| Mexico is a country that many companies are bullish about because it has over 100 million mobile phones and half of the population is under 27. This has prompted Kobo to enter the market, striking partnerships with numerous bookstores to have their e-readers available to purchase. Kobo will power the eBookstore for both publisher and retailer Libreria Porrúa, with nearly 70 bookstores in Mexico and, Gandhi, the chain of nearly 30 stores. While the two retailers are competitors in other areas of business, they have jointly created a new service called Orbile, powered by Kobo, to offer a unified e-Reading service to Mexican readers. The newly created digital bookstoree will be open for business in September 2015, offering a full and rich catalog with more than 70,000 titles in Spanish, within a total of 4 million titles. Kobo will also be creating a new co-branded e-reading app for Android and iOS if people don’t want to buy the hardware. |
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Kobo Starts Selling e-readers and eBooks in Mexico
DDR meets the Simon game
| Back in the heady days of the late ’90s, a number of my friends and fellow students were irritatingly good at Dance Dance Revolution. They devoted countless hours to it, and carried on earnest and lengthy discussions about technique. So I can feel only gratitude that this appealing crossover wasn’t around to further detain their attention. Uberdam Cavaletti teaches computing at a professional training school in Xanxerê, Brazil, where each year they hold an event to show off projects the students have been working on. Last year one of these projects involved a Raspberry Pi, a DDR-style platform and a much older electronic game. The starting point for Uberdam, his colleagues and students was Simon, a compelling game from the late 1970s in which players had to press coloured buttons to replicate increasingly complex sequences displayed by the device. A Python clone of this game, Simulate by Al Sweigart, already existed; Uberdam’s class had the idea of allowing a player to use their feet to play, instead of a keyboard and mouse. A Raspberry Pi displays the sequence for the player to replicate via a projector, and capacitive sensors underneath the coloured platform detect steps, allowing the Pi to check the player’s performance. There’s more about the game in Uberdam’s blog post (in Portuguese); I first spotted it in Hackaday’s piece. Meanwhile, if you like the idea of making your own electronic games, you don’t need heaps of experience; in the Make section of our free resources you can find out how to make a Sweet Shop Reaction Game using Scratch and a Quick Reaction Game using Python, both great places to start! The post DDR meets the Simon game appeared first on Raspberry Pi. |
Where to Buy Kindle Devices and Content Listed by Country
| Sometimes I like to browse through Amazon’s Kindle-related help section to find new article ideas (coming up with new topics to write about every day isn’t easy) and today I came across some helpful information about where users can purchase Kindle devices and content listed by country, including a list of all the retail stores […] |
Digipalooza ‘15 is almost here!
| On Wednesday August 5th, hundreds of librarians and publishers will join Team OverDrive in Cleveland, Ohio for Digipalooza, the 5th international user group conference. Librarians, staff and media specialists from public libraries and schools around the world will participate in informative and interactive sessions covering topics such as the state of the digital media industry, collection development and Readers' Advisory tips, best practices for increasing awareness, usage, and customer engagement, and will be among the first to preview the innovations on the road map for OverDrive in the next year. On Friday morning, keynote speaker and popular author Jane Green will take the stage. Jane Green is the author of hot new release Summer Secrets, along with fifteen other New York Times bestsellers, and recently participated in a Twitter chat with us to get everyone excited for Digipalooza. At Digipalooza, we know how to balance education, networking and fun. We kick off our conference this year with a Digipalooza first – an evening at OverDrive's Blue Sky Campus here in beautiful Cleveland, Ohio. Attendees will dine on free food from area food trucks, get the chance to tour our building and the Digital Bookmobile, enjoy entertainment, games and time to mingle and network. The next night, Digipalooza will rock the house at an exclusive event at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum, which includes transportation, dinner, drinks, live music and unlimited access to the museum. The Rock Hall will only be open for our guests that evening so this is an opportunity to see a world famous attraction without the usual crowd! If you're joining us for Digipalooza, we wish you safe travels and look forward to seeing you next week. An attendee checklist of what to pack, how to get here and other helpful tips is available on our website, along with a parking guide, a preview of our conference program and links to Cleveland tourism resources. Whether you'll be in attendance or not, you can join the conversation on Twitter by using #digip15. If you haven't registered yet, what are you waiting for? Due to high demand, we have opened a few additional registration spots for those last minute decisions. Register today and don't miss your chance to participate in the digital media conference of the year! Questions? Contact us at digipalooza2015@overdrive.com.
Melissa Marin is a Marketing Specialist with OverDrive.  |
HarperCollins announces I CAN READ sale for libraries this September
 We’re excited to announce that one of our Digipalooza sponsors, HarperCollins, will be launching their I CAN READ campaign in September with a sale on numerous great children’s titles in OverDrive Marketplace. In the sale list you’ll find loads of books for beginner readers including classic children’s characters like Splat the Cat, Axel the Truck, Frog and Toad, Fancy Nancy, Pete the Cat and Minnie and Moo! You’ll also find some great narrated eBooks that will introduce your young readers to some of pop culture’s favorite superheroes. Get early readers excited about the library as they read along with the following enhanced eBook titles: – The alien conqueror Starro has returned to enslave planet Earth. Can the Justice League stop the evil starfish before it’s too late? Superman Classic: I Am Superman – Superman is in his Fortress of Solitude when Lex Luthor puts all of Metropolis in danger. Can Superman fly back to the city in time to stop Lex and save the day? Batman Classic: Reptile Rampage – A Gotham City hospital is being terrorized by Killer Croc, and it’s up to Batman to save the day! Can the Caped Crusader clean the city sewers of this rotten reptile? Wonder Woman Classic: I Am Wonder Woman – Meet Diana, Princess of the Amazons, and discover how she becomes the amazing Wonder Woman! Batman Classic: Dawn of the Dynamic Duo – The twisted troublemaker Two-Face is back in Gotham City, and Batman and Robin have to stop him. Read all about their first adventure as the Dynamic Duo! The I CAN READ sale kicks off in September but you can get these titles now by adding this list to your cart in OverDrive Marketplace. We’d like to thank HarperCollins for being a sponsoring partner at Digipalooza! Adam Sockel is a Social Media Specialist with OverDrive  |