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The Sony PRS-T3 will feature a 6-inch E Ink screen with a resolution of 1024×758 pixels. Sony is really not giving a full HD experience like many other devices that are being released this year. A number of e-Readers are all going to be using a new HD Pearl e-Paper screen that has a resolution of 2048×1536 pixels. The one thing I find odd is that Sony plans on going with a infrared display from Neonode, instead of a capacitive touchscreen display.
The restiveness to incorporating a front-lit display stems from one of their old e-readers, the PRS-700. Sony actually released a very terrible reader with a side-lit display in 2008. This has put a sour taste on the whole concept, Stephanie said. "We had concluded that the reading lights are aimed really heavy readers who seek an experience close to the paper, and light alter the experience. So we focused on other features that the book is not, as the ability to enlarge the font to enhance reading comfort." She went on to say "Studies we conducted have shown that the presence of an integrated lighting system was not a criterion: it is a popular feature from time to time, but that's all. We prefer to focus on the rest of the reading light to provide a highly efficient device, without this feature, it offers optional via accessories. This is the bias that we take." One of the ways Sony has a bit of advantage over other companies is the software they run on their line of readers. They have a relationship with digital library juggernaut Overdrive, which allows readers to borrow and read books directly within the app. Sources at Overdrive have informed us that Sony still has a relationship with them and has an existing licensing agreement. What this does, is put Overdrive on Sony e-Readers exclusively and Overdrive then markets the e-readers to all of the libraries that do business with them. This is all done under the guise of the Overdrive Test Drive program, which recommends and markets certain devices to libraries all over the world. Publishers are quite happy with Sony, because they do not have the cut-throat reputation that Amazon has. Sony has been revising their online Reader Store over the course of the last year. They have invested a ton of money into their eBook Discovery programs and unique features to recommend books. They have also undergone a huge website relaunch, which saw the old style done away and a more intuitive reading interface. There is no word yet on how the new store looks on the T3, but I would expect that it visually looks different then on prior models. The new Sony PRS-T3 e-Reader does not change any of the current paradigms of what an e-Reader is. They are not using anything that would draw in people with existing e-Readers that are looking to upgrade. There does not seem to be a compelling enough reason to switch to this device, unless you want some free Harry Potter Books. Sony is basically just going through the motions at this point and keeping in-line with their yearly product release cycle. Sony PRS T3 has a September 19th Release Date is a post from: E-Reader News |
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Sony PRS T3 has a September 19th Release Date
Sony is releasing their next generation e-Reader on September 19th 2013. The exact date comes from a 
Sony is forgoing the front-lit display that the Kindle Paperwhite, Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight and the Kobo Aura employ. Instead they are going with a super slim lighted cover. Sony were the first to experiment with touch screens and front lighting and these were not always successful. Stephanie Lang, head of group IT division of Sony France, said in a 
Good e-Reader Radio – B&N Earnings Call, Future of the Nook, eBook Discovery and e-Paper News
| Welcome to another exciting edition of the Good e-Reader Radio Show! Jeremy Greenfield of Digital Book World joins Michael Kozlowski to talk the latest news in digital publishing. Today on the show we talk about Barnes and Noble’s latest earnings call and how the company isn’t giving up on Nook tablets just yet. Nook Video just launched for iOS and Android, and we talk about the likelihood of consumer adoption. In other news, e-Ink released their latest financial earnings report and are down almost $33 million dollars in the last quarter. Things should pick up towards the end of Q3 and Q4, as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Bookeen, Kobo and a number of other companies are releasing new e-Readers. Finally, we talk about eBook discovery and a recent post Digital Book World made on the subject. Good e-Reader Radio – B&N Earnings Call, Future of the Nook, eBook Discovery and e-Paper News is a post from: E-Reader News |
Piracy a Major Threat to Digital Publishing in China
