| Amazon issued a minor update yesterday for their Kindle for iOS reading app for the iPad and iPhone. The update version 4.2 adds easy access to the table of contents for most ebooks from the left panel menu. Instead of just redirecting users to the book’s table of contents at the beginning on the book […] |
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Kindle for iOS Updated to Version 4.2
ABNA Awards Reach Quarter Finals
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Author Kelly Stone Gamble, whose book Ragtown is still in the running, had this to say about the process: “Ragtown took several years to research, over two years to write and another two to edit. I’ve had so much interest in the subject area during this time, receiving messages and emails from people all over the world about their interest in the subject, and that kept me going on this project. I hadn’t really thought about the popularity of the Hoover Dam, but it is the number one off-Strip destination for Las Vegas visitors, and that means millions every year from all over the world. So while I of course want to write the best story possible, I’ve felt some kind of responsibility to these people, the ‘Dam fans,’ to make Ragtown a great book. Making it into the quarter finals not only validates the years of hard work I’ve put in to the novel, but also lets me know that I’ve done exactly what I set out to do. Write a good book. A good dam book.” Rysa Walker, author of the YA book Timebound and the upcoming sequel Time’s Echo, was the grand prize winner of last year’s ABNA awards, and said, “Many contestants, myself included, enter the ABNA simply hoping to make it to the quarter finals stage since win or lose, you walk away with a Publisher’s Weekly review of your manuscript. For those who have already self-published or who are planning to self-publish in the future, that can be a very powerful marketing tool. Even if the overall review isn’t stellar, there’s usually something you can pull out as a potential tweet or addition to the back cover. When the PW reviews were posted last year and I saw the words ‘Katniss Everdeen of time travel,’ my first thought was that it was perfect for marketing. Only after that happy thought had settled in did I realize that it also meant Timebound was still in the contest and had a shot at one of the publishing contracts.” The next level of selection will come on June 13th when the contest organizers announce the semifinalists. The complete list of quarter finalists can be found HERE.
ABNA Awards Reach Quarter Finals is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Weekly eHighlights: U.K. edition
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Click here to view the One Copy/One User cart of these titles Click here to view the Metered Access cart of these titles 
Fiction Frans G. Bengtsson – The Long Ships Originally published in the 1940s, this book for many years has been the top circulator in Swedish libraries. But it was neglected for many years in other countries, and is newly available in eBook. It's the story of lusty 10th Century Vikings pillaging across Europe—and laughing all the way. You'll chuckle along too, believe it or not, as this classic holds up really well. Michael Chabon said about this book: "Adventure is a dish that is best eaten takeout, in the comforts of one's own home." And your readers will be sure to love this adventure if you give them a chance.
C. J. Box – Stone Cold Joe Pickett is still officially a Wyoming game warden, but acts mainly as a troubleshooter for the governor in this, the 14th in his award-winning thriller series. Reviewers say Box just keeps getting better. Box has won Anthony, Edgar, Macavity, Gumshoe, and Barry Awards, among others.
Dorothy Cannell – Murder at Mullings: A 1930s Country House Murder Mystery Dorothy Cannell was born in Nottingham, though she now lives in the U.S. This title is the first in a brand new series by the Anthony and Agatha Award nominee. Florence Norris, the longstanding housekeeper for the Stodmarsh family, investigates when a family member makes an ill-advised second marriage to a scheming woman.
Robyn Carr – The Chance FBI agent Laine Carrington picks Thunder Point as the best place to recuperate from a gunshot wound. But things take an unexpected turn when she meets a reformed criminal in town to put down roots and bond with the daughter he only recently discovered. Carr is a RITA Award winner and author of many bestselling romances.
Ian Doescher – William Shakespeare's The Empire Striketh Back The saga that began with the interstellar best seller William Shakespeare's Star Wars continues with this merry reimagining of George Lucas' enduring classic The Empire Strikes Back. Many a fortnight have passed since the destruction of the Death Star. Young Luke Skywalker and his friends have taken refuge on the ice planet of Hoth, where the evil Darth Vader has hatched a cold-blooded plan to capture them. Only with the help of a little green Jedi Master–and a swaggering rascal named Lando Calrissian–can our heroes escape the Empire's wrath. And only then will Lord Vader learn how sharper than a tauntaun's tooth it is to have a Jedi child. 250,000 print run in the U.S.
