| Seslenen Kitap which in local dialect means 'The Book That Speaks' has become the first audio bookshop in Turkey. The audio books which the authorities claim have been priced quite reasonably can be bought outright or can be presented to others as a gift. On offer will be audio books from some of the most contemporary writers of the country which includes the likes of Canan Tan, Ayşe Kulin, Buket Uzuner, Can Dündar and so on. Twelve of the writers have also lent their voice to record at least one of their books which makes the first phase of the project. Those behind the endeavor have stated plans are already afoot to include more writers in future. One can have more information from the company website www.seslenenkitap.com which also includes voice samples of the authors reading aloud their own writings.
Seslenen Kitap is the First Audio Book Shop in Turkey is a post from: E-Reader News |
Friday, January 31, 2014
Seslenen Kitap is the First Audio Book Shop in Turkey
Recorded Books LLC Taken Over by Wasserstein
| Recorded Books LLC have changed hands with Wasserstein & Co. being the new owners of the premier company that has been providing unabridged audiobooks and other digital content or related services to schools, libraries and the open market. Recorded Books has to its credit more than 13,500 exclusive audiobooks and has extensive operations in the US, UK and Australia. Recorded Books also has more than 100,000 ebooks to offer libraries via its proprietary OneClick Digital platform, along with a dozen other electronic resources which includes Zinio, a provider of digital magazines for various ereading platforms. Recorded Books also maintains a distribution agreement with IndieFlix, a streaming movie service. Speaking of the development, Rich Freese, President and CEO of Recorded Books said, “We are excited to work with Wasserstein & Co., whose expertise in the stewardship of content-owning media businesses will enable us to expand our leadership position in the audiobook, eBook, and digital content markets. This strategic partnership provides us with the resources to further broaden our content offerings and services for customers, and accelerate our growth into additional global markets.” “Recorded Books is a premier audiobook publisher, drawing from the days when it pioneered the industry over thirty years ago,” commented Anup Bagaria, Co-Managing Partner of Wasserstein & Co. “With a proven management team, a portfolio of high quality exclusive content, and proprietary technology, Recorded Books is well-positioned to capitalize on the shift from physical audiobook formats to digital content. We look forward to working closely with the Recorded Books team as it continues to build on its long-standing customer relationships and track record of strong growth.” Rick Noble, CEO of Haights Cross Communications too sounded optimistic of the new arrangement, saying: “With their world-class digital platform and new eBook offering rapidly gaining momentum, the timing is perfect for Recorded Books to be joining a quality, growth-oriented private equity firm like Wasserstein & Co. We wish them all every success.”
Recorded Books LLC Taken Over by Wasserstein is a post from: E-Reader News |
Top 10 New Android Apps of the Week – Jan 31 2014
| This week has been dominated by Flappy Bird, the seminal new app that has been resulting in broken phones and tablets. Vine has been exploding with rage quits and Youtube has had lots of videos of people doing really well. Today, we look at the best new apps of the week. Flappy Bird – The basic premise of the game is simple: keep your bird aloft and guide it between a series of pipes for as long as you can. For each pipe you safely negotiate you get one point. Hitting a pipe or running aground ends the game. That's it. Tuned In – We all love TV. Share what you love about it using this app for the chance to appear on national television. Download the Tuned In app and watch TV on February 6 starting at 8:58PM EST to follow the instructions in a unique real-time interactive TV experience launching the app. The app will activate on February 6 prior to the interactive event and remain active afterward for anytime use. Scrap Tank – In a world dominated by sinister robots, take control of the Scrap Tank and take the fight to them! Battle your way through the metal onslaught using an impressive array of hi-tech weapons. Do you have what it takes to survive against endless hordes of tanks, jets, airstrikes, missiles, helicopters and kamikaze bots? Restaurant Story: Valentine’s – The #1 FREE virtual restaurant game returns with Restaurant Story: Valentine's Day! Minigore 2: Zombies – Minigore 2 is an award-winning action game starring Egoraptor! Dual-stick shooter masterpiece from the creators of Ice Rage, KingHunt and Bike Baron. Olympic TV – Olympic.tv App, using the Olympic Video Player (OVP), is an exciting live video service, enabling users to watch live and on-demand video of all competition sessions at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games (live competition during Feb. 6, 2014 – Feb. 23 2014). Animal Zoo – help animals – Wow， so many species of lovely animals are in the zoo! But what makes it really strange is that those adorable animals are all look so downhearted! Oops! Some of them are starving while some of them are ill. Let's help those little poor things to regain vitality. Nexercise = fun weight loss - Best app ever. This is one of the best motivation apps to date. I am constantly trying to get more xp then my friends and I got to say, It's fun! Since I have been using this app I have lost a total of 24+ pounds and only need to lose about 20 more pounds! If you are having trouble losing weight than this app is great for you!" Energy Bar – Adds a configurable Energy Bar at the top of your screen indicating current Battery level. And just when you think, such a simple bar can display such a crucial information, try plugging in your charger – you'll be amazed by the details of the animation you'll see. The pulsating animation and the bar together not only indicates the current Battery level but also how much has the Battery charged since you plugged in your charger. Music Quiz – The world's most popular music quiz has finally arrived in your country with content selected especially for your country ! The concept is simple. It's just like 'name that tune': listen to the song extract and find the name of the song or artist! How many will you recognise? Top 10 New Android Apps of the Week – Jan 31 2014 is a post from: E-Reader News |
Humble Bundle Hires Publishing Mercenary Kelley L. Allen
| Humble Bundle has had a number of highly successful eBook campaigns and has recently experimented with audiobooks. The company wants a continued focus on literary content and has just hired Kelley L. Allen as its Director of eBooks. Kelley was formerly the Director of New Media at Random House and Director of eBook Acquisition at Sony. She was also Manager of ePublishing at Hachette, Manager of Publisher Relations and Marketing at ereader.com and Director, eBookstore and Publishing Relations at Diesel eBooks. She recently left Kobo, as their Vendor Manager to join Humble Bundle in San Francisco. This girl is basically a mercenary, attracted to oportonity and money, with little to no loyalty to the companies she works for. “We’re super excited to have Kelley on the Humble team,” said Steven Kovensky, VP of Partnerships & Strategy at Humble Bundle. “She brings a deep knowledge of the eBook world, and with her guidance we look forward to delivering many compelling bundles to our fans.” Humble Bundle Hires Publishing Mercenary Kelley L. Allen is a post from: E-Reader News |
New Flipboard Feature Lets Readers Target Content
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Flipboard, which first came on the publishing startup scene several years ago, has found that curation is what its readers want. By creating a more magazine-like feel to its new features, the content driver will help readers sort through stories to only those that target their key interests. One such feature is the new Cover Stories, which allows users to bring only the top stories on a given topic together from their subscriptions, as well as opt to bring top stories from only certain selected news sources. Like the popular Twitter papers, this screen allows users to see headlines on a similar topic, as well as headlines from their favorite subscriptions. This lumping-together of content based on user criteria is designed to combat one of the chief complaints that digital reading subscribers have, namely that they are drowning in a never ending amount of content. A user could spend hours every day wading through streams of digital news stories, only to find the process repeated the following day. By bringing together the highlights while still affording readers the ability to tap into longer articles, more consumers can feel as though they are getting real value from their digital subscriptions instead of letting the data fall by the wayside. This new feature adds to the existing ability consumers have always enjoyed to basically create their own personalized magazines through the content they subscribe to, as well as adding content directly from the web with the Bookmarklet plugin.
