| This week, Dr Sam Aaron released the much anticipated final version of Sonic Pi v2.0. It will be replacing Sonic Pi v1 on Raspbian very soon, and you will be able to get it via our Downloads page (we will let you know when). In the meantime, you can follow the instructions at the bottom of this post to download and install it. The latest version of Sonic Pi brings music creation and performance to the forefront with live coding capabilities, parameter modification, samples and much more! To celebrate, we have launched the first ever Sonic Pi Competition to find some of the best space-themed music, coded with Sonic Pi v2.0 by school children in the UK. The Sonic Pi Competition is designed to encourage school students aged between 6 and 16 years old to use their creativity and coding knowledge to create a unique and original two-minute piece of music on a Raspberry Pi device. Entries need to include an audio file of what the music sounds like, the code used to create it, a short written description, and a cover art file. All entries will be put into a hat to win a Raspberry Pi and SD card at random. Semi-finalists will win a Sonic Pi half-day workshop with Sam Aaron and Juneau Projects for their school, and a custom Sonic Pi Pibow case. Overall winners in each category will win a Sonic Pi classroom kit containing 25 x Raspberry Pis and peripherals for their school and a Minirig speaker, as well as a Sonic Pi Competition trophy designed by artists Juneau Projects. The final will take place at the Cambridge Junction on 4th November 2014 as part of the Sonic Pi Live & Coding Summit, with the 12 semi-finalists (four in each category) introducing and playing their music on a Raspberry Pi to the audience in front of an expert panel of judges. You can find everything you need know, including some lesson plans to get your students started, in this new Sonic Pi Competition Resource. You’ll find the entry form here. The deadline for entries is 13th October 2014, so get creative with your code, and become the next big thing in music! Sonic Pi v2.0 can be downloaded right now by typing the following from the command line or LXTerminal window: sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install sonic-pi |
Friday, September 5, 2014
Sonic Pi v2.0 competition for schools is launched!
Pocketbook Announces SurfPad 4 Tablets
| Pocketbook has formally announced a trio of next generation of tablets that are absolutely brimming with cutting edge specs. The company is betting that they will outshine the competition on the hardware front on the match towards the holiday shopping season. PocketBook SURFpad 4 M (7.9 inch screen) and PocketBook SURFpad 4 L (9.7 inch screen) models have IPS displays with resolution of 2048×1536, and the 7-inch version PocketBook SURFpad 4 S has a resolution of 1920×1200, which is more than FHD (Full High Definition) format. The screen aspect ratio of PocketBook SURFpad 4 S is 16:10 and PocketBook SURFpad 4 M and PocketBook SURFpad 4 L – 4:3. Underneath the hood is a 1.7 GHZ Octacore processor and all models have a quad-core GPU for is great for fans of the latest computer games. All three devices have 2 GB of RAM for better performance, and 16 GB of internal memory. If this is not enough, you can increase it further via the SDHC and SDXC external memory cards. The 9.7 inch 4L model has an amazing 8000 mAh battery, while the others have a more modest 4000 mAh. All models are equipped with the two cameras – a rear facing 8 MP with autofocus to create high resolution images and the front facing 2 MP. They also have a set of stereo speakers, one on each side of the screen. They also have 3.5 mm headphone jacks for the moments you don’t want to keep sounds on the down low. Finally, these tablets are running a vanilla version of Android 4.4 KitKat OS. No word on price as of yet, or official release date. Pocketbook Announces SurfPad 4 Tablets is a post from: Good e-Reader |
PocketBook Sense with KENZO Cover Unveiled at IFA
| The Pocketbook Sense has just been unveiled at the IFA event in Germany. This new e-reader is aimed primarily at women, as they have teamed up with Kenzo, a French Luxury House. When you order the e-reader it comes with a sweet embossed crocodile leather case. The PocketBook 630 Fashion features a six inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 1024 x 758 pixels. One of the innovative design elements beyond this device is the built-in ambient light sensor. It will automatically adjust the front-lit display based on the surrounding conditions. So the brightness with be different outside in the shade then reading in complete darkness in bed. The e-reader supports 19 popular text and image formats and provides a set of pre-installed ABBYY Lingvo dictionaries, which makes it easy to read books even in a foreign language. 4GB of built-in memory plus a microSD slot will be enough to keep even the largest collection of favorite literature. Using the device is simple and, which is more important, incredibly comfortable due to the multi-sensory display and the new PocketBook user interface. Access to the Internet via built-in Wi-Fi opens up limitless opportunities not only for reading, but also for social networking using via ReadRate service. The pre-installed Dropbox and Send to PocketBook services allow to transfer content to the device without connecting to a PC.