Hanna Jameson – Girl Seven A breathtaking thriller about Seven, a young girl who has worked her way up from the streets of London to an exclusive club. Now that she has dangerous friends, will she get her revenge? Book 2 in the London Underground series. Book 1 was nominated for a Dagger Award.
Elizabeth Lowell – Night Diver Following a family tragedy Kate Donnelly left the Caribbean behind for what she thought would be forever, but the family's diving and marine recovery business is in trouble and her brother pleads with her to return to St. Vincent where her financial expertise is sorely needed. A former British military diver is investigating suspicious activity surrounding the ancient wreck of a pirate ship. The two form an uneasy alliance to uncover the truth. Bestselling author. 4 ½ hearts from Romantic Times.
Susan Mallery – Evening Stars Small town nurse Nina Wentworth has been a caretaker of others her entire life. Now she's suddenly juggling two men—her high school sweetheart and a younger pilot. But her mother and sister need her help. Does love heal, or does it mean giving up dreams? Bestselling author. Booklist starred review.
Christopher Moore – The Serpent of Venice Another visit to the lunacy of Moore's literary worlds. After taking on King Lear in Fool, he addresses both The Merchant of Venice and Othello in this one—with a dash of Poe's The Cask of Amontillado thrown in for good measure. After Pocket the Fool stops a plot to start a new Crusade, he is thrown overboard and is saved by what he thinks is a seriously horny mermaid and washes up in Venice's Jewish ghetto where he is rescued by shylock's daughter. Booklist and Library Journal starred reviews. Bestselling author.
Val McDermid – Northanger Abbey A witty, updated take on Jane Austen's classic by the internationally-bestselling crime author. A homeschooled minister's daughter from Dorset loses herself in novels and waits for a glamorous adventure. When neighbors invite her to a festival in Edinburgh, she takes the city by storm. Gold Dagger Award-winning author.
Fern Michaels – A Family Affair A young dancer entrances a wealthy foreign prince who proposes marriage. Her new life is thrilling, but challenging, as she adjusts to a new, complex culture and the expectations she faces as a royal's wife. Michaels is a bestselling romance author.
Katie Oliver – Mansfield Lark Gemma Astley has managed to tame wild rock star Dominic Heath and stop his womanising ways for good. But then his real identity is revealed. Dominic is really Rupert Locksley, the heir of Mansfield House—a crumbling stately home in need of a major influx of cash. But while his mother begs him for help, his father the Earl is about to disinherit him. Book 3 in the Dating Mr. Darcy series.
Nonfiction Colman Andrews – My Usual Table: A Life in Restaurants A love letter to the great restaurants that have changed the way we eat by a James Beard Award-winner. The restaurants he describes in this book represent the changing history and culture of food in Western Europe and America. Publishers Weekly starred review.
David Barrie – Sextant: A Young Man's Daring Sea Voyage and the Men Who Mapped the World's Oceans Written in the tradition of Dava Sobel's Longitude, this book traces the invention and discovery of the sextant, a mariner's most prized possession. He uses the stories of some of the most legendary and daring sailors in history to illustrate the importance of this navigational instrument. Moving up the bestseller charts in the U.K.
Sister Simone Campbell – A Nun on the Bus: How All of Us Can Create Hope, Change, and Community One of the best known leaders of today's progressive Christian movements working for change in the church, Sister Simone Campbell advocates for social programs to help the poor and the struggling middle class.
Murray Carpenter – Caffeinated Caffeine is a ubiquitous drug—addictive, usually unregulated, and added to increasing numbers of products for consumers to ingest. Drawing on the latest research, this book covers the benefits and the dangers of this product, tracing the history of its production, from highland coffee farms to secretive caffeine manufacturing plants in China. Moving up the bestseller lists.
