03:17 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

Three reasons why the Kindle isn't magic - according to Cherise Fong of CNN:

1. Wireless only works with Sprint, Sprint only works in the US, so non-US folks likely to be very unhappy;
2. The world isn't grey: or, how lack of color limits my reading choices;
3. Oh e-book, where art though? - "Amazon may boast the largest proprietary e-library with 126,994 Kindle books listed on its Web site, but one of the outstanding complaints from e-readers who have purchased any dedicated device is not finding the e-books they want."

Article: Are we spell-bound by e-books?

Overall, nothing new, and perhaps with more than a grain of truth, but seriously, can you blame Amazon (or Sony for that matter) for being first movers in a new market? Give it some time, and the magic moment will become quite real.

Thanks to cassidym for the tip!

05:51 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book Readers | Amazon Kindle

Have you ever thought about all the possibilities of wonderful things you can do with a Kindle reader (and with other e-book readers as well)? Well, someone from CollegeDegrees did and compiled a list of 104 links to websites containing exciting ways how you can get more out of your beloved reading device.

Link Hack Your Kindle: 100+ Tips, Resources, and Tutorials to Get More Out of the Amazon Kindle

01:21 PM by igorsk in E-Book General | News

The site sounds like they're almost desperate to sell the technology to anyone, but it does look interesting.

The TUI technology enables a reader to press the pictures and words on the regular printed ink and paper page and retrieve digital content or launch communication applications like email, IM, and VOIP from a digital appliance like a computer. This technology, in essence, turns the printed material into a remote control to digital content.

The technology is based upon a sensor-based system that is housed where the cardboard in a hardback book resides.

http://www.somaticdigital.com/products/tui/

05:28 AM by grimo1re in E-Book General | News

In Japan, more and more companies are entering the market for e-books on mobile phones. The overall market in Japan for e-books grew 1.7-fold to about JPY 30 billion in fiscal 2007, the Nikkei (subscription required) reports citing figures from Impress R&D. Of that total, mobile content accounted for more than 70 percent doubling to JPY 22 billion. The introduction of mobile plans with cheap fixed fees for data have helped fuel the market, the paper claims. Young consumers are driving demand with several companies offering youth-oriented content such as manga.

Examples include games developer Koei which is set to publish a collection of novels with anime illustrations aimed at middle and high schools students. The company will publish 20 e-books on its mobile internet site in September and plans to add 10 manga e-books by the end of this year. Kadokawa Mobile plans to expand its range of titles for mobile phones to around 2,100 from the current 1,300. The new titles will include illustrated novels and manga. Publisher Shogakukan is also increasing the number of mobile e-books it makes available before the print copies are released. Finally, mobile website operator CA Mobile has spun off its e-book division in April and will launch a new site and service.

Related: Next hot cell phone trend: picture books?

05:09 PM by rhadin in E-Book General | News

According to Publishers Weekly (June 9, 2008, p. 20):

"In mobile-Web news, MPS Mobile, a subsidiary of Macmillan Publishing Solutions, which is also owned by Holtzbrinck, made two announcements about its Global Reader platform, which gives access to digital book content via mobile phones and other Internet-enabled mobile devices in over 160 countries. The first was that MPS Mobile will adopt the IDPF ePub standard for use on the Global Reader. (...)"

The second had to do with the design of the Global Reader.

ePub expands

You can read the full article online here. --Alex

05:30 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

Like a genie unleashed from its bottle, the deep discontent accross the publishing world over Amazon's rising power is proving hard to subdue. Today, the New York Times has an exceptionally interesting editorial describing how Amazon plays rough in disputes with various (and in particular smaller) publishers.

The struggle comes at a time that Amazon’s power as a bookseller is increasing, with sales growing online in an otherwise tepid global book market. Some publishers fear that with the introduction of Amazon’s Kindle electronic reader, the company will rise into a position to be able to demand more concessions.

“The buy button is their weapon of choice and that’s how they impose market discipline,” said Paul Aiken, executive director of the Authors Guild, an American trade group that also briefly lost the buy icon, for titles sold from BackinPrint.com, a print-on-demand service for infrequently purchased works. “This is such a clear indication that once they have the clout they are willing to use it to the full extent that they can. It’s ugly with Amazon and will probably get uglier.”

Full article: Small Publishers Feel Power of Amazon’s ‘Buy’ Button

Related: Amazon sued by POD publisher, Is Amazon Blackmailing POD Publishers?

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

Previously at MobileRead:

E-Books - News and Commentary

• Kindle already a success in the UK - new rumors
• Computerworld on the future of e-paper
• Kindle and Sony Reader sales way up, says Oxford UP VP
• Flexible display are on the roll, say iSupply analysts
• PVI screen shipments: the real(?) numbers
• PVI revenues drop - weakening e-paper orders!
• How To Turn an iPod Touch into a Moleskine Book
• Sony Ebookstore Open to Canadians...
• DocBook XSL 1.74.0 adds ePub support!
• Fictionwise/eReader to support iPhone (if sanctioned by Apple)
• Amazon and Borders - a match made in heaven?

E-Books - Deals, Freebies, and Resources

• "Future of the Internet" now as free PDF download
• "The Pirate's Dilemma" - free e-book
• All My Books - Book Organizer (freebie only today)

Miscellaneous - Lounge

• Is Google altering our mental habits (in a BAD way)?

04:21 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

Should Amazon acquire Borders? Hedge fund manager William Ackman of Pershing Square Capital Management certainly thinks so, comparing the concept of Amazon-owned retailer stores to Apple's successful move into bricks-and-mortar retailing. Of course it should be noted that Pershing Square owns about 30% of Borders.

"Amazon could buy the company for about $400 million to get those locations that would take more than $1 billion to build," he told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in New York. "You have to think of it like how Apple has retail stores across the country."

But Motley Fool's Rick Aristotle Munarriz strongly disagrees, arguing that Amazon should continue to focus on what it does best: online retailing.

Amazon has done little to indicate an interest in bricks-and-mortar retailing. If anything, its most recent media retailing moves seem to indicate a shift away from physical goods altogether. Its Amazon Kindle is all about delivering books, magazines, and newspapers directly and electronically to consumers. The company has digital-delivery initiatives to replace CDs and DVDs, too. Borders has a working relationship with Sony (NYSE: SNE) to promote Kindle's rival, the Sony Reader, but Amazon is smarter than to make a senseless purchase for the sake of snuffing out its only realistic e-book threat.

What would Amazon do with Borders? The online model is all about scalability, and the offline model is about getting shoppers back into the store. If Amazon's aim is true in the online space, real-world booksellers, including Borders, Barnes & Noble, and Books-A-Million (Nasdaq: BAMM), will matter less with every passing year. If Amazon wants to hedge its bets, it's better off not listening to this particular hedge-fund manager.

So... Amazon and Borders... a match made in heaven or a recipe for disaster? And come to think about it, what would a potential match do to Sony's current relations with Borders? The death knell for the Sony Reader?