| Welcome to the Monday edition of the Good e-Reader Radio Show! Today the show centers on all of the latest news from the past week. There has been a TON of e-reader news coming out with new devices being announced and slated to be released in the next few months. I will give you a preview of the new Kindle, Nook, Icarus, Pocketbook and other major brands. In addition, Sony is refocusing their efforts on business devices with the advent of the Digital Paper e-reader. Podcast: New e-Readers for 2014 and Sony Updates is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Monday, August 4, 2014
Podcast: New e-Readers for 2014 and Sony Updates
Netronix Demos new e-Reader with Wacom Technology
| Netronix may not be a household name, but they are responsible for manufacturing popular e-readers such as Kobo. The company is currently demoing a number of new units that may allure other companies that are involved in this sector. One of them is a 6.8 inch device that runs Android and has support for a Wacom pen, which should appeal to people looking to edit and make notes on PDF documents. The new 6.8 inch e-reader is looking fairly amazing with a staggering resolution of 1440 x 1080. Underneath the hood is a Freescale i.MX6 Solo Lite ARM Cortex-A9 processor, and running a fairly modern version of Android 4.1. This yet unnamed e-reader is using the same shell as the Kobo Aura HD, which is also 6.8 inches. The addition of Wacom technology will likely distinguish this device in consumer market, now that Sony is exclusively focusing on the business segment with their 13.3 inch Digital Paper. ARM Devices reports “"Wacom is working on collaborative solutions for Wacom enabled E Ink e-readers like this one. If they do it right, I think Google should get involved, this could make it a really big new market for the E Ink based devices with touch for productive collaboration in education and enterprise. Netronix also has different other E Ink Android devices, secondary displays, large ones, and even an E Ink Smartwatch"
Netronix Demos new e-Reader with Wacom Technology is a post from: Good e-Reader |
84% of Publishers Plan to make eBooks in 2014
| Publishers and self-publishers are having a love affair with eBooks. Ever since Amazon announced that digital editions were selling at a 3:1 ratio over print books, people took notice. A new report states that 84% of publishers will be making eBooks this year and 62% stated that eBook quality was the most paramount concern. Big and medium sized publishers are in an advantageous position with in-house tools that make digitizing a book fairly easy. For everyone else, there is seldom an off-the-shelf solution to generate a proper table of contents, use industry standard fonts, employ proper margins or convert it from one format to another. All publishers need to insure their books are formatted correctly in order to not alienate readers. The survey results highlight many of the concerns that publishers have with going digital. It takes about what online bookstore people have the most success with and what formats are most popular.
84% of Publishers Plan to make eBooks in 2014 is a post from: Good e-Reader |
O’Reilly Buys Back Ownership of Safari Books Online
| O’Reilly Media, which originally developed Safari Books Online, is now the sole owner of the company, after purchasing Pearson’s 50% stake in the former joint venture. Safari will not have to consult an equity stake partner anymore and will be able to fast track any type of development they want to pursue. Safari, launched 13 years ago with 600 titles, is an online content platform success story. Today, the company’s more than 1,000,000 active users can choose from over 25,000 books and 10,000 hours of video training from 200 publishers and other content providers. While Safari initially focused on technology content, it now covers business and design topics, as well. How is Safari different from other online bookstores? They have been pioneering the online subscription model for a very long time. They also have videos, short form content, and evolving manuscripts from O’Reilly Media and other publishers including Addison-Wesley, Prentice Hall, Peachpit, John Wiley & Sons, Microsoft Press, Adobe Press, Cisco Press, Manning Publications, Packt, SAS Publishing, IBM Press, FT Press and Focal Press. You could say that Safari is known for having a high degree of geek cred, but certainly won’t appeal to your average Hunger Games reader. Many people use Safari because they have a ton of obscure content that is not available anymore else. If you are unable to find any results on Google, try Safari, they normally have it. O’Reilly Buys Back Ownership of Safari Books Online is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Microsoft Claims Samsung Stopped Making Patent License Payments
| Samsung should take note that Microsoft doesn’t fool around when patent license payments arrive late. Microsoft asserts that they have hundreds of patents that are required for any manufacturer making Android phones: Samsung included. Corporate Vice President & Deputy General Counsel for Microsoft, David Howard, spoke toward the lawsuit, stating that: “Today’s legal action is simply to enforce our contract with Samsung. We don’t take lightly filing a legal action, especially against a company with which we’ve enjoyed a long and productive partnership.” He also noted that: “After spending months trying to resolve our disagreement, Samsung has made clear in a series of letters and discussions that we have a fundamental disagreement as to the meaning of our contract.” With Microsoft earning between $1B and $2B in patent license revenue made from royalties, this business is one of their most profitable. This is especially true when you consider Howard’s comments on the dominance and success of Samsung’s current phone business:
Of course, this is just Microsoft’s side of the story; things should get more interesting once Samsung weighs in.