Bart D. Ehrman – How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee Ehrman, author of several bestselling books on religion, explains how the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth became dogma in the first few centuries of the early church. Only when some of the followers of Jesus had visions of him after his death did anyone think that he had become God…but what they meant by that was not all what people mean today.
Carl Hoffman – Savage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism, and Michael Rockefeller's Tragic Quest for Primitive Art An award-winning journalist traveled to the jungles of New Guinea to try to solve the mysterious disappearance of Michael Rockefeller, who was collecting primitive art in 1961. Was he really eaten by cannibals? The Dutch government and his family denied it. Reviewers call this a mesmerizing whodunit. Publishers Weekly and Kirkus starred reviews. An Amazon Best Book of the Month. Moving up the bestseller lists.
Juliet Macur – Cycle of Lies: The Fall of Lance Armstrong Billed as the definitive account of champion cyclist Lance Armstrong's spectacular rise and fall for using illegal performance enhancing drugs. Includes firsthand accounts from more than a hundred witnesses including family members and Armstrong himself. Award winning journalist for the NY Times. The Guardian called it riveting.
Lynn Martin – Home Sweet Anywhere: How We Sold Our House, Created a New Life, and Saw the World Who hasn't dreamed of selling all their possessions and sailing the world? Martin and her husband actually did it. Their global adventure took them from Mexico to Turkey to Ireland and Portugal. Perfect for the armchair traveler. Featured in the Wall Street Journal. The author blogs for The Huffington Post, and at homefreeadventures.com.
S. Brent Plate – A History of Religion in 5 ½ Objects Plate focuses on stones, incense, drums, crosses, and bread, along with a bit about the human body, to explore how the world's religious traditions have used them throughout the centuries. Library Journal starred review.
Fay Ripley – Fay Makes It Easy: 100 Delicious Recipes to Impress with No Stress As a working mother of two and a busy actress, Fay Ripley knows how busy life can get. Here are her fail-proof recipes that have kept her sane. Mumsnet Best Cookbook Award-winning author.
For Kids Mel Bartholomew – Square Foot Gardening with Kids – Ages 2 and up Bartholomew's innovative approach to gardening was first developed in the 1970s, and is now available in a special edition meant for use with kids. His easy gridded box breaks the complex world of gardening into digestible bites perfect for children. Full of tips, tricks, and fun projects.
Ryan Gebhart – There Will Be Bears – Ages 10 and up Thirteen-year-old Tyson likes to hang out with his Grandpa Gene, so when Grandpa has to move into a nursing home, he feels like he's losing his only friend. Plus, Grandpa was supposed to take him on his first hunting trip. So the two sneak off to the Grand Tetons where there will be bears! Publishers Weekly starred review.
Tad Hills – Duck and Goose Go to the Beach – Ages 3-7 Duck wants to go on an adventure, but Goose sees no point in that. They're happy right where they are. But then Goose sees the ocean and loves it, so he changes his mind. But Duck doesn't like the ocean. Latest in the bestselling picture book series.
Susan Kim and Lawrence Klavan – Wanderers – Teens In this dystopian sequel to Wasteland, Esther and Caleb begin a harrowing journey in hopes of finding food and shelter—and a way to live past age 19. Kim is an Emmy nominee, and Klavan has won an Edgar Award.
Gary Meehan – True Fire – Teens Sixteen-year-old Megan's village is razed by soldiers—her grandfather killed, and her twin sister taken by the raiders. As she travels on a desperate mission to rescue her sister, she discovers that the feared witch soldiers, vanquished a generation ago, have returned to see the fulfillment of a prophecy—a prophecy that involves Megan and her unborn child.
