| Sony has been making a lot of changes lately, not the least of which being the new Xperia Z4 tablet the company announced at the Mobile World Congress this year. Designed to compete with Apple’s iPad Air 2, the Xperia Z4 is designed to do a lot more: in light of the VAIO laptop line being discontinued, Sony needs a tablet with the power and persuasion to engage business customers. The Xperia Z4 comes equipped with a 10.1-inch display, 2K resolution, Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 octa-core 64-bit processor, connects to the world using 389g Wi-Fi / 393g LTE, has 32GB of internal storage, uses a long-life 6,000mAh battery (with STAMINA mode still available, that auto-magically turns off background processes when you aren’t using them), and measures at an amazingly thin 6.1mm. It’s also true that the tablet will work with your PlayStation 4 Remote Play, but Sony also maintained my favourite feature from Xperia tablets past: it is waterproof (so not to worry if you spill that Super Big Gulp during your next epic gaming session)! In an attempt to bring more value to the deal, Sony has also added a Bluetooth keyboard and the Microsoft Office productivity suite to their Android tablet. Unfortunately, initial reviews for the keyboard are entirely underwhelming: many of the most frequently used buttons have been made too small (such as the tab, backspace, and right-side shift keys), and the keys in general offer an unpleasant and hollow tactile response (which makes users less likely to turn to the keyboard for long-term use). While the Xperiz Z4 runs Android Lollipop, there are customizations in place, including a Windows-style Start Menu type app launcher –which may serve to make the average business user more comfortable with using a mobile operating system in their day-to-day corporate ecosystem. My general feeling is that the Xperia Z4 will fail as a laptop replacement, but will serve as a stylish choice in the Android tablet mobile device space. Sony Replaces VAIO With Ultrathin Xperia Z4 Tablet is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Monday, March 2, 2015
Sony Replaces VAIO With Ultrathin Xperia Z4 Tablet
Anime “Charlotte” Gets A New Key Visual
| In December of 2014, Studio Key of VisualArts announced a new project coming up in 2015. Charlotte will be based on an original story by Jun Maeda (AIR, CLANNAD, Angel Beats!). P.A. Works will be animating the project, and Na-Ga will be providing the character design. This will be the first time the team has worked together since Angel Beats back in 2010, and we’re very excited for the outcome! Charlotte’s release is in celebration of Key’s 15th anniversary. This past weekend, the official Charlotte website has updated with a new key visual featuring our two protagonists with special abilities. Yu Otosaka and Nao Tomori. Though very little information has been released, if you were a fan of Key’s visual novels or their anime adaptions, which are always beautifully animated, well scripted and very emotional, then be on the look out for Charlotte! Want to keep up to date with further updates? Then head on over to the official website for Charlotte Anime “Charlotte” Gets A New Key Visual is a post from: Good e-Reader |
German Court Finds E Ink Patent Invalid, Files in Favor of Trekstor
| Back in 2012, E Ink Corporation filed a lawsuit against Trekstor, an ebook reader distributor based in Germany, for selling various ereaders that used epaper panels from a Chinese contract company, OED Technologies, that supposedly infringed on E Ink’s patents for electronic ink. It’s was an interesting case because E Ink Corporation is pretty much […] |
Play The Impossible Game on Nook Simple Touch (Video)
| This post is a few years too late to interest most people, but every once in awhile it’s fun to look back at older devices to see how people are using them now. Nooks aren’t very popular anymore. Barnes and Noble has done a lot to hurt the Nook brand in their quest to build […] |
Big Birthday Bash – the aftermath
| We are all very tender, aching and sleepy. It was a fantastic weekend. 1300 of you came to see us at the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory over the weekend, where you listened to 24 lecture theatre talks, took part in 14 workshops, shared hundreds of incredible projects you’d made with your Pis, and ate 110 pizzas. The workshops were amazing: thanks so much to everybody who helped run them. Here’s Imogen, age 10, who is a Scratch pro (we loved your maze game, Imogen!): this is the first time she’s ever done any robotics, and we thought her robot turned out just great. Alan McCullagh came all the way from France, where he runs the Rhône Valley Raspberry Jams, to join the other volunteers teaching kids in the Beginners’ Workshop. (Private note for Alan: ROWER. I said ROWER.) The projects on display were brilliant. Phil Atkin brought along PIANATRON, his Raspberry Pi synthesiser. Pete from Mythic Beasts (you can