New Flipboard Feature Lets Readers Target Content is a post from: E-Reader News |
Microsoft Slashes Price of Several Windows 8.1 Tablet at its Stores
| Microsoft has slashed prices of several Windows tablet devices that are being offered via its stores, both online and physical. Among the tablets that can now be picked up for cheap include the Dell Venue 8 Pro which has seen a $70 drop in price from the original $299. This does make the offering quite lucrative for a tablet that offers 32 GB of storage. Also at $229, the Dell Venue 8 Pro is slam bang in the territory of 2013 Nexus 7 that offers 16 GB of storage and an inch less of screen space (but with more pixels) for the same price. Among the others to benefit from the price cut include the Lenovo Miix 2 and the Toshiba Encore which can now be picked up for $249, down from the original $299. Similarly, the Dell Venue 8 Pro with 64 GB onboard now costs $299, a steep drop over the original $349. The Samsung ATIV 3 has been provided an even steeper price cut, now retailing at $499 from the original $699. Microsoft is desperate to see Windows based tablet gain larger visibility among consumers. Its own Surface range has had an excellent fourth quarter and is hoping to push sales of other brands with the hope of creating a large enough user base of the Windows 8.1 platform in the tablet sphere. Chip maker Intel too will be a direct beneficiary of the above move. Interestingly, both Microsoft and Intel have found themselves in a somewhat similar situation with the rapid proliferation of tablet devices and both have a lot to gain from increased sales of Windows based tablets. Worth mentioning here, all the tablet devices mentioned above are built around Intel Bay Trail Z3740D chips that have won accolades owing to their battery saving and performance attributes. What is also interesting is that Microsoft is not extending the generosity to its own Surface range that continues to retail at the original price tags.
Microsoft Slashes Price of Several Windows 8.1 Tablet at its Stores is a post from: E-Reader News |
New Marvel Comics API Program Released
| Marvel Comics has done the unthinkable and released a new set of tools that will allow app and web developers to integrate their site with comic data. The new Marvel Comics API taps into Marvel’s vast library of comics—from what’s coming up, to 70 years ago. This represents the first API program by any major comic book publisher and provides an innovative way for fans to interact with Marvel Entertainment and Marvel's digital content. The Marvel Comics API is a set of web services that give fans access to Marvel’s rich repository of data about over 30,000 comics and 7,000 series. The API lets fans access information from Marvel's 75-year publishing history, including cover art, characters and comic book crossover events. Developers will now have the opportunity to create personal applications and websites that express their individual appreciation and experiences with Marvel Comics. From feeds on blogs to mini-applications, developers everywhere can use the Marvel Comics API to create compelling digital experiences using Marvel's treasure trove of data. Developers can can access only six resource types using the API and all offer a wellspring of options, they are; Comics: individual print and digital comic issues, collections and graphic novels. For example: Amazing Fantasy #15. Peter Olson, VP of Web & Application Development says, "Our API program is a cool new way to explore and interact with Marvel Comics. Unlike lists of books, movies, or news articles, our comics are an inter-connected web (no Spidey pun intended!) of data spanning 75 years. It’s the relationships between them that are fascinating. Everything is connected and continues to expand as more comics are released each week. With our API program, once again, Marvel is changing the comics and publishing technology landscape.” Developers can create accounts, access the API, test drive queries in interactive forms, read documentation and ask questions at Marvel's new Developer Portal at developer.marvel.com. New Marvel Comics API Program Released is a post from: E-Reader News |
NOOBS SD cards back in the Swag Store!
| The 8GB pre-flashed NOOBS SD cards we had in the Swag Store sold out pretty much immediately: we’ve just had another shipment arrive, so get them while they’re hot. At £4 including VAT, plus £1 UK shipping if you’re not buying other swag (please buy more swag), this is the cheapest way to get 8GB of SD memory you’ll find, and you get NOOBS bundled for free. These are Class 6* Samsung micro-SD cards in an SD converter. This card has outperformed many Class 10 cards in our tests, because of the way Samsung handle read/write. The cards optimised for random read/write cycles, unlike the vast majority of cards on the market (which are designed for cameras and video cameras, which read and write at very regular intervals). *Eben says he is to blame for something which will please those of you who already have a NOOBS SD card: we’ve been mis-describing them as Class 4, when they’re actually Class 6. I was hoping there’d be an interesting story behind the mistake, but there isn’t; it’s just boring old human error. Sorry! (And congratulations to all those of you who bought one earlier and are now the proud owners of an even whizzier SD card than you thought.) |
I Love the ‘90s: Nostalgia eBooks and audiobooks
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For people of a certain age, '90s nostalgia is high right now. Mention a popular kid's show from the decade, like Rugrats, and you'll likely see eyes light up for handfuls of adults in their twenties and thirties. Several recent eBooks and audiobooks take a look into pop culture from the end of the 20th century, focusing especially on what one title dubs "Nickelodeon's golden age": Slimed! An Oral History of Nickelodeon's Golden Age – Mathew Klickstein While the book is an unwieldy oral history and can at times be hard to follow, people who grew up watching Nickelodeon in the late '80s and early '90s will get a kick out of reading about some of the behind-the-scenes stories from shows like Hey Dude, Ren & Stimpy and The Adventures of Pete & Pete. Melissa Explains It All – Melissa Joan Hart
Melissa Marin is a Marketing Specialist at OverDrive.