Herman Parish – Amelia Bedelia Goes Wild! – Ages 6-10 Amelia Bedelia, America's favorite housekeeper, had a childhood full of surprises, mischief, and hilarious misunderstandings. In this illustrated chapter book adventure, just right for fans of Judy Moody and Ivy + Bean, young Amelia Bedelia and her friends build a zoo in the backyard (complete with stuffed animals and attractions) and offer safari adventures to the entire neighborhood. This is the fourth book in the nationally bestselling Amelia Bedelia chapter book series, and it is just right for newly independent readers ready for a more challenging vocabulary and books with chapters.
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*Geographical rights may vary by title.
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Voting for your next ALA President ends Friday!
 This Friday is the last chance to get your ballot in to help decide who will be the next ALA President. As an active member of the American Library Association we firmly believe it is essential to let your voice be heard by casting a vote in this election. The ALA plays a vital role in leading the library advocacy in both the United States and the world and this is your chance to decide who is leading the charge. The ALA issued a press release last week with vital information for casting your vote. In that press release ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels reminded members that "Voting is one of the most important things you can do as a member of the American Library Association. This is because the officers you elect will make a real difference." The President will act as the voice of you, the librarians, and so it's critical that you take advantage of the ability to select who represents you around the world. If you aren't familiar with the candidates, ALA has created a great "Guide to the 2014 Elections" flipbook to help you become informed. Time is running out so be sure to get your ballot in and rock that vote! Adam Sockel is a Marketing Communications Specialist with OverDrive  |
Amazon Introduces Shipping Friendly Prime Pantry
| Amazon Prime members are getting an exclusive benefit in the form of Prime Pantry. This new program is exclusively aimed at Prime members who love to shop at Amazon. You can fill up a box with whatever you want, as long as it weighs 45 pounds for a flat rate price of $5.99. When you order lots of items and have them shipped it, the costs can sometimes be prohibitive. The essence of Pantry is fill it up with how much or little you want. As items are added to the box the Pantry service tells you exactly how much the box is full on a percentage basis. Pantry boxes are large and can hold up to 45 pounds or four cubic feet of household products. If you were to order a box of detergent, a 12 pack of Coke and a toaster, the costs would be high. Instead of having everything shipped out individually you can fill up as singular shipping box with Prime Pantry. The service only deals with non-perishable foods and is US only to start. Amazon is betting big on tapping into the lucrative consumer packaged goods industry. This is dominated by big box retailers such as Sams Club and Costco. The Seattle based company is hoping that they can leverage themselves to giving good deals on small items and not forcing them to buy the Ultra King Size version. Amazon Introduces Shipping Friendly Prime Pantry is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Yota is Creating a New App Store for the YotaPhone
| The Yotaphone is one of the most unique smartphones on the market due to its secondary e Ink display screen. There is only a one single reading app that is compatible with it and Yota is hoping to remedy the situation. The company has announced that they are working on a new app store and it will be ready in Q3 2014, about the same time as their second generation Yotaphone will be released. One of the drawbacks of the Yotaphone is that there are not many apps that have been made to take advantage of the secondary screen. There are a few on Google Play that uses the e Ink screen as a virtual controller for the main color LCD touchscreen. CEO Vladislav Martynov notes that YotaDevices has already discussed concepts for a wide variety of specialized software for the second screen with app developers. By way of example he notes a program that displays recipes on the smartphone’s second screen and a program that controls the front-facing color screen using the back touchscreen. The Yota App Store is not meant to be revenue driver for the company. The main intention is not to sell apps or to charge developers to list apps in their store. Rather, it hopes the store will attract additional attention to YotaPhone from users and shore up interest in the device, which is new to the market. App Stores are big business and encourage developers to utilize the ecosystems to make some serious money. Apple noted that in 2013 over three billion apps were downloaded and generating over $10 billion in revenue. The Samsung App Store is installed on 100 million Android devices, SlideMe is installed on 20 million devices, and the Amazon App Store runs on 33% of tablets in the U.S. Good e-Reader is also the largest app store in Canada with over 80 million visitors in 2013. Yota is Creating a New App Store for the YotaPhone is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Kobo Touch Available for Free in the Philippines
| Customers in the Philippines will now have access to the Kobo Touch via Smart Communications. Starting today the Kobo Touch is available will be given away for free to subscribers of their new data plans. Available under Plan 499, the Kobo Touch e-Reader will come bundled with 30 Internet hours every month via the Smart Bro Pocket WiFi, delivering up to 7.2 Mbps of download speeds powered by the country's largest broadband network. A free e-Reader just for signing up for internet access, not too shabby. The Kobo Touch e-Reader is a great new addition to our quickly expanding lineup of premium mobile devices available through Gadget Plus Plans, which makes it easier for Filipinos without a credit card to get the latest gadgets that they want," Michele Curran said in a statement. Kobo has been running an online bookstore in the Philippines since mid 2013. Customers can purchase the devices in major bookstores across the country and buy millions of books. Kobo Touch Available for Free in the Philippines is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Kobo Enhances their Content Delivery Network
