Penguin Shows off Mega-Apps for iPad

Obviously, this video speaks volumes. Check out Penguin’s “Digital Books” for iPad below. It’s the kind of eBook Reader that Mr. Spock might carry around with him. It’s like having Encarta/Atlas/Video Game/iPhone App/Facebook Reading Circle/Email all in one touch-screen device. (Can anyone say Netbook?) Great for many, and it’s easy to see there will be a big market for this device, but it will certainly separate the “I like the peace and quiet of reading novels on my eBook Reading device” crowd from the “I wish my iPhone was bigger” set.

Moving the Look from Book to eBook.

Jorgen dropped off a link to a Publishers Weekly post with highlights from a second discussion panel: From Book to E- Book: Aesthetics, Design and the Digital in their Think Future series. Panel guests included Matteo Bologna, founder and creative director of Mucca Design, a branding agency responsible for delivering “many, many book jackets” to clients like Penguin and HarperCollins.

It’s a good read with some specifics that designers will appreciate and readers will find astonishing.

Looks like a March 3rd eBook Revolution Grab Bag

As the eBook Revolution continues its charge into 2010, we find ourselves with a varied but unexciting news day. So I’ve got a grab bag of links.

First of all, thanks to Jorgen for a link to this Reuters story that has Rupert Murdoch seriously insulting the Mexican people and predicting the demise of the Kindle because it was “just for reading books.” Honestly, why do we keep listening to this man?

We’ll draw your attention to an InformationWeek report heralding Freescale’s launch of a cheaper eReader processor chip. They say the new chip offers a rendering performance twice as fast as the old version.

jkOnTheRun.com has a post about ASUS launching its DR-900 at CeBIT in Hanover, Germany. Its an eBook Reader with an iPad look. There was no mention of pricing or availability.

Digital Publishing. The Real Deal.

Here’s a link to a very funny piece by the Atlantic’s Michael Kinsley called “Book Publishing in the Digital Age: A Reality Check.”

The most encouraging part of the post is its reference to a New York Times article (Read that here. An interesting breakdown of publishing costs.) that says publishers are finally admitting eBooks cost less to produce than their paperback and hard cover progenitors.

That truth was already as much as admitted when some large publishing houses inked deals with Amazon and Apple iPad to raise eBook prices from the Amazon $9.99 baseline. The prices they demanded, while still high, were much lower than the price of their dead tree equivalents.  This was something they had been reluctant to do in the past, with hysterical publishing professionals justifying high eBook prices by citing shipping and storing as costs they still had to cover.

Kinsley’s crafted a very entertaining, informative post. Enjoy!

Tools of Change Conference

Our friend Jorgen directed us to this Huffington Post piece: “Exploring the Future of Book Publishing at Tools of Change Conference” by Smashwords founder Mark Coker where he offers commentary and personal highlights from the recent  Tools of Change book publishing conference. Coker has made headlines inking deals with publishing industry giants to raise Smashwords profile as the go-to platform for  launching independent authors and publishers. We’ve been keeping tabs on Smashwords, a definite player in the eBook Revolution. Check out some background here.

$1.99 eBook Sale Held Over Another Week!

The $1.99 eBook Sale at GWellsTaylor.com has been held over for another week! Originally slated to end March 1, 2010, the sale has been extended to March 8, 2010 due to popular demand. Novel length horror, scifi and mystery available in multi-format for $1.99 per title.

Scribd is Going Mobile.

Thanks Jorgen for this link to a post at the guardian.co.uk detailing document sharing site Scribd.com’s foray into the mobile service.

The article suggests this is Scribd.com’s challenge to competing services offered by Amazon and Apple and with millions of members and lots of titles, they may just give them a run for the money. Another “YouTube for documents” Scribd.com allows their membership of independent and traditional publishers and writers to upload and share work for payment or free.

It’s a big Internet. There’s lots of room, yah?

A Word from the Penguin Boss on the eBook Revolution…

Thanks Jorgen for a link to a post at IT.TMCNET.COM where Penguin Publishing boss John Makinson  waxes poetic about the coming digital age. An interesting read, if it does continue to have the paternalistic tone that we so often hear from fat cats of the ‘bricks and mortar’ days. (You know the fat cats who are being dragged kicking and screaming into the digital age…) But it’s a good read nonetheless with a few points that only the head of a large company can make.

Sorry. I had to point this out. In case anyone ever thought that the traditional publishing industry had let all that power go to its head, read this quote from the Penguin boss: “The decisions that we take now on behalf of authors will determine the future of publishing.” It’s called a messiah complex, Mr. Makison. I hear there’s a cream for it…

Thank god the technology allows authors to take a few of those decisions themselves.

Oh, and when it comes to the price of eBooks at least he screws up his courage and admits that it depends on what the customer is willing to pay. (I know, you don’t need a degree to get that, but it was a boss-like thing to say, yah.)

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.

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?