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The Baby Name Wizard
| The OKCupid statistics blog, by Christian Rudder, is amazing. Sadly, it hasn’t updated since 2011, around when OKCupid was bought by Match.com. (Rudder says the timing was a coincidence—he took time off for another project, and the blog may return soon!) In the meantime, I’d like to recommend another unexpectedly engrossing blog: The Baby Name Wizard blog, by Laura Wattenberg (creator of the amazing Name Voyager graphing tool). I find the Baby Name Wizard blog fascinating because, like the OK Cupid Blog, it combines two key ingredients:
The reason I like the blog has nothing to do with naming babies. (I’m not allowed to name babies, anyway.) I like it because we all encounter names every day, all the time, in every part of our life. We all have feelings and opinions about what names mean, but if you’re like me, they were mostly unconscious, unquestioned, and never subject to any statistical rigor. (Freakonomics has a well-known chapter about naming trends, which Wattenberg takes issue with). Nevaeh (“Heaven” backward) is currently a more popular baby name than Sarah. Brooklyn is more popular than either, and Sophia is more popular than all three combined. In 20 years, those names will conjure up images of college kids, and Brandon and Sarah will sound as much like Mom and Dad names as Gary and Debby do to my generation. If you’re like most people, you probably had some opinions when you read the names in the last paragraph. But maybe the biggest thing I’ve learned from reading this blog is that the reactions and stereotypes that names provoke often reveal more interesting stories than the names themselves. For example, you may have heard the urban legend about a mother who named her daughter Le-a, pronounced “Ledasha”. Wattenberg dissects this urban legend in an insightful essay (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), which explains how apocryphal names like Le-a serve, across a wide variety of communities, as proxies for talking about race. Here are a few of the other things I’ve learned from the blog:
That’s just a tiny sampling; if you think any of it sounds interesting, I recommend browsing through the blog’s extensive archives. |
GPS-tracking helmet cam
| Martin O’Hanlon’s a familiar name in these parts, especially for fans of Minecraft: his repository of Pi Minecraft tricks and tutorials is one of our favourite resources. But Martin’s not all about magicking Menger-Sierpinski Sponges into the Minecraft universe: he does wonderful stuff with hardware and the Raspberry Pi too. Here’s some footage from his latest: What you’re looking at here is something we haven’t seen before: camera footage with a GPS overlay, showing the route Martin has skied and his current speed. (Gordon, who has his own helmet cam hack, is quivering with envy.) Martin’s setup, like all the best Raspberry Pi hacks, also involves tupperware. It’s a one-button, one-led design, so it’s as easy as possible to use when you’re wearing ski gloves.  Work in progress You can find everything you’ll need to construct your own at Martin’s Stuff about Code; he’s also done a very detailed writeup of the design process and included plenty of construction tips, along with the usual code and parts list. Thanks Martin! |
Amazon Lets Customers Give Back for Books with Amazon Smile
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The company’s program, Amazon Smile (named in reference to the iconic swooping shape on its boxes), lets consumers designate a 501(c)(3) charitable organization to receive 0.5% of the order price when the purchase was made through the smile.amazon.com website. While still using their same Amazon accounts–including any registries or wish lists they may have created–customers who access the site through a browser (not through an e-reader or Kindle app) can find products that are designated as eligible for the donation. Of the nearly one million organizations that are already eligible to receive these no-consumer-cost donations, several are related to authorship and the book industry, including World Book Night, The Office of Letters and Light (NaNoWriMo), and Books for Africa, along with a host of other recognized non-profit charities related to furthering literacy, education, and writing. Consumers can change their charitable recipients at any time, essentially letting them designate a different charity each month, if they desired. While not all items are eligible for the donation program items that are eligible will be designated on the product detail page. In order to benefit the charities, purchases must be made through Amazon Smile, and not the standard Amazon web page. For more information, go to the Smile information page.
Amazon Lets Customers Give Back for Books with Amazon Smile is a post from: E-Reader News |
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Dutch eBook Pirate Gets Away with Uploading 5,000 Titles to Pirate Bay
| European Anti-Piracy organization BREIN, as not had a very good week. They just lost a major case in Dutch court which saw Internet Providers lift restrictions to the Pirate Bay. The court basically saw the ISP safeguards as being obsolete due to proxy servers and DNS workarounds. The court woes continue for BREIN as the same Dutch court dismissed a case against a 23 year old man who admitted to uploading a whopping 5,000 eBooks to the Pirate Bay. Normally, when someone admits to a crime, it is quite easy to establish guilt and levy a sentence. Apparently BREIN tried the case in a criminal court, trying to make the case that he was apart of a criminal conspiracy with the Pirate Bay. It ended up, he was just a voracious reader who wanted to share his love of books with the world. The Criminal Court stated that this was a Civil matter and washed their hands of the entire situation. Tim Kuik, BREIN's director, commented on the case, saying "Even if each book cost just one sale, there would already be 50,000 euros in lost revenue. The real damage is a multiple of that because the books have been downloaded countless times." Likely BREIN will pursue the case in a civil court, as guilt has already been established and the organization hates to lose. Dutch eBook Pirate Gets Away with Uploading 5,000 Titles to Pirate Bay is a post from: E-Reader News |
National Virtual Library of India Planned
| The Indian government has taken up an ambitious project of digitizing public libraries to ensure ease of access of books to the people. The National Mission on Libraries – as the scheme has been termed – also entails the creation of the National Virtual Library of India which will act as a comprehensive collection of information generated within the country. The rich repository of information, it is believed will act to spur reading habit among the masses besides of course facilitating research and information sharing. Emphasis will also be paid to ensure all including those from rural or under developed regions to have equal priority over information. The scheme involves six libraries that function under the central government's ministry of culture, 35 central libraries in the various states and 35 district libraries to be developed and interlinked as part of the NML project. This apart, 629 district libraries will also be provided with internet connectivity. The Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation (RRRLF) based in Kolkata will act as the nodal agency overseeing the implementation of NML project which is expected to cost 400 crores. “Making information more accessible is now paramount in the library sector. Our libraries may be filled with books, but in the digital age, they need to provide access to information that is available online. Digital libraries provide speedy access to information and they also bridge barriers of time and space,” said Ravindra Singh, secretary, ministry of culture outlining the mission of the project. As part of the NML efforts, enhancing the infrastructure as well as the services offered by the libraries will be accorded importance. Reading habits of members will also be surveyed all across the country as well as among those from the rural and urban regions to determine ways to improve services. “The content should be available to anyone who has access to the Internet. In new content generation, children’s needs should be given priority. Content will also be generated on skill development and matters concerning regional and local interest,” said Dr Banerjee, director general, RRRLF. “There is also need to create a ‘youth space’ in libraries – informal and comfortable with ICT facility,” he added.
National Virtual Library of India Planned is a post from: E-Reader News |
Amazon Prime Membership to Increase by $40
| Amazon Prime membership gives a plethora of benefits to people heavily invested in shopping and has a tablet or e-reader. Since the program launched it cost $79 to get free two day shipping, one free eBook a month, access to Amazon Instant Video and a ton more. The Seattle based company stated during a recent investors call that it was considering increasing the cost of the Prime subscription by $20 to $40. Customers are ordering more things than ever before and Amazon’s costs to do this are increasing. The Video service is also being used at an accelerated rate, primarily due to the success of the Kindle Fire HDX. Many customers are irate due to the prospective price increase. The vast majority are willing to opt out of the video program, if that means the old cost will remain the same. Hundreds of Prime members have stated that if the price increases over $100, they will be cancelling. Amazon Prime Membership to Increase by $40 is a post from: E-Reader News |
Amazon Slashes the Price of the Kindle in the UK
| Amazon has just initiated a price drop on their entry level Kindle e-Reader in the UK today. In order to better compete with the Kobo Touch, that is available at WH Smith for £29, Amazon has slashed their price from £69 to £59. This Kindle does not have a touchscreen, front light or any of the hardware enhancements that the Paperwhite models have. Instead, this is a fairly barebones e-reader that likely appeals to people who have never had one before or hunting around for a bargain. The Kindle features a six ink e-ink Pearl display with a resolution of 600×800 pixels. It has 167 PPI and 16 levels of greyscale which is on par with prior offerings of the Kindle device. It has 2 GB of internal memory, but only has 1.25 GB that you can load your own content onto it. There is no expandable memory via SD or MicroSD. Books are purchased from Amazon, which you can connect to via WIFI. Amazon Slashes the Price of the Kindle in the UK is a post from: E-Reader News |
Libraries upload Local Content to raise awareness of local history and authors
| In the fall, libraries and schools regained the ability to upload locally created content through OverDrive Marketplace and since that time, more than 1,000 titles have been uploaded and are available to be added to digital collections around the world. Unique titles have been uploaded ranging from family backgrounds, local histories, self-help and even videos about basic IT and coding.
OD: Can you share a few details about Mid-Continent Public Library's Oral Interview audiobook series? MC: Mid-Continent Public Library is fortunate to have the Midwest Genealogy Center as one of its branches. The Midwest Genealogy Center is one of the nation’s preeminent resources for family history, and oral history is an important part of family research. It is connecting with family still living to discover stories and to flesh out the character of those who have gone before us. MCPL's oral history program, Tell Me a Story, gives our customers the opportunity to record and preserve the memories, stories and living history of residents in the metro area. OD: Local content can give your digital collection a more personal feel. How do you anticipate these local histories will make your digital collection unique and possibly engage a new user base in your community with digital content? MC: Oral histories are stories, like much of the content already on OverDrive. Placing these local histories on OverDrive is a way to make them available to our customers who are already accessing other digital content, but may not be aware of this local history project, and hopefully, encouraging new customers to create their own oral histories through our program. OD: Is there anything else you'd like to share with other libraries on your success with adding local content to your digital collection? MC: Utilizing OverDrive to share oral histories recorded through our Tell Me a Story program allows us to support one of our library's main goals: to help customers express themselves through original content creation. This partnership with OverDrive paves the way for future work that will be created through our Story Center, which is currently in development. Our Story Center will serve as a national resource for the storytelling arts. We hope to further our partnership with OverDrive by continuing to share our community's oral histories and branching out to support the creation and publication of written and digital stories.
Other libraries and schools who have uploaded content include North Lakes State College, A.B. Patterson College and the Diocese of Wollongong in Australia, Derby City Library in the U.K. and Frontier School Division. Have you uploaded any local content yet? If so, tell us your story! To learn more about how to upload Local Content to your library's digital collection, view the Local Content training module from OverDrive's Learning Center. Adam Sockel is a Marketing Communications Specialist with OverDrive.
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“Wattpad Is for Writers and Readers”
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Wattpad has made a name for itself through its mobile reading application, its connection between authors, readers, and publishers, and its record 24 million registered users. But many authors are still unsure of what it is that Wattpad is supposed to do for them. “Wattpad is really great at helping authors build an audience and create fans. Obscurity is the biggest probelm that indie authors face,” explained Ashleigh Gardner, Head of Content, Publishing at Wattpad, in an interview with Good e-Reader. But for many authors, that equates to simply placing a story or novel excerpt on Wattpad and sitting back to wait for the readers to come. Gardner explained why that will prove ineffective for the majority of authors, comparing that tactic to sending out hundreds of tweets per day on Twitter but not having any followers to read them. “the problem is they just post content, then sit back and expect people to come and find it. They really need to control this and treat it as a strategy. If you find similiar writers on the site and comment on their work, and make an authentic conncetion, that's a great way to start interacting. The more people comment, the more people will see it.” While Gardner admitted that there is a high percentage of young adults who read on Wattpad–largely due to the popularity of their mobile reading app–she explained that a significant number of users are actually of a wider variety of ages, and that communities are built around almost every conceivable genre. “As authors, you need to go native on Wattpad. You need to follow other people and see how they're using the platform.”
“Wattpad Is for Writers and Readers” is a post from: E-Reader News |
How to Customize ClipArt
If you're kind of artistically challenged, like me, or even if you're just short on time, you probably find yourself using Clip Art a lot. But sometimes the best image you can find isn't exactly what you want. Find out how to customize Clip Art images in this post! |
New App Paper Renders Facebook Obsolete
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First, it’s only available for your iPhone (sorry Galaxy fans), but it looks and behaves a lot like the Facebook app for Android tablets, so Android users aren’t left entirely out in the cold. Of course, this is a massive step up from the Poke app, which was the last thing Facebook tried to do to get creative. One final kudos mention for Paper is the way Facebook has rolled it out. Rather than trying to replace Facebook for its billion-or-so users (remember the outrage over Timelines?), Paper’s availability only on iPhone lets them gauge what users do and don’t like about the entirely revamped way to use Facebook without having to interfere with a good-sized country’s population-worth of users. So what makes Paper so newsworthy? Well, the news. The app makes the entire interface work like a crisp newspaper, lumping news stories, statues updates, and even its compose feature into a more reader-friendly format. By stripping away almost all of the touchable buttons and relying on patterns of screen swipes to navigate, the experience looks and feels a lot more like a magazine-styled app. Even the feature that moves the user through a photograph by tilting the phone rather than swiping is more intuitive, and much more in line with how readers would move an actual photograph to see more. Paper will be released February 3rd, but early reports from sneak peekers are already claiming that, while Facebook won’t be going anywhere, the app that iOS users have come to rely on may quickly be replaced with Paper.
New App Paper Renders Facebook Obsolete is a post from: E-Reader News |
eBook Fans Demand Print
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According to the Atria Newsroom site, “If you've been anywhere near our Twitter feed or Atria Indie Authors page, you've seen a movement. #1 Bestseller Colleen Hoover's fans, under the name #CoHorts, started a petition to have Finding Cinderella, a free e-short story, turned into a printed book (because you can't smell an e-reader, and their shelves were lonely). 5,000 tweets, hundreds of posts and memes, and a few Harry Connick Jr. references later, we've finally announced that we are printing the book! “Finding Cinderella printed edition will be released in paperback on March 18th, 2014 and will include an exclusive epilogue not featured in the e-book, a note from the author, and will feature fan tweets from the #FindingCinderella campaign on the back inside cover!” While the upcoming book itself is rather short, the print edition will feature bonus material, including some of the tweets that got the ball rolling in the first place. Other features will include giveaways, a contest to find online retails’ preorder links, a transcript of the Twitter chat with the author, and more. While the fans who worked so hard to achieve this goal will have to wait an annoyingly long (and confusing) amount of time for the release of the print book, that time will be spent enjoying the many ways that the publisher has demonstrated its willingness to connect and interact with its customers. This is a rather exciting amount of publisher-author-fan interaction, and hopefully more publishers will follow suit with this level of engagement with their readers.
eBook Fans Demand Print is a post from: E-Reader News |
Daily Deals & Freebies – January 30
| Kindle Daily Deals Poppet by Mo Hayder Mo Hayder has for years been a master of chilling, seamlessly-plotted thrillers that keep the reader glued to the page long after lights out, and fresh off of winning the Edgar Award for Best Novel for Gone, Hayder is at the top of her game. Her latest novel, […] |
Accelerating Fourier transforms using the GPU
| Andrew Holme is well known to regular blog readers, as the creator of the awesome (and fearsomely clever) homemade GPS receiver. Over the last few months he’s been experimenting with writing general purpose code for the VideoCore IV graphics processing unit (GPU) in the BCM2835, the microchip at the heart of the Raspberry Pi, to create an accelerated fast Fourier transform library. Taking the Fourier transform of a function yields its frequency spectrum (i.e. the pure harmonic functions which can be added together to reconstruct the original function). In the following example, shamelessly lifted from Wikipedia, we have a function which oscillates roughly three times per second, and whose Fourier transform unsurprisingly has a peak around 3Hz. Being able to perform lots of Fourier transforms quickly is useful for all sorts of audio and radio applications including, unsurprisingly, GPS. Ham radio enthusiasts will also find Andrew’s work very useful. In this guest post, Andrew talks about his Fourier transform library for the Pi. Last October, Eben attended the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) Convention, where radio amateurs told him they wanted a speedy fast Fourier transform (FFT) library to do Software Defined Radio (SDR) projects on the Pi. GPU_FFT is an FFT library for the Raspberry Pi which exploits the BCM2835 SoC V3D hardware to deliver ten times the performance that is possible on the 700 MHz ARM. Kernels are provided for all power-of-2 FFT lengths from 256 to 131,072 points inclusive. GPU_FFT uses single-precision floating point for data and twiddle factors, so it does not compete on accuracy with double-precision libraries; however, the relative root-mean-square (rms) error for a 2048-point transform is less than one part per million, which is not bad. The library runs on dedicated 3D hardware in the BCM2835 SoC, and communication between ARM and GPU adds 100µs of latency which is much longer than the shortest transform takes to compute! To overcome this, batches of transforms can be executed with a single call. Typical per-transform runtimes in microseconds are:
