07:58 PM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

Engadget is reporting:

Looks like the e-reader wars are heating up, retail-style: we just found out that Target will be selling the Kindle later this month, and now multiple sources are telling us that Best Buy will start selling the Barnes and Noble Nook on April 18th -- a rumor we can back up with this shot of Big Blue's inventory system.

07:46 PM by Nate the great in E-Book General | General Discussions

In the next month, the EPUB Maintenance working group will complete a minor revision (2.0.1) of the EPUB 2.0 Standard. This corrects errors and inconsistencies and does not change functionality. During this process, many other significant enhancements have been identified that indicates that a need for major revision to EPUB that goes far beyond a maintenance update is needed.

13 current problems

We're 2 days into the 2 weeks set aside for public comments. We have a lot of smart people here at MR, and I know that we can generate useful ideas. I'm going to start a new topic for each of the 13 proposed changes. Let's use this thread as a catch-all discussion for anything not covered by the other 13.

• rich media & interactivity
• enhanced global language support
• enhanced (magazine) article support
• enhanced metadata support
• page-level layouts
• enhanced navigation support
• alignment with broadly-adopted Web standards
• annotation support
• mathematics support
• dictionaries (book-specific semantics)
• accessibility support
• mechanism for adding industry specific extensions
• relationship to approved national and international standards

05:29 PM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

cross posted from The Digital Reader

From the press release:

Today, eReaders can carry thousands of titles, providing convenience and opportunities for reading never before available. To help make the eReader leap, eReaderResource.com has been developed by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. The site examines what an eReader is, what can be done with it, and which of the available devices is best on an individual basis.

eReaderResource.com has gathered information about the various eReaders out there to help consumers figure out which one is best for them. Wiley, a global publisher and valued source of information for more than 200 years, has developed this tool to help consumers tap into the power of an eReader to change the way they receive knowledge and entertainment no matter what the source.

eReaderResource.com examines and compares the following eReaders interactively: Amazon Kindle 2, Amazon Kindle DX, Barnes & Noble Nook, Apple iPad, Cybook Gen 3, Cybook Opus, IREX DR 1000s, IREX Dr 800, IREX Iliad 2 Standard, Skiff Reader, Sony Daily Edition, Sony Pocket, & Sony Touch.

I like the site. True, it’s missing Pocketbook and Hanvon, but it has one detail that makes it better than almost any other comparison site:

It doesn’t cover devices that don’t exist.

Most so called comparison sites will include reviews of devices like the Polymer Vision Readius (which was never released to market). Or, take the Astri MyID. I am one of 2 people in the world who have actually held the device and written about it. You’d be surprised at the number of sites who have posted a “review” based on my short piece.

Wiley Ereader Resource

11:53 AM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

crossposted from The Digital Reader

I just came across information on Smart Devices' latest product. The latest addition to their line of 7" tablets is going to be an e-reader. The new device will have a 7" LCD touch screen with a resolution of 800x600. I think there's something funky about that screen dimension; I don't think anyone makes a screen that shape. I don't know about the price or when it will be available,but when I get more info I will post it.

I'm not really looking forward to the R7. The first gen tablet is quite good as an e-reader, and the R7 will have to be pretty spectacular to justify the extra cost.

source

07:32 PM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

crosspsoted from The Digital Reader

I assume everyone knows that iBooks is available, but I just want to make sure. You can download iBooks now (if you have a US iTunes account).

From the Wattpad press release:

Wattpad, the world’s most popular ebook community, today announces immediate availability of its popular mobile application for the Apple iPad.
…
Wattpad for iPad is specifically optimized by making full use of the iPad’s large screen. Due to iPad’s larger form factor, Wattpad’s iPhone application is completely redesigned for the iPad in order to fully take advantage of the larger screen and enhanced interface.

As for B&N, The Wall Street Journal is reporting:

When the iPad went on sale this morning, Apple’s own iBooks store had nothing to fear from Barnes & Noble, the country’s largest bookseller — because Barnes & Noble’s iPad app isn’t yet available on Apple’s App store.
…
“We don’t have an exact date, but it will be there within the next two weeks,” said William Lynch, the new chief executive of Barnes & Noble. “Apple certifies all apps, so it’s not totally in our control.”

06:00 AM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Week in Review

What was going on this week at MobileRead? Here's your chance to catch-up if you missed something!

E-Book General - News

• Smashwords signs distribution deal for iPad iBookstore
• Bi Sheng 600TW – new E-reader/Smartphone Hybrid
• Zinio Launches new Reader
• BBC postpones iPhone apps
• OLPC & Pixel Qi announce cross-license deal
• Bloomsbury to Reissue Harry Potter
• Fictionwise discontinues Buywise Club
• Kobo E-reader Videos
• K2i out of stock at Amazon - What could this mean!?!
• Marvel Comics App Debuts on iPad
• Kindle app for iPad appears in the App Store

E-Book General - General Discussions

• A Brief Review of the SmartQ V7, pt 1
• Dr. Horrible comic book now available

11:21 PM by pilotbob in E-Book General | News

Ok... for all you doubters and "Apple is evil" sayers... the kindle app for iPad is in the App store.

This is version 2... released April 02, 2010. Screen shots from the iTunes store attached. Oh, and its FREE of course!

From the iTunes App store:

Additional iPad Features:

• New beautiful user interface tailored to the size, look, and feel of the iPad.
• New Home library view with pinch, zoom and scrolling support.
• New page turning animation that replicates the look of turning a page in a book. Customers who prefer simpler, unadorned reading experience can use the default "Basic Reading Mode" option to turn off the animation.
• Adjustable screen brightness within the app to help reduce eye strain.
• This initial release has only been tasted on the official iPAd simulator provided by Apple.

BOb

11:43 AM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

crossposted from The Digital Reader

There are 500 titles available, and they are priced at $1.99 each. From the press release:

Marvel Entertainment is proud to announce the launch of the Marvel Comics App for iPad on the App Store. This landmark app launches with over 500 of Marvel’s greatest comic books, from classic stories to modern tales, featuring Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man, Hulk, Thor and more of the world’s most popular Super Heroes. The Marvel Comics App brings the world of Marvel to iPad owners with each comic presented at incredibly high resolution possible on iPad’s full color screen, a user-friendly search engine, innovative viewing options and more.

Xeni Jardin of BoingBoing was one of the select few to get an early iPad, and she took the time to post a video on YouTube: