Saturday, August 31, 2013

Amazon and Condé Nast Combine Digital and Print Magazine Subscriptions

wired_magazine_covers

Amazon is in the process of launching a new digital and print magazine subscription service. The new pilot program is called "All Access" and will allow readers to use their Amazon account to easily purchase, manage and renew their print and digital magazine subscriptions. The first publisher to commit themselves is Condé Nast and will start off with Vogue, Glamour, Bon Appétit, Lucky, Golf Digest, Vanity Fair and WIRED, with the remaining brands joining later in the year. For a limited time, customers will get introductory deals for "All Access" content – just $6 or less for 6 months of issue.

"Combining Condé Nast’s must-have content with Amazon’s 1-Click shopping platform is a huge win,” said Bob Sauerberg, president of Condé Nast. "Our influential and loyal customers want to be the first to know, purchase and share, which is why we wanted to be the first to develop a service like ‘All Access’ with Amazon, the world's most trusted and proven e-commerce platform."

"Customers are increasingly consuming magazine content in both print and digital formats, and 'All Access' allows them to subscribe to both in a very easy way, and read content digitally on whatever device or platform they use," said Russ Grandinetti, Vice President of Kindle Content. "Condé Nast is known for creating some of the best content in the media industry, so we're excited to start this new program with them."

Being able to combine print and digital is often relegated to the newspaper industry and magazine companies are all looking for the right strategy. Many publishers have told us the Holy Grail is being able to offer lower introductory prices and increase the prices once they have people locked in. Being able to combine both print and digital with an online entity like Amazon is the right play for Condé Nast. Likely other publishing companies will monitor sales and customer acceptance before committing themselves.

Amazon and Condé Nast Combine Digital and Print Magazine Subscriptions is a post from: E-Reader News

IDW Comics Debut on Madefire Motion-Comic App

Madefire-App-icon

Madefire is a digital-comics app for iOS and the web that’s a little different from most of the other comics apps: Its focus is on motion comics. Like comiXology in the Guided View mode, Madefire displays most pages a panel at a time, with the user controlling the timing of the panel reveals. Unlike Guided View, though, Madefire takes things a step further. Once you swipe to reveal a panel, it may slide in, drop down, even vibrate a bit. The word balloons drop in after the art is in place. Figures move slightly within the panels, giving a 3-D effect, and sometimes a bit of sparkle or smoke is animated. And there’s audio as well, at least in some of the comics. You can see a short video demo here.

Madefire launched with a line of comics by its own creators, most of which are free, but in July they announced partnerships with several other publishers: IDW, BOOM! Studios, Top Cow, and ITV. This week, they released the first trio of IDW titles, based on IDW’s My Little Pony, Star Trek, and Transformers comics.

I bought the first episode of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic on Madefire and compared it with the first issue of the comic on comiXology. The first thing to note is that while both comics cost $1.99, the Madefire “first episode” is only half of the full issue, so you get twice as much comic for your money on comiXology.

However, Madefire does provide a more pleasant reading experience on the iPad, because the pages of My Little Pony tend to be a bit crowded, and seeing the panels one at a time helps give the reader a bit of structure. The panels are the same size in both apps, but the resolution is better in comiXology, because they have high-definition images (this test was done on an iPad 3 with retina display); the lines in the Madefire version appeared jagged.

Whether the animation adds value or not is a matter of personal taste. There were several points when it enhanced the storytelling, as when several sets of eyes appeared in the dark and then were revealed to be hostile animals. When the ponies scream “Nooo!” the sound effect appears isolated on a black screen, rather than at the bottom of a rather busy page, so the impact is increased. There was some variety in the way the panels appeared on the screen, which was nice; my favorite bit of business was when a character appeared and pushed a panel slightly to the side to make room for his own panel. One frequent trick the designers use is to have the scene move when the panel first opens, giving the sense of a camera panning across the scene. This is particularly effective with the smaller panels, as it gives the sense that the reader is peering through a viewer (the panel border) into a large scene. What was less effective was having two-dimensional shapes slide past one another; that seemed like a cheaply animated cartoon.

Mark Waid, who uses many of these techniques himself, often talks about the importance of the reader being in control of the timing. In his comics, the reader controls every motion on the page—the word balloons that drop into the panel, the shifts in focus, every single change is initiated by the reader. The Madefire comics work differently: The reader swipes to reveal a new panel but does not control the pacing after that. Several pictorial elements may appear or move without any input from the reader. This takes changes the dynamic: Instead of controlling the pacing of the comic, the reader only controls the pacing of the panels. It’s a different type of reading experience, one that is worth sampling, although I’m not sure it’s worth paying twice the price of the static comic.

Madefire has forged an interesting partnership with DeviantArt, which is an online community for artists, and the comics can also be viewed there in their web reader. Several DeviantArt creators are working for Madefire, doing the conversions to motion comics, and Madefire editorial director Bill Abernathy told Publishers Weekly he hopes to make Madefire’s authoring tools available publicly via DeviantArt later this year.

IDW Comics Debut on Madefire Motion-Comic App is a post from: E-Reader News

Kobo Aura vs Amazon Kindle Paperwhite

amazon kindle paperwhite and kobo aura

The new six inch Kobo Aura was recently unveiled at a New York launch party and Good e-Reader was live on the scene. We managed to score the Aura ahead of the late September release and today we are happy to compare it against the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite.

Over the course of this video review we look at the key hardware and software differences. Beyond the Book and X-Ray have a bit in common and we show you how both companies approach people, places and things in entirely new ways. We also compare the e-Reading experience in both traditional books and PDF editions.


Kobo Aura vs Amazon Kindle Paperwhite is a post from: E-Reader News

Tablet PC Outsell PCs in Middle East And Africa

Tablets

Tablet sales have long been predicted to overtake that of PCs, and the same is already proving to be true in the Middle East and African regions. According to figures with IDC, the tablet segment in those aforementioned regions grew by an astounding 208 percent, which translates to 2.79 million tablet devices being shipped in the second quarter of 2013.

An interesting aspect of the tablet segment in the regions is that it is Android that reigns supreme with almost 2 million of 2.79 million tablets shipped being Android based. Also, it is the cost of the device that has proved to be the most important factor in deciding the purchasing decision, with low cost Android tablets turning out to be the crowd favorite. This would explain a not too favorable response to the iPad Mini or any other Apple tablet here.