| As it has been the case anywhere else in the world, publishers in China too are waking up to the impact that digital publishing is expected to have in the domestic publishing industry in future. However, publishers fear the rampant piracy prevalent in the country could cast a pall of gloom in the segment. No mean words these are considering China has already grown to emerge the second largest ebook market in the world. China's digital publishing industry has been showing impressive growth off late, with ebooks, digital newspapers and digital magazine growing by 52.6 percent in 2012. China though considers online cartoons, online gaming, mobile phone gaming, online advertisements and online music as well as part of the digital publishing industry. However, it's no less than 200 million Chinese who have taken to reading digital publications in recent times. However, even with ebooks coming much cheaper than their printed counterparts, a survey to ascertain the people's reading trend has revealed that the majority two third of those polled read books online only if they are free. “It’s unavoidable to have so many pirated books on the market. I think all local publishing houses should cooperate to combat piracy and build a market with a more rational order.” Said Wu Hong, vice editor-in-chief, Shanghai Translation Publishing House. It's a tall order no doubt, given the cheap clones that the Chinese come up with on a regular basis. In fact, it's a parallel industry that thrives in China where they take pride in coming up with exact clones of the original, be it electronics or anything else. There have even been instances of an entire Apple store being replicated in China, which should be a clear pointer of how seriously they value their replicating skills. Coming back specifically to digital publishing, Kan Ninghui, vice director of Shanghai Press & Publication Admin, said, “The e-publication has nothing supportive so far. What we do is just something on the surface. If we can better develop e-books, that is, let e-books better elaborate the contents of the traditional books, it’ll be better for the entire industry.” As Mei Xuelin, president of a publishing house that deals with educational content puts it, making an ebook that is an exact replica of the original printed version is a way to fuel piracy. Instead, an ebook that contains a lot of audio and visual material that helps explain the content better can be a nice example of what an ebook should be like. However, such a makeover for the ebooks can also rob them of the price advantage they have over the printed ones but can deter piracy. "The book can hardly be replaced. From a technical perspective, videos or explanations attached to the e-book may not match well with the content in a pirated version. And when it comes to education, readers will tend to believe the legal copies in terms of content. Such e-books are much more complete than the traditional versions. So, we can make the price the same as the paperback," said Xuelin. In the end what can be said is that with piracy so rampant in the country, it won’t be an easy job to get rid of it quickly and completely. But an effort like the one mentioned above is surely a step in the right direction.
Piracy a Major Threat to Digital Publishing in China is a post from: E-Reader News |
Leaks Reveal That New Sony Reader PRS-T3 Doesn’t Have a Frontlight
| Today I’ve got some unfortunate news to report. Some new information has leaked online about Sony’s new upcoming PRS-T3 ebook reader and it doesn’t look good. In fact I’m so disappointed that I almost decided not to write an article about this at all because quite frankly there’s so little new information revealed that it […] |
Free Content for New Nook App Customers
| Barnes and Noble is celebrating the realization that more and more reading consumers are using tablet-based e-reading apps for their digital reading needs. To that end, the book retailer is offering free ebook content to new users in the UK who download the Nook app for their devices and register a new user account. "This great offer of free eBooks and magazines for new customers that download a NOOK Reading App is another part of NOOK's strong commitment to make reading more affordable and accessible in the UK," said Jim Hilt, Managing Director, Barnes & Noble, in a statement on the free books. "We are excited about the impact we are making on literacy in the UK this summer with our sponsorship of the Get Reading campaign and the corresponding discounts on the award-winning NOOK devices." News came out this week that Barnes and Noble, long rumored to be discontinuing production of its Nook line of devices, would actually continue manufacturing and marketing its e-readers and tablets, although in smaller scale production. At the same time, this venture recognizes that a growing number of consumers want the variety of options that are open to them as tablet consumers, while still benefiting from their customer relationships with specific book and ebook retailers. Of the titles selected in this promotion, Philippa Greggory’s title has a sequel that has recently been launched and Cassandra Clare’s title’s movie adaptation arrives in theaters shortly. Two magazine titles are also available for free under this promotion, T3 and The Simple Things.