| Kobo has just signed a new deal with Hibernia CDN to boister the performance of their global eBook network. This will basically speed up browsing the companies online bookstore and syncing data from the Kobo servers to your ereader or tablet. HiberniaCDN is now available in Kobo’s over 190 points of presence spanning North America, South America, Europe and Asia/Pacific. The CDN leverages deployed infrastructure that is integrated with Hibernia’s IP network. The HiberniaCDN platform enables users to access anytime, anywhere media and applications, including VOD and Live streaming video, website acceleration, video downloads, software updates and releases, music downloads, online game releases and updates. "The emergence of HiberniaCDN as a global platform for secure, cost-effective delivery of content services satisfies the needs of media providers whose end users increasingly demand content on an anytime, anywhere and any device basis," states Bjarni Thorvardarson, the CEO of Hibernia Networks. "Our agreement with Kobo not only reflects an evolution in how digital content services are delivered, but also confidence in Hibernia's IP network to establish, deliver and sustain an exceptional user experience to Kobo's readers worldwide." Ok what does this all mean for your average Kobo user? Likely if you just use their standard e-reader you might notice a slight increase in speed when you purchase and download an ebook. This is because there is now a proxy between the main Kobo servers and your own WIFI network. Since there will be less network congestion the overall speed will increase on delivered media. Kobo Enhances their Content Delivery Network is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Prime and Kindle Owners Spend the Most Money on Amazon
| There is a big reason why Amazon issues a number of press releases every single month on the things they are doing with Prime or the Kindle. Today for example, Amazon signed a deal with HBO to bring a number of its most popular television programs, sans Game of Thrones to Amazon Instant Video. Prime and Kindle owners statistically spend the most money on Amazon, which is why these are the top priorities for media coverage and customer adoption. According to a recent survey by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners The two programs "have become significant drivers of Amazon sales, even in light of the recent Amazon Prime price increase and significant competition in the tablet computing market," the company said. "Both serve as superb affinity programs for Amazon, as Kindle owners spend 30% more, and Prime members spend twice as much, as the rest of Amazon's customers," said CIRP co-founder Mike Levin. The Amazon Kindle Fire and Kindle e-Readers drive the bulk of digital book sales. Of the 500 people surveyed 23% owned a Kindle Fire tablet, 13% owned a Kindle e-reader, and 12% owned both for an overall 48% ownership rate. Overall, in the US there are currently 31.3 million Kindles in circulation. Amazon Prime drives sales to the Kindle so customers can take advantage of the free eBook given out every month and encourages tablet adoption so people purchase them to watch Instant Videos. When you buy a new piece of hardware you get a month of Prime membership for free, which Amazon normally includes in their overall registered user figures. Currently there are currently 27.8 million Prime members in the U.S. “These newer Amazon Prime customers have not yet made their first renewal decision, so they may not have completely considered whether Amazon Prime shipping and video benefits are worth it to them them, and thus are susceptible to churn,” CIRP Partner Josh Lowitz said in a statement. “However, our analysis suggests that 85% of current customers were already aware of the increase in price to $99 per year. And, even with the price increase, almost 90% of current Amazon Prime members say they will ‘definitely’ or ‘probably’ renew their membership, just 5% less than the responses we saw prior to any discussion of a price increase.” Prime and Kindle Owners Spend the Most Money on Amazon is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Mark Coker’s Indie Author Manifesto
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To that end, one of the individuals who has probably done more towards furthering the ability of individuals to reach a larger plane with their ideas is Mark Coker, CEO and founder of Smashwords. His vision for giving authors a place from which to release their works is only six years old, but in that time his work has made hundreds of thousands of titles available for readers around the globe. Today, Coker posted on the Smashwords blog not only his deeply held beliefs about writing and publishing, but also this document: THE INDIE AUTHOR MANIFESTO We indie authors believe all writers are created equal, that all writers are endowed with natural creative potential, and that writers have an unalienable right to exercise, explore, and realize their potential through the freedom of publication. I hold these truths to be self-evident: I am an indie author. According to Coker, who so humbly describes self-publishing as a “global movement,” in his post said, “Critics say self publishing is causing a tsunami of drek that will destroy book culture and render the best books undiscoverable. Not true. Yes, self publishing will enable more horrible books to be published than ever before, but it will also enable more better books to be published, discoverable and enjoyable than ever before. There’s a yin and yang to this.”
