Nov 13

Amazon releases Kindle for PC

Here’s a story at the Examiner.com about Amazon releasing a Kindle for PC. That is, a Kindle-app for you to run on your computer or laptop so that you can enjoy the Kindle eBook Reading experience–test it out. It’s an attempt to generate a groundswell of interest and tease us with a taste of Kindle (with free eBook downloads to boot) so that we’ll all run out and slap the $250 down to buy an actual Kindle.

I’ve always been interested in the Kindle’s look and read about its functionality. Of course, being based in Canada I wasn’t able to purchase one until a few weeks ago when the Global Kindle was launched, but by then I’d made other arrangements. Still, I’m in the business, so to be fair I decided to at least give this Kindle PC a test drive. I mean, the Kindle’s a popular device, maybe I should give it another chance, yah?

So I popped over to the free Kindle for PC here. Enjoyed a moment of excitement and enthusiasm, and then clicked the download button. Imagine how I felt when I discovered that Kindle for PC is not available in Canada.

Well, do you know what they can do with their Kindle for PC? They can @!*^% !

Nov 12

Another foldable kid on the block…

Our friend Jorgen dropped in with another scoop here at RegHardware. It looks like Taiwanese manufacturer Wistron is planning a 2010 release for an eBook Reader with foldable screen (the picture in the article is the Readius so don’t get confused like I did).

The firm is developing a handheld device with flexible E Ink display that measures 5in x 6in.  If it’s anything like Readius, the gadget will have a hi-tech look that could move a lot of product. And it slips away in the pocket.

Futuristic ride, yah?

Nov 11

News from the Jetson Kitchen

Ok. I know this isn’t for everyone, but it’s just neat and absolutely an encouraging sign  about the eBook Revolution. These things are evolving quickly…

Demy – The Digital Recipe Reader by Key Ingredient is the first (and only) kitchen-safe recipe reader designed to revolutionize your cooking work flow. (Can you believe it?) The sturdy, sleek device features high-resolution color touchscreen, and a variety of apps to make life easier on the cook.

It can hold up to 2,500 recipes, with easy indexing interface that syncs up to your keyingredient.com account through your computer’s USB. (I’m serious…)

The Demy is amazing, allowing font-size selection as well as offering ingredient substitution suggestions. At $299 it’s asking a lot of early digital recipe reader adopters, but hey, I know someone who paid $800 for a frying pan. It might be a perfect fit for masters of the culinary arts.

But can I read Tolstoy on it, yah?

Nov 10

Harlequin Introduces Carina Press to Digital Publishing

Publishing giant Harlequin Enterprises Ltd. has launched an ePublishing-only division called Carina Press. Unlike the parent company that offers traditional hardcover, paperback and eBooks, Carina’s opening up to new and established authors as an option for publication that will distribute and sell eBooks only.

We’re going to see more and more of this, yah? As the traditional publishers struggle to adapt to the manifold changes to publishing, they’re anxious to get a piece of the massive library of Indie and established author titles. Sony eBook Store and Barnes and Noble have done it, as has Amazon’s Kindle. (Though Amazon offers Indie work shelf space through marketplace and there are strings attached to releasing a book as a Kindle eBook.)

Carina Press is calling for submissions in almost all genres from horror to romance, so if there are aspiring authors in the audience now is your chance. Click here for the Carina Press submission guidelines page.

Nov 09

More about the Nook

Thanks to Jorgen for this link to a story at the Wall Street Journal about the Nook‘s sudden popularity. Apparently, people are so excited about Barnes and Noble’s new eBook Reader that the demand is forcing the Nook’s ship date back to December 11.  Anxious consumers will have to pre-order and wait… Looks like B&N played it safe and didn’t count on the Nook flying off the shelves. That market misread is hard to understand. Especially since they’ve made such shrewd moves lately.

Hopefully they won’t suffer from the hesitation since any gap in the highly competitive marketplace will be contested by the many device manufacturers clambering for space.

Nov 07

The Nook’s Selling Points

Jorgen dropped in with a link to PCWorld and an early review of Barnes and Noble’s answer to Kindle, the Nook . Read the article here.

The B&N bricks and mortar locations are definitely going to give this eBook Reader an edge, yah?

Nov 06

Publishers + Writers + Internet = Retailer Troubles.

It’s easy to focus on the eBook Readers and eReading Devices. Their development is obviously going to have the biggest impact on how the eBook Revolution evolves, but this article at E-Reads illuminates another level to the struggle that promises to be more cutthroat and financially destructive to the traditional publishing industry.

Simply put: Until recently, publishers and writers have needed book distributors and retailers to sell their products, Amazon.com chief among them. And these are contentious relationships at the best of times as writer, publisher and retailer fight over dwindling profits. It’s been a struggle.

The new digital technology with an Internet or wireless delivery system allows publishers to sell directly to the reader, effectively cutting out the middleman.

This puts me in mind of a press release we received earlier about Indie author G. Wells Taylor selling his eBook titles directly to his readers. (No publisher. No retailer.) Without the middleman, additional costs are eliminated, and in this case the reader receives a full length novel for $1.99.  Taylor’s blog talks about his eBooks being available through the Sony Store and Barnes and Noble, at a slightly higher price which is suggestive of possible future compromises.

I think it comes back to what I’ve said before. The eBook Revolution is about content and readers. Everyone in between has to remain relevant or go extinct, yah?

Nov 05

The Nook Draws fire for Barnes and Noble

Barnes and Noble’s new eBook Reader “The Nook” is attracting headlines and now litigation. California-based company Spring Design claims the eBook retailer copied unique features and functions from their Alex dual-screen eBook reader (check it out at the link… Sweet looking ride.) and included them in the Nook. The link to the full story at The Telegraph.co.uk was dropped off by our friend Jorgen.

This ‘borrowing’ occurred as a result of a collaboration between the two companies as they co-developed a “Kindle Killer” eBook reader. Spring Design alleges B&N overlooked mentioning that they were working on their own eBook Reading device (the Nook), resulting in the “misappropriated trade secrets,” etc. and the violation of a non-disclosure agreement between the two parties.

Barnes and Noble quoted its policy of not commenting on litigation.

If nothing else, the lawsuit will get some much-deserved attention for the Alex, yah?

Nov 04

The future of eReaders is under $100…

If you can wait that long. I know I’m gearing up to buy something now. But patience is old-fashioned, like virtue, yah?

Chip maker Marvell is doing two things. They have developed a new ARM-based processor designed specifically for the eBook market. They plan to use it with their other components in low-priced, multi-functional eReaders with six-inch screens. Read the story at VentureBeat. The plan is to wickedly undercut Amazon’s Kindle (and eBook reading brethren) and sell eReaders for $100 or less. The new microprocessors will allow more functions on the devices while still delivering on the low price.  It’s not that far off in time either, with their projection of a first quarter of 2010 release.

Marvell is also delivering fantastic glimpses into this affordable eBook Reading future. Take some time to look around their site. You’ll see they’re swinging deals with other device designers like Plastic Logic, and that can only mean good things for the eBook Revloution. Considering how quickly all of this has developed, can universal adoption of eBook reading be far off?

Nov 03

When you’re finished that page I’ve got a call to make.

PocketGamer.biz reports on a recent survey that September sales of eBooks and reading applications at the Apple App Store beat game sales for the first time. Read the story here.

You know as the eBook Revolution goes into high gear, I’m hearing from more and more eBook readers who have been reading the classics on their phones for years. Interesting, because a major delay in the development of eBook Readers was the concern that people wouldn’t want to read on a screen. Seems the earliest adopters have proven those concerns unfounded yah?