09:04 PM by kjk in E-Book General | News

The idea of exclusive e-book rights tied to devices seems as annoying as being allowed to play a particular new CD only on a certain company's CD players. But Ian Fried, the vice president of Amazon Kindle, has stated that Kindle consumers don't mind its DRM.

I'm sure they all told him personally.

from:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/185335/ebook_piracy.html

08:54 PM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

I picked up the package containing my newest reader at the post office this morning. I've used it about half an hour, and I'm really having trouble not saying rude things about Aiptek.

The Story Book in Color has an 8" LCD screen, and the dimensions are about an inch taller and wider than the original Kindle. It doesn't have a touch screen, but it does have speakers, USB Host, and a SD/MMC/MSPro card slot. It has a white book like case that is covered with speckles of color. The inner lining of the case is soft green faux leather with 3 slots stitched in the opposite face for spare SD cards.

It can play MP3s and show jpeg images, but the only ebook format that it supports is proprietary to Aiptek. I've already asked for a copy of the software needed to make the ebooks; they said no.

It came with 20 ebooks, and they all have a target audience in the 4 to 8 year old age group. All the ebooks have color page images, and all are narrated. Eric Carle's works are a good example of the type of book that would fit the design intent of this device.

Now let's consider what's wrong with the Story Book in Color. It's obvious that the target audience is small children. I do not understand why Aiptek would expect that the average 6 year old could be trusted with a $200 piece of electronics. Nothing against children here; it's just that they're destructive little buggers.

Think about this device's abilities. It shows images and plays words. Why would someone buy this when they already have a television that does the same thing? Literally the same thing.

Consider the locked in format. One must buy all ebooks from Aiptek. Why would you do that when anyone who had kids probably already has a collection of kid's movies?

Lastly, why did they add those slots for spare SD cards? Don't they realize that some kid would take the card out of the slot and try to swallow it? I figured that out right away, and I don't even _have_ kids.

Frankly, I do not see why anyone would buy this.

08:49 PM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

I was fortunate enough to spend some time with the Entourage Edge on Tuesday.

If you are thinking of the Edge as an ebook reader, don't. It's not fair to compare the Edge with the dedicated ebook readers in its price range (Sony Daily Edition, Kindle DX, and the Irex Digital Readers) because it is capable of so much more. It would be more accurate to refer to dedicated ebook readers as a group in a way that does not include the Edge. If you want a frame of reference, think of the Edge as the first dual screen netbook.

The Edge has Adobe DE support, of course. But since it runs on Android you will be able to install more software (FBReader, for example). It comes with an email client. It has a complete browser, and Google Apps are quite usable with the touchscreen.

I'm at a loss in trying to describe the best features, so I'll have to take you through an example.

Let's start in the Library menu (on the LCD screen). If you already loaded files into the library then you'll see them here. But, if you just copied a bunch of files to an SD card and inserted it, you'll need to switch to the file&folder menu to find them. Let's select one and open it.

It opens on the epaper screen. If you didn't opened the file from the Library Menu, then you will need to add it to the library before you can make full use of the annotation capabilities. There is an icon in the upper left hand corner of the epaper screen to do this. (I like that you can open an ebook and then add it to the library while reading it.)

At a minimum, you can highlight, bookmark, search the dictionary, and sketch directly on the page. These 4 abilities are provided by the Adobe software, and the Edge can do more. You can select a word or phrase and search Google or Wikipedia. The search results will be displayed on the LCD screen while the ebook is still open on the epaper screen. When you find a relevant result, you can then attach it to the ebook (specifically the word or phrase you just searched for).

The attachments can include files, webpages, or handwritten notes. The annotations will also be listed in the TOC interspersed among the existing entries. This is where the Edge excels. The ability to collect separate pieces of content into one file elevates the Edge above the dedicated ebook readers in its price range. Think of how useful this could be as a research or educational tool.

Shortcomings

Let's briefly consider the Edge by its shortcomings: connectivity, weight, battery life. The Edge weighs about 3 pounds (device+charger), which is significantly more than any of the dedicated readers mentioned above. It only has Wifi ("only Wifi", ha), and its competitors all have a cell connection of one kind or another. The battery life is reportedly 6 hours when using both screens, and 16 when only using the epaper screen. Obviously this is shorter than any dedicated device (other than the Irex units, where it is comparable).

So, if you know that you won't have access to Wifi and _need_ the connectivity, or if you won't be able to charge the unit every day and _need_ the run time, then you should consider one of the dedicated readers. That being said, I still like the Edge over any dedicated ebook reader because it can do so much more.

One last note: the Bezel
I wanted to mention that the screen bezel is not nearly as big as it appears in pictures. Until I saw it in person I thought it overwhelming. It's not.

12:56 PM by Alan McCright in More E-Book Readers | Bookeen

The official Bookeen/Cybook site has the Major Firmware Upgrades 1.5 & 2.0
Cybook Gen3, Cybook Opus, Cybook Gen3 – Gold Edition available for download.

Yes, these are the ones we've been waiting for!

Version 2.0 - Adobe - supports ePub, PDF, FB2, HTML and TXT.

Version 1.5 - Mobipocket - supports PDF, PRC, HTML and TXT.

Merry Xmas!

To download the firmware, visit the Bookeen download page here. You'll need to log in with your Bookeen site login in order to access the upgrade files.

08:15 PM by TallMomof2 in E-Book General | News

I received the Foxit eSlick and slick it's not. The firmware is an alpha release, at best.