Mark Coker’s Indie Author Manifesto is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Smashwords Authors Get a One Year Free Subscription to Scribd
| Smashwords signed a distribution agreement with eBook subscription service Scribd last December. Indie authors who elect to include their titles in the Scribd catalog are now getting extra benefits, a free one year subscription to Scribd. The one year free subscription to Scribd is only available to authors who have included their books in that distribution platform. Your complimentary subscription will activate when you claim your new Scribd author profile. The subscription will be valid for 1 year. If you’d like to renew your subscription after that, Scribd will remind you to enter your payment information. No payment information is necessary now to redeem your complimentary subscription. Basically, in order to get your free subscription you have to create an author profile on Scribd. Smashwords is sending out emails this week to get users to sign up for the service and opt into the free subscription. Time is of the essence because the offer expires April 30th 2014. Smashwords has ironed out a fairly solid arrangement for authors who want to include their eBooks into Scribd. The author or publisher earns credit for a full read when the reader reaches a certain trigger point, measured by the percentage of the book that is read. The first 10% of the book is a free sample, similar to a retailer. Excluding the sample, once the reader reads an additional 20% of the book, a full sale is triggered and the Smashwords author earns 60% of the list price, up to a maximum of about $12.50 per read. In practice, what this means for most fiction writers is that after the reader reads more than the first 30% of your book, it triggers a full sale. For some non-fiction writers, where your book's content is more likely to be read non-sequentially, it means if the reader starts their reading deeper in the book at Chapter 10, a sale could be triggered after reading only 20% of the book (As an aside, this underscores the importance of authors building fully functional navigation into their ebooks so that all their book’s content is easily discoverable. Smashwords Authors Get a One Year Free Subscription to Scribd is a post from: Good e-Reader |
HBO and BBC to Produce Miniseries on Casual Vacancy
| JK Rowling departed the Harry Potter franchise for a number of years before she penned her first adult themed book. The Casual Vacancy centers around the major themes of class, politics, and social issues such as drugs and prostitution. The book was on the UK and US bestseller lists for over six months and has sold over six million copies. The book is now getting the miniseries treatment from the BBC and HBO. The three-hour miniseries will be written by Sarah Phelps who worked on EastEnders) and will be directed by Jonny Campbell, who recently directed In the Flesh. Rowling will executive producer via her Bronte Film and Television production company that she runs with Neil Blair, her longtime literary agent and producing partner. The story focuses on a local election in the fictional town of Pagford after a sudden death. HBO and BBC to Produce Miniseries on Casual Vacancy is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Get Cooking with Random House Backed TasteBook Bookshop
| Random House has just opened up a new online digital bookstore that caters to the inner cook in all of us. The new service is called TasteBook Bookshop and features 10,000 eBooks from major publishers all over the world. Tastebook is the cooking blog that Random House has been operating for a number of years. It has developed a cult following of foodies and cooks who all check out the daily updates. The new store allows readers to buy the eBooks from many different retail channels such as Indiebound, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and more. Current best sellers featured on The Bookshop include The Chopped Cookbook by Food Network Kitchens from Clarkson Potter; My Paris Kitchen by David Lebovitz from Ten Speed Press; The Oh She Glows Cookbook by Angela Liddon from Avery; The Hungry Girl Diet by Lisa Lillien from Macmillan; and Eat What You Love Everyday by Marlene Koch from Running Press. "We know that TasteBook's half-a-million members are avid cookbook collectors who heavily rely on print cookbooks as tools and for inspiration," says Lilly Kim, Associate Director, Digital Channel Development, who has spearheaded TasteBook efforts at Random House. "The Bookshop provides cooking enthusiasts an easy way to discover and purchase new cookbooks. It's a great resource for frequent and occasional cooks who seek out new flavors and inspiration for everyday meals and entertaining." The newly created Bookshop rounds out the TasteBook offering, to provide home cooks the ability to discover, save, and share recipes, as well as a blog that serves up daily posts with recipes and inspiration. TasteBook members can also create custom recipe books using personal recipes and those from the site for $34.95 with the option to add additional recipes for $.29 each at any time. Get Cooking with Random House Backed TasteBook Bookshop is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Storybird Gives Kids a Safe and Free Place to Read and Publish