only see his hands), who is such a good pianist I’m always too embarrassed to play in front of him, was joined by Jonathan “Penguins” Pallant on the “drums”. (Jonathan gave me an update on the penguins project: the Pis all survived the Antarctic winter; however, the solar panels did not, so some more work’s being done on how to manage power.) We loved watching kids see the music they were making. Some kids learned a bit of history. Others got to work on custom devices. Brian Corteil’s Easter Bunny (which he lent us last year for YRS) made an appearance, and laid several kilos of chocolate eggs. We found more kids in quiet corners, hacking away together. Workshops aren’t just for young learners: here’s Dave Hughes, the author of the PiCamera library, giving a PiCamera workshop to some grown-up users. There were 24 talks: here’s our very own Carrie Anne explaining what we do in education. A certain Amy Mather made a Pi photobooth, the results of which, in this particular instance, I found horrifying. Vendors set up stands to sell Pis and add-ons on both days. Here’s Pimoroni’s stand, as gorgeous as ever. All the cool kids played retro games. Poly Core (Sam Aaron and Ben Smith) provided live-coded evening entertainment. (My Mum, who came along for the day, is still adamant that there must have been a tape recorder hidden in a box somewhere.) They were amazing – find more snippets on their Twitter feed. Dan Aldred brought a newly refined version of PiGlove. The capitalisation of its name is of utmost importance. Ben Croston from the Fuzzy Duck Brewery (and author of RPi.GPIO) uses a Raspberry Pi controller in the brewing process, and made us a batch of very toothsome, special edition beer called Irration Ale (geddit?) for the Saturday evening event. There was cake. It was a bit like getting married again. There was more cake. After the beer (and raspberry lemonade for the kids) and cake, several hundred people played Pass the Parcel. The foyer centrepiece was a talking throne which we borrowed from an exhibition at Kensington Palace (thank you to Henry Cooke and Tim from Elkworks for making it, and for your heroic work getting it to Cambridge!) We understand a door had to be removed from its frame at Kensington Palace to get it here. A selection of members of Team Pi were photographed on it. Please note the apposite labelling – the throne uses a Pi with RFID to read what’s on the slates out loud. (Ross has cheese on his mind because we interrupted his burger for this shot.) And we appear to have lost Eben. He was last seen heading towards Bedford in an outsized, Pi-powered Big Trak. Enormous thanks to all the exhibitors and volunteers – and most especially to Mike Horne, Tim Richardson and Lisa Mather, who made this weekend what it was. We can’t thank the three of you enough. There was so much more – we were so busy we didn’t get pictures of everything, and I didn’t manage to get to talk to anything like as many of you as I’d like to have done. (Does anybody have a picture of the gerbils?) I’ll add links to other people’s accounts of the weekend’s events as they come in. Thank you to the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory for letting us take over the building for the weekend. Thank you to our incredibly thoughtful and generous sponsors for the pass-the-parcel gifts, the contents of the goodie bags, and other giveaways:
Tableware and Decorations were kindly sponsored by:
Wood and Laser Cutting was generously sponsored by:
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Make your digital collection unique with curated collections
| With the addition of the Curated Collections tool in OverDrive Marketplace, it's easier than ever to showcase titles in your digital collection. Many libraries and schools have already taken advantage of the ability to create interesting custom collections that highlight their digital catalog in a new way. Librarians and school media specialists often create book displays and suggested reading lists for physical titles; Curated collections make it easy to translate that skill into the digital world. Some examples of cool curated collections we've spotted on our library partner sites include: •For fans of the podcast 'Serial' •"All the Light We Cannot See" Read-Alikes •CBC Novels That Make You Proud to Be Canadian! *Links above are subject to change as libraries update their collections. The curate tool is ideal to rotate collections in and out to offer better exposure to a wide variety of titles, outside of just best-sellers and your most recently added content. Some of the collections listed above are adapted from Recommended Lists, created by OverDrive's team of Collection Development librarians. You can browse the ever-expanding lists in the Collection Development section of the Partner Portal. Coming soon, we'll launch a Readers' Advisory campaign to tie-in with the next Big Library Read book with a corresponding curated collection that you can easily add to your site. Keep an eye out for more details in the coming days! Melissa Marin is a Marketing Specialist at OverDrive. |