Meanwhile, IDC has further predicted that the tablet segment will continue to be price sensitive with it being the low cost tablet devices that will be driving growth of the segment, be it in the emerging markets in the east or the more developed market in the west.

Tablet PC Outsell PCs in Middle East And Africa is a post from: E-Reader News

All E Ink Kindles Should Come With Free 3G Wireless

Something occurred to me this past week with the WiFi Kindle Paperwhite becoming unavailable from Amazon.com (unless you live outside the United States, that is). Why does Amazon charge more for the Kindle Paperwhite with 3G wireless? Why do WiFi-only E Ink Kindles exist at all? After all, when we really stop to think about […]

Pi Weekly: a free email newsletter

Back in June, Raspberry Pi superfan Ryan Walmsley and Manchester brain-on-a-stick (and kayak rescue hero) Ben Nuttall decided to set up a free weekly email newsletter for Raspberry Pi topics, with curated links to news, projects, articles and more. It’s now on its 11th issue, and there’s a wealth of interesting information already available in the archives, which are available to leaf through on the Pi Weekly website. (Click on the image below to visit the site.)

We highly, highly recommend that you subscribe. Ben and Ryan are old hands at the Pi game, and they’re very active in the community, so they’re in a great position to get their hands on news early – sometimes, even before we hear about it at Pi Towers. If you’ve got news of your own that you’d like them to disseminate, they’re always looking for submissions, which you can make through piweekly.net. Pi Weekly is released every Friday. Head over and sign up! 

Friday, August 30, 2013

Kobo Aura HD and Kobo Aura Comparison

kobo aura and kobo aura hd

Welcome to another Good e-Reader Comparison Video. Today we take a look at the Kobo Aura HD and the recently announced Kobo Aura. Obviously they both have the same name and could be a bit confusing on what these devices bring to the table. The essence of this comparison is to dispel the myths and rumors and give you a solid indication on the core differences and put them head to head.

The Kobo Aura maintains the standard six-inch approach that the company made famous with their entire product line. It currently has a super high resolution e-Ink "Clarity Screen" with 212 DPI and sixteen levels of grey. Really, the resolution is the exact same on the Glo, and has not broken any barriers on using a next generation e-Ink display. This e-Reader has the exact same front-lite technology that was found on the original Kobo Aura HD. This will allow readers to adjust the brightness settings to suit their environment. Currently, Kobo has the best front-lit screen in the business and has surpassed Amazon in terms of quality. To turn the screen light on, there is a button at the very top and then a virtual slider bar to control the brightness. You can also take advantage of the capacitive multi-touch display and use two fingers to change the brightness.

It is powered by the quintessential Freescale i.MX507 1 GHZ processor and has 1 GB of RAM. There are 4 GB of internal memory, which can be enhanced via the Micro SD Card. It seems that Kobo e-Readers still have expandable memory, which makes adding books to your collection fairly easy and painless. It also has over two months of battery life, which is ideal.

The Kobo Aura HD features a 6.8 inch touchscreen with a resolution of 1440×1080 with 265 DPI. This e-reader is seriously the best in the business with its high-definition display. The Kindle Fire HD 7 has 1280×800 and the Nook HD has 1440×900. What this means is that as an e-reader, it actually has better image quality than the majority of mainstream tablets on the market. The Aura HD also has a built in comfort light, which allows you to read in the dark with a front-lit display.

The Kobo Aura HD is using a 1GHZ CPU processor and has 4 GB of internal memory. This is 2 GB more than what the Glo offers, and you can expand the memory up to 32 GB via the Micro SD card. Battery life is fairly respectable at a solid month of normal use.

Aside from the marginal hardware differences the software is also quite different. The six inch Aura has some useful enhancements with Pocket – Formally Read it Later and Beyond the Book. Pocket is sort of like Instapaper and allows you send articles to your account from Flipboard, Pulse and social media networks. Beyond the book is really neat, it hyperlinks specific words throughout a novel and gives you a greater insight on people, places, and things. Instead of just your standard dictionary you can pull up biographies and related eBooks. The video below documents fairly extensively all of the core differences.


Kobo Aura HD and Kobo Aura Comparison is a post from: E-Reader News

Nook For Android App Updated to Version 3.4.1.20

Nook

Barnes & Noble has just announced a new update for its Nook app for Android. The latest iteration, version 3.4.1.20, introduces some cool new features apart from the usual bug fixes that are integral to every updates.

Among the new features to look forward to, the Nook app includes larger book tiles for a better visual experience, along with availability of the Time, Inc. magazines, which are more in demand. Time will join other popular titles such as SELF, WIRED, Glamor, Vanity Fair, GQ, and others that are already available. Better accessibility features for the visually impaired or for those with low visibility is also part of the upgrade package. Elaborating on the latter, the app makes use of Android assistive technology, such as higher screen magnification, which is applicable for Android version 4.2 and higher and TalkBack that has Android 4.1 as the minimum requirement.

Also, the update will mark the return of Black as the Night Theme color, something that users have been clamoring for. Apart from these, the My Files filter is now better equipped to deal with duplicate contents that might have been sideloaded.

Overall, the latest upgrade to the Nook app for Android is nothing too significant over the version 3.4 it had launched just a few weeks ago, though upgrades are always welcome.

Nook For Android App Updated to Version 3.4.1.20 is a post from: E-Reader News

Kobo Aura and Kobo Glo Comparison Video

IMG_4654

Welcome to another Good e-Reader Comparison Video! Today we take a look at the brand new Kobo Aura, the six inch e-Reader that was unveiled in New York a few days ago. We compare it directly to the flagship Kobo Glo, which has been available for a number of years, and is the most commonly owned device. Over the course of this video we look at the key differences with hardware and software. If you are thinking of upgrading from the Glo to the Aura, this is a must watch video.

The Glo and Aura are fairly similar in terms of the overall hardware. They have the same resolution and processor, but the Aura has 2 additional GB of internal memory. The big draw about the Aura is the capacitive multi-touch display, which is a first in e-Readers. This new screen is totally flush with the bezel and allows you to easily pinch and zoom PDF files, but also control the front-lit display with gestures.