| The internet is hardly a safe place for kids to safely read content that is truly free. This has prompted numerous companies to release tablets specifically geared towards the kiddos or Amazon charging $10 a month for Kindle Freetime Unlimited. Storybird bucks the trend of charging for content or displaying nefarious advertising. Instead, they give everything away for free and even let the little tyke write their own book. Storybird lets anyone make free visual stories in seconds. The company curates artwork from illustrators and animators around the world and inspires writers of any age to turn those images into fresh stories. There are over five million stories on the website and lots of interactive features to talk to the writer or just Heart the story. Discovery of content is easily laid out so you can choose your favorite genre or by age appropriate ratings. The actual content is mainly created by kids, but some adults cut their teeth here too. There are plenty of genres to appeal to the sensibilities to everyone. You can read a ten page story or a single page image with poetry on it. There are rhyming books, love stories, adventures and everything in-between. There are systems in place for readers to talk to the authors or comment on a specific image or story they liked. This is a great way to develop a following to that will follow you from story to story. There are extensive writer tools available that are quite simplistic in nature and basically designed for kids. You can choose from cover art and images that show up in the books. The images are often full screen with the text on the far left hand side. Once you read ten stories, there is a consistency factor in the way all of the books are developed. 80% of Storybirds core audience is between the ages of seven and fifteen and in order for the company to grow, they have to look beyond picture books. In the next few months Storybird will be developing a long-form system in the hopes of competing against Wattpad and finding that next Harry Potter novel. This is a really great service and one of the best sites aimed at kids on the internet. I really implore educators, parents and most of all the lil tykes to check it out. Storybird Gives Kids a Safe and Free Place to Read and Publish is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Customers Resist Samsung Bloatware
| We have all purchased a shiny new smartphone and discovered a myriad of apps on it that you cannot delete and would never use. Samsung uses their dominant Android market share position to have the highest concentration of bloatware out of any Android vendor. The question is, how popular is ChatON, the Samsung App Store or even the Readers Hub? Samsung recently announced that 100 million users are registered on their Chaton instant messaging service. What they don’t disclose is that US users only spend six seconds per month on the app, often mis-clicks trying to open something else. If you look at all of Samsung proprietary apps the average user only spends seven minutes per month total on them. The lack of consumer interest in Samsung bloatware is quite telling. The average user spends 150 minutes a month on Instagram, 11 hours on Facebook and 150 minutes a month on Google Services. Customers Resist Samsung Bloatware is a post from: Good e-Reader |
10 Free Kindle eBooks – April 23
| Here’s a list of free Kindle books as of April 23rd, 2014. Please note that some of these ebooks are free for a limited-time only and could expire at anytime. Make sure to double-check that they are still free before hitting the buy button. Subscribe to The eBook Reader Blog to keep updated on future […] |
Onyx Boox Zeus: 9.7″ E Ink eReader with Android
| There’s a new large-screen Android-powered ebook reader available in Russia that I sure wish I could get my hands on. The device is called the Onyx Boox M96M Zeus. Ereading must be popular in Russia because they get all the coolest ebook readers. Here is the States we’re stuck with bland Kindles and Nooks and […] |
Is the toilet free?