To get GPU_FFT enter the following at the command prompt:
To build and run the example program:
API documentation can be found in the hello_fft folder. |
Sainsbury’s to give away 2 Million Free eBooks
| Sainsbury's is likely the only big grocery store that also has a very healthy eBook ecosystem. They are one of the most prominent companies in the UK and they have just ironed out a new agreement with Penguin to give away two million eBooks for free. The offer is mainly applicable to children and they can download a free copy of Jacqueline Wilson’s Tracy Beaker and Hetty Feather and James Patterson's Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life and I Funny when they buy any packet of Sainsbury's own-brand cereal starting today. Sainsbury launched their eBook platform after purchasing a 60% of HMV Group's shareholding in Anobii for a nominal 1 pound. At the time, Anobii had 600,000 users worldwide and a library of 60,000 ebooks. Books for cereal? Sounds like a square deal, the company better be prepared to give a lot away. Last year, they sold over six million boxes. Sainsbury’s to give away 2 Million Free eBooks is a post from: E-Reader News |
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Amazon to Compete with PayPal and Apple with new Kindle Checkout System
| Amazon is poised to release a new P2P cloud based payment system that seeks to compete against Square and Paypal. The Kindle Checkout System will be powered by technology acquired by GoPago, which Amazon bought out last year. The essence of the Kindle Checkout system is to allow vendors to take orders or scan credit cards to make purchases. Retail locations is still where 90% of all commerce is conducted and Amazon will supply everyone with Kindle Fire tablets with a build in credit card and debit scanner. The Wall Street Journal mentions that “Amazon also might seek to create a so-called mobile wallet with stored credit-card information to help speed payments. The company last year rolled out a one-click digital button for processing online and mobile payments on other retailers’ websites using Amazon customers’ credit cards.” The Amazon development of a new payment system comes at a time where Apple is actively creating their own solution. They basically want to bill peoples iTunes account directly via a customers ID number. Since Apple is the leading phone by a wide margin in North America, hooking up retailers with the ability to just bill people. How will Apple handle this? iBeacon technology has been garnering a ton of news lately, that first hit the scene with iOS 7. It uses Bluetooth Low Energy to create proximity based networks that can detect the physical presence of a phone in a store or at the register. It also included fingerprint ID in the iPhone 5s, which could be used to authenticate a customer – not just his or her device – is present to authorize a sale. Amazon to Compete with PayPal and Apple with new Kindle Checkout System is a post from: E-Reader News |
Samsung Rumored to Launch AMOLED Tablet at MWC 2014
| Samsung is reported to have initiated mass production of 8 and 10.5 inch AMOLED displays which have led analysts to believe the South Korean company might be prepping AMOLED display based tablet devices for a launch sometime in the near future. Further, with an event as big as the MWC, it would perhaps be safe to conclude we might be treated with working samples of the same during the event in February. Samsung can be associated with AMOLED displays for long though that applies to smartphone devices only. Samsung also had a Galaxy Tab version, one with a 7.7 inch AMOLED display that did enthrall users with its brilliant display though unfortunately, it was among the Galaxy Tab versions that got banned as a fallout of the infamous court battle with Apple. However, there were no precedents ever since which was largely due to several technical difficulties in producing bigger AMOLED displays in sizeable numbers in a cost effective manner. However, that seems to have been taken care of effectively now that rumors of 8 and 10 inch sized tablets with AMOLED displays have begun to take center stage as we approach the MWC. The prestigious event unfolds in Spain from 24 – 27 February.
Samsung Rumored to Launch AMOLED Tablet at MWC 2014 is a post from: E-Reader News |
Lenovo Buys Motorola from Google for $2.91 Billion
| Lenovo hopes to enter the ultra competitive North American market by agreeing to terms with Google for Motorola. The entire deal is the largest in Lenovo’s history and will cost them $2.91 billion dollars. The deal with Google is the second one in the last few weeks, as the Chinese company bought IBM’s low-end server business for $2.3 billion. Google originally bought Motorola in 2011 for a staggering 12.2 billion dollars. The main reason they did it was for the patents that had, which they will use to fight off companies trying to slam them with licensing fees. According to a Nomura analyst, Microsoft’s comprehensive Android licensing agreements with smartphone companies earned it nearly $2 billion this financial year. When this deal goes through, Lenovo will the 3rd largest handset manufacturer in the US. One of the big proponents of the deal is Motorola’s existing agreements with retailers and carriers, that instantly gives the Chinese manufacturer a broad reach into mobile markets all over the globe. They will also keep the existing executive team that is based out of Chicago and has publicly acknowledged their confidence. “The acquisition of such an iconic brand, innovative product portfolio and incredibly talented global team will immediately make Lenovo a strong global competitor in smartphones. We will immediately have the opportunity to become a strong global player in the fast-growing mobile space," said Yang Yuanqing, chairman and CEO of Lenovo. "We are confident that we can bring together the best of both companies to deliver products customers will love and a strong, growing business. Lenovo has a proven track record of successfully embracing and strengthening great brands – as we did with IBM's Think brand – and smoothly and efficiently integrating companies around-the-world. I am confident we will be successful with this process, and that our companies will not only maintain our current momentum in the market, but also build a strong foundation for the future." Lenovo Buys Motorola from Google for $2.91 Billion is a post from: E-Reader News |
e-Reading Experience on the iPad Mini 2
| Today Michael and Peter bring you the e-reading experience found on the iPad Mini with Retina. Often, Apple products make fairly solid eBook readers and you can get a sense on how the iBooks app works and get an overview of the bookstore. The iPad Mini with Retina has one of the highest resolution displays on the market and features a 8.9 inch screen. The extra real estate allows you to fit more text on the screen at any given time. The iBooks app doesn’t come pre-loaded on the iPad, but instead is one of the recommended installs when you fire up the App Store for the first time. The iBooks app and Apple Bookstore is the only ecosystem found on the iPad that allows you to buy books. Amazon, Kobo, Sony, B&N and hundreds of other retailers do not allow you buy books via their apps. This is attributed to the mandatory percentage Apple takes off the top, out of any in-app purchase. Can you imagine how much extra revenue they would glean if Amazon had to give them 30% of each book purchased? If you are looking to utilize the second generation iPad Mini as an e-reader to read fiction or non-fiction novels, this video will help decide if it ideal for your circumstances.