Free Content for New Nook App Customers is a post from: E-Reader News |
School digital library search metadata
| In early August we announced the rollout of OverDrive's new digital library for schools. A number of features have been added to the improved interface including updated help materials, visual theme options and expanded title information. Perhaps the most exciting addition, however, is the search metadata now available to users.
Students, teachers and parents alike can now use ATOS and Lexile scores to locate titles based on reading level and difficulty. This opens up endless possibilities for students to not only find titles to read based on their reading levels but it also provides them with a road map for what titles to read next. For schools that use the Accelerated Reader (AR) program having the ATOS scores available on the title page eliminates the need for students to have multiple screens open to compare OverDrive titles and AR scores. Students are also provided with recommended titles based on the information pages they're looking at.
Another group who will benefit from the metadata enhancements is the staff members who select what titles are added to your digital collection. Selectors can use the reports in Marketplace to see what titles are being checked out the most and then purchase new books that fall into similar ATOS and Lexile ranges. This new search metadata provides deeper engagement with your students by enabling them to spend less time searching for a title and more time actually reading!
Adam Sockel is a Marketing Communications Specialist with OverDrive
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Parents and teachers can now get involved in their students reading habits more easily as well. They can quickly see the reading level their students are currently at and make sure they are being challenged by the titles they're selecting. Additionally, they can recommend other titles in the student's reading range. This will keep the students engaged with the materials and get them reading both in the classroom and at home.Finding Images for Your PowerPoint Presentations
A picture is worth a thousand words, especially when it comes to PowerPoint. Learn about some of our favorite resources for high-quality stock photos and graphics. |
Adobe Reader Update For BlackBerry 10 Introduces New Features
| The Adobe Reader for Blackberry 10 has been provided with an update which introduces two new cool features, signature support and text annotation. With the former, users will now be able to create their own signature and save it, which can then be used in documents. It's not only that for users will also have the option to change color, size, opacity as well as the thickness of the signature as well. The other feature, that of text annotations allows users to insert any text and will also have the option to change color, thickness and opacity of the annotated text. The annotations can also be moved and deleted as well. Overall, two very nice features added to the Blackberry 10 platform which should appeal to both the business and general users alike.
Adobe Reader Update For BlackBerry 10 Introduces New Features is a post from: E-Reader News |
Wearables: Google Glass, and something quite different
| Last week, Adafruit published a tutorial on how to get Google Glass to communicate with hardware and the internet via the Pi. Using XMPP (which the decrepit and elderly, like me, may recognise as what used to be Jabber), you can use Google Glass to talk to a Pi, which can then send instructions external devices, or stuff on the internet. We love this stuff. I had the chance to play with Hexxeh’s Google Glass back in May just after Google IO, and it’s great to see the thing working with external hardware. If you’re not a lucky Google Glass owner, you can build one of these instead. Domestic Hacks has made a 3d-printed, steampunk inspired, fabulous, wearable Pi. It’s a bit spesh – stitched leather with brass fittings, gold PLA, an analogue wristwatch, a lovely clicky wrist keyboard, some handsome lenses for you to peer into as a display…and while we’re not entirely sure what we’d do with one, we want one all the same. The video below the pictures is in German, but that doesn’t detract from its magic sparkle, and should help you to put together your own if you choose to use the 3D printer files that Domestic Hacks has made available on Thingiverse. Vorsprung durch Technik! (That’s the sum total of our German, although Clive does also know some swear words.)  We understand that you are meant to strap this bit to your head. |
Penguin Australia Launches New Teen Website
| Penguin Australia has been running a fairly popular teen website for the last six years. The main draw about the website is the blogging platform that wrote a number of articles on books to film and fashion. Penguin has just launched a totally new website and really takes blogging design to a new level. Penguin Teen Australia features a very compelling design and has heavy HTML5 elements. I have really never seen a blogging website with this type of design and recommend everyone to check it out. The writing is all done internally by dedicated Penguin writers and focuses on the same type of content they had before, just more of it. They have best seller charts, when famous actors are visiting Australia and an overall heavy emphasis on celebrity culture, with a book twist. Felicity Vallence mentioned in a statement “We hope teens will embrace the site in a number of ways including discussing their favorite books. We know from our research that the desire to not only learn about new YA reads, but discuss teens books with like-minded readers is incredibly important and with a vibrant and active online Australian YA community, we wanted to offer readers another avenue to do so.” Penguin Australia Launches New Teen Website is a post from: E-Reader News |