| Here at Pi Towers, we are lucky enough to have more toilets than we have people. Some offices don’t. And it’s embarrassing to hear your colleagues micturating (at least for some people – the rest of us chatter through it all and make fun of each other’s shy bladders), so the guys at Made by Many have come up with a Pi-based solution. It started quite simply. Reed switches on a toilet door would send information to a Pi, which would publish the data to a website, so the folks at Made by Many could check online before going to the loo. They made a LEGO prototype to make sure everything worked. And after applying the switches to the real toilet doors, they ended up with the real thing serving up a result like this when the website was polled. Of course, it’s axiomatic that if you can overcomplicate something, you should. So the Made by Many team started looking at what data they could collect without invading people’s lavatorial privacy (with a privacy document being uploaded to GitHub). No identifying information or information about exactly what was going on in the cubicle was collected at any time. Over three weeks they ended up with sufficient data points to work some SQL magic and be able to detect:
From which they could infer:
And then they made a command-line-style stats page. And because a job half-done is no job at all, they also made a little toilet notifier to live in the menu bar in Mac OS.
They’ve made LED signs. They’ve irritated their colleagues so much that one of them dismantled and abducted one of the reed switches. They’ve demonstrated elegantly that the Internet of Things is always informative, and not always as useful as we think it is. We think this is one of the most entertaining projects we’ve seen in a while. We salute you, Made by Many. And if you’ll excuse me, I drank rather too much coffee after lunch. I’ll just be a minute. |
What’s on sale?
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Books on Tape Spring Sale – Select Titles 30% Off (4/1 – 4/30) Over 100 top audio titles, including Sue Grafton, John Grisham and more are 30% off for the month of April. Easter Sale – Christian Titles 30-50% Off (4/14 – 4/28) Shop popular Christian fiction and nonfiction on sale from the following publishers: Zondervan, Barbour Publishing, David C. Cook, Baker Publishing, Nazarene Publishing, Thomas Nelson, and eChristian. Green Planet Films – Earth Day Sale (4/16 – 4/30) Shop over 100 nature & environmental films on sale from Green Planet Films through April 30th and refresh your video collection with films relevant to the current environmental issues of today. Sourcebooks April $2.99 Sale (4/19 – 5/4) Over 25 romance, mystery and literary titles perfect for book clubs and summer reading are $2.99 till May 5th. LeYa S.A. – Full Catalog 30% Off (4/21 – 5/5) LeYa's catalog of over 2,000 titles is 30% off! New to libraries, LeYa is the largest Portuguese trade publisher in Brazil & Portugal, offering content from Portuguese authors and Portuguese-language versions of bestsellers and more. HarperCollins Far and Away Fiction Sale – Select Titles 50% Off (4/21 – 5/12) Fantastic savings at 50% off on titles that allow your patrons to travel the world without leaving the comfort of home. Enslow Publishers – Full Catalog 30% Off (4/22 – 5/6) The entire catalog of children’s and young adult content from Enslow Publishers is now available in ePub and 30% off through April 30th. Julie Ann Walker's "Born Wild" $.99 USD (4/22 – 5/6) To celebrate Julie Ann Walker’s coming new release Hell for Leather, last year’s Top Pick Born Wild is on sale at $.99. C.C. Humphreys Sale – Jack Absolute Series $2.99 USD (4/22 – 5/6) Save up on the first titles in the Jack Absolute series just $2.99 in advance of Absolute Honour, available 5/4/2014.
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