There are also some dramatic software upgrades found on the Aura, that are not available on the Glo, or any other Kobo e-Reader. Beyond the Book is a great new feature which literary goes beyond the standard dictionary look-up of a word, and gives you more options. For example, the Hobbit has hyperlinks found throughout the book that gives you a full profile on all of the major characters, author and similar books. Check out the full comparison video for a full detailed list of all hardware and software differences.


Kobo Aura and Kobo Glo Comparison Video is a post from: E-Reader News

Hachette eBooks Account for 34% of all US Sales

Hachette-Group

Hachette has just released a new financial report that documents eBook sales for the first six months of 2013. The publishing company has experienced massive gains in the US sector with 34% of all sales deriving from electronic books. This is a dramatic increase from 27% from the same period in 2012 and it shows that overall eBook sales are only increasing.

Not only has the US experienced strong gains for Hachette, but the United Kingdom is also doing quite well. eBooks now account for 31% of all book sales, which is up significantly from 22% from the same period in 2012. Globally, the publisher stated that 11% of their entire net sales are from digital books, which is an increase of 2.9% from last year.

Many industry experts in the publishing field have consistently stated that the entire ebook market is tapering off and starting to stabilize. Still, we are still seeing consistent growth. Random House just announced today that eBooks account for 20% of their global sales.

Hachette eBooks Account for 34% of all US Sales is a post from: E-Reader News

Digital Comics Bargains for Labor Day Weekend

Star Wars 1

The long weekend is almost here, so it’s time to load up the e-reader with some cheap comics!

ComiXology has you covered this week, with a lot of different options. The first deal ends on Sunday evening: An assortment of Dan Slott Spider-Man comics for 99 cents each.

Not a Spider-Man fan? How about <a href="Next, they have Wolverine: Japan’s Most Wanted #1 for 99 cents. That’s about the right price, in my opinion, and if you’re already a Wolverine fan, it’s a steal. (I paid full price a couple of weeks ago; here’s my review.)”>vol. 1 of Red Hulk for $3.99. This 127-page volume collects issues #1-6 of Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness’s series, and the price is what you’d pay for one new comic. Not bad. This deal is also good through Sunday night.

If you want something a little different, check out Robert Kirkman’s Invincible. It’s a story about a teenage superhero who has to deal with his developing powers and all the hassles of high school besides. The first issue is free, so there’s no risk, and if you like it, the rest of the issues are 99 cents and collected editions are $2.99-$5.99. Or you could just buy the two digital omnibi and get over 1,500 pages of story for $50. This sale runs through September 2.

Next we have Wolverine: Japan’s Most Wanted #1 for 99 cents. That’s about the right price, in my opinion, and if you’re already a Wolverine fan, it’s a steal. (I paid full price a couple of weeks ago; here’s my review.) That sale also runs through September 2.

If you want to prep for the Trinity War crossover, both comiXology and Amazon have a selection of Justice League, Justice League Dark, and Justice League of America comics for 99 cents each.

Over at Dark Horse Digital, the big weekend sale is on Star Wars comics, including the new Brian Wood-written series that goes back to the original movies. Several of their other Star Wars series are marked down as well.

And finally, if you’re planning on buying some digital manga from Viz, better do it soon: Their 20% off sale ends on September 2, and on October 1, the regular price of a volume of manga will go from $4.99 to $6.99. The higher-priced manga on the site, such as the VizBig omnibus volumes, will also go up in price. That’s a big jump, so stock up now.

Digital Comics Bargains for Labor Day Weekend is a post from: E-Reader News

Jamie Oliver Cookbook Offered as Value-Added Content to UK Libraries

Graphic courtesy of HollywoodReporter.com

Graphic courtesy of HollywoodReporter.com

Thanks to initiatives like the joint Sourcebooks and OverDrive project earlier this year, The Big Library Read, publishers are finally receiving concrete data on how library lending impacts their book sales. In what appeared on paper to be a bold move that cost the publisher and the author a great deal of money, Sourcebooks made one of its titles available to all of OverDrive’s partner libraries for free for a limited time. The results of the initiative demonstrated exactly how library patrons respond to lending opportunities with an increase in book sales.

Now, Penguin Random House is working on an effort of its own, with the support of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. The well-known chef, who has spear-headed nutritional programs and endorsed a return to homemade cooking over processed, packaged foods, has released a new title, Save with Jamie, which the publisher is donating to every library in the UK.

Oliver is quoted as saying, “We know from the fabulous work that libraries do every day that everyone deserves a chance to learn basic skills that can improve everyday lives. Reading and cooking are two of those skills for sure. I'll admit I've been a late developer with the first, but I can definitely help with the second.”

The response to this program has been tremendous, especially from the library communities who have seen an influx of patrons looking for the book, which makes perfect sense given that the book is about creating a budget, living within one’s means, and stretching one’s income in order to be able to pay bills while still saving money. Libraries have long been known as the source of free information and entertainment, so what better venue for the publisher to experiment with value-added content for patrons in need of financial support.

Several commenters on an article for The Boookseller announcing the program asked whether the initiative would include school libraries, as all too often students are left without any form of financial planning instruction. It would also make sense as Oliver’s widely publicized and somewhat controversial school nutrition program in the US targeted schools that served expensive meals that were not well-received by their student bodies.

Jamie Oliver Cookbook Offered as Value-Added Content to UK Libraries is a post from: E-Reader News

More Steampunk eBooks and Audiobooks!

IDC Lowers Tablet Shipment Figures For 2013, Demand For Phablets Growing

Phablet

Tablets are all the rage these days, something that several market research firms have tried to quantify with lofty figures from time to time. IDC, though, decided to walk a different path by actually lowering the tablet shipment figures for 2013 to 227.2 million units. That is still an impressive figure by any means, while it is admittedly lower than the originally estimated 229.3 million devices expected to be shipped in 2013.

As for reasons, IDC attributed the emergence of phablets, or big screen smartphones, along with smart watches that led them to lower their shipment figures. While it's clear that consumers have always been looking for mobile devices to get along with their everyday computational needs, the rising popularity of phablets shows there are many who'd prefer even smaller devices. The slightly lower shipping estimates could also be the early sign of a market that is settling down from the initial euphoria it generated.

The lack of any exciting tablet launches during Q2 is another reason when there might be less tablets shipped this year. However, these are only estimates, and things could quickly turn around, especially when there are quite a few exciting tablet launches expected this fall. Apple is slated to launch the new iPad 5 and likely the new iPad Mini 2, and Amazon is reportedly readying its third gen Kindle Fire devices for a launch during roughly the same time frame.