PocketBook Sense with KENZO Cover Unveiled at IFA is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Custom leather cases are nothing really new in the world of e-readers, but often have to be ordered from 3rd parties, who specialize in artistic designs. It is rare that a company like Pocketbook will give away a very well designed case with purchase of the e-reader. One thing that made me laugh in the press briefings is how it ended “Meet PocketBook Sense with KENZO cover – the fashion trend-setter of the e-reading market, and remember: there is nothing more seductive and compelling than intelligence.”Thursday, September 4, 2014
Kobo Arc 10 HD vs Kobo Aura H2O
| The Kobo Arc 10 HD and Kobo Aura H20 are two of the latest generation devices that are in Chapters bookstores all over Canada. Obviously with all of the holiday foot traffic, people will inevitably be drawn to the big display areas where all the tech gadgets are. If you are looking to do your digital reading on either of these devices, which one performs better? The purpose of today’s comparison is to give you a small overview over the key differences between an Android tablet and the new waterproof H20 e-Reader. You will get a sense on how PDF files and eBooks look, and options to tailor the overall reading experience.
Kobo Arc 10 HD vs Kobo Aura H2O is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Sony Launches Support System for Digital Paper e-Reader
| The Sony Digital Paper (DPT-S1) is becoming a runaway success and hundreds of units are being sold on a weekly basis. Now that Sony is selling these e-readers directly to customers there will obviously have to be some sort of support network to handle warranty and troubleshooting. Today, Sony announced that they have created a new support system and also will be establishing a relationship with cloud storage provider “Box”. Sony has revised their support site to provide information, drivers and software (including information about available updates in firmware), manuals and specifications as well as the latest support related news and tutorials for Digital Paper. Sony has not yet included video tutorials if they feel it is necessary they will be available on the support site. When customers are in need of direct support, Sony has established a new method to talk to a CSR agent on the phone. There is a new button in the top right hand corner of the e-support page labeled "Contact Us". This provides a dedicated telephone number (239-245-6320) for Digital Paper phone support, available to the user from 9 am -6 pm EST. The Sony Digital Paper is a very costly device and in some cases something may go awry with the hardware. In an email to Good e-Reader Sony said “if we conclude that the unit is in need of service, our support team will instruct the user to send the unit to service, and if under the warranty, which is 1 year, the malfunctioning unit will be exchanged with the customer for a new unit. We have an advance exchange program that enables Sony to send a new unit to the customer prior to receiving the malfunctioning unit, thus minimizing the time the customer is without their Digital Paper.” Finally, Sony has established a formal relationship with cloud service provider, Box. Sony confirmed “With the formal support of Box, we expect to receive more inquiries about the functioning and interaction of Digital Paper with the cloud and are making appropriate arrangements (given that the cloud is still quite new to many people). DP does not have a full app for Box yet, but can be connected via WebDAV.” Sony Launches Support System for Digital Paper e-Reader is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Independent Author Network Launches Author Pages
| The Independent Author Network is a new service aimed at self-published authors. It was designed to serve as an unified author page, that tells the public what the author is all about and also links to their books and social media networks. Amazon and other bookselling companies allow authors to setup their own pages, but tend to only promote books that that are for sale on their particular ecosystem. The IAN is more agnostic, authors can list their eBooks now matter where they are for sale. If an author sells physical books, there is code you can copy and paste for customers to buy it directly from services such as Paypal or Stripe. IAN promotes books you list with them to over 300,000 followers and over 16,000 people a day visit the website. You can list your author profile for free, but they ding you if you want to sell your books. If you have 1-6 books to promote, the membership setup fee is $24.95. A Silver membership allows you to include and promote 7-13 books on your page and costs $49.99. In the end, the Independent Author Network may be a viable way for authors to promote themselves and get their names out there. Sure there are services like GoodReads and Amazon for this sort of thing, but constant promotion is certainly not a bad thing. Independent Author Network Launches Author Pages is a post from: Good e-Reader |
iPad Mini With Retina vs Samsung Nook
| Today we look at the brand new Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook and the Apple iPad Mini with Retina. The main intention behind this video is to primarily evaluate the overall reading experience. This is accomplished by looking at a magazine, eBook and how you go about buying content. If you are looking to purchase any one of these devices for the purpose of reading, you don’t want to miss this!
