01:40 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

The rumor mill has officially been kicked into high gear now, with BGR receiving further details from "multiple trusted sources" about the next-gen Kindle Fire HD tablets.

The 2nd gen 7-inch Kindle Fire HD is said to have the following specs:

• 1920x1200 pixels display
• "about" 2GHz Quad-core CPU (Qualcomm Snapdragon 800) with Adreno 330 graphics
• 2GB RAM
• choice of 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB internal storage
• front-facing camera
• WiFi and cell connectivity
• Amazon-customized Android 4.2.2

The 8.9-inch model will feature similar specifications, except for its 2560x1600 pixels display and the addition of a 8MP rear camera.

Rumored launch date? Somewhere in fall 2013, perhaps around late September.

[via Gizmodo]

08:29 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | General Discussions

A sunny day at the beach with sand in between your toes, the salty smell of the sea lingering in the air, and, of course, a good e-book in your hands. Heaven. Except... the beach and your e-book reader don't really make good partners.

What are some of your tips for enjoying e-books at the beach without the worry of sea water, sand or weather damage?

05:55 AM by SeaKing in E-Book General | News

"Overstock.com announced last Thursday that it would be undercutting Amazon book prices by 10 percent. Not to be outdone, Amazon matches the prices...on some titles.'

by Emily Dreyfuss, CNET, July 29, 2013 10:51 AM PDT

continued:

Overstock aggressively challenges Amazon on book prices (CNet)

I have been known to enjoy a good brawl.

05:51 AM by meeera in E-Book General | General Discussions

When oh when oh when will companies learn that PDF is not an ebook format? It's a standard for printable documents so that the user will see a consistent layout; not an ebook format.

Do not, under any bloody circumstances, try to sell me something labelled an "ebook" and tell me that oh yes, it's compatible with your exact six inch eink ereader, completely compatible, and carefully avoid telling me until I've bought, paid for, and downloaded it, that oh it's actually an unreadable PDF, oops, well, we've got your money now.

I'M LOOKING AT YOU, DIESEL EBOOKS.

And you know, whatever, if some of you, for some bizarre reason, prefer reading your books in PDF format (on large tablets, perhaps?), then bully for you. Just TELL the consumer up front that you're only offering a PDF, before you take their money.

05:47 AM by jl_carter in E-Book General | News

Yesterday, the Australian House of Representatives’ Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Communications handed down its report into IT pricing in Australia.

http://www.theage.com.au/digital-lif...729-2qtxn.html

The report was prompted by the fact that Australians pay significantly higher amounts for electronically distributed goods, with Microsoft software and songs on iTunes costing 66% more in Australia than the US. Microsoft, Adobe and Apple were all witnesses before the committee and gave testimony on why they consider the price difference to be justified.

Australian Courts have consistently ruled that region coding and other similar geo-restrictions are not copyright protection devices, but market protection devices. The Standing Committee’s has built on that history by recommending greater consumer entitlement to circumvent geo-restrictions.

http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_...ing/report.htm

Below are the recommendations of most interest (my paraphrasing, see the report for the full recommendations).

• The Copyright Act be amended to clarify right to circumvent technological protection measures that control geographic market segmentation.
  
• Australian consumers be educated as to the extent to which they may circumvent geoblocking mechanisms and the tools and techniques which they may use to do so.
  
• The Australian Government consider

• The Australian Government consider enacting a ban on geoblocking as an option of last resort.
  
• The Australian Government investigate amending the Competition and Consumer Act so that contracts which seek to enforce geoblocking are considered void.

JL

Related: Aussie regulator: E-book price fixing is not our problem

[image: Flickr]

03:01 AM by SuzanneTF in E-Book General | General Discussions

I forget what post made me think of this, but I think a hinged two page e-ink device would be amazing.

I found a picture of this horrid looking hybrid device (the ShuBook by 1 Cross). However, the outer casing does NOT look horrid to me!

http://www.digitaltrends.com/gadgets...he-hard-cover/

If that kind of casing was on a dual e-ink display device, I think it would be awesome. It would "shut" like a laptop or any other clamshell device to protect both screens when you weren't reading it.

Then I saw more pictures of another "concept" device that never existed that on the inside looks great with the two screens. The outside is so-so. I don't like the page turning/sliding.

http://www.designboom.com/design/kar...igital-e-book/
http://www.dvice.com/sites/dvice/fil...?itok=Qw2BNCRi

http://vimeo.com/14084338
http://vimeo.com/14084312

Finally, saw an article about a dual screen eReader by PlasticLogic from fairly recently. However, it is a larger page size and is just a display with no storage.
http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20...r-at-ces-2013/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=2YzBoEs0B1o

I think a 6" reader with two touch e-ink screens (+ Glo?) and the "book" outside casing would be great. You could even "skin" the outside to your preference. As for weight, I'm curious how much two Kindle/Nook/Reader/Kobo sized devices stacked together would weigh compared to a regular reader with the attached covers and lights (especially if there was less hardware involved with the cover/left screen). The extra thickness might also allow for more battery power. However, I'm aware that making anything have more moving parts (hinge) can be a bad idea with electronics.

There has been discussion about these types of devices before and I understand what everyone is saying about moving away from books, weight, etc. But I can't help thinking it would be a neat ereader!

2010 seemed to be the year when these concepts were being explored. PlasticLogic seems to be the only article I could find about something more recent.

02:59 AM by stop__dreaming in E-Book General | Reading Recommendations

Am struggling to know what I'd like to read next.

10:01 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

This isn't exactly a secret being kept under lock and key. Adult literature is selling well. So well, in fact, that various online booksellers, including Amazon, have been tweaking their search and rating algorithms to downplay the importance of that category. The Atlantic writer Noah Berlatsky makes a persuasive argument that it may, in fact, be this very erotica that has helped the Kindle to thrive:

The Kindle, then, provides both privacy and the promise that somewhere, someone has written exactly the gay werewolf paranormal romance you've always wanted to read. Combine the privacy and range of titles, and there's little doubt that for readers digital is the perfect porn delivery system.

[...]

Porn may have helped make the Kindle successful, but a big part of the reason that the Kindle is so perfectly made for porn is that it doesn't look like it's made for porn. Women (and men, too) who want to read porn on the Kindle don't want to be buying their porn from some place that screams porn! Amazon's advantage as a seller of porn is precisely that it sells lots of things that aren't porn, and that it is known primarily for selling things that aren't porn.

Who would have thought. The Kindle - the ultimate camouflage gear for porn aficionados?