IDC further pointed out that it is countries like China that would be seen fueling the next wave of tablet sales and not North America, western Europe and Japan who have been the early adopters. Also, while manufacturers will continue to explore ways to bring down tablet prices further, its unlikely to be lower by any substantial margin than those prevalent right now.

Meanwhile, there has been a shift in consumer preference towards big screen smartphones that has earned the tag of phablets. Manufacturers too have woken up to the segment, something that is exemplified by the several high profile phablets that has either been launched or is waiting in the wings. These include the HTC One Max, the Sony Xperia Z Ultra, the Nokia Lumia Bandit (still in rumor stages unlike the other) along with of course the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 that has been the sole player in this segment for two years. Apple too has been rumored to enter the phablet with an enlarged iPhone version.

As for advantages of phablets via-a-vis the tablets, the former makes for a more handy device that does all that a tablet does, which includes playing games, watching movies, and reading ebooks. Plus, phablets offer calling options and include a stylus which in turn adds to the functionality of the device. However, phablets seem to enjoy a loyal fan base that is also growing. What remains to be seen is if they can actually usurp the small tablet segment in the long run. The price advantage, though, seems to be there but that could change later.

IDC Lowers Tablet Shipment Figures For 2013, Demand For Phablets Growing is a post from: E-Reader News

Index Award, and Rob’s talk from Science City in Kansas

First up, we’ve got a bit of fantastic news today: we won the Index Award for Education last night here in Denmark. The Index Award is the world’s biggest design award, and it comes with €100,000 for the Foundation, which we’re absolutely overwhelmed to receive. We’ll be using the money to take on two new hires over the next few months (you’ll be hearing more about them when they come on board) to work exclusively on free educational materials and outreach. We’d like to thank the Index Award jury for choosing us from an enormous pool of more than 1000 nominees: we’re enormously grateful, and the prize will help us to make a real difference to the way we work with kids all over the world. I’m hoping to get some pictures from last night’s ceremony at Elsinore for you later in the week.

In other news, Rob Bishop has just returned from his mammoth tour of the USA, where he was speaking at hackspaces across the whole continent. I saw him very briefly in the office on Wednesday, when I was leaving for the airport and he was returning from it. It’s good to have Rob back (although we do notice that any sweeties or baked goods left in the office disappear about 78% faster when he’s around). Here’s the talk he did at Science City in Kansas last week.

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Kobo Suspends Usage of the GoodReads API

kobo goodreads api

Kobo is one of the largest online booksellers in the world and currently has over 3.5 million titles available. Over the course of the last few years the company has been depending on GoodReads for book reviews and ratings. This has populated millions of titles with user generated data that influences peoples buying decisions. Michael Tamblyn, Chief Content Officer at Kobo has just confirmed that the company has suspended the GoodReads API.

The main Kobo online bookstore has undergone a severe revision and can be considered a major upgrade. It features a new responsive design that optimizes it for small or large display screens. During this transition they have suspended the use of the GoodReads API. Michael did mention that they were evaluating re-adding the API at some point in the future, but was cryptic on whether it would actually happen or not.

The suspension of reviews and ratings is not a problem relegated only to the companies main website. Their entire line of e-Readers is also not being populated either. We have confirmation from hundreds of users that this problem is happening on their entire product line, including the Aura HD and Kobo Glo. The only device that seems to be working fine is the Android app, which relies on user generated data directly within the app.

Relying on a 3rd party for all of your data is not the smart play. With GoodReads being acquired by Amazon a few months ago, investing in that company in the long-term for reviews and ratings might be shooting yourself in the foot. It might be more effective to straight from scratch and Kobo develop their own system for user generated content. It might be slow going at first, but would be the correct business path for long-term sustained growth.

Kobo Suspends Usage of the GoodReads API is a post from: E-Reader News

Smashwords to Distribute to India’s Largest eBook Retailer Flipkart

smashwords

eBook retailer and distributor Smashwords announced a deal today that will distribute its entire catalog to the digital reading market of India via its own Flipkart platform. Right now, India is the fifth largest market for ebook purchases from Smashwords, so a partnership of this kind will enable a more streamlined shopping experience for Indian readers and worldwide authors.

According to a post on the partnership from Smashwords’ CEO Mark Coker, “Flipkart is commonly referred to as the Amazon of India. To be fair to Flipkart, Amazon would probably kill to become the Flipkart of India some day. Flipkart.com is India's largest online marketplace. They serve 10 million registered users, one million daily visitors, and offer products in over 17 different categories. Our friends at Flipkart tell me that according to Nielsen BookScan Retail Panel data, Flipkart holds 80% market share for online book sales in India, and holds 40-45% market share for all trade book sales across brick and mortar AND online.”

Despite market reports that tablets are only just beginning to take off in India and that e-readers in the market have lagged behind other global markets in terms of sales, Coker offered the following data on ebook traffic in the country:

* India is the world's second most populous country with 1.2 billion citizens, accounting for 17% of the world's population. Source.
* India's literacy rate is 74% and rising. Source.
* India has two official languages: Hindi and English. Source.
* 125 million Indians speak English, twice the 61 million English speakers in the UK, quadruple the 33 million in Canada, and about six times the 22 million in Australia. Source. I don't have data on English literacy, or the number of English readers, though our friends at Flipkart tell me about 80% of their book sales are English language books.
* 150 million Indians are online. Source. By 2015, according to McKinsey, the number of Internet users is expected to double to 330 million. Source.
* India recently became the world's third largest market for smartphones. Its smart phone market for Q1 2013 grew over 160% year over year, a rate of growth faster than China (86% YoY), Japan (24% YoY) and the US (19% YoY). Source. Smartphones are e-reading devices!
* India has one of the world's fastest growing economies, and one of the fastest growing middle classes. India had 250 middle class consumers in 2007, a number that will rise to 600 million by 2030. Source. With the rise of the middle class comes increased discretionary consumer spending on books.

While Smashwords’ authors enjoy a 70% royalty on domestic sales, they will receive a 60% on Flipkart sales after the accounting for the withholding tax charged in the country.

