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

My goodness, is it Sunday again? Well, for those of you who've missed the highs and lows of MobileRead over the past seven days, this is your one-way ticket to catch up:

E-Book General - News and Commentary

• Sony PRS-505 Limited Edition Red
• Yahoo Music closing. Claims it will "compensate" customers for DRM
• Reading e-books on your phone - why do it?
• eBooks.com goes Sony Reader
• Touch, color, and more - speculations on Kindle 2.0
• E-books released after paper books - thoughts?
• PVI remains bullish on electronic paper
• 240,000 Kindles sold, says TechCrunch

E-Book General - Deals, Freebies, and Resources

• Giveaway for Kindle Readers: Spirit House by Christopher G Moore

E-Book Devices - Sony Portable Reader

• ATTENTION All Sony Reader owners (regarding PRS-500 upgradability)

E-Book Devices - Bookeen Cybook Gen3

• NAEB closing doors / stops selling Cybook devices

E-Book Devices - Amazon Kindle

• How do non-US Kindlers purchase Kindle e-books?
• Chicago Tribune now available on the Kindle!

Portable Devices - Apple iPhone

• eReader for iPhone - details on next upgrade
• eReader for iPhone 1.1 released

Miscellaneous - Announcements

• Scheduled maintenance 08/03 @ 4am EDT

04:45 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book Readers | Apple Devices

Sammy of PalmAddicts sent us note that version 1.1 of eReader for iPhone / iTouch has been released. As we've mentioned earlier, this upgrade adds the ability to browse to other web sites offering eReader-formatted content.

Ready for your immediate consumption over here.

Full list of changes:

• The ability to download eReader PDB files from web sites other than eReader.com and Fictionwise.com, as well as personal content in eReader PDB format.
• New options to: lock screen orientation, tap instead of swipe to turn pages, choose white text on black background, turn off page animation, and turn off full justification of text.
• Ability to sort the on-device bookshelf by author, title, or download date.
• Better error messages and several bug fixes.

Demo of new features:

03:16 AM by daffy4u in E-Book General | News

Oh that TechCruch is at it again.

Ever since Amazon launched the Kindle last November, we've been wondering about just how successful it's been. The electronic book initially sold out and supplies have been tight. The Kindle is such a small part of Amazon's overall business that the company does not break out how many it's sold. But we found out anyway: 240,000 Kindles have been shipped since November, according to a source close to Amazon with direct knowledge of the numbers.

09:53 PM by Nate the great in E-Book Readers | Sony Reader

For those seeing this for the first time: We got a response from Sony on this issue. They're offering a $100 trade in credit on the PRS-500. There won't be an update.

I just got a response from Valerie Motis about updating the PRS-500. What had been previously conveyed was that the update is still under consideration. She reiterated this, and added something more. She said

We were still investigating feasibility and customer demand for a 500 upgrade.

Let's take her at her word. She wants customer demand, let's give it to her.

I can think of two ways we can politely pressure Sony into doing the update. (If you know of another way to raise the issue, feel free to suggest it.)

1. Send an email to the Sony Reader tech support, and ask about status of the update for the 500. Click here.

2. Call the 800 number for Sony Reader tech support, and ask about status of the update for the 500. 1-866-962-7669

One final note: Please do not spam Sony tech support. I want this to be an honest effort to overwhelm Sony with requests for the update.

01:14 AM by daffy4u in E-Book Readers | Amazon Kindle

Chicago Tribune

With the Chicago Tribune, you'll have everything you need to stay informed. Whether it's Chicagoland, national or world news--the Chicago Tribune has it all. The Chicago Tribune's Pulitzer-Prize winning journalists provide all of the coverage and features you need to start your day off right.

The Kindle Edition of The Chicago Tribune contains articles found in the print edition, but will not include some images and tables. Also, some features and sections such as Chicago Tribune Magazine, the crossword puzzle, Parade magazine, box scores and classifieds are not currently available. For your convenience, issues are automatically delivered wirelessly to your Kindle so you can read them each morning.

02:59 PM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Announcements

We are planning a scheduled maintenance window which will be performed on Sunday, August 3rd at 4:00am Eastern Time. During this maintenance window, MobileRead might not be accessible for a maximum of 60 minutes.

Alex

05:47 AM by TadW in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

Amazon will give away the e-book of a new novel, "Spirit House," by Christopher G. Moore, to Amazon Kindle customers.

Book description:

In the nearly twenty years he has lived in Bangkok, Christopher G. Moore has written nine novels starring Vincent Calvino, a disbarred American lawyer working as a PI in the dark and steamy Thai capital. Internationally acclaimed, the prizewinning novels have been translated into ten languages. Now Spirit House, the first novel in the series, is finally available in North America.

A farang is dead and the Bangkok police have a confession the next morning from a young paint-thinner addict. He claims he killed Ben Hoadly, an expat Brit, but Calvino has his doubts when he sees heavy bruises on the kid’s face. In no time Calvino is working both sides, out to find the killer for Hoadly’s wealthy father, and eager to clear the addict’s name for a beautiful friend who runs a charity in the slums. With the help of his best friend, Pratt, a Shakespeare quoting Thai police colonel, and his loyal assistant, Ratana, Calvino plunges into the dangerous world of addicts, dealers, fortune tellers, inexpensive hit men, oversexed foreigners, and professional bar girls. Spirit House is a thrilling introduction to Vincent Calvino and Christopher G. Moore’s Bangkok.

The title will be available from tomorrow, August 1st.

via NYTimes

05:35 AM by Alexander Turcic in More E-Book Readers | Bookeen

Visit the NAEB store and you'll notice a sign saying that it has been closed. Via TeleRead we found the following explanation, directly from Derek Benner over at Baen's Bar:

Nothing like negotiations is going on. We're closed. (I guess we couldn't keep it quiet much longer.) The last units of this shipment have shipped and we're going out of business. We didn't get *NEAR* the price break we would have needed to stay in business. *I* would like to stay open and order Jinke V3 or Netronix EB-600 units, but the consensus is 'no'. Of course, if you, the customers want us to stay open and sell the other devices, you should let us know - because we'd have to work something up. (And yes, having invested so much of my desire and energy into this, I'm perfectly willing to keep going even if the others aren't.)

But at this time, we're going through the process of shutting down.

Derek