Feb 25

Infibeam Pi Calculates that there is E Ink life after iPad

And I thought we’d have to worry about them cloning people. Infibeam Pi is a new eBook Reader  with a familiar look for the burgeoning eBook Marketplace. (Come on, it’s a Kindle right down to the smile…) Announced in January, as India’s first eBook Reader it has a familiar list of functions as well.  (Not to mention support for English, Sanskrit, Hindi and most official Indian languages.) See the specifics at the link.

The Infibeam Pi is ready to ship for Rs 9999 ($215 US), and with an English speaking population of 232,000,000, India represents a vast market for North American and European publishers and eBook retailers.

Feb 24

Popular Wattpad Titles Now Available on Sony’s Reader™ Store

Toronto, Canada, February 22, 2010 –(PR.com)– Wattpad, the world’s most popular ebook community, today announces an ebook distribution agreement with Sony Electronics. A selection of top unique Wattpad titles will be available on Sony’s Reader Store starting today.

“We are very excited to bring popular Wattpad titles to new audiences,” said Allen Lau, CEO and Co-founder of Wattpad. “We will continue to provide more titles to the Reader Store in the coming months.”

You can read the full Press Release here. We mentioned Wattpad.com before, billed as the YouTube for writers and readers. Excellent development, yah?

Feb 23

The Student Body Not Ready for eBooks?

The eBook Revolution as it applies to students and small publishers was brought to my attention by a couple of small  publishers of  textbooks responding to my post “Apple iPad Will Use DRM… Ahoy eBook Pirates! Come and get ‘em!” (Okay, maybe the title’s a bit provocative…)

It has been theorized that schools and students would provide the perfect proving ground for the eBook Revolution. (Young people + technology = adoption.) 

Not so simple. Turns out there is much more to the story. We’ve got a hesitant student body and textbook publishers with everything to lose releasing digital (easily shared) textbooks to a limited target audience. (Young people + knowledge of technology = wait for the cheaper next-generation of eBook Readers.)

Read more about it here at iStockAnalyst.com.

The moral of the story is early adopters are not the majority, and the technology still  needs time to evolve before it will be embraced by the tech-savvy mainstream.

Feb 21

So much for ‘open’ format…

Our friend Jorgen dropped this link off to a story at Computerworld describing the ongoing attempt by eBook retailers to control how and where we read the eBooks they sell us.

The article exposes industry leaders tinkering with the once universal and open EPUB format so that it requires a password to access, in some cases, and in others arriving with a ‘hard cap’ on the number of other machines or devices we can read the eBooks on.

This kind of market manipulation just puts wind in the sails of digital pirates, who are known to require little justification to ‘crack’ locked content, and like to cloak their rebellious activities with notions of Robin Hood and ‘sticking it to the man.’

Pretending to embrace the open format is worse than using proprietary, yah?

Feb 20

More Perspective on eBook Piracy

The Guardian.co.uk’s Books Blog has an excellent eBook Piracy perspective piece entitled: “Who’s afraid of digital book piracy?” It’s a well-written article that manages to dispel some of the hysteria surrounding the topic by applying old-fashioned common sense and a bit of research.

Inflammatory notions like piracy are often brought up by corporate thinkers as a method of crow-barring public opinion into alignment with company aspirations for market dominance. (War on eBook Pirates any one? Please. Please DRM my eBooks so pirates can’t have their way with them!) There is a threat, no doubt, but as you’ll see from this article it is a gecko compared to the publishing world’s perceived Godzilla.

Feb 19

The Struggle for Market Dominance Begins…

Thanks Jorgen for dropping off this link to a Business Week story that predicts the shape of things to come for Amazon.com. According to the article analysts from Credit Suisse Group AG see Amazon’s market share of eBook sales slide from 90 percent in 2009 to 72 percent in the coming year.

While you read the specifics in the article try to remember it’s a ‘prediction’ determined by analyzing a wide spectrum of data derived from very new things: eBooks, new eBook Readers, new versions of old eBook Readers, the habits and preferences of flesh and blood eBook readers, DRM, non-DRM, eBook Piracy,  etc. and the impact of those many factors on a very old and entrenched cultural entertainment form. 

With new, previously unknown variables will come wide and unpredictable variation in results.

In other words, Amazon may be able to hang onto its market share yet.

Feb 18

eBook Readers (and Buyers) have a say…

Readers at Geeksugar.com were asked if eBooks should cost the same as traditional books. 94% of those who responded agreed that eBooks should cost less. (They’re not just being contrary either, they’ve thought it through.) Take the link to read a few of the responses.

So publishers try to gouge loyal readers who obviously love books and are eager to adopt the new technology. It’s sad, but as long as these readers keep talking (with their wallets) the eBook prices will come down, yah?

Feb 17

Apple iPad Will Use DRM… Ahoy eBook Pirates! Come and get ’em!

Jorgen sent us a link to a story at PCWorld that reports iPad will adopt a DRM lock on the ePub format eBooks it will sell at its iBook store. That’s part of the stupid deal they inked with some large and greedy publishers (Penguin, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, and Hachette) that wanted to raise the price of their eBook titles. This despite Apple iTune’s troubled history with over-priced and locked music.

Well, if this is true, they’ve just created the demand for low-priced, pirated and unlocked eBooks. Can anyone say “Napster?”

Feb 16

The White House Does eBooks

This from our friend Jorgen. A story at arstechnica.com about the White House releasing the 400 page (yawn) Annual Economic Report of the President in PDF, Amazon Kindle and ePub formats for eBook Readers. That development adds an environmental spin, and certainly puts a bit of tech-gloss on a President who just kicked the hell out of the next Moon Mission. (I’m sorry, I wanted to go back, yah?)

Main point: A great shot in the arm for the eBook Revolution.

Feb 15

Bent Steeple Sony Reader Contest Results

Sweet Prize, yah? We posted on this a couple times from press releases on the lead up to the draw, and we’ve received the results. Apparently a big turnout. The author also gives an update on his $1.99 eBook Sale.

First Prize Winner Witold Bruhns received a Sony Reader Touch Edition with BENT STEEPLE by G. Wells Taylor installed. The Oshawa, Canada native’s career as an IT support worker explains his keen interest in eBook reading technology. Bruhns loves the Sony Reader and looks forward to reading Bent Steeple on it. ENJOY!

Second Prize Winner Stacy Marquez of Redford, Michigan received an autographed paperback copy of BENT STEEPLE and her choice of eBook title by G. Wells Taylor.

Curtis Barrow of Great Falls, Montana picked up the Third Prize autographed paperback copy of BENT STEEPLE.

You have until February 28th to take advantage of the $1.99 Reader-direct Price for all titles at GWellsTaylor.com. After that GWellsTaylor.com titles will adjust to the low $3.99 retail eBook download price offered at BarnesandNoble.com, Amazon.com, Kobobooks.com, Smashwords.com and the Sony eBook Store. For more information about Bent Steeple, G. Wells Taylor novels or the new pricing email gwellstaylor@gwellstaylor.com.