03:35 PM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

crossposted from The Digital Reader

From the press release:

The One Laptop per Child Foundation (OLPC), a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help provide every child in the world access to a modern education, and Pixel Qi Corporation, an innovator in high-performance, low-power displays, have signed a permanent and royalty-free cross-licensing agreement that will allow both organizations to deliver products incorporating the world’s most advanced screen technology.

As a result of the agreement, OLPC receives full license to all Pixel Qi “3qi” screen technology, including 70+ patents in process and all current and future IP developed by Pixel Qi for multi-mode screens. Pixel Qi is leading the design of new screens for OLPC’s next-generation XO laptops. The agreement also calls for Pixel Qi to receive full license to the dual-mode (indoor and outdoor) display technology used in the XO.

07:53 AM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

crossposted from The Digital Reader

The BBC is reporting:

The BBC Trust has asked the BBC to postpone its plans while it looks into the business case for the new services.

The free applications were due to be released in April but have met with criticism from groups who say they will skew the market for news apps.

Several newspapers including the Guardian and Daily Telegraph already offer both free and paid-for apps.

A spokesperson for the BBC Trust said that the body had decided to launch an assessment of the apps after “representations from industry”.

One of the most vocal opponents has been the Newspaper Publishers Association (NPA), which said that the corporation would “damage the nascent market” for apps.

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FYI: The underlying problem here is not apps, but the fact that the BBC is a tax funded organization in the UK, and it competes with news organizations like The Guardian, The Times, etc. The BBC has no profit incentive, so they give their content away for free.

I find the complaints about the free apps to be a little silly. Isn’t this same BBC content already available on mobile devices for free (via the browser)?

12:27 PM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

They just announced a new version of their PC app, and it’s based on Adobe Air. From the press release:

Zinio, the global leader in digital publishing technology and services, today announced the launch of Zinio Reader 4, built using Adobe AIR. In combination with Zinio’s latest product launch, National Geographic celebrates World Water Day with a free download offer of its interactive April 2010 “Water” issue, using Zinio Reader 4 and “UNITY” platform.Zinio’s newest digital reading application enables a seamless, online or offline reading experience across the Company’s global offering of over 2,000 top consumer magazines. Zinio Reader 4 was built using Adobe’s AIR framework, optimized to power a cloud-enabled library, specifically tailored for interactive magazine and book content experiences. This latest release from Zinio is another addition to its continued focus of offering ubiquitous access across PC, Mac, netbook, touch-screen and tablet devices, including the iPhone, iPod touch and the upcoming iPad from Apple. An extension of Zinio’s pay-once-read-anywhere “UNITY” platform, Zinio Reader 4 is supported on Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems, in its initial beta release. This new application introduces enhanced features enabling consumers to access their favorite interactive magazines and books worldwide, online or offline, in a more optimized and enjoyable way.

The app can be downloaded now, and a special release of the latest issue of National Geographic is available for it as a free download. You can get that issue here, but you’ll need to set up an account with Zinio first. Unfortunately, the app is broken at the moment. It can’t access the Zinio website to download content, but this will probably be fixed fairly soon.

I opened the special issue in the browser based Zinio reader, and I’m pleasantly surprised. I was expecting something like a PDF viewer, with pages that were simple copies of the print edition. Instead, the content scaled to match the browser window, and there was a scroll bar for when there was more text on the page than could fit on a screen. This app was quite usable.

12:12 PM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

crossposted from The Digital Reader

I found an interesting new e-reader out of China. They have a fascinating market there; it’s so crowded that developers are trying anything to make their device standout. Bi Sheng has released an e-reader that is basically a smartphone with a 6″ E-ink screen.

I was wondering how long it would take for someone to do this. Given the several devices with 3G and other wireless connections, it seemed to be a rather obvious that it would happen sooner or later.

If you look at the picutre, you might think that this is just another Kindle clone. It’s not, really, because it doesn’t have a full keyboard. Instead it has buttons that you’d find on a phone. This was probably a good decision; the buttons will be bigger and therefore easier to use.

It has Wifi, Bluetooth, and GSM/GPRS/EDGE; it can make calls, send text messages, and browse the web. There is no mention of whether it can read ebooks, or what format it supports.

source

10:42 PM by anurag in E-Book General | News

Good news for self-published Smashwords authors:

http://digital.venturebeat.com/2010/...o-apples-ipad/

Big publishers are flocking to publish electronic versions of their bestselling books on Apple’s iPad, which launches on April 3. But small publishers and self-published books will make it to the iPad as well.

Smashwords, a site that lets writers self-publish their eBooks, said today it has signed a distribution deal with Apple to put its books into the iPad iBookstore. Mark Coker, chief executive of Smashwords, said in an email to authors that his company was working on signing the deal ever since the iPad was announced. And, yes, this means that unpublished authors can sell their work on the Apple iPad for virtually no cost.

To get books on the Apple store by launch day, Smashwords authors have to have their works submitted to Smashwords’ premium catalog by March 31. The book has to be in the EPUB format and have a big cover image.

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

In case you've missed any MobileRead news from this week, here is our usual roundup:

E-Book General - News

• Amazon reveals new Kindle app for iPad
• Kobo Launches New E-reader!
• Liquavista Announces Dev Kits for New Screens
• Wall Street Journal to cost $18 on the iPad
• Skiff partners with Samsung – Oh Boy, What a Gaffe!
• B&N eReader Now Out for Windows Mobile (sorta)
• Ohio calls for more Digital Textbooks
• The Times will add Paywall in June

E-Book General - General Discussions

• Delstar Openbook Review

E-Book General - Reading Recommendations

• April 2010 Mobile Read Book Club Vote

02:44 PM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

crossposted from The Digital Reader

For thos who don't know, this means they’re going to make you start paying to read the news on their website. Fine by me; I’ll just get my news elsewhere. From the announcement:

News International today announces that The Times and The Sunday Times will start charging for access to their digital journalism in June using a pricing model that is simple and affordable.Both titles will launch new websites in early May, separating their digital presence for the first time and replacing the existing, combined site, Times Online. The two new sites will be available for a free trial period to registered customers.

From June, the new sites, www.thetimes.co.uk and www.thesundaytimes.co.uk, will be available for a charge of £1 for a day’s access or £2 for a week’s subscription. Payment will give customers access to both sites. The weekly subscription will also give access to the e-paper and certain new applications. Access to the digital services will be included in the seven-day subscriptions of print customers to The Times and The Sunday Times.

01:14 PM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

crossposted from The Digital Reader

There is a bill before the Ohio state legislature which would require all universities in the state to make digital textbooks available. From the Columbus Dispatch:

Saying it could save more than 50 percent on the cost of textbooks, some House Democrats want to give Ohio college students the chance to trade in their piles of expensive books for laptops or other electronic readers.

Supporters and the Ohio Board of Regents say the key to such a plan is convincing university faculty members that digital textbooks can work as well as the paper versions. Individual professors are responsible for choosing the textbooks used in their classes.

Under the bill, the regents would have two years to require publishers to electronic versions of textbooks. Publishers also would be required to provide textbook formats for students with disabilities.

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