Digital Is the Only Strategy to Save News Outlets
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These figures, presented by The Dallas Morning News' Jim Moroney at the Key Executives Mega-Conference, demonstrate the problem publishers face. “Moroney, CEO and publisher of The Dallas Morning News, says the big number problem is print advertising – let’s say 85 percent of overall revenue declining at 5 percent a year. The small number is digital advertising revenue. Even if a publisher has achieved a comparatively strong 15 percent of overall revenue in the segment growing at 10 percent a year, it will take 10 years for digital ad growth to exceed print revenue decline.” (link) But Michael Depp of NetNewsCheck highlights a different angle to this slow but steady approach, namely by saying that at this point, publishers can’t afford to not invest in digital newspapers and advertising. “There are two fronts on which I'd ask for how much longer any publisher can afford not to invest. The first, as Moroney stressed, is their cross-platform marketing strength. If a publisher can't offer an SMB the full arsenal, then they are going to find someone else who can. This doesn't always mean a paper has to barrel forward into new business acquisition, such as the DMN has done, but it can be achieved through strategic partnerships and reselling opportunities for a start. “There's another equally crucial area of investment that forks off in at least two ways, and that's in audience data…Papers need to get the best understanding they can about who is consuming their content, on what devices, where and when, starting with their loyal subscribers.” One aspect to digital newspapers that can make them more appealing to readers is the Netflix-style all-you-can-eat delivery that apps can provide. While subscriptions are largely offered through entities like public and academic libraries or major hotel chains, individual users can still access these digital apps for a greater spectrum of titles to choose from than simply receiving the free digital subscription to their local newspapers with sign up.
Digital Is the Only Strategy to Save News Outlets is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Will Freescale Continue to Support e-Readers?
| Freescale and e-Ink have both played a pivotal role for the entire e-reader revolution. E-Paper and the processors that power them have run in tandem from the very first Sony e-Reader to the modern day Kindle Voyage. The future of e-readers may be in doubt when news broke today that Freescale has been purchased by NXP Semiconductors for $40 billion dollars. The deal will likely close by the middle of the year and the two forces will be a force to reckoned with. According to Reuters “The transaction is the clearest sign yet that semiconductor companies are regaining the confidence required to pursue big mergers and acquisitions at a time when their major clients, such as mobile phone manufacturers, seek to consolidate suppliers.” Freescale a former division of Motorola and makes chips for automotive, consumer, industrial and networking markets. In only the last few days the company announced their new S32V microcontroller to process sensor data to enable driver-assist features. Will Freescale continue to support the e-readers of their world once they are formally acquired? There is minimal competition in the e-reader space and only Rockchip lightly competes, and primarily targets the extreme budget end of the spectrum. I think Freescale is critical to the evolutionary growth of e-readers. A future without Freescale developing controller chips with support for e-ink display panel is horrifying to envision. Will Freescale Continue to Support e-Readers? is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Amazon Kindle Voyage vs Kobo Aura
| The Amazon Kindle Voyage and Kobo Aura reflect two of the best e-readers ever made and they both have world class e-book stores. These two models have high availability in North America and Western Europe. Obviously, people want to know, what is better? What can they do and which one is deal for your needs? Today, we put them both head to head to give you a sense of the best value for your money. The Amazon Kindle Voyage features a six inch e-ink Carta display with a resolution of 1430 x 1080. It has 300 PPI, which is the highest we have ever seen. In contrast, the Paperwhite 2, which this model replaces only has a resolution of 1024 X 768 and 212 PPI. Lets look at what the competition is doing, the Kobo Aura H20, which came out a month ago has a 6.8 inch screen with the same resolution as the Voyage, but has 265 DPI. The Barnes and Noble Nook Glowlight has been on the market for most of the year, but its 1024 x 758 and 212 PPI is somewhat depressing. One of the big design changes with the Voyage is the screen is completely