iPad Mini With Retina vs Samsung Nook is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook vs Nook HD
| Welcome to another Good e-Reader Comparison Video! Today, we look at the latest generation Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook and the Nook HD. If you are thinking of upgrading to the latest model, there are some important things you need to know. The purpose of this comparison is to look at the Nook HD, which came out last year and the new Samsung Nook that was just released. You will get a sense on the hardware differences and what makes new model so compelling.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook vs Nook HD is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Recommended titles for readers by readers
 Last weekend on OverDrive's Facebook page, we asked our followers to recommend titles that they thought other readers would enjoy. The response was tremendous with greater than 70 unique suggestions ranging from best sellers to those that may have been lost in the virtual stacks. We loved your responses so much that we wanted to make them easily available for you to add to your digital library. Here you'll find a link to a list full of Facebook recommendations from Shakespeare and the Outlander series to Dune and We Were Liars. After you've added these titles to your collection, be sure to put your recommendations in the comments of this blog so we can keep growing this wonderful list. Happy Reading and thank you to everyone for sharing your choices!
*Please note: some titles have restricted geographic availability. Adam Sockel is a Marketing Specialist at OverDrive.  |
Edit and Merge PDFs With These Free Online Tools
Need to edit a PDF file or combine multiple PDFs into one document? Learn more about some of the best free PDF editing tools! |
Bus stop Pac Man
| Last week saw Trondheim in Norway host a Maker Faire. Rather than go with the usual stale old poster advertisement, the folks at Norwegian Creations, HK-reklame and Trondheim Makers hacked a piece of civic infrastructure with a Pi, a modded MaKey MaKey and some aluminium strips, ending up with a bus stop you can play Pac Man on. You can read all about the build – which involved hacking the power supply to the bus stop so it provided 230V of AC for the monitor – over at Norwegian Creations. We love Maker Faires, and we love the way that this sort of bus stop hacking project has become – well, if not exactly mainstream, something culturally recognisable. If you want to meet the team at a Maker Faire this month, Rachel Clive and James will be with the folks from Pimoroni, demonstrating what happens when art, education and science come together in the form of a tiny computer at the gargantuan World Maker Faire in New York on Sept 20-21. (It’s the first World Maker Faire Eben and I have ever missed, but we have a great excuse; it clashes with the vacation we’ve been planning all year for our tenth wedding anniversary.) Say hi to the giant motorised cupcakes for us! |
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Amazon to Announce new e-Readers Soon
| Apple is a well known case study for controlled leaks to the public and workers in the supply chain trying to garner their fifteen minutes of fame by posting a picture of an upcoming iPhone CPU, Battery or rear shell. It really seems like we have a clear picture of the new iWatch, iPhone or iPad well before the September 9th product launch, but things are always mysterious with Amazon. Amazon never leaks anything to the media and their PR department is outright hostile. When they do file patents, it is through shell companies, as to not give any indication on what they are planning to release. Their research and development division, LAB126 is a veritable fortress, with little being disclosed even to their families. This year has been one of the biggest on record for Amazon, as they have expanded their hardware offerings into two different vertices; smartphones and television. The Fire TV and Fire Smartphone continue to sell well, but have been met with trepidation in the market due to the US exclusivity. Yesterday, Amazon discontinued the $69 base model Kindle in the US and Canada. They have also been discounting the Kindle Paperwhite 2 by $20 to deplete existing stock. This is an indication that they have well begun the manufacturing process for the two new followup models. What can we expect from the next generation Kindle e-readers? Well the Paperwhite 3 will have a light sensor to automatically adjust the front-lit display to your environment. All other readers on the market have either a dedicated hardware button or software functionality to manually adjust it. Both of the new models will also have a different default font and include higher resolution. The new cheap Kindle will also scrap the D-Pad and adopt a new touchscreen. Amazon is expected to release two new e-readers and three tablets in the next few weeks. Amazon to Announce new e-Readers Soon is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Amazon Launches Fire TV in the UK
| Consumers have been enjoying Amazon Fire TV in the US since the launch in April of this year, but now the device is also available to those waiting eagerly in the UK. Plugging the small Fire TV box into your HDTV allows for you to instantly enjoy access to services like: Netflix, Prime Instant Video, Demand 5, Spotify, Sky News, Curzon Home Cinema, YouTube, as well as low-cost video rentals (not to mention giving you the ability to share your photographs, music and games to anybody in view of the set). Initial reviews of the Fire TV are positive, with most users ranking the device higher than Apple TV and Chromecast (particularly as it applies to speed and playback fluidity –helping you enjoy 1080p HD video and Dolby Digital Plus surround sound). Even if you ignore that the price is right, there are plenty of reasons to choose the device, including: voice search functionality that actually works (just speak the name of a movie, TV show, actor, director or genre to get started watching your next favourite), hundreds of low-cost games (with titles like Minecraft and the Walking Dead) that can be played using the Amazon Fire Game Controller that is available separately, X-Ray for movies and television shows (telling you everything you wanted to know and more about the on-screen cast and crew), and seamless integration with Amazon’s Cloud Drive. If you happen to be reading this from the UK and want to give Amazon Fire TV a try, now is the time –the hardware is available for the next four days at a bargain €49 directly from Amazon (with the price hiking up to €79 after this initial offer).
