02:52 AM by Brainphart in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

The year is 1775. On the surface, Proctor Brown appears to be an ordinary young man working the family farm in New England. He is a minuteman, a member of the local militia, determined to defend the rights of the colonies. Yet Proctor is so much more. Magic is in his blood, a dark secret passed down from generation to generation. But Proctor’s mother has taught him to hide his talents, lest he be labeled a witch and find himself dangling at the end of a rope.

A chance encounter with an arrogant British officer bearing magic of his own catapults Proctor out of his comfortable existence and into the adventure of a lifetime, as resistance sparks rebellion and rebellion becomes revolution. Now, even as he fights alongside his fellow patriots from Lexington to Bunker Hill, Proctor finds himself enmeshed in a war of a different sort—a secret war of magic against magic, witch against witch, with the stakes not only the independence of a young nation but the future of humanity itself.

Download The Patriot Witch by Charles Coleman Finlay from here

03:58 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

"Best of TOC" is a collection of writings on publishing from around the Web, including recent TOC speakers like Bob Stein, Kate Eltham, Kassia Krozser, and Peter Brantley.

Download for free: link (requires free membership)

[via TeleRead]

03:44 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

Matt of Gizmodo tells us why he believes there isn't a perfect e-book reader (yet). In short:

• E-Ink is expensive, slow and "boring" ("No color, crummy contrast, crappy resolution")
• Standard LCD requires too much power and isn't comfortable to the eye
• Plastic Logic's reader, the "rosiest picture of the future of electronic paper displays", will require new fabs to produce it, it will be very expensive, and it will still be without color first
• Pixel Qi's reflective LCD displays may even overtake E-Ink technology (full color, fast refresh, no new fabs required)

Full article: Link

03:28 PM by hidari in E-Book General | News

And so it goes: "Electronic books are becoming popular. Will newspapers follow?"

More importantly, the Kindle and similar devices made by Sony and others represent only one side of the evolving e-reader market. They are for aficionados, since paying $359 for a device makes sense only if you read quite a lot of books, newspapers or magazines on it. For everybody else, such as infrequent readers and the young and cash-strapped, the mobile phone may become the preferred e-reader. ...

It is now only a matter of time until absolutely all books become available, and properly formatted, for mobile phones. Google, an internet giant that has been scanning and digitising books for inclusion in its search engine, now offers thousands of books that are in the public domain free on mobile phones. It seems likely that, eventually, only books that have value as souvenirs, gifts or artefacts will remain bound in paper. ...

Indeed, the Kindle and other e-readers could be a boon to newspapers. With rare exceptions, newspapers have accustomed their readers to expect digital editions to be free. As circulation revenue has declined, this made them dependent on advertising, just as the recession hit. On the Kindle, by contrast, the news has no ads. Instead, readers seem happy to pay for it—just as they pay for services in any other industry that offers something worthwhile.

Full article: link

11:44 AM by Alexander Turcic in More E-Book Readers | iRex

Karel of iRex has posted some (non) news for everyone who is still waiting to buy the iRex Digital Reader 1000SW (which has WiFi and Bluetooth) on their corporate blog:

Last year during the introduction of the iRex Digital Reader 1000S, we also announced the 1000SW, a model with WiFi and bluetooth connectivity, featuring a basic browser. Over the last months and weeks we have received many questions from customers about the availability of this model.

Up until to today I still can not provide a satisfying answer to that questions. However we have put up a sign up form for all those interested to be the first to hear when this model will hit the market.

You can find the sign up form here.

Related: 1000SW release date?

10:42 AM by beachwanderer in E-Book General | News

Over at Engadget you can have a look at the "Android-powered E-Ink display" proof of concept by MOTO Development Group (originally from here).

The cats at the MOTO Development Group have written a custom driver to create what they claim is the first instance of Android running on an E-Ink display. Unfortunately, there's plenty of that annoying white / black E-Ink flicker as the display refreshes.

Still a long way to go ...

Related: Znet suggests Kindroid (Android on Kindle)

07:02 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

If you're looking for a Sony PRS-505 reader, but unable to justify spending around $270 pre-tax, you may want to quickly head over to eXpansys UK and grab one of the remaining 22 refurbished silver units that are currently on sale for £133.99 (or roughly $195). Shipping is worldwide.

If you live in the US, the total price including shipping is around $210; with a coupon code I was told you can deduct further £10.

Visit this ongoing discussion for more. Thanks to MobileReaders Tripitaka and Faenad for the pointer!

10:18 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book Readers | Apple Devices

Starting next quarter, Stanza, the well-known e-book reading software for the iPhone, is going to support DRM-protected ePub and PDF documents.

From the press release:

Lexcycle, the company behind the award-winning Stanza electronic book reader for the iPhone and iPod Touch, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Adobe(R) to license PDF and EPUB rendering technologies as well as support for Adobe's eBook content protection technology. The integrated technology will allow Stanza users to enjoy eBooks sold or loaned by any retailer or library, who distribute eBooks protected with Adobe Content Server 4. ...

Starting next quarter, Stanza will be able to read EPUB and PDF files secured with Adobe's content protection technology from Adobe Content Server 4. The EPUB format has gained significant traction among major trade book publishers and industry groups such as the Association of American Publishers (AAP). With the upgrade, Stanza users will be able to purchase or borrow Adobe eBooks from the hundreds of retailers, academic and public libraries who distribute Adobe eBooks worldwide.

Thanks to Nick for the news!