flush with the bezel. All prior Kindle e-readers had a sunken screen and employed infrared touchscreen technology. The new capacitive screen is much easier to interact with and allows for more pin-point procession. This model also has a more refined front-light and Page Press technology which basically replaces manual page turn keys. The Kobo Aura maintains the standard six-inch approach that the company made famous with their entire product line. It currently has a super high resolution e-Ink "Clarity Screen" with 212 DPI and sixteen levels of grey. Really, the resolution is the exact same on the Glo, and has not broken any barriers on using a next generation e-Ink display. This e-Reader has the exact same front-lite technology that was found on the original Kobo Aura HD. This will allow readers to adjust the brightness settings to suit their environment. Currently, Kobo has the best front-lit screen in the business and has surpassed Amazon in terms of quality. To turn the screen light on, there is a button at the very top and then a virtual slider bar to control the brightness. It is powered by the quintessential Freescale i.MX507 1 GHZ processor and has 1 GB of RAM. There are 4 GB of internal memory, which can be enhanced via the Micro SD Card. It seems that Kobo e-Readers still have expandable memory, which makes adding books to your collection fairly easy and painless. It also has over two months of battery life, which is ideal. Aside from their specs and hardware on paper, how do these e-readers function in the real world? What are the primary differences between their e-book stores and what type of options do you have while reading a standard book or a PDF file. Today, our video will answer all of your questions.
Amazon Kindle Voyage vs Kobo Aura is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Happy Read Across America Day!
| Today is March 2nd and we're delighted to say We're hoping you'll celebrate As we've mentioned before We hope that this message Each year on this day Now, we think you'll enjoy So gather up your youngsters Adam Sockel is a Social Media Specialist at OverDrive and still the resident Seussian expert. |
Introducing the Good e-Reader App Store for e-Ink
| The largest trend in the e-reader industry in 2014 was the elimination of Linux as the default operating system and the unified embracing of Android. Asian and European companies have been spearheading this movement to allow anyone to install whatever e-reading app they want and not be locked into a specific ecosystem. In order to move Android ahead in e-readers we have developed the first App Store for e-Ink. The Good e-Reader Android App Store for e-Ink is a major new initiative that gives users who have an Icarus, Onyx, Energy Sistem, Boyce or a slew of other devices to be able to easily install apps. Our App Store gives you unparalleled freedom to dictate your own e-reading experience. Want to read PDF files and don’t like the default viewer? Want to read manga and love MangaBox? What about reading your favorite e-books via Amazon, Kobo or Barnes and Noble? Good e-Reader has over 29,000 apps that are compatible with e-ink devices. The App Store for e-ink eliminates many of the issues that users found when they were using our optimized store for Android smartphones and tablets. We decided to rebuild the store, getting rid of all advertisements, banners, image slideshows and anything else that can wreck havoc with traditional e-readers. The end result, is amazing! The Good e-Reader App Store for e-Ink is free to install and doesn’t cost any money. We really want to make Android on e-readers a super viable thing and instead of just writing about all of the news here on the Good e-Reader Blog, we want to be proactive in helping the community find an awesome app solution. Introducing the Good e-Reader App Store for e-Ink is a post from: Good e-Reader |
New Book Promotion has Readers Paying What they Want
| The traditional book selling market has always had clearly defined prices for retail and online shopping. A publisher in New York is seeking to disrupt the conventional sales model with a pay what you want promotion. Brooklyn Arts Press has launched an intriguing initiative that is normally reserved for bands like Radiohead or comedy videos by Louis C.K. The publisher has introduced a Pick-Your-Price for a Paperback! from author Noah Eli Gordon. His new book The Word Kingdom in the Word Kingdom will allow readers to define their own price from Feb 1 4 to March 7th. Will the creative tactic catch on among small presses or even indie authors? It has certainly become quite the norm for e-books. Digital reading has always employed a laissez faire policy when it comes to experimentation. Humble Bundle is the poster child for the entire notion of paying what you want and has been doing it with e-books since 2012 when Neil Gaiman and Cory Doctorow contributed some titles and the campaign generated $1.2 million in under two weeks.