e-Reading Experience on the iPad Mini 2 is a post from: E-Reader News |
BlackBerry 10.2.1 Update Allows you to Install APK Files on your Phone
| Blackberry has just initiated a global rollout of their new 10.2.1 update for the Blackberry Z10, Q10, Q5 AND Z30. The most exciting new element of said update, is the ability to load in Android Apps (APK Files) directly on your phone, without the need of bulky, cumbersome software. Over a year ago, Blackberry unveiled its latest operating system for smartphones, which was quite different then any of their previous offerings. One of the more captivating features was the Android Emulator, that allowed developers to port over their Android apps from the APK to the BAR format. This was developed to make the Blackberry ecosystem more attractive for big time apps, like Skype, Whatsapp, Vine, Instagram and mainstream game titles. Sadly, the emulator only supported Gingerbread, which limited the ability to run modern titles. This has all changed with the advent of the 10.2.1 update. Users can now download and install APK Files using the web browser of your phone. Alternatively, you could download APK files from the internet, transfer them to your phone with the USB cable, and then click on the apps with your phones file browser to install them. I recommend you install the Good e-Reader App Store. The Good e-Reader APP Store client has been actively been developed for the last three years. In terms of market share, Good e-Reader is 5th in the world with over 140,000 Android Apps available to be downloaded, for free. Our intuitive home screen puts the priority on the best new apps, such as Flappy Bird, Tuned In, or Tekken Arena. We also have your quintessential ‘must installs’ with ES File Explorer, Vine, Instagram, Flash, and many more! In order to get started with the update, you need to click on your settings button and then click on Software Updates. The entire update should take around 30 minutes. Your phone will reboot after that and you are ready to install the Good e-Reader Android App Market on your Phone. Simply open up your phones web-browser and click on click on this link – http://bit.ly/1jKgpUB BlackBerry 10.2.1 Update Allows you to Install APK Files on your Phone is a post from: E-Reader News |
SelfPublishing Platforms Hit Hard by DIY Authors
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As not only print and digital publishing opportunities grow for indie authors, distribution options have also grown. Where authors at one time did not have the benefit of retailers like Amazon and Kobo to sell their titles for them, it was the vanity presses who had to step in. Now that authors have tools at their disposal to produce and distribute their own content at the click of a mouse and with little to no upfront fees required, the companies formerly known as self-publishing options are falling by the wayside. An article in Publisher’s Weekly outlines the demise of one such company, WinePress Publishing, who unfortunately closed its doors amid accusations of ripping off authors and its own employees, including allegations that its CEO was brainwashed into selling what had been a multi-million dollar company to her church pastor for only $10. Over the years, WinePress Publishing has lashed back through lawsuits at people who have criticized its practices. Companies like Book Baby have taken the often-disparaged vanity press model and revitalized it into a legitimate tool for authors today. They’ve altered the business model to remove the additional royalties that vanity presses were notorious for collecting (above the upfront costs they charged), and given more control to authors. For entities like WinePress and the host of allegations that accompanied it, though, the time has come to be replaced with the current self-publishing model.
SelfPublishing Platforms Hit Hard by DIY Authors is a post from: E-Reader News |
Scribd Launches eBook Subscription Service For The Kindle Fire Tablet
| Scribd has lined up a treat for owners of the Kindle Fire range of tablet devices; the company’s online ebook subscription service which has now been extended to include to the Kindle Fire tablets. This has been made possible via an app that was launched on Wednesday and will offer unlimited ebook downloads for the same $9 a month as it offers for other Android and iOS devices. The above move does make a lot of sense considering the Kindle Fire range are oriented more towards reading books (along with other Amazon services such as it movies and music streaming services) and having a presence here means a head start right away for Scribd. “Since launching our subscription book service, our readers around the world have been asking for an app that worked with Kindle Fire,” said Trip Adler, CEO and cofounder of Scribd. “It's one of the most popular reading devices available today and we want to enable our readers to enjoy Scribd across any of their devices.” However, those eager to try out the Scribd service will have to avail of the app directly from the company site as the same isn’t listed at the Amazon app store for Kindle Fire tablets. Further, with an agreement with only one major publisher – HarperCollins – Scribd for sure will not have as wide a choice so far as ebooks are concerned.
Scribd Launches eBook Subscription Service For The Kindle Fire Tablet is a post from: E-Reader News |
Samsung Announces Galaxy Tab Version For Google Play For Education Program
| Samsung is prepping a Galaxy Tab version to be used almost entirely for educational purpose. The announcement was made at the FEC 2014 event and will be aimed at students in the K12 level. The launch of the tablet is in line with the Google Play for Education program that so far includes the Nexus 7, ASUS Transformer Pad, and the HP Slate 8 Pro devices. The 10.1 inch Galaxy Tab will be the newest addition to the list and will be made available in April, that is before the 2014-15 academic year commences. The Samsung tablet will also be the second choice in the 10 inch category for students to consider, the other being the Transformer Pad. However, with the device essentially being the Galaxy Tab 3, the biggest change will be with the software which has been tweaked enough to allow for a simple setup process and device management along with ease of 'access to curated educational content, and other features to support dynamic, digital teaching and learning', the press release revealed. Onboard will be the latest Android 4.4 KitKat version, something that regular users of the tablet too will be all too eager to have on their devices. However, the company is yet to reveal the price of the tablet which will be made available only to schools and in bulk.
