12:09 PM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

In two announcements released yesterday and the day before:

NewspaperDirect Inc., the world leader in multi-channel newspaper and magazine content distribution, is making its entire library of more than 1,400 full-content newspapers and magazines available on the Amazon Kindle (and the Sony Reader) e-reader. Kindle users who subscribe to PressDisplay.com.com can now download any of the titles currently available on the world’s largest online newspaper and magazine kiosk, and read them in their entirety.

A subscription to www.pressdisplay.com is required. The free option seems to be somewhat useful, but I'd rather use calibre (more capable, less cost).

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I feel the need to inject a little reality here. There is no mention of DRM or the respective ebookstores. Without these details I must conclude that this is actually a non announcement. The Kindle and Sony Reader are as compatible with NewspaperDirect as they were a week ago.

Also, why would anyone announce support for the Kindle without OTA downloads? What kind of nonsense is that?

01:22 AM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

I can sum up the news in five words: social media meets ebook reader.
I have an antipathy to twitter and the like, so I really have trouble seeing the value in this. And then there is the fact that this appears to add a whole new ebook format without adding to the reading experience. So if you want to use the abilities of Copia, you'll have to buy the ebook again.

Any eReader can carry your books, but with social functionality built in, eReaders powered by the Copia platform carry much more (some as many as 1500 books in addition to your conversations, notes and friends) even your friends' notes.

from: http://www.thecopia.com

It's a platform, so in addition to the ebook readers there will be software you can run on your computer. That's good, because there will likely be a serious problem with the hardware. Three of the 4 models shown have a capacitive touchscreen on top of the epaper screen. Sony released 2 ebook readers like this, and the sharpness of the text on the screen was negatively affected on both devices. Until I know how Copia fixed the screen problem, I'm going to put this device firmly into the "wait-and-see" column.

On a related note, the parent company will be an exhibitor at CES in Booth 9817. A several day old press release hints that Copia will be on display.

12:14 AM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

Amazon just released a pair of press releases about the KDX now being availble with global wireless in over 100 countries. (Apparently they thought the news was so importantly it had to be said twice.) It's up for preorder now, and will ship on 19 January.

BTW, there was a story a few weeks ago about a KDX shortage. I guess Amazon sold out of the KDX with US wireless a little fastrer than anticipated.

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix....185&highlight=
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix....183&highlight=

12:04 AM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

I found an interesting (but really really long) post ove on the Dangerous Precedents. If he ever gets to the point it will be a good read.

http://benhammersley.com/2009/12/e-b...-one-of-three/

11:40 PM by anurag in E-Book General | News

From http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs...108/301040058/

Cincinnati taxpayers will buy Kindle e-readers for the mayor and city council members to read documents on - and to save more than $25,000 a year in unused paper.

A Kindle DX costs $489.The city will pay a one-time purchasing cost of $7,200 for the 10 units and accessories, plus an additional $120 a month fee. Now, the city spends more than $2,616 a month in copies of ordinances put in council members' packets for committee meetings and weekly council sessions, Clerk Melissa Autry said. That math means the city will save $25,632 a year in paper, she said.

...

11:38 PM by Dulin's Books in E-Book General | News

NYT says "sources close" to Steve Balmer and in the know about his address tomorrow have reveiled to them that Courier will be shown and is to be available by mid-year

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/0...veal-slate-pc/

11:38 PM by Dulin's Books in E-Book General | News

From Engadget

Spring Design was poised to take the official wraps off of its dual-screen, Android-based ereader this Thursday, but we were able to catch an up close and personal glance at the device today here at CES Unveiled. Highlighted over at the Marvell booth (understandable given the choice of processor), the reader was intensely thin and remarkably snappy. We had some gripes with the speed of the Nook, but every action we took on the Alex was relatively lag free. We even downloaded a book and watched it open up immediately, and the touchscreen response was also satisfactory. Spring Design also opted to expose the microSD card slot on the rear; you simple mash your card into the slot and listen for the click, and mash it once more to eject it. You better hope nothing pushes it by mistake, but hey, at least you're not stuck removing some rear cover just to swap cards. We've gotta say -- we're digging this thing based on our brief time with it, and we'd invite you to have a peek at the gallery below till our demo video is prepped.

So they will have a video later and there is a gallery

http://www.engadget.com/photos/sprin...alex-hands-on/

04:31 PM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

HONG KONG—As makers of electronic-book readers jockey for position in the U.S., Japan and Europe, a similar but more challenging effort is unfolding in China.

World-wide, about four million electronic-book reading devices were sold last year. The number is expected to jump to 12 million in 2010 and 18 million in 2012, predicts the U.S.-based market intelligence firm iSuppli Corp.

China is forecast to see e-reader sales jump from 800,000 in 2009 to three million in 2010, making up of 20% of the global market, according to a recent report by research firm DisplaySearch. The company goes on to forecast that China will surpass the U.S. to become the world's largest e-reader market before 2015, by virtue of its large population.

from:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...googlenews_wsj