The positives -

- natively reads DRMed PDB (eReader)
- reads ePub (unDRMed only)
- has a delete button which the Cybook Gen 3 doesn't

The negatives -

- There is absolutely no documents on the device. You are directed in the paper quick start guide to go to Foxit and download the guide. There are no PD books.

- Punctuation at the end of a line is pushed to the next line:

John ran to the store
. <---- see how the period is on the next line.

This happens in both pdb and ePub files.

- Metadata is not read. So your book title is the file name. Most of the secured PDBs have nonsense numerical file names so it's difficult to figure out which book is which.

- No metadata means no book cover thumbnails, instead you get an icon that tells you the file type.

- terrible PDF reflow with pages cut off.

- no dictionary support as in the eReader application.

- one font.

You also get copies of Foxit PDF software but I haven't had a chance to look at that.

It takes awhile to actually enter in the info needed to unlock a PDB secured book. When opening you are presented with a screen to enter in the user name and password. Below is an onscreen keyboard that you navigate with the square button. It took me 5 minutes to enter in my name and CC number to unlock the book. To move from the box where you enter in your name to the box where you enter in your CC requires you to hit the "tab" on the onscreen keyboard. Once all information is entered than you need to hit "Return" on the keyboard. A long, tedious task on an eInk keyboard.

I'm glad that I used my eReader rewards to purchase this because as is it's far less capable than the Cybook Gen 3. A huge disappointment for me because I wanted the Fictionwise/eReader eInk reader to be at least as good as the Gen 3 but it falls short.

Sure hope they're planning a firmware upgrade.

04:14 PM by zelda_pinwheel in E-Book General | News

There have been many discussions here about how physical bookshops can embrace ebooks. One idea is the sale of ebooks directly in stores, regardless whether the shop has an internet presence or not. Now, 440 French bookshops propose exactly that, offering ebooks by 4 publishers (so far) thanks to ePagine. Currently, the participating publishers are : Eyrolles, L'Éclat, Ravet-Anceau and La Découverte/SLF (Editis Group). According to Stéphane Michalon, ePagine's Director, interviewed by ActuaLitté,

"Payment is made directly at the register, and the client then receives an email with a link to download the ebook they've purchased. No need for a website, everything is handled by the application we have created."

Note that this solution only concerns the purchase of the ebook ; an internet connection is still necessary to download the actual file, either from home or perhaps directly in the shop, if the customer happens to be equipped with their portable computer / usb cable, and can use a wifi connection, both because currently most devices don't have wireless connectivity, and due to the limitations of drm (when relevant ; Eyrolles sells DRM-free).

Although only 4 publishers are involved for the moment, ePagine has agreements with far more publishers to sell ebooks online via their system allowing physical shops to easily create an online shop to sell ebooks, already in place. So it seems likely that the offer will quickly be increased.

The main benefit of the system is obvious ; by proposing a way for booksellers to sell ebooks even without having to build and manage a website, ePagine's system encourages them to embrace the evolution of their industry and the new tools available to them, to remain relevant in the face of an increasingly digital age. Given the reluctance of many publishers to adopt ebooks, this can only be seen as a good thing.

And I have to say ; when I went two days ago to my neighborhood bookshop to buy a gift for a friend and discovered a previously unpublished book by Boris Vian which I couldn't resist buying for myself, I really would have loved to be able to pay for it at the register and download the digital version at home, rather than buy yet another paper book, as I had promised myself I wouldn't anymore !

So what do you think ? How would you like to go browse the selection at your neighborhood bookshop, discuss favourite authors with the bookseller, and then buy the digital editions directly there ?

Read the full article on ActuaLitté.com (in french). Thanks to Nate the Great for spotting it.

01:05 PM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

This is the 3rd in my series of extracts from my CES notebook. If you find this useful, plese tell these companies that you heard about them from MobileRead.

Pocketbook
This is a Ukraine based software developer that has released its own firmware for three different ereaders ( Pocketbook 301, 301+, and 360). I'm told they will also bring their new liseuse, the Pocketbook 302. Pocketbook doesn't have its own booth; its actual location is the booth of its American distributor Western Graphics.

Prologic
They will be bringing their large screen reader, the Que.

Aluratek
This is a late entry into the e-reader market. Aluratek is a maker of consumer electronics, and they only started selling the Libre a few months ago. The Libre itself is a rebranded Chinese ebook reader, the M218. I would call this company an up and comer; about a month ago they released a firmware update that adds Adobe DE support.

Ectaco
This company's main product is translators and translation software, but they also have 2 ebook readers. Both devices are based on the M218. One of the models (Jetbook) is identical to the Libre. The other (Jetbook Lite) differs in that it uses AA batteries and has support for eReader format.

Foxit
This is the PDF company, of course. They released their ereader at the beginning of the year. A few weeks ago they released a new firmware update that added support for eReader format. According to TeleRead, they really screwed up. You should click through and read that post.

TruView Digital
This is a digital picture fram company. According to their product listings, thye have an ebook reader. I've tried and failed to reach them for more information.

Universal Microelectronics
This company doesn't have an ereader per se, but it's on my list because it has netbooks and handhelds that run Android.

Shenzhen Bamboo Technology
This is another company that doesn't have an e-reader, but it's on my list because I'm curious about its 7" tablet.

08:51 PM by anurag in E-Book General | News

Not a surprising conclusion, but some interesting numbers about the ebook reading population in the US:

From http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts...savvy-educated

More numbers on the linked page.