03:29 AM by DMcCunney in E-Book General | News

On Tuesday, August 25th, Sony held a press conference at the main branch of the New York Public Library. The event was held in the Trustees Room, a room on the second floor with a marble fireplace, wood paneling, and and tapestries symbolizing the major continents hanging down along the side and back walls. Above the fireplace was a marble plaque engraved with a quote from Thomas Jefferson: ""I look to the diffusion of light and education as the resource most to be relied on for ameliorating the conditions, promoting the virtue and advancing the happiness of man."

A stage was set up up front, with a podium, and flanked by big flat screen displays showing the Sony models. Kiosks were scattered around the room with display models of the Personal and Touch editions of the reader. There was no seating for the original presentation, with a scattering of cocktail rounds for writing and laptops, and an assortment of video cameras on tripods made circulating problematic. A catered spread with coffee, tea, water, soda, OJ, fruit and pastries was available.

Dr. Paul LeClerc, President and CEO of the NYPL gave a keynote address. Dr. LeClerc emphasized the free availability of information, as exemplified by the New York Public Library. He said that NYPL website has 25 million unique visitors, making it second only to the Library of Congress in access to library facilities over the web.

Dr. LeClerc announced a partnership with Sony, and with Google Books. The NYPL is working with Google, scanning public domain texts. They will also be be offering current titles in ePub format via Sony for borrowing via download to a Sony Reader.

The NYPL is partnered with supplier Overdrive for commercial ebook titles, offering over 40,000 now. They anticipate much of the public domain works being digitized in cooperation with Google to also become available for download.

Dr. LeClerc then introduced Steve Haber, President of the division that makes the Sony Reader. Steve's presentation was more informal and anecdotal, and to this observer, curiously unfocused. Steve talked about motivations: "Why digital reading?" "Why ebooks?" He'd been with Sony in various capacities for 20 years, and involved in consumer electronics for longer. He saw parallels with the changes in music, from the old vinyl LP format, to CDs, and finally to MP3 files downloadable from the internet, and with films, which have progressed from things seen in a theater to videotapes, to DVDs, and finally to files available on demand oer the Internet. Similar parallels could be drawn with the progress of books from printed works on paper to electronic files.

Unlike the last press function of Sony's that I've attended, their branding has shifted. They no longer speak of PRS-500, PRS-505, or PRS-700. Instead, they now have three major brands, distinguished by price points. At the low end is the Pocket Edition, with a 5" eInk display, available in several colors, with a $199 price point. Next up is the Touch Edition, with a larger touch screen at a $299 price point. Last is the subject of today's press conference, a new model called the Daily Edition, with a 7" screen touch screen and $399 price. The Daily Edition isn't available yet, but will be out by the holiday season. Sony Readers will be available in 4,800 retail outlets, where people can see and experience the Reader before purchase. Sony retail partners include Best Buy, BJ's, Staples, Target, Toys-R-Us and Wal-Mart.

I had thought a bit about what could be significant enough to bring Sony back across the country for an announcement in NYC, and I had guessed right - the Daily Edition will have 3G wireless access. The Daily Edition will be able to connect to AT&T's network, and through it to the Sony Store. Included in the launch is an improved version of the Sony ebook library software, which will be available for Windows and Mac OS/X. Among other things, it will allow the user to print out annotations they have made to books stored in the reader.

In addition, Sony is introducing Library Finder. through the Sony Store, Library Finder will enable readers to find books in libraries, but entering their zip code. Assuming they have a library card for the library in tht area, they will be able to download borrowed books to their PC and send them to their Reader. Borrow time restrictions are implemented in software, with the book simply expiring at the end of the loan period, so no late fees would accrue. (It was not clear what would happen to annotations made to books borrowed from the library, and the Sony reps I spoke to didn't know.)

One of the things Steve stated as a concern was openness. To that end, the Sony Store is transitioning to ePub as an industry standard format, with Adobe's ACS4 DRM solution.

Steve also saw another parallel with music. Various pieces of music become part of the soundtracks ios out lives. The become associated with people, places, and things that are important to us, and hearing the songs brings the things that are associated with to mind. He feels that books can serve similar functions, and the passages in books can have the same sort of association as songs do. To attempt to tape that experience, Sony was created a new site called "Words Move Me", where posters can discuss books that were significant to them, and passages that moved them.

I found the presentation interesting for what it did and didn't say.

I would have expected more front and center prominence for the new 3G feature in the Daily Edition. This was something asked about that the last Sony event I covered, and something Steve committed to, but "not until it was right".

There have also been snarky comments about the openness of ePub and Adobe's DRM, given the relative lack of ePub formatted titles. I sympathize, but on the other hand, what can Sony do? The de facto standard ebook format now is probably MobiPocket. But MobiPocket is owned by Amazon. How likely would Amazon be to allow Mobi to license the format to a direct Kindle competitor? And DRM is one of those things that isn't going away any time soon. By definition, it's not "open".

