardly surprising that a publisher wants to get into the eBook publishing game, this service’s focus on pay-to-play is reminiscent of the antiquated vanity press experience. Amazon’s publish, sink or swim approach is easier to gauge, since the writer and reader are able to meet on a fairly even (Indie) playing field.
Still, it’s too early to say whether it’s more than a cash grab by the publisher. We’ll have to see how these professionally formatted print and eBooks are promoted and produced before we can judge the product or the consumer reaction.
Nov 16
Amazon Kindle Fire tablet reviewed.
POPSCI reviews the new $199 Amazon Kindle Fire tablet after the online eBook giant started shipments a day early with hopes of getting the jump on Barnes and Noble’s Nook tablet that is slated to ship later this week.
Nov 15
Amazon stirs publishing pot with lending library
Jorgen dropped by with a link to a Bloomberg story that fills us in on recent developments on the Amazon (Free) Lending Library. The eBook giant announced that it would supply a free lending network to Kindle owners in possession of the $79-per-year Amazon Prime service.
This has infuriated the big six publishers that went to considerable trouble (and alienated a lot of readers) when they adopted the agency pricing model that gave them complete control over eBook pricing. (That was their calm and cool and GREEDY response to Amazon’s $9.99 Kindle eBook pricing in the early days of the eBook Revolution.)
Sounds like Amazon wants to set the eBook marketplace on fire by adjusting prices to reflect consumer interest and demand. We’ll see if the publishers are ready to accept the future.
Nov 14
High eBook prices drive eBook Piracy.
CanadianBusiness offers a story on unreasonable eBook pricing. It’s something we’ve talked about since the beginning of the revolution. The big publishers have to drop their prices or encourage eBook Piracy. Nobody buys their story that an eBook costs just as much to produce as a paperback.
Nov 12
Stanza Returns!
Nov 11
Amazon orders more Kindle Fires
RegHardware says Amazon has increased its order for the 7-inch Kindle Fire tablet from 3.5-million units to 5-million. The devices are to be manufactured and shipped before the end of 2011.
The $199 tablet is touted as the first major threat to Apple’s iPad, though industry insiders say that it’s the Fire’s price and not its capabilities that is putting the heat on the market leader.
Nov 10
Kindle WiFi versus Sony Reader WiFi Touch
So much of the eBook Revolution buzz revolves around Kindle, Nook, Kobo and iPad that it’s easy to forget there are other formidable players in the game.
PC&TechAuthority compares the Kindle WiFi to Sony’s competitively priced WiFi Reader Touch.
Nov 09
Indigo sells Kobo for $315-million US
Toronto.com reports that Canada’s biggest book retailer, Indigo, is selling Kobo Inc. to Tokyo-based Rakuten Inc. for $315-million.
This after Indigo reported a second-quarter loss of $40-million. No reason to worry for all you Kobo eReader and Vox Tablet owners since Rakuten has the resources to give Kobo some staying power on a playing field that counts giants Amazon and Apple as competitors.
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