Tesco eBooks UK

[mXb]

Just tried looking for Tesco eBooks, but they appear to be no more.

However they are evolving into Blinkbox Books;

https://www.blinkboxbooks.com/#subscribe

They will be giving Clubcard points, so they should have some juicy opening deals, so watch their website !
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[bookaho!ic]

thanks for this i will keep an eye out

[MickiTee]

Don't hold your breath. I've been waiting for BlinkBox Books to go live for at least six months.

[latepaul]

It appears to be live now. I just registered and downloaded a free book.

The big BUT is that you don't actually download books standalone you have to install an app. Which limits it to Android or iOS devices and means that you can't deDRM it.

Yet. If it comes to the attention of Alf perhaps... but I'm not necessarily poised to spend any money until I know I can liberate my purchases.

[MickiTee]

Originally Posted by latepaul

The big BUT is that you don't actually download books standalone you have to install an app. Which limits it to Android or iOS devices and means that you can't deDRM it.

Not sure this is the case. I looked through the FAQ's and found this question & answer

How is my library organised? What do the groups mean?

Answer:
Your library is organised in to two main areas:

- Your cloud, where we store all your books automatically

- Your device, where you can choose to download a number of books that you are reading to take with you on the go.


Your device is broken up into four groups based on your reading status:

Recently purchased, which contains your most recently bought books
Books you’re reading brings together any books you’ve got on the go at the moment
Books to read, which you’ve bought but haven’t started reading yet
Books you’ve finished that can now be returned to your cloud to free up space.

Your cloud is where all your eBooks are stored – the cloud is your world of books, the device is the satellite! When you buy a book, it automatically goes to the cloud. From here you can download it to any of your Android phones or tablets, iPhones or iPads – you simply have to be connected to the internet, then tap the cover to download to whatever device it is in your hand.

It seems to imply that books you download to your phone or tablet are stored on your device. It may just be a matter of finding the folder the app's using and going from there using Calibre & Alf.

Not very user friendly. Will have to think carefully about whether its worth the effort to create an account to download a freebie and see if I can get it on my ereader. Plenty of other ebook stores.

[MickiTee]

Further research found this in the FAQ's

If I don't have any internet connection, can I still use blinkbox books?

Answer:
Yes. If you’ve already downloaded the book you want to read to your device, you don’t need to be online. Some people prefer to read offline, as connecting to WiFi or 3G can eat up your battery life.

However, reading offline means we are unable to update other devices with your current reading position, added notes and so on, so we suggest re-connecting every now and then so we can update your progress.

It is not possible to download books to your device without an internet connection.

[latepaul]

Done a little more fiddling.

Originally Posted by MickiTee

It seems to imply that books you download to your phone or tablet are stored on your device.

Yes that's what's happening. But you can only download the books from inside the app there's no PC download via ADE or equivalent.

It may just be a matter of finding the folder the app's using and going from there using Calibre & Alf.

I found the ebook file. If I try to open it in Calibre (with Alf plugin) I get an error saying that the zip file is encrypted. I suspect it's not beyond decryption but I don't have the skills personally.

[mXb]

Originally Posted by latepaul

It appears to be live now. I just registered and downloaded a free book.

The big BUT is that you don't actually download books standalone you have to install an app. Which limits it to Android or iOS devices and means that you can't deDRM it.

Yet. If it comes to the attention of Alf perhaps... but I'm not necessarily poised to spend any money until I know I can liberate my purchases.

Yes thanks for that I hadn't been rechecking the site...

As for storing on the "cloud" or your device it sounds a bit like the Kindle app where, I believe, you can store your books on Cloud and/or Device ?

Pity there is no pc app..............yet ?

....looks like the IOS app works, 9 out of 10 reviewers gave it a 5 !

So Blinkbox books opens and Diesel closes. Ho-Hum !

[mXb]

...that's curious, I was hoping to use my Tesco Ebooks login but it didn't recognise the password, but did recognize my email address.

I'm now waiting for a password reset for my email address, so can't try this site out 'til then.

What free book did you get ?

[latepaul]

"Two Classic Stories" by David Sedaris.

[mXb]

Originally Posted by latepaul

"Two Classic Stories" by David Sedaris.

It gets 5 stars from Goodreads, but at 14 (?) pages sounds more like a free pamphlet than a free book !

[latepaul]

Yeah to be honest I just wanted to test the system so I picked the first free item that looked half interesting.

(On another site I once picked literally the first free item I saw. Which happened to be a romance novel. I got some interesting recommendations based on that for quite some time.)

[mXb]

Still didn't get a password reset email from them so just registered an account......seems they hadn't transferred my old Tesco eBooks account over afterall.

Anyway I registered via my pc. Downloaded the IOS app and signed via that and found 3 books in "Your Library" ?

Private L.A. by Patterson
Doctor Sleep by King
Dead Man's Time by James

I thought at first they were either from my Tesco library (don't think I actual bought any books from them ?), or sample recommendations from Blinkbox ?

.....they appear to be samples, I scrolled to the end of the first one, which is in the middle of chapter 9 !

Haven't found any freebie in my library, and nothing in my cloud ?

....and had a look through there many faq's and at the bottom of one it seems they are considering apps for Blackberry, Windows, Kindle & Nook

[latepaul]

Originally Posted by mXb

Anyway I registered via my pc. Downloaded the IOS app and signed via that and found 3 books in "Your Library" ?

Private L.A. by Patterson
Doctor Sleep by King
Dead Man's Time by James

I've got Doctor Sleep, Dead Man's Time and John Grisham's Sycamore Row. They are all clearly marked as samples though - there's a 'ribbon' across the book cover image. Oh and I knew they weren't purchased because I was never part of Tesco eBooks.

Haven't found any freebie in my library, and nothing in my cloud ?

To be clear I "purchased" the free book from the relevant section of the website. There weren't any pre-loaded freebies or anything (other than the samples).

[soulfuldog]

So it's just ebooks for phone/tablets only, and you can't read them on an e-reader?

That is bizarre, is it not?