| Already having Gmail under their belts didn’t stop Google from continuing to rethink email. Apparently it was years in the making, but only now is Inbox a reality (promising to give you focus on the things that really matter). In a blog post announcing Inbox, Google employee Sundar Pichai described the service:
Key features of Inbox allow you to better organize your email categories using bundles (grouping together things like bank statements or utility bills), highlight key information from important messages (with examples like flight itineraries or event information), and reminders (letting you focus on your priorities so that you don’t need to keep track of tasks and appointments, complete with a Snooze feature). Also included with Inbox are what Google calls Assists, described as little bits of information that make your life easier. As an example: if you make a restaurant reservation, Inbox will add a map to your confirmation email. Inbox is currently in a beta phase, with used only gaining access via invitation; there is no word on when it will see open release. Those of you who love Gmail just the way it is may need to be a little concerned: Google has a history of abandoning projects in lieu of new ideas (speaking as somebody who still feels the sting of Google Reader having been discontinued)… and it is easy to see that they have several services starting to overlap (Google Now has a lot of similar personal assistant functionality).
Google Inbox Service Re-imagines Email is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Google Inbox Service Re-imagines Email
Disney Frozen Graphic Novel Out Soon
| Frozen by Disney has become the 5th highest grossing movie of all time After sweeping theaters worldwide like a snowstorm for over half a year, Frozen has grossed a whopping $1.219 billion at the box office! According to Variety, the film raked in $400 million-plus in the U.S. alone and $194 million in Japan. Frozen has also become the top-grossing animated flick ever. This has promoted a new graphic novel to be commissioned and will come out November 29th. The graphic novel costs $14.99 and will run a staggering 394 pages. Over 100,000 have been sold so far on a pre-order basis from customers on Amazon and comic book stores. The graphic novel is basically retelling the same story that occured in the movie. “Fearless optimist Anna sets off on an epic journey – teaming up with rugged mountain man Kristoff and his loyal reindeer Sven – to find her sister Elsa, whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom of Arendelle in eternal winter. Encountering mystical trolls and a hilarious snowman named Olaf along the way, Anna and Kristoff battle the elements in a race to save the kingdom. Audiences who thrilled to the adventures of Anna and Elsa on the big screen can relive their favorite moments in this oversized graphic novel keepsake featuring an introduction by Leonard Maltin. With hundreds of movie stills and over 300 pages of adventure and laughs, the Frozen Cinestory will transport fans back to Arendelle time and time again!” A frozen graphic novel will likely sell like gangbusters once it comes out in late November and many parents will be purchasing it for their little kids for the upcoming holiday season. A standalone comic is also planned by Disney for January 2015, and will clock in at 48 pages. No word yet if a digital edition will be available. Disney Frozen Graphic Novel Out Soon is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook 10.1 Now Available
| Barnes and Noble has just released the 10.1 inch version of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook Android tablet today, and it joins the 7 inch edition that came out two months ago. The Nations largest bookseller now has two devices that they are marketing across all of their sales channels, encouraging US and UK based readers to invest themselves in the Nook ecosystem. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook features a 10.1 inch screen and a resolution of 1280×800 and 149 PPI. The screen itself won’t win many awards in terms of picture clear clarity, but if you are only reading eBooks, magazines and newspapers it should do the job. Underneath the hood is a quad-core 1.2GHz Marvell CPU with 1.5GB RAM and 16GB internal storage. This model does have support for a 64 GB micro SD, if you need to get more space for all of your music and videos. Unlike Nooks of the past, this model has two cameras, a rear facing 3 MP edition and front facing 1.3 MP for video calls. It weighs 17.28 oz. (489.9 g) and should garner you 10 hours of battery life via the 6.8 mAh battery. Barnes and Noble is hyping the fact this tablet costs $299 and comes with $200 of free content. What exactly do you get? Well, there are three free eBooks that come bundled on the tablet; Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt, The Wanderer by Sharon Creech and I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore. Customers can get an introduction to the Nook Newsstand system by selecting 4 digital magazines from a pool of 12 for a free two week trial. There is a ton of great content, including Cosmopolitan, Sports Illustrated, and US Weekly. Back issues are also available for your selected magazines at no extra cost. Finally, Nook Video is giving free content, such as the hit HBO Series Veep, Hannibal, and Orphan Black. The resolution on this tablet is actually a downgrade from the Nook HD+ that many customers have, but it does have a modern version of Android 4.4, which will insure almost all of the apps from Google Play will work. I think the biggest strength that Barnes and Noble has when selling this 10.1 tablet is their support network. If anything goes wrong with your device, you can simply bring it back to any bookstore and they can take a look at it. In most cases, they can swap out your old model for a new one right then and there. Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook 10.1 Now Available is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Kindle Voyage Video Walkthrough and First Impressions Review
| Amazon’s latest new ebook reader, the Kindle Voyage, was released this week. I already posted a comparison review between it and the Kindle Paperwhite yesterday, and now I’ve got a full video walkthrough and first impressions review ready to go. I had anticipated that the Kindle Voyage would clearly standout as the best ebook reader […] |
Big Library Read: Chat with Andrea Portes
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We started with a question that readers around the world (and around our office!) kept asking: Is Anatomy of a Misfit autobiographical? Andrea wanted everyone to know that yes, this is the story of her high school experience. I won’t give away any spoilers, in case you haven’t made it to the end just yet, but she informed me that the ending that moved us all did actually happen. Her community, however, acted like nothing ever happened and so writing this book was her way of fulfilling a promise to make sure the world knew the story. When asked about whether or not she let her family know about this book ahead of time, she jokingly told me that she made sure her siblings were aware of it and that she just tells her dad not to read anything she writes so that they never have an awkward interaction about it. She told me that some of her favorite memories form her childhood were going to her small Nebraska library and that her favorite place in the whole world was her father’s library growing up. She also provided some great advice: never throw away old books! You’ll never know when you’ll look back and wish you had those old copies. When I asked Andrea about her writing process, she says that it varies from day to day. She said that while she tries to make sure she has some structured writing sessions, you can’t help when inspiration hits you and so many of her notes end up being on napkins and old receipts. She also mentioned that she typically will write her endings at least three times before being happy with where it’s at. When asked what she would tell aspiring writers, the biggest piece of advice was to be patient and flexible. Writing something large in scope is difficult; you don’t need to do the entire story in one sitting, and often times ideas will come to you halfway through that will change the course of what you’re writing. It’s best to allow these changes to happen. Anatomy of a Misfit is available to users of libraries that signed up for Big Library Read without any wait lists or holds through October 28. To learn more about Andrea Portes or the Big Library Read program, check out biglibraryread.com. Adam Sockel is a Marketing Communications Specialist with OverDrive. Andrea Portes has just been added to his celebrity crush list.  |
Eben at Techcrunch Disrupt
| Eben was speaking at TechCrunch Disrupt in London yesterday, where he had a display board and HAT to show off, and some other bits of news. You’ll get to see a PiTop (a laptop kit that’s currently going great guns on Indiegogo), be tantalised with some details about the A+, and learn about what we think is important if you’re growing a hardware business: enjoy!
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