Samsung Announces Galaxy Tab Version For Google Play For Education Program is a post from: E-Reader News |
The updated, improved Test Drive
| Has it been a while since you last took a look at OverDrive's Test Drive program? If so, then it might be worth taking another look. We've been updating the website, adding new devices and archiving ones that are hard to find. For those of you that may be unfamiliar (or didn't read Justin's post from the 10th), Test Drive is a program for libraries and schools that provides resources for device lending. If you follow the guidelines for our Test Drive devices, you can safely lend tablets that your patrons and students can use to borrow and enjoy titles from your OverDrive digital collection. We carefully test and review each gadget on our list to make sure it's of good quality and makes sense as a lendable device. Here are the newest Test Drive Approved devices:
I'll be posting a review of the Tegra Note 7 (one of my favorites out of the new devices) soon, so be on the lookout. On top of the new tablets, we're working on making the Test Drive website better and easier to navigate, so please keep checking back for updates. In the meantime, if you have questions or feedback about the program, post in the comments below. Quinton Lawman is a Technical Writer at OverDrive. |
Daily Deals & Freebies – January 29
| News and Deals $30 off tablets $149 and up at Staples with coupon code 50053 How the ‘Netflix of books’ won over the publishing industry (Q&A) – Oyster has grown its library of books available to its all-you-can-eat subscribers to more than 100,000 titles. CEO Eric Stromberg told CNET how it happened, and how the […] |
Laika Explorer: what it’s like to build a Raspberry Pi accessory startup
| A lot of companies are building Raspberry Pi add-ons – Raspberry Pi accessory businesses have been called out by the UK Telegraph this year as one of their top 2014 startup investments. It gives us enormous pleasure to watch people build jobs and businesses around the Raspberry Pi, and we watch the numerous companies which add to the ecosystem with great interest. Laika Explorer was a successful Kickstarter last year, which promised a powerful robotics controller for the Pi, controlled with Scratch or Python. Last week I had mail from Andy Bakin, who has allowed us to share how he’s expanding production – and how he’s using a Raspberry Pi as part of his test rig (something we’re seeing an increasing number of factories doing; even the factory that builds Raspberry Pis tests them using a Pi now). Over to Andy! Testing Times I am pleased to say that the Laika Explorer is moving into its second production run: this time we are making 1000 units. This is great news but as production volumes ramp up, the efficiency of manufacturing has to increase. The first 500 units were individually inspected, programmed, and tested by hand. This took a long time and used up a fair share of my Sunday evenings when I should have been resting, sipping a glass of red and catching an episode of Breaking Bad in preparation for the week ahead. And so the need for a production tester is a priority as I move towards receiving that box of 1000 Explorers. Now I have made quite a few production test jigs in the past when moving previous designs into manufacture. They have always been custom builds with the test program running as firmware on a bespoke PCB. This is fine if the product is stable and is not set to change much. It is also fine if you do not plan to release many new designs which will each require their own specific test equipment. The nice thing about this approach is that the test equipment can be neatly self-contained in a box, stored easily and grabbed off the shelf when needed. The problem arises when the product being tested has new functionality which needs testing and therefore requires the test jig program to be updated. Not a huge issue but it does require getting to the test jig and 'flashing' the new firmware to incorporate new test routines. There are concerns from a hardware point of view too as most of the test jigs I have made use a customised PCB of some kind which makes it hard to quickly put together another jig if you want to double your testing capacity. Now, the Explorer is the first in what will be a range of products all designed to work together. Up to 32 different modules will be made, which means that I need a test set-up that can easily be replicated, updated and switched between designs depending on which one is coming off the production line. I also want to be able to get remote access to the test equipment, which will be used at the manufacturers, so I can update and add test routines from the convenience of my office and keep an eye on the pass/fail rate to quickly respond to any problems. Let's Get Jiggy With It! The solution is to run the test software on a networked Raspberry Pi connected to a Laika Explorer which is housed inside a test fixture. The test fixture and test software is unique to each design as electrical connections have to be made to the PCB test points, and, of course, the test algorithm will be different for each device being tested. As the Laika uses USB it will be easy to swap the test jig hardware when a different product needs testing. The test program can very easily be selected using the software. Probe-ably For The Best We begin with a PCB design, in this case done in Eagle, which is used to create a .dxf file (this is an industrial format for use by CNC milling machines) containing the different layers of the board. The dxf file was then opened in a CAD program and a new layer created which would be used by the CNC machine to drill holes in a piece of 12mm MDF perfectly in line with the test points on the PCB. Here are some of the test points on the Explorer labelled TP1, TP2 etc.
The Hardware Here is the Explorer in place on the jig:
I have taken the decision to program firmware on the Explorer as they come off the production line. The alternative is to have them programmed before being placed on the board but that means it is more difficult to update the firmware if I need to. After a period of time I may decide that the firmware is not going to change and move to this method of programming as it might be quicker, but for now I like the flexibility of post-production programming, and it's pretty quick any way. To program these devices I have used an AVRDUDE connected directly to the RPi:
This is the best part of this project as the result is a simple graphical user interface which anyone can use to program and test a PCB. All the user has to do is click 'RUN' and the Python script uses the AVRDUDE to program the Explorer's Atmel chip, and then check all functions of the device under test by reading in voltages. This was the purpose of this project: to create a 'red light/green light' tester which either indicates a 'pass' or a 'fail'. In the case of a fail, details will be given as to the error found and the information logged for record keeping, and downloading by me remotely. Two Explorers: One Pi To use an Explorer to effectively test another Explorer meant I had to add some functionality to the Laika drivers so that more than one board can be plugged into the Raspberry Pi without conflict, and be independently controlled. By giving the test jig Explorer a different USB device descriptor, I was able to write software which could differentiate the two Explorers on the same USB connection. This opens up the possibility of connecting many Explorers all on the same USB. GUI The GUI was designed in Glade and Gtk+3 was used to interface to Python. This is a great way of creating an event driven program to control the test jig. As Laika can easily be controlled through Python, it was quite straightforward to build the test jig software. It Came To Pass Hopefully most of the Explorers off the production line will pass these production tests without any issues, but inevitably there will be the odd one that doesn't for some reason. This is expected and target failure rates are typically around 1% for builds of this size. The important thing is to detect these failures and extract the problematic PCB from the batch. For low-cost designs being manufactured in millions as opposed to thousands, then testing in this way becomes far too time consuming and would probably cost more in time and labour than the product itself. In this case the production is so finely tuned that the failure rate becomes more like 0.1% and the fact that someone will occasionally receive a defective piece of electrical equipment is accepted- we've all been that 0.1% at some point I'm sure. |