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Nielsen Acquires eBook Data Business from Bowker
| Bowker is best known for providing industry insights and data for eBooks, digital publishing and tablets. They normally issue monthly reports that give the entire industry a sense in usage and statistics. Today, Nielsen has purchased Bowker's Business Intelligence and Commerce Solutions products. This acquisition will build on Nielsen's existing global book intelligence by adding enhanced offerings in transaction services and sales measurement and analysis. "We are committed to elevating the global book industry's understanding of print and digital book measurement and discovery within an evolving media landscape," said Jonathan Nowell, President, Books, Nielsen. "Bowker has developed first-rate book analytic solutions, which offer a great complement to Nielsen's existing solutions for the book industry. We are excited to welcome Bowker's team to Nielsen and we will work together to provide our clients with the measurement, tools, insights and linked commerce solutions needed to exceed their current and future expectations." "Our commitment at Bowker and ProQuest is to develop solutions that streamline the workflow of our customers," said ProQuest CEO Kurt Sanford. "By bringing together Nielsen and Bowker analytic services, book publishers will receive the critical data they require to navigate the transition to digital-first publishing, through one tool set from one source, significantly simplifying the collection of business intelligence." There is no word yet on how streamlined the eBook data reports will get in the near future. Likely a number of Bowker employees will be reporting directly to Nielsen, same goes with the underlying book analytics technologies.What we do know, is Nielson will release a new self-publishing report in the Fall and likely will have more comprehensive data than either of the two companies have ever released before. Bowker in the immediate future is still owned by Proquest. The company will focus on their self-publishing tool set and ISBN business. Nielsen Acquires eBook Data Business from Bowker is a post from: E-Reader News |
Smashwords Unveils New Indie Author Interview System
| Smashwords is one of the largest self-publishing websites in the world and pumps out hundreds of new titles each day. It is one of the most vibrant ecosystems for authors who write digital books exclusively. Smashwords Interviews is a new service that guides authors to create, edit and publish their own Q&A interview. Authors simply answer a series of questions, or create their own questions, and then click publish. The final interview can be easily integrated with their own websites, blog, or in the book description area on mainstream digital stores. In order to use this new interview service you don’t actually have to publish an eBook with Smashwords. You simply have to just register for a free account and the system will generate a series of questions. It is a solid idea in spirit, because readers can know more about the author and also gives another marketing tool in the marketing arsenal. Smashwords Interviews only launched today and the entire system is plagued with bugs. Many authors are getting the system message that the service has run out of questions. Mark Coker the CEO of Smashwords has addressed this issue and are currently working on a solution. Authors can still make their own questions and answer them, so its not totally broken. In spirit, this is a great tool for authors to employ. Many of Amazon’s top eBooks have an author interview in the description field. This is normally generated by a PR company, or the author themselves, you never know. When you are looking at an unknown writer and maybe their eBook looks interesting, it might lead to a sale. A large number of readers might dig the authors style or their writing voice. Lots of people follow specific authors and it all starts with the first glance at the book description. Smashwords Unveils New Indie Author Interview System is a post from: E-Reader News |
KDP Select Launches Lending in Japan, What That Means for Authors
| Amazon announced this week that it has now extended its Kindle ebook lending in a new market, Amazon.co.jp. The Japanese Kindle store will now let its users borrow ebooks that have been placed in Amazon’s exclusive KDP Select program. Indie authors have often confused KDP Select with Amazon’s typical ebook publishing platform, Kindle Direct Publishing. eBooks uploaded through KDP are not automatically entered into the Select program, meaning the authors are not limited as to where the ebook can be sold. Once a title is listed under Select, however, it is eligible for some promotional tools and the lending program, a feature that can actually result in higher royalties for the author every time the book is borrowed, depending on its price point, of course. What authors might be confused about in regards to this newest lending market in Japan is that their books are still only available in English, so the risk of losing royalties by putting their titles in the Select program might actually be a little higher than if they were not already enrolled. For authors whose works are already a part of Select and are producing successful returns, this announcement opens up the possibility of more readers choosing to borrow the titles, offering the authors more opportunity to earn the royalties associated with lending. Authors whose English titles are not currently enrolled in Select would have to weigh the decision of removing their books from all other sales channels in hopes that readers in Japanese would borrow English-language ebooks with enough volume to make up the difference.
