Suite101 has the story that a lot of Amazon Kindle users have been waiting to hear. You’ll soon be able to lend your favorite Kindle titles to friends. There are conditions, but the lending feature may be nice value-added to those expensive eBook titles.
Oct 23
HP Tablet Hits the Market
Here’s a story about the $800 HP Slate. It looks slick and it’s expensive, but let’s hope the marketplace gives it a better rating than CNN does here.
Oct 22
The Nook is Headed to Walmart for Christmas
Check out this MarketWatch report on Barnes & Noble, Inc.’s announcement that their NOOK eBook Reader will be sold through Walmart’s 2,500 stores, arriving on the shelves as soon as October 24, in time for holiday shopping.
With Apple already offering the different versions of iPad at Walmart can Amazon’s Kindle be far behind?
Added to the other eBook readers rushing to market for the holiday season, I see a price war in the near future. Perhaps we’ll get that $99 E Ink eBook Reader sooner than we expected.
Oct 21
eBook Piracy Shifts into High Gear!
Many thanks to Jorgen for dropping by with a link to the Telegraph.co.uk and a chilling story by Adrian Hon about the current state of eBook Piracy. (At least in his opinion. I, for one, think the wider public is less comfortable with piracy than Hon speculates.) I do agree, however, that the reasons for the piracy are as old as the music industry’s near-death-experience.
Publishers charge too much for eBooks and refuse to see that they cannot graft their outmoded business models and profit structures onto the digital age. Until that changes, piracy has a reason to exist.
Oct 20
Kobo Wireless eReader
GoodeReader.com reviewed the new Kobo Wireless eReader and found few flaws on the upgrade to the original. New to the market , at $149 it’s bound to cause a stir among similarly priced competitors like Kindle, Nook and Sony eReader. While I was hoping Kobo would get adventurous and break the $100 price barrier, they are showing up wireless in a price range that they created.
Oct 19
eBook Sales Incentives – eBook Bundles
Our friend Jorgen dropped by with a link to a post at eBookMagazine.co.uk that offers some common sense incentives that could make the eBook buying experience more familiar and profitable for the consumer, publisher and eBook Store alike. The idea of bundling and cross-selling titles is nothing new, but it seems some eBook retailers are slow to adopt the form.
Oct 18
eBooks to Dominate the Future?
Here’s a link to a CNN story and video where author Nicholas Negroponte, founder of One Laptop per Child suggests the end of the ‘physical’ book is nigh. He makes some excellent points about the practicality of loading an entire library into devices and taking them to remote locations, and I believe that the eBook’s portability and functionality will make it the dominant force in future publishing.
However, there will always be a market for ‘physical’ books–as long as it’s profitable, and as long as there are hard cover and paperback aficionados. I can imagine special editions and quality print runs for book lovers on your Christmas list. There is room for the new and the old.
Oct 17
Amazon Kindle DX Graphite Reviewed
GoodeReader.com offers an extensive review of the new Amazon Kindle DX Graphite. The large-sized wireless eReader comes with free 3G and 9.7″ display.
Amazon boasts the latest generation DX’s 3G operates globally which is good because this upgraded machine has to offer a lot of perks to justify the $379 price tag. (Original Kindle hit the market at that HIGH price…)
Read the review here.
Oct 16
Sony PRS-650 Touch Edition e-Reader Reviewed
Good e-Reader offers a review and photos of the new Sony PRS 650 Touch edition.
And it looks like good news for the device that features a 6 inch E Ink touch screen with 16 levels of gray scale. At $229 it’s at least within the neighborhood of some other high-end but cheaper eReaders on the market, though coming tethered with USB for eBook loading, it might find the competition an uphill battle.
This price-lag could be made up for in durability. I’ve handled some of these Sony machines and they feel tough, and up to a long service life. That might make all the difference for people shopping for a permanent reading partner.
Oct 15
eBook Sales Jump 172% in August!
Publishers Weekly reports on the numbers that are defining the eBook Revolution showing this sea-change shift away from the traditional market towards explosive growth in digital publishing sales. It’s something we all know is happening, but it’s exciting to have the statistics.
Good Reads
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