New Book Promotion has Readers Paying What they Want is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Digital Editions Fill the Gaps Where Library Catalogs Dwindle
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It’s not all that surprising or even all that upsetting when you look at the data on who is actually using libraries, and how they use them. A Pew Internet study showed that only 31% of patrons who stated that they actually visit their libraries’ physical locations (as opposed to utilizing the library through a website or app) are there to read newspapers or magazines. With such a low percentage, it becomes easy to point to the periodicals as a place to save money in already cash-strapped budgets. But that doesn’t mean that periodicals readers should have to do without, of course, which is why a growing number of libraries are turning to digital circulation to meet their patrons’ needs. Moreover, through digital subscriptions like Pressreader, Next Issue, or Zinio, libraries can actually increase the numbers of titles they offer rather than continue to line the shelves with limited numbers of print editions. According to the same Pew report, 53% of patrons surveyed think libraries need more ebooks, and another 42% “definitely” believe libraries should move most of their catalogs and services to an online portal for patrons to use remotely (and additional 34% think it’s something libraries and patrons should at least consider). "Over the last few years, the shift in consumer expectations from print to digital is not to be ignored," said Vailey Oehlke, president-elect of the ALA’s Public Library Association division, to The Press Enterprise. "A lot of libraries are looking at their collections and determining where best to invest their limited resources in terms of what the community wants.”
Digital Editions Fill the Gaps Where Library Catalogs Dwindle is a post from: Good e-Reader |
How to load an SD Card on the Kobo H2O
| One of the the biggest questions and concerns people have with the new Kobo H2O e-reader is how do you load in an SD Card. This reader has a waterproof flap at the very bottom which protects the Micro SD and Micro USB ports from the water and dust. Today, we show you exactly what you need to do to insert an SD card properly.
How to load an SD Card on the Kobo H2O is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Bruna Bookstore Claims e-Readers are Dead
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Bruna Bookstore has recognized that selling e-books individually is passe. They are intending on following the footsteps of Kindle Unlimited and Oyster in a bid to offer a Netflix for e -books service in the Netherlands. The new service will be called Bliyoo and they will offer both e-books and digital magazines. They are still trying to secure a number of publishers, but have said that they currently have 75% of all the e-books in the Netherlands in their library. The price has not been defined yet, but Zeegers indicates 9.99 euros per month makes sense. The company will be launching a series of apps for Android and iOS, but is excluding e-readers. “We have deliberately chosen an Android and iOS app. The e-reader has had its day, more and more people are reading on your phone or tablet. Therefore it is important for me that the books and magazines you read, all devices are accessible. So you can stop reading on one device and transfer your content to another. ” said Zeegfers. He also mentioned that “e-Readers have no future.” Bruna Bookstore Claims e-Readers are Dead is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Microsoft Delivers Numpad to Android Tablets for Excel
| If you want to get in to a heated debate with a true nerd, ask them if they feel numpad is a true necessity for a keyboard (and let me advise you ahead of time to avoid the arrow keys argument entirely). Honestly though, if you do a lot of work with spreadsheets that numpad comes in pretty handy. Microsoft agrees, and so if you happen to have an Android tablet, there is a keyboard now that lets you enter numbers with speed, ease, and precision (unfortunately smartphones are still out of luck, no matter how many numbers you plan to crunch on the smaller-format devices). As handy as it is, the main keyboard is truncated, which means it really is designed for making numerical entry easier at the sacrifice of alpha-numeric typing (as I think about it, there are a few games out there that could benefit from this little addition as well). No matter your take, this is yet another piece of evidence in support of Microsoft starting to really understand mobile users and the experiences they demand. All this keyboard is missing, is that inexplicable noise that was produced by those journal ling calculators with the paper tape roll… if you are of a certain vintage, you will know exactly what I mean.