Sony claims the ePub format is an industry standard. Well, perhaps, but more companies in the industry have to actually implement it. Part of the problem there is technological. In an ironic situation, the principal outfit pushing ePub is Adobe, and Adobe's InDesign DTP progranm is now used by most publishers to do markup, yet InDesign produces poor quality ePub files. Good quality ePub really requires starting with well formed XML, but tools to do XML markup are a work in progress. From the point of view of the publisher's employee doing the markup, the output format should be irrelevant. The simply want a tool they can use to do the markup, confident that other hands can take the output and use it to create printed books or ebooks.

And as expected, Steve dodged comments about unit sales, and avoided direct comparisons with the Kindle, so we have no clear feel for how well the reader is selling.

The significant point for me about the event is that it occurred. Despite the worldwide economic downturn, and Sony's publicized financial woes in other areas, Sony senior management seems to believe there is a market for the reader, and a fairly large one, because they haven't pulled the plug on the effort.

Related ongoing discussions:

• Sony Reader Daily Edition - SCOOP
• Sony eBook Library (EBL) 3.0 links
• Sony's Reader team to present something August 25

03:27 PM by igorsk in E-Book Readers | Sony Reader

PC version
Mac version

10:32 AM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

In New York, Sony is going to announce a new 3G, touchscreen equipped Sony Reader with an estimated retail of $399. The touchscreen is described as being seven inches wide. The wireless service will be provided by ATT. There will be no charge for access to Sony's ebook store.

Sony will also announce a new service, Library Finder. This involves close integration with digital libraries supported by Overdrive.

The above post was based on the limited information I uncovered in the days before the press conference. It may not be completely accurate.

10:06 AM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

A picture has been leaked showing 3 Sony Reader models: Pocket Edition, Touch Edition, and Daily Edition. You can view the Flash animation here:
http://www.wordsmoveme.com/reader/ereaders

I really have to hand it to Sony. They're very good at keeping stuff a secret. It looks like I'm the only one who was clever enough to find out what the Daily Edition is. I'll tell you in about 30 minutes.

12:33 PM by pilotbob in Reading Recommendations | Book Clubs

Help us select the next book that the Mobile Read book club will read for September 2009.

The nominations will run through Aug 27th.
Voting (new poll thread) will run for 5 days starting Aug 28.

Book selection category for September per the "official" club opening thread is:

September 09
Mystery (can be from anywhere, including our library)

Must be available as an eBook!!!

In order for a book to be included in the poll it needs THREE NOMINATIONS (original nomination, a second and a third).

How Does This Work?
The Mobile Read Book Club (MRBC) is an informal club that requires nothing of you. Each month a book is selected by polling. On the last week of that month a discussion thread is started for the book. If you want to participate feel free. There is no need to "join" or sign up. All are welcome.

How Does a Book Get Selected?
Each book that is nominated will be listed in a pool at the end of the nomination period. The book that polls the most votes will be the official selection.

How Many Nominations Can I Make?
Each participant has 3 nominations. You can nominate a new book for consideration or nominate (second, third) one that has already been nominated by another person.

How Do I Nominate a Book?
Please just post a message with your nomination. If you are the FIRST to nominate a book, please try to provide an abstract to the book so others may consider their level of interest.

How Do I Know What Has Been Nominated?
Just follow the thread. This message will be updated with the status of the nominations as often as I can. If one is missed, please just post a message with a multi-quote of the 3 nominations and it will be added to the list ASAP.

When is the Poll?
The poll thread will open at the end of the nomination period, or once there have been 10 books with 3 nominations each. At that time a link to the poll thread will be posted here and this thread will be closed.

The floor is open to nominations.

Official choices each with three nominations:

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
Belgian detective Hercule Poirot's first case, in which he investigates some strange goings-on in Styles St Mary, and has nothing more than a shattered coffee cup, a splash of candle grease and a bed of begonias for clues.

The Chinese Parrot (Charlie Chan Omnibus) by Biggs
Biggers, Earl Derr: Charlie Chan Omnibus. v4, 22 May 2009
An omnibus edition of the "Charlies Chan" detective stories of Earl Derr Biggers. This volume contains the following books:

1. The House Without a Key
2. The Chinese Parrot
3. Behind that Curtain
4. The Black Camel
5. Charlie Chan Carries On
6. Keeper of the Keys

If your view of Charlie Chan comes from the dozens of very bad, semi-comic movies made in the 1940s and 50s, then read these books and you're in for a pleasant surprise. The books have extremely well-crafted plots ("The Chinese Parrot" is my personal favourite) and are well worth reading.

Lady Molly of Scotland Yard by by Baroness Orczy
Feisty, brilliant, and beautiful; precursor of the sleuth who relies on brains rather than brawn, Lady Molly, and her faithful sidekick and admiring chronicler Mary, began appearing in Orczy's entertaining stories years before the first Englishwoman did in fact become an officer of the law.