KDP Select Launches Lending in Japan, What That Means for Authors is a post from: E-Reader News |
Get up to speed with OverDrive Media Console 3.0 for Android and iOS
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Now that OverDrive Media Console (OMC) 3.0 is live for Android and iOS, you'll want to make sure you're familiar with all the new features. If you weren’t able to attend the live webinars last week to get a preview, there is a recorded version along with the slides on the Learning Center for on demand viewing. You'll find a video demonstration highlighting the features, information on syncing across devices, compatibility and more. We also have updated the video series for both Android and iOS and our help articles on OverDrive Help, so your end users have resources available to them as well.
To download OMC 3.0 and for more information on all other versions, please visit http://omc.overdrive.com.
Here’s what some people are saying about their experience with the app so far on Twitter:
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Teachers, Classrooms Get a Boost from Bill Gates through Graphite
| One of the long understood and ugly truths about teaching is that the pay is low and the investment of the teacher’s own funds for her classroom supplies are high. But Bill Gates and Common Sense Media have launched a new initiative to provide some measure or relief by creating open access content that teachers can use in their classrooms. Bill Gates, head of the globally reknowned Microsoft corporation, has long supported education both at home and around the world through the efforts of his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Now, he’s stepping up once again to offer teachers free digital resources for their classroom use through a partnership with the non-profit Common Sense Media. The result of this partnership, Graphite, is a website where teachers can access games, apps, curriculum, and more, all in an environment where the content has been vetted for grade-level use and age-appropriate consumption. “Graphite will make it easier for educators to find the tools they want and empower them do their best work,” Gates said in a statement. “It’s a great example of how we can support teachers who want to incorporate education technology in their classroom to help every student excel.” Gates has long been known for his firm stance that the only solution to many of the global crises faced today is education, as well as his strong admonishment that technology companies are not doing nearly enough to support education domestically and abroad. Through his foundation, Gates has supported a number of worldwide initiatives aimed at bringing educational technology to as many students as possible.
Teachers, Classrooms Get a Boost from Bill Gates through Graphite is a post from: E-Reader News |
CourseSmart Rolls Out Digital Textbook Subscriptions for College Students
| With estimates as high as $1,200 US per year that college students spend on textbooks alone, digital educational content leader CourseSmart is unveiling its newest feature, aimed at easing that burden to some extent. The CourseSmart Subscription Packs, launched in time for students to return to school in the fall and take full advantage, stands to slash that price figure by as much as 66 percent. The Subscription Packs, which let students select titles from CourseSmart’s catalog of over 40,000 digital textbooks, will cost students right at $200 for a “bookshelf” of six titles. The subscription allows students to have unlimited access to their bookshelves for 150 days, long enough for a full semester. The bookshelf is accessible online, offline, and through all of CourseSmart’s smartphone and tablet-specific mobile apps. "Digital course materials have always provided cost-savings and convenience for students, and we are taking those benefits a step further with CourseSmart Subscription Packs," said Sean Devine, CEO of CourseSmart, in a statement about the new subscription feature. "This flat-fee model offers students maximum convenience and affordability, ensuring they have everything they need to be successful during the semester while keeping extra money in their wallets." Apart from the typical search, highlight, and share features that have made a number of student consumers embrace digital editions, one draw for this type of program is that it is not university-specific. Students have the option to sign up with CourseSmart on their own, regardless of any form of agreement with the institution. By making it available to individual users without the need for a partnership agreement with