Microsoft Delivers Numpad to Android Tablets for Excel is a post from: Good e-Reader |
What is the best Solution for Digital Newspapers and Magazines for Libraries?
| There are three major companies that market newspapers and magazines to libraries and there is a fair amount of concern about what ecosystem to invest in. Library budgets are finite and the average system can ill-afford in making the wrong choice when investing in digital content for their patrons. Today, we look at the three best ones out there and give you a sense on what they are all about. All of the companies involved in magazines and newspapers in the library have their own apps. This is necessary to read the digital content and normally the branches will have detailed instructions on their website about where to download and how to use their apps. I think the most compelling aspect of this type of content is that there are no limits like e-books. You can borrow them for as long as you want and borrow as many titles, without limits. Overdrive got into the digital newspaper and magazine game very late. The company launched their new service in February 2015 and relies on Barnes and Noble for all of their content. Currently, there are only 1,000 issues that libraries can purchase and its only available in the US. Libraries that invest in the Overdrive ecosystem are always paying a bit more, because Overdrive is the market leader for e-books and audiobooks. They can get away with charging a bit extra, because the vast majority of libraries already deal with them. Pressreader deals with both digital magazines and newspapers and has the largest catalog with over 3,7000 publications. The company also offers a hotspot solution, to be able to hook the entire library up with wireless internet access, so anyone can ride the connection to download content from PressReader or just surf the internet. Libraries all over the world can signup, something that they can’t do with Zinio or Overdrive. One of the big advantages with the newspaper aspect of Pressreader is being able to get audio editions. Their apps have the capability of doing text to speech, so people who are visually disabled can have the articles read aloud. Secondly, the newspapers they offer are replica editions, which means they mirror the printed form. This allows you to see local advertising, classifieds and even the Sunday Funnies. Zinio Zinio currently has around 500 titles that publishers have sanctioned for use in the library. Due to their relationship with Recorded Books it means that users need to setup 2 accounts: an RB Magazines account, which lets you check out magazines for free (as long as the library subscribes to them); and a Zinio account, which lets you read checked-out magazines online in your browser or read via an app. Zinio isn’t really global, in the respects that the vast majority of their clients are solely in Canada and the US. I think this is one of the things that hinders their growth potential in this sector. What is the best Solution for Digital Newspapers and Magazines for Libraries? is a post from: Good e-Reader |
The Kobo Glo is Now Discontinued
| The Kobo Glo was originally launched in September 2012 and did quite well in North America and Europe. In recent years this e-reader was a bridge to overseas markets and sold all over the world. The Glo is now officially discontinued. The main Kobo website now brings users to a 404 page when they try and purchase this low cost e-reader. This is the same thing that has occurred in the past when the Canadian based company discontinued the Kobo Mini. Kobo currently has two openings in their product portfolio and they are actively developing the next generation of e-readers. Their codenames are Alyssum and Pika. The Alyssum e-reader will be six inches and have a resolution of 1072 x 1448 and 300 PPI. This is very similar to the e-reader that Amazon released late last year, the Kindle Voyage. It is very likely that Kobo wants to heavily compete against Amazon with very similar hardware. Pika on the other hand will supplant the Mini, which was discontinued in 2014. It will be five inches and have a resolution of 800 x 600. The Kobo Glo is Now Discontinued is a post from: Good e-Reader |
OverDrive Fixes Technical Issue with Kindle Library eBooks
| Yesterday OverDrive announced that they have resolved a technical issue with their library ebook lending service that had caused a number of Kindle-formatted ebooks not to appear available for lending. The glitch affected newer titles added to the system since the beginning of this calendar year. Now that OverDrive has become aware of the issue, […] |
Happy birthday to us!
| It’s the Raspberry Pi’s third birthday today (or as near as we can get: we launched on February 29 in a leap year). To celebrate we’re having a huge party/conference/scrum over the weekend in Cambridge – we’ve sold 1,300 tickets and I’m currently hiding in the press room to get this post written. I’m on a really overloaded WiFi network, so I’m having trouble uploading pictures at the minute: we’ll have some for you next week. Three years ago, we made 2,000 little computers, and I remember looking at the pallet, and thinking: “Cripes. Can’t believe we’ve made so many computers. That’s amazing.” We’ve sold half a million of the things just this month. Thanks to everyone who’s joined us on this extraordinarily weird journey – you’re all brilliant. This is becoming an annual tradition: Matt Timmons Brown, one of my favourite 15-year-olds, has made us another celebratory video. (Here’s last year’s.) Thank you Matt!
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