A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch
Set in England in 1865, Finch's impressive debut introduces an appealing gentleman sleuth, Charles Lenox. When Lady Jane Grey's former servant, Prue Smith, dies in an apparent suicide-by-poisoning, Lady Jane asks Lenox, her closest friend, to investigate. The attractive young maid had been working in the London house of George Barnard, the current director of the Royal Mint. Lenox quickly determines that Smith's death was a homicide, but both Barnard and Scotland Yard resist that conclusion, forcing him to work discreetly. Aided by his Bunter-like butler and friend, Graham, the detective soon identifies a main suspect, only to have that theory shattered by that man's murder. Finch laces his writing with some Wodehousian touches and devises a solution intricate enough to fool most readers. Lovers of quality historical whodunits will hope this is the first in a series.

Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin
Loved it. This was basically 'CSI set in 12th century Cambridge.' The main character is a female doctor who is essentially a coroner. She examines remains and tries to find out what happened to them. She is loaned by Rome (Italy has female doctors in the 12th century) to investigate a series of child murders in Cambridge. I read this earlier in the year and loved it. There is some early subterfuge where she tries to hide that it's her who is the doctor because England doesn't have woman doctors yet, but the core of the story is the mystery itself of who is the bad guy.

Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy Sayers
When advertising executive Victor Dean dies from a fall down the stairs at Pym's Publicity, Lord Peter Wimsey is asked to investigate. It seems that, before he died, Dean had begun a letter to Mr. Pym suggesting some very unethical dealings at the posh London ad agency. Wimsey goes undercover and discovers that Dean was part of the fast crowd at Pym's, a group taken to partying and doing drugs. Wimsey and his brother-in-law, Chief-Inspector Parker, rush to discover who is running London's cocaine trade and how Pym's fits into the picture--all before Wimsey's cover is blown.

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

Once again, our weekly roundup of highlights from the past seven days of MobileRead:

E-Book General - News and Commentary

• Harry Potter Pirated Editions on Kindle Again
• Ebook readers at IFA Berlin, 4-9 September
• Sony PSP Digital Reader Service
• Kindle US Marketshare at 45%, Sony at 30%

E-Book Devices - iRex Digital Reader

• iRex DR100S Software 1.7 Has been Released

Miscellaneous - Announcements

• Meet-up in Phoenix, Arizona (US) Saturday August 29, 2009 at 1pm
• Meet-up at the Edinburgh (Scotland) Book Festival Saturday 22 August!

05:52 PM by RWood in E-Book General | News

In a recent study on e-book readers by the CleantechGroup they estimated that the total US market for e-book readers was slightly more than 1,000,000 units, increasing to 14.4 million in 2012. Of that, 45% were Kindles, 30% Sonys, and the remaining 25% divided among the remaining brands.

The focus of the study was to determine the life cycle impact of electronic book readers on the environment, in short, the carbon footprint. While they concluded that the number of units in use is too small to have any significant impact on the environment, they did conclude that:

... on average, the carbon emitted in the lifecycle of a Kindle is fully offset after the first year of use.

The report, authored by Emma Ritch, states: "Any additional years of use result in net carbon savings, equivalent to an average of 168 kg of CO2 per year (the emissions produced in the manufacture and distribution of 22.5 books)."

A summary of their findings can be found here.

01:59 PM by Nate the great in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

Recently I had the freak occurrence of needing new reference books while at the same time actually having the money to buy them. I dug through the pile of borrowed books and noticed that several were published by Apress. (Yes, John, you can have them back now.)

I prefer to buy ebooks instead of paper copies, so naturally I checked the publishers website to see if they were available. I noticed a number of details. Apress is a pretty big technical publisher; if you're a SWE or in a related field look among your tech manuals for a black and yellow cover; it's their trademark.

The good news is that Apress publishes most if not all of their titles as ebooks. The not quite so good news is that the ebooks come in only 2 formats: password protected PDF and Kindle Topaz.

I, for one, don't buy PDFs. I've heard too many horror stories about PDFs mysteriously expiring and leaving the owner with no recourse except to buy the PDF again. I do not think Apress would do that; it's just why I avoid the format entirely.

Like many others, I don't ebooks in Amazon's Topaz format. Due to Amazon's ongoing mismanagement of the Kindle ebooks, I currently trust Amazon about as far as I can throw Jeff Bezos. It's good that the books are available on the Kindle; to be honest I'd like to see how they look on the DX. But I won't spend my money because I can't protect my purchases from Amazon (the DRM can't be removed).

I still bought the books, though, and I got them on Amazon for less than the ebook price. I just wish I could have them as ebooks.

UPDATE: A member pointed me at Apress's Deal of the Day. Each day a differnet title is offered for $9.99. Thanks Gary.

http://www.apress.com/info/dailydeal