Linebaugh Library Techblog: 08/17/13

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Video: Blackberry Q5 and Blackberry Z10 Comparison

The Blackberry Q5 is the latest smartphone to hit the market and bears a striking resemblance to Blackberry Curve. The Z10 and Q5 are both very different phones, though they have the same BB10 operating system. How do these phones rank up against each other? We put them head to head in e-Reading, audio, video and some key app store differences.

The Q5 has a 2.1 inch screen that is basically a square, while the Z10 has a 3.1 touchscreen. The key difference is that the Q5 has a full QWERTY Keyboard, which may appeal to people on a budget and love to type. These two phones will appeal to business customers in a different ways. The Q5 costs less than half of the Z10 and Q5, which may do well in emerging markets. The Z10 is more of a multimedia device, videos, apps and everything else performs very well.

Video: Blackberry Q5 and Blackberry Z10 Comparison is a post from: E-Reader News

The eBook Lawsuits Are Over…Where’s My Money?

As is the case in lawsuits involving major corporations having to pay monetary damages to their customers, the payouts from the Apple and Big Five ebook price fixing scandal will be slow in coming. With Apple’s damages not to even be determined until late spring of next year, the only payments that have taken place are in the form of the settlements that the publishers reached early into the investigation. Once the attorneys involved had received their portion, the remainder had to be divided according to purposeful distribution.

But how do consumers know if they qualify for a refund, and how will they find out?

According to a website set up on this issue, eBooksAGSettlements.com, there are eligibility requirements:

“You are an Eligible Consumer and could qualify for money from the Settlements if:
1. You purchased an E-book that was published by Hachette, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster,
Penguin, or Macmillan (as well as all other names under which these publishers also publish
E-books), and
2. The purchase was made from April 1, 2010 through May 21, 2012, and
3. You were a resident of 1) a state other than Minnesota, 2) the District of Columbia, or 3) one of
the five U.S. Territories and Commonwealths at the time of purchase. US Territories include: Puerto
Rico, Guam, US Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa. (Your residency for these
Settlements is determined by the billing address on the credit card you used for your purchases.)

“Certain people or entities are not included in the Settlements, as follows:
1. Residents of Minnesota are not eligible to recover anything under the Settlements because the
Minnesota Attorney General chose not to participate.
2. Residents of countries other than the United States and its territories and commonwealths are not
included in the Settlements.
3. Only individuals are included. Business, governments, libraries, non-profits, and other entities are
not included.
4. Rental E-books, free E-books, and E-books received as gifts are not included. (Only purchasers
are included in the Settlements. If you received an E-book as a gift, you are not included. The
person who purchased it for you may be included.)”

Minnesota residents are able to file their own lawsuits against the publishers and Apple, but were not included in the much-discussed lawsuit.

The eBook Lawsuits Are Over…Where’s My Money? is a post from: E-Reader News

Amazon Publishing Newest Imprint Focuses on Biographies

Amazon’s traditional publishing arm has grown at an incredible rate to include a wide variety of genre-based imprints. Its Kindle Singles platform, which focuses on long-form journalism, has seen probably the most surprising growth, indicating that an increasing number of readers are going back to the once-revered essay-length publications that were often serialized in journals, magazines, and newspapers.

Now, capitalizing on the growing popularity of these digital only publications, Amazon Publishing has announced its newest imprint for biographies, Icons. Its first title is due out in December of this year and kicks off with one of the most iconic figures in history, Jesus Christ.

While Jesus is undoubtedly a tough act to follow, the first series of ten titles will include other noted biographies: Alfred Hitchcock, Josef Stalin, David Lynch, Ernest Hemmingway, Edgar Allen Poe, Lucien Freud, JD Salinger, Vincent Van Gogh, and Hannah Arendt.

One of the goals of the Icons imprint is to highlight important life stories as written by well-known authors. This latest Amazon launch may prove that Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, has an eye on more than just commerce and instead is working to celebrate educational, insightful reading for devoted non-fiction readers.

Critics have already argued over Amazon’s choice of names for this inaugural line-up, noting that only one woman was represented. Amazon’s point in the selection was that they chose the authors of these biographies, and not the subjects. By focusing on celebrated authors to pen these titles, Amazon allowed the authors to select biography subjects whom they were passionate about, rather than assigning them book report-style. More titles will be forthcoming after this series launches, so there will certainly be a larger scale of subjects to choose from.

Amazon Publishing Newest Imprint Focuses on Biographies is a post from: E-Reader News

How the Strand sells print books to ebook readers

Avi Solomon snapped this pic of the window display at NYC bookstore The Strand lauding the virtues of their "Real books priced lower than ebooks," including the fact that you can read them during take-off and landing.

http://boingboing.net/2013/08/16/how-the-strand-sells-print-boo.html

Kobo Cuts Price of Arc by $100, Schedules Event to Announce New eReaders (Probably)

This past week Kobo did a couple of things to strengthen the notion that they plan to announce new devices soon. Most notably, Kobo sent out invitations to a press event to “See What's Next from Kobo” scheduled for Tuesday, August 27th in New York. Most likely Kobo will unveil what appears to be a […]

Seniors in Japan More Likely to Adopt eBooks

A survey to ascertain the pattern of ebook usage in Japan has thrown up some startling results. For what has come to the fore is that it is the older generation and not the gen next that has been found to be more comfortable adopting to the digital version the books.

The survey was conducted by the e-book section of Toppan Printing Co and covered 826 individuals from all age groups who had been to the Tokyo International Book Fair. What the survey has revealed is that a whooping 70 percent of the respondents in their 20s have said they prefer reading off the traditional printed books than the corresponding digital version. However, what is surprising is that it is more than 50 percent of those on the other side of 70s said they'd rather prefer ebooks.

As for reasons, 52.5 percent cited lower costs for ebooks to explain their preference for the digital format while those who have already been hooked on to the ebooks, a sizeable 70.4 percent said they look forward to more titles to be made into digital versions.

The above defies the global trend where it is the younger generation that has been quick to adopt new emerging technology though it could just be a matter of time before the gen next too begin to begin to appreciate the many virtues that ebooks have to offer.

Seniors in Japan More Likely to Adopt eBooks is a post from: E-Reader News

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