Amazon Launches Fire TV in the UK is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Amazon Launches Kindle Kids’ Book Creator
| Amazon has always offered plenty of tools for authors to craft their own eBook, but kids books are a different story. In order to make Kindle Direct Publishing more relevant to children’s authors, Amazon has just unveiled a standalone program called Kindle Kids' Book Creator. Kindle Kids' Book Creator is a free tool for authors and publishers to turn their illustrated children's books into great-looking Kindle books. Kindle Kids' Book Creator makes it easy for authors and publishers to import artwork, add text to pages, and preview how their book will look on Kindle devices. With the click of a button, authors also can add Kindle Text Pop-Ups to make it easy to read their book on any device, including smart phones, tablets, and PCs. Authors then can publish to Kindle and share their story with tens of millions of Amazon customers worldwide. Kindle Kids' Book Creator supports multiple layouts for children's books, including facing page spreads. Kindle Kids' Book Creator accepts the most popular graphic file types, so authors are free to create art in their preferred design tools. Authors can even import a book from a multi-page PDF, making it easier to ever to take a book originally created for print and turn it into a Kindle book. When you are ready to publish your book, simply go to Kindle Direct Publishing to upload your book. Kindle Kids' Book Creator also makes it quick to preview how the content will look across Kindle devices. With an integrated preview feature, authors can validate that their books look beautiful on Kindle Fire tablets. Amazon Launches Kindle Kids' Book Creator is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Review: Onyx Boox M96 Universe with Android 4.0
| Last week I posted a PDF review for the Onyx Boox M96, but that’s not all this Android-powered ereader is good for. Now I’ve got the main review for the Boox M96 finished, and it includes a 15 minute video walkthrough and several pictures. I plan to post some additional reviews and comparisons over the […] |
Plainville Middle School incorporates their digital library with the Read Right Run program
| We love hearing ideas on how schools connect with their students, faculty and/or community to promote their digital library. Joyce Lynch, Library Information Teacher at The Middle School of Plainville (Connecticut), learned about a program called Read Right Run and decided to put one together during the 2014 – 2015 school year. While their digital library only plays a small role, this is a fantastic way to engage students in many aspects. The Read Right Run program encompasses three themes: reading, community, and health, and has four goals:
As it’s a marathon, participants pledge to read 26 books, run 26 miles, and do 26 right deeds in 26 weeks from October 1, 2014 – April 1, 2015. To ensure that students remain on track, they will check in with designated teachers every three weeks. During those sessions, students may participate in fun physical fitness activities led by local YMCA instructors.
Every successful finisher will receive: a RRR tee shirt, designed by Leah Wachtelhausen (see photo), a string bag with a variety of “goodies” including a granola bar and bottle of water, and a medal, as well as a wonderful sense of accomplishment for completing a multi-faceted challenge. The Middle School of Plainville is fortunate to have a dedicated group of 14 faculty and administrators who have put in numerous hours to plan and organize such a huge event. MSP is also grateful to have the support of numerous local companies who have generously provided financial assistance: Plainville Community Fund at Main Street Community Foundation, Healthy Plainville and the YMCA, Fleet Feet Sports, Gnazzo’s Food Center, Farmer Joe’s Gardens, the local McDonald’s and Staples. Joyce found a way to incorporate their digital library as a piece of something much bigger and beneficial for their students, and we applaud her for putting this all together. We'd love to hear what initiatives you have for this school year, and let us know if there's any way we can help!