Microsoft Claims Samsung Stopped Making Patent License Payments is a post from: Good e-Reader |
New and popular content for schools
| Happy August, everyone! While July did fly by, don't let the great new content that was added for purchase in Marketplace fly by as well. We have created lists for the newest and most popular content that was added this past month that your students and users are sure to enjoy. Check out these new and exciting titles and hopefully you'll find some that you’d like to add to your OverDrive collection. When you click the link below, it will show up as a Marketplace search result and you'll be able to easily add them to a cart. New Adult – High School Appropriate If you would like more suggestions, your Collection Development Specialist is available to help create recommended lists. Email collectionteam@overdrive.com for more information today! *Some titles may have limited regional or platform availability.
Rachel Kray is a Collection Development Analyst at OverDrive.
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Ben’s USA Tour Dates
| Today I fly to New York to start my Raspberry Pi USA Tour! Thanks to everyone who submitted a request for me to speak for them while on my USA Tour. I’ve adjusted my route according to where most of the requests were located, and I’ve been organising dates with those who contacted me. I’m travelling from New York City to Salt Lake City over two weeks, stopping at a different town each day. Most days I’ll either be speaking at an event or going in to a school or other organisation. Most events will be open to the public. The dates and towns are as follows: Tue 05 Aug – New York City, NY See my tour page for the full list of events with details and links to sign up. The page will be updated as information comes in, so if I’m coming to a place near you, keep checking back for details. If I’m passing through your area then come and see me speak or get in touch to see if we can meet up! Liz adds: Ben is currently at the airport, where, according to Twitter, he is trying to be humorous by signing on to the WiFi network as Edward Snowden. If we don’t get a call asking us to come and bail him out within the next couple of hours we’ll assume he made it onto his plane. |
Corning Experiences a Decline in Sales
| Corning is the display screen company that is very well known for their Gorilla Glass. It has been synonymous with smartphones and tablets and used for higher durability and resistance to the rigors of daily use. Corning has overestimated the market and is seeing a lack of demand for their technology. According to the Wall Street Journal “Gorilla Glass has faced headwinds, with sales falling 17% last year as Corning worked through an inventory overhang after a bad bet on touch-screen laptops. ” Overall, Corning reported a profit of $169 million, down from $638 million a year earlier. The worldwide tablet grew 11.0% year over year in the second quarter of 2014 with shipments reaching 49.3 million units according to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation . Apple is currently one of Corning’s largest customers and they have reported shipping 13.3 million iPads during the third fiscal quarter of 2014, compared to 14.6 million in the year-ago quarter. When it comes down to public perception, Corning is basically known for their Gorilla Glass. What most people don’t know, is that this represents only 11% of their entire revenue stream and the majority from LCD televisions. That business jumped 62% year over year, while revenue from other specialty materials was merely flat. There has been lots of buzz in the industry about Apple’s move into developing sapphire glass in conjunction with GT Advanced Technologies last November. Speculation is running rampant that their future devices will employ this ultra lightweight and scratch resistant technology into future products. Many experts cite shortages of the new material and that current plants cannot accommodate the demand of a massive launch. Apple alone plans for 80 million iPhone 6 models this year. Corning will be a safe bet for the tablet industry for another few years. The market is maturing and less people are buying new devices or upgrading. We have seen similar trends plague the e-reader industry in recent years. Corning Experiences a Decline in Sales is a post from: Good e-Reader |
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