Smashwords to Distribute to India’s Largest eBook Retailer Flipkart is a post from: E-Reader News

NextIssue Media Catalog Grows to Over 100 Titles

sph digital magazines

One of the features of any tablet device that customers have grown used to is the ability to touch an app with a finger tip and have instant access to their content. This instantaneous ability to see all purchased content may be what has driven NextIssue Media to reformulate what consumers may be used to with digital magazine publication.

Unlike per-issue purchases or subscriptions that were based on the same formula as print magazine subscriptions, NextIssue users have unlimited access to every title in the catalog, all for one fee through their two different unlimited access plans. The first plan, priced at $9.99 per month, gives users complete access to 90 different popular titles, including Cooking Light, Esquire, Real Simple, Vanity Fair, Wired, and others. The premium plan, which runs $14.99 per month, offers access to 101 different titles from major magazine publishers.

A release from the company today announced, “We are absolutely thrilled to announce you now get unlimited access to over 100 digital magazines available on the Next Issue app—101 to be exact. In the last two months, eight new titles joined our ranks: Newsweek, Shape, Consumer Reports, Entrepreneur, Motor Trend, PC Magazine, ShopSmart, and Ski. And we can't give you the juicy details, but you can expect even more very soon.”

NextIssue is running a current special for new customers to try out the service free for thirty days. One feature that has made NextIssue so popular for a trial period is its model that does not require a credit card to try the service, unlike companies who record payment information then charge the user unless a cancellation is made within the given time frame.

NextIssue Media Catalog Grows to Over 100 Titles is a post from: E-Reader News

Amazon Launches Mexico Kindle Store, Starts Selling Kindles at Gandhi Stores

Today Amazon made an announcement, but it wasn’t the one we’ve been waiting for. On Tuesday Kobo announced the upcoming release of three new tablets, the Kobo Aura ebook reader, a new Kids’ ebook store, and a partnership with Pocket to bring web reading to Kobo’s ereaders. So what does Amazon do to counter? They […]

Amazon Selectively Choosing Not to Sell WiFi Kindle Paperwhites in the US

All week I’ve been keeping track of the mysterious Kindle Paperwhite disappearance, posting articles when the $119 model became unavailable and then again the next day when the $139 Paperwhite vanished, leaving only the more expensive Kindle Paperwhite with 3G wireless available for purchase. Then yesterday I noticed something even stranger that makes me think […]

Sourcebooks Expands with Acquisition of Simple Truths

Sourcebooks-logo

One of the leaders in the forefront of digital publishing–a company that has not only adapted to e-reading but has led the innovation in a wide variety of ways–is Illinois-based Sourcebooks. With a large number of imprints and target audiences incorporated in its model, Sourcebooks has grown quickly into a leading entity in the industry.

Now, Sourcebooks has added to its family of imprints with its announcement today of its acquisition of motivational and inspirational title publisher Simple Truths. Founded only eight years ago by Mac Anderson, Simple Truths has grown from its sister company Successories, which was sold off in 2004.

Dominique Raccah, founder and CEO of Sourcebooks, said in a press release on the acquisition, “This purchase adds almost $10 million to our top-line sales and extends opportunities for Sourcebooks authors.  It also creates new channel growth opportunities for initiatives like Put Me In The Story."

Put Me In The Story is one of Sourcebooks’ most recent innovations, launched less than a year ago, which lets any publisher incorporate personalization in the text and through photographs of nearly any book. Widely lauded as both a parent-child reading experience and for its educational implications, the platform stands to bring a new level of interest to children’s literacy.

For its part, Simple Truths founder Anderson said, “Leveraging our content through their distribution channels will generate excellent growth opportunities,” a retail potential fact which was certain to have been a motivating factor in the decision to work with Sourcebooks.

Sourcebooks Expands with Acquisition of Simple Truths is a post from: E-Reader News

Kindle Fire Market Share Records Sharp Plunge

Kindle Fire

Amazon is already in the process of refreshing its Kindle Fire lineup. That's perfectly normal considering the present crop of Kindle Fire devices are fast approaching the one year anniversary of their launch. However, there seem to be more reasons than just the calendar for Amazon to release something new, as the Kindle Fire devices have been fast seen losing out on favor with the consumers, something exemplified by its market share witnessing a sharp drop from 21.5 percent to all the way down to 10.1 percent.

The above figure was revealed by Jumptap based on mobile traffic data for 2012 and 2013. What has also come to light is that Apple continues to sit on top of the tablet heap with its market share actually increasing by 3.1 percent. Samsung has emerged as the second largest player with a 5.8 percent jump in its market share, which has grown to 11.1 percent in 2013, scuttling Kindle Fire in the process from the second biggest competitor to the iPad.

This does put some pressure on Amazon to come up with the new Kindle Fire series, expected to launch sometime this fall. While initial reports point to an impressive new set of Kindle Fire devices across different screen sizes, it remains to be seen if those will be good enough to take the battle to the Apple and Google camps. Google has already revealed its trump card, the Nexus 7, while Apple is expected to launch new iPad devices this fall. That’s not all, for Amazon will also have to contend with the new tablet range Kobo has come up with.

Kindle Fire Market Share Records Sharp Plunge is a post from: E-Reader News

Amazon Still Awaiting Its Indian eBook Store to Click

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Amazon is yet to build the kind of success it might have expected out of its India operations, but that is because i’ts only now that tablet devices have started to emerge as the preferred mobile computing platform. eReaders, for their part, never enjoyed the popularity in India that they did in other reading markets.

Another reason for Amazon to lag behind in ebook sales in India is that printed books continue to enjoy wide consumer attention while ebooks so far have been perceived as something that is best left to the tech savvy community. The price sensitive market in India also poses a different set of challenges to Amazon.

As David Limp, Vice President, Kindle in India points out: “We have an entry-level Kindle which is at Rs. 6,000 and people here love that price. But the feedback we're getting also asks when they can get the Paperwhite at that price. Over time, we want to be able cut costs and offer more features at the entry-level.”

The Kindle Paperwhite costs Rs. 11,000 in India right now, while its 3G counterpart sells for Rs. 14,000. As for the Kindle Fire, the range starts at Rs. 16,000.

“Over a period of time, it won't happen tomorrow, the technology might migrate downwards. Until then, we're going to try to span across many price points,” said Mr. Limp.

Meanwhile, the VP further added that they are still on the lookout for their ‘Manga moment’ in India. Aamzon found success in Japan after having taken the popular comics in its stride. They are still on the look out for the Manga equivalent in India, though such a thing has been elusive so far.

“Yes, we are [talking to Indian publishers], but, more importantly, we're trying to learn the intricacies of this market. In Japan, for instance, Manga comics is an important category for reading. Once we optimised for that, we saw success… we're looking for an equivalent of that in India,” said Limp.

An encouraging trend so far is that, along with an increase in the sales of smartphones and tablet devices in India, there has also been a rise in acceptance of ebooks and emagazines as well.

Amazon Still Awaiting Its Indian eBook Store to Click is a post from: E-Reader News

Digipalooza 2013 Highlights

If you weren't able to attend our DigiPalooza users group meeting, we're so sorry. You missed a great time with lots of parties and food, great speakers including Mitch Albom and author Anna Banks, and tons of useful information from OverDrive, library partners, and publishers as well. Here are just a few highlights from some of the sessions. Sorry, no party reports: what happens in Cleveland stays in Cleveland, although we can acknowledge a spectacular evening at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which featured the exhibit "The Rolling Stones: 50 Years of Satisfaction."

 

See our Digipalooza page for the complete program.

 

Digital Media 2013 and Beyond

 

Coming soon: streaming video. Why consider it? There are many reasons, including that it requires no software installation or activation, it integrates seamlessly with the OverDrive Next Gen platform and works with any connected device, it's inevitable as the platform of the future, it will include the top movies your patrons want, night owls can get their movies even when your buildings are closed, and:

 

OverDrive Read

With OverDrive Read, the browser based reader that makes our titles available through any browser, we now have a platform that is just the beginning of our future. Smartphones are gaining steadily as the device of choice, but whatever devices the future brings, we are ready. . . and we'll be adding a steady stream of new features to engage new readers.

 

Maximizing ROI with Your Digital Collection Budget

Presenters shared tips for making the most of your budget:

  • Use the reports (available under the Reports tab on the Marketplace page) to understand your patrons and what they want.
  • Use Recommend to Library to find out what they really want that you don't own. One library spends 20% of their budget on RTL requests.
  • Buy one copy of each title and use the Holds Manager to manage the demand.
  • Make frequent smaller orders with something for everyone to make sure users looking for new content find something fresh every day.
  • Search the backlist for popular authors.

Getting more money into your digital collection budget:

  • Apply for grants
  • Advocate for a higher percentage of the materials budget
  • Look hard at standing orders, journal subscriptions, reference books, and databases and drop those that aren't pulling their weight.

One important return on investment is your loyal patrons—and you need to recruit more new ones to support you in the future.

  • Know your digital users—55.5% are over age 50. Surprise!

School Digital Library

 

The OverDrive School Digital Library offers three different themes based on the age of the students. The library also offers metadata that includes Accelerated Reader and lexile information.

 

 

Promoting Your OverDrive School Digital Library

 

Libraries shared how they are promoting their school digital library service. Some used dummy books on the shelves letting students know that an eBook also exists for each of the titles. Others got everyone involved:

Uncovering New Users

How do you get staff to buy in to digital and help you find new users?

 

Big Data for Big Impact

OverDrive did a huge patron survey in June, which resulted in 68,491 responses from about 25 countries, 83% from the U. S., 15% from Canada, and 1% from Australia. Here are some of the results straight from your digital customers:

 

APIs

 

OverDrive has made APIs available for use. What does that mean for libraries? It makes it possible to display all your print and digital activity in one place—your ILS catalog. And coming in September: the ability to place a hold, borrow and download, return items, and view the bookshelf.

 

Support Report

 

Spectacular results from Support Services: your patrons are finding it easier to navigate your digital collections successfully:

 

OverDrive Media Station

 

This exciting new product offers a way to introduce and display your digital collection within your buildings. A large touch screen system allows patrons to browse the most popular items in your collection and text or email themselves a link for later check out. Since nearly 60% of library card holders don't know if their library offers eBooks, this is a great way to raise awareness.

If you weren’t able to make it to Cleveland this year, be sure to plan to attend the next Digipalooza in Summer 2015! Based on the feedback weave received from this year's attendees, you definitely won't regret it.

Amazon Launches e-Readers and eBooks in Mexico

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Amazon has announced today that they have brought the Kindle eBook Store, e-Readers and Kindle Direct Publishing to Mexico. This service has just launched and has over 1,500 digital books available in Spanish. You will find popular authors such as; José Emilio Pacheco, Elena Poniatowska, Sergio Pitol and Carlos Monsivais, as well as comic books from Mafalda and Familia Burrón.

"The vast majority of Mexicans do not have access to a bookstore in their town, so we're happy to launch the Mexico Kindle Store today and bring a huge bookstore with over 2 million titles to anyone with an Internet connection," said Pedro Huerta, Director of Kindle Content, Latin America. "We are also excited to bring Kindle and Kindle Paperwhite to Mexico at Gandhi stores. Kindle Paperwhite offers an unparalleled reading experience, with a display that reads like real paper, an innovative built-in front light, a small and light-weight design and 8 weeks of battery life so customers can easily dive into their favorite books."

"In order to provide a new experience and bring books to all our customers in an innovative way, we will offer Amazon's Kindle in all of our bookstores. We believe it is a great option to enjoy reading at an affordable price. We are confident it will have very good acceptance by readers," said Alberto Achar, Marketing Manager at Gandhi. "It is very important to us to take books to anyone interested in reading, using all possible channels. Amazon's Kindle is a device that easily and quickly serves this purpose."

Amazon Launches e-Readers and eBooks in Mexico is a post from: E-Reader News

7 Things We Want You to Know About Our Online Classes

Signing up for one of our online classes? Here are 7 things you should know.

Samsung Launches Galaxy Tab 3 For Toddlers

Galaxy Tab 3 Kids

Samsung has been up to some improvements with its flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S4, churning out several variations, including the S4 Zoom. Now, an unexpected new device, a kid friendly derivate of the Galaxy Tab 3, comes complete with enough padding along the sides to justify its use among the preschool-aged community. This marks the first attempt by a mainstream tablet maker  at a tablet device that is targeted exclusively to children.