Beau Livengood is an Account Specialist at OverDrive.  |
Students may choose to read any kind of book that interests them. They may select print books, eBooks, or audiobooks, and that's where their digital library comes in handy. Students will be given a graphic organizer in a packet to keep track of their reading, mileage, and good deeds.$69 Kindle No Longer Available; New Kindle Imminent?
| I was looking around at Amazon.com this morning because I have a feeling that something big is about to go down. New Kindles are likely to be announced soon, and I may have just stumbled across an indicator that hopefully means Amazon will be releasing a new basic Kindle this year. I noticed that Amazon […] |
Talking Fisher Price smartphone
| Back in the mid-seventies, when I was even smaller and more adorable than I am today, my parents bought me a Fisher Price Chatter Telephone. I’m sure many of you had one too. Mine was called Bert. I loved him, chewed him, made imaginary phone calls on him, and pretended he was a pet dog. (With a rotary dial and a handset, natch.) This year, I was surprised on visiting Lorna, our Trademark Compliance Elf, and her two small children, to discover that the Chatter Telephone is still manufactured, even though no child born in the 21st century recognises things with rotary dials and giant handsets as phones. (Phones are the little black slab things that we use to Skype with distant aunties, and they definitely don’t have wheels.) Grant Gibson got his hands on a modern Chatter Telephone for his son, who didn’t seem particularly moved by it (probably because little black slab, Skype, etc.) So he decided to hack it into something a bit more interactive, and came up with this. A Chatter Smartphone. The rotary dial provides the inputs, sound is output through the modern Chatter Telephone’s speakers (the vintage ones didn’t have speakers, but the modern ones play clips from Toy Story), and he’s added a servo motor to control the googly eyes. This particular Chatter Smartphone has been set up to deliver weather information, cinema listings, and more; as well as offering information on demand, it can issue alerts, so Grant’s family knows when he’s left the office and is on his way home, or if the ISS is passing overhead. If you make your own, Grant has provided code so you can adapt yours to your own needs. You’ll find comprehensive build instructions, along with all the electronics help and code you’ll need, at Grant’s blog. Thanks Grant – we love it!
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Samsung Intends to Hype Digital Publishing at Frankfurt Book Fair
| The Frankfurt Book Fair continues to be the largest European booksellers convention. This year, the emphasis will be on digital as Samsung has become the innovation partner and will lead a keynote speech, entitled “Getting Beyond the Book – Creating a New Digital Reading Experience With Innovative Mobile Technology." Juergen Boos, director of the Frankfurt Book Fair, said the publishing industry, as a key content provider, could financially benefit from the mobile collaboration. "As Samsung continues to embrace new forms of storytelling and evolve the reading experience of millions of users, we think that the publishing industry can profit from this collaboration in many ways," he said. "At the same time, we also know that the book trade has a lot to offer the mobile technology sector, especially as an important content provider. As the world's biggest book fair, we think we are well-placed to open many important doors to the key movers and shakers in the content industry and help facilitate some exciting business conversations going forward." Samsung has embraced digital content since the advent of the first generation Galaxy Tablet. The Readers Hub was very important to the growth of the companies smartphone and tablet series. Early on, it allowed users to buy eBooks, magazines and newspapers. Samsung eventually went their own route and started to sell eBooks directly, phasing out Kobo and PressReader. Earlier in the year, Samsung announced it was abandoning the Readers Hub and launching a special Kindle edition, where users would get free eBooks every month. Samsung is still betting big digital publishing, but not in the conventional sense. They intend on showing off all of their latest generation hardware and trying to showcase the relationship they established with Barnes and Noble, for the Samsung Galaxy Tab for Nook. The Samsung keynote will take place Tuesday October 7th at cConte, which is the precursor event leading up to the Frankfurt Book Fair. Samsung Intends to Hype Digital Publishing at Frankfurt Book Fair is a post from: Good e-Reader |
BlackBerry Joins September Event Schedule
| First thing tomorrow morning, September 3, Samsung will unveil their Galaxy Note 4 (their flagship 5.7″ behemoth smartphone). Microsoft is set to discuss the Lumia 730 smartphone on September 4. The following day on September 5, Motorola will give us all the details on their Moto 360 smartwatch as well as the successors to the Moto X and G. Not long afterward, Apple will launch the iPhone 6 on September 9. Not to be forgotten, BlackBerry has announced that they will host a major event on September 24. The only company brave (or stupid) enough to follow Apple. With the announcement that the BlackBerry event will help us to “see the bigger picture,” it is expected that their new Passport device will be properly launched (with an expected 4.5-inch square display with a resolution of 1,440×1,440 pixels). While it may seem like a ridiculous form-factor to many consumers shopping for a new smartphone, be sure to consider that most of their clients are using them in a business setting where a larger and wider screen could be put to good use. The Passport is also expected to come with a new style of keyboard that promises to be “responsive to touch, so you have more ways to control your smartphone without having to use the touchscreen.” Even if you aren’t quite sold, it has to peak your curiosity. One thing worth considering, is that no matter the dates of these announcements –it all comes down to two questions: what day will they ship? will there be enough hardware available in a timely manner to adequately meet the demands of the consumers?
BlackBerry Joins September Event Schedule is a post from: Good e-Reader |