To begin with, the Galaxy Tab 3 Kids device is the same Galaxy Tab 3 7.0, but with some hardware and software enhancements meted out to ensure parents find it safe for use by their little ones. A 7 inch 1024 x 600 pixel display makes up the top if the device, while on the other side of it lies a dual core 1.2 Ghz chip, a gig of RAM, and 8 GB of internal memory. There is also a micro SD card slot that will allow 32 GB more to be added. The tablet has also been provided with front and rear facing camera of 1.3 and 3 megapixels, respectively.

Also, with toddlers as its intended clientele, the tablet has also been provided with enough tweaks on the software front, which includes educational, and entertainment apps, as well as children's ebooks, all of which come pre-loaded on the device.  The tablet also includes an Application Manager which will allow the parents to set usage hours or specific apps and other features that they wish their kids to be exposed to. What's more, the Application Manager has been provided with a layer of security via passwords, which is indeed a nice feature given how tech savvy the younger lot has come to be.

The Galaxy Tab 3 Kids also comes with a Kid Case of its own, which includes a C Pen for on-screen drawing or writing, as well as several stand options.

The tablet will first be released in South Korea before appearing in other regions of the world. Pricing has been kept under wraps, though it will crucial for the device to emerge as a viable choice for a kid specific tablet device.

Samsung Launches Galaxy Tab 3 For Toddlers is a post from: E-Reader News

Rockstand Records Over 1 TB of Data Downloads

rockstand

Rockstand, the India-based ebook and emagazine app store, announced having recently crossed the data usage limit of 1 TB per day. That's an important milestone in a country where ebook reading is still considered to be in its nascent stages. Rockstand has also stated it is the regional content that has emerged as the most preferred download, a segment where the company has been putting a lot of effort, interesting considering the multilingual country India is. Also, usage is showing no signs of slowing down, but rather it is on an upward swing with the average download recorded per user at about five to eight ebooks or emagazines on a daily basis. That translates to about 40 – 60 MB downloaded per user per day.

"We are amazed to see this kind of data usage, as we were expecting excellent response, but this figure is overwhelming & motivating. On that particular day, we crossed 15000 downloads due to regional content promotion and great offers, discounts provided. From the time since India got into era of digitization, Games and Songs have dominated digital space and enjoyed uninterrupted reign of data usage in country. Now it's time for eBooks and eMagazines to rule digital space in India," said Head of Rockstand Digital Pvt. Limited, Mr. Rishi Mohan Jha.

"Special mention to Regional eBooks and eMagazine, as we can see great opportunities there and thus to tap this burgeoning market, we are bringing exclusive and exciting content for our readers. Conversion of regional content is a big challenge and we are proud to say that we have been successful in dealing with this problem and thus offering flawless digital reading experience to our users," further added Jha.

Among the languages that have drawn the maximum downloads are Hindi, Telegu, Tamil, Gujarati. Rockstand also offered heavy discounts to commemorate India's Independence Day on Aug 15th. The discounts were valid for the 14th and 15th of August, with both days recording a heightened buying spree among readers. Average books or emags downloaded during those two days shot up to 10 to 15 for every user.

Rockstand Records Over 1 TB of Data Downloads is a post from: E-Reader News

Tudor theatre, 21st century technology

This summer, Shakespeare’s Globe theatre in London mounted a production of all three of Shakespeare’s Henry VI plays, staged both at Shakespeare’s Globe itself, and outdoors at battlefield sites from the War of the Roses. The theatre collaborated with The Space, a new Arts Council and BBC-developed service which streams free, on-demand video of live cultural events, to produce a broadcast of the plays from multiple viewpoints.

Real live camera operators, with real live cameras, were following the actors around and filming the whole series of plays. But we are particularly interested in one specific camera: the tiny Throne Cam, invisible to the audience, but filming all the proceedings from the huge throne which forms part of the stage set in all three performances, giving an actor’s eye view of the plays. It was a Raspberry Pi camera board.

Thronecam in situ at Shakespeare’s Globe

It turns out that the Pi and its camera board are the ideal solution for The Space. The whole assembly is not big enough to be noticeable by the audience if it’s mounted somewhere on the stage, but can record 1080p HD video. And, because it’s driven by a Pi, it can process and encode the video onboard, so no additional work needs doing by The Space to publish the stream online.

The first of the three plays is already available to watch online. I’m on a very wobbly hotel wifi network today, so I haven’t been able to watch the video yet – please report back in the comments and let us know what you thought of it!

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Read Distraction Free on Your Tablet with Kobo Reading Mode

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One of the largest drawbacks about reading on a tablet is the sheer amount of distractions users are bombarded with. Reading immersion is often a battleground of Facebook and Twitter updates, instant messages and emails. This often can detract from really getting into a book and is often the number one complaint about reading on a dedicated tablet. Kobo is seeking to solve this with a new software initiative called Reading Mode.

Reading Mode is a new option that will see the light of day when the new Kobo Ara HD 10 and HD 7 are launched this October. It basically is a setting that you can turn on and will eliminate all notifications you would normally receive on your device. This really solves the problem of being distracted on your tablet while you are reading a magazine, eBook or graphic novel.

Reader Mode has patents being filed for it right now and Kobo is hoping to bring this functionality to their iOS and Android apps in the near future.

Read Distraction Free on Your Tablet with Kobo Reading Mode is a post from: E-Reader News

Why we love libraries

Libraries are a wonderful place. They provide countless services and are often times the center of the community. They bring community members together through events and programs; offer internet access and research options to those who would otherwise be without; and supply an endless amount of knowledge simply by walking through their doors. Libraries allow users to travel the world, discover new languages and encounter numerous adventures all housed under the same roof. If you can't make it to the physical library, eBooks and digital audiobooks can provide the same privileges with the click of a button, from anywhere in the world.

 
Here at OverDrive, we do what we do because we all love libraries and everything they offer. The great thing about libraries is there is no one reason to fall in love with them. Everyone's reasoning may be a little different.

 

Here are some of the reasons the OverDrive blog team loves our libraries:


  • I love the library because of the sense of community, access to endless information, promotion of literacy, and well, the free books and eBooks!   -Rachel

 

  • I'll let someone else say it for me… "All I hope to say in books, all that I ever hope to say, is that I love the world." –E.B. White  -Laura
  • I love the library because it is my solace of immortalized narrative wonders available at my beck and call. -Rob
  • I love the library because it's a community haven with resources for all. –Melissa H.
  • I was 7 years old the first time I set foot into a library. Two hours later I was convinced there was magic in the world. Even now, nearly 20 years later, when I walk into a library I believe in magic again. –Christina
  • I love the library because there's something there for everyone (and all of it is FREE)! –Leslie
  • When I need a break from my own world, I go to the library and escape to thousands of others. –Jason
  • He who complains tax dollars are wasted has never been to the library -Beau
  • I love how within one building each individual has their own story – a child learning to read, a job seeker doing research, a student wrapping up a thesis, a film buff picking up a DVD…  –Cassie 
  • I love being at home in pajamas, looking for a book to read before bed and knowing that I can find an eBook from my library in seconds. –Melissa M.

 

Now it's your turn: tell us why you love your library in the comments below! We'll visualize the best quotes and post them on our Facebook page for you to share!

 

Adam Sockel is a Marketing Communications Specialist with OverDrive (and a lover of libraries)

 

 

A Closer Look at Kobo’s New Arc 10 HD and Arc 7 Reading Tablets

Yesterday Kobo announced a lineup of three new tablets in addition to the new Kobo Aura ebook reader. There’s two new 7-inch tablets and Kobo’s first 10-inch model, all of which are expected to become available in October. Kobo seems to be taking a similar approach with their tablets as Amazon by offering two 7-inch […]

World’s smallest Mac (clue: it’s a Pi)

A short post today: I’m running around getting ready to go to the airport. Yesterday, I found this piece of downright splendour at Cult of Mac.

It’s made by John Leake, from RetroMacCast. And it’s a working Mac, only it’s a third the size you might be expecting. There is (of course) a Pi in there, running a System Software 6.0.8 emulator under Raspbian.

“Mac Mini” suddenly has a whole new spectrum of meaning.

This build was done using a mixture of off-the-shelf parts and hand-moulded PVC – and a Pi. You can hear more about it at this week’s RetroMacCast – I want to find out if there’s anything that fits into the 1/3 size floppy disk slot.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Kobo Magazines to Launch this October

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Kobo for the first time ever conducted a massive launch event in New York City, where media from all over the country converged to check out all of their hardware. Not only did the e-reader company announce a bevy of new tablets, but unveiled their brand new magazine service.

Kobo Magazines current has over 250 titles available and more are being added every day. They intend on launching the service in October and hope to have over one thousand issues available. Major publishers have been attracted to the platform and we will see Conde Nast and Hearst contribute all of their major assets.

Last year Kobo made their first major acquisition with Aquafadas, who specializes in plugins and tools aimed to assist publishers to digitize their content and make it available for magazine or graphic novels. The new Kobo magazine initiative is the first time the technology will be deployed and distributed to publishers to help put their content in the Kobo ecosystem.  I have heard that the entire process is super easy and will give customers who buy the 10 HD the chance to get the same resolution that the printers get at the presses.

Magazines will be available in single issue and yearly subscriptions. Currently there is no system in place for publishers to give deals on subscription rates. The current Holy Grail for digital magazines are to offer a reduced rate for the first month or year and then jack the prices up. Most companies cannot do this, even though its the way print has always worked. Kobo has assured me that as the platform matures, they will offer this. What are you going to pay for magazines? They will be very competitive and the exact rates are set by the publishers and Kobo gets an indeterminate cut of each sale. I talked to a number of high level executives and no one would give me a definitive answer. They would only say that it was financially worth it.

One of the most exciting aspects of the magazine platform is that back issues will be available on day one. Most publishers really want to be able to sell previous issues and offer their compete catalog. This is useful for research or for collectors, I know many of my friends parents have the complete collection of National Geographic in physical form and its currently impossible to do it digitally. This is something that is important to both publishers and Kobo, and they are implementing it right away,

Instead of consistently pinching and zooming like most major magazine apps, Kobo is doing something different. They are employing Guided Reading which uses a simple one-tap interface that intelligently moves from one column of text to the next. Removing distractions so Readers can focus on the content, Kobo eliminates the need for toolbars – creating a more crisp and clean interface.

The magazine content system will be available in October, with the launch of the Kobo Arc 10 HD and 7 HD. By the end of the year it will be available on Android and other devices. Don’t expect to ever see it on their e-Ink readers, as you don’t really get a good experience.

Kobo Magazines to Launch this October is a post from: E-Reader News

Marvel Beefs Up Marvel Unlimited App—and Adds Something Extra

Marvel Unlimited Plus

On Monday, Marvel released an update for its Marvel Unlimited iOS and Android apps that addresses the two biggest complaints people have had about it: Not being able to download enough comics and not being able to find comics in the first place. And for fans who want something tangible to go with their digital comics, they have just launched Marvel Unlimited Plus.

Marvel Unlimited is a subscription service that allows the user access to over 13,000 Marvel comics as long as the subscription is active; it costs $9.99 a month or $69.00 a year. It’s kind of clunky on a computer, but earlier this year they released iOS and Android apps that are much easier to use. The apps allowed readers to download up to six comics to for offline reading, which many readers felt wasn’t enough, and as I noted in my review of the iOS app, it was often hard to find specific comics.

This week’s update increases the number of comics that can be downloaded to 12 at a time, and it also allows the user to search for a comic by publication date. The search function is a little clunky: You can scroll through years or month/year combinations, but you make your choice by clicking “done,” and then you have to touch the “search” button to see the comics. When you are done with the page, you hit “cancel” to return to the search page. It’s not particularly intuitive—the red “done” button feels like it’s going to close out the page, not move you to the next step, and on the results page, a simple back button would be much clearer than “cancel.” Still, just being able to do this is a step in the right direction.

Marvel Unlimited Plus is sort of a platinum version of Marvel Unlimited. The annual fee is $99, and for your extra thirty bucks you get a welcome kit that includes a special Ultron figure and an issue of Age of Ultron with a variant cover. Plus you get a membership card—what, no decoder ring?—and other perks such as “special Marvel news and discounts,” which sounds like unlimited e-mails to me. In an interview with USA Today, senior product manager Julia Druk called Marvel Unlimited Plus “a dramatic expansion of the benefits we’re offering to our members,” adding, “Instead of a relaunch, it’s more of an expansion of the platform to become that ultimate fan experience and offer the best part of Marvel — not just the best of digital comics.”

Marvel Beefs Up Marvel Unlimited App—and Adds Something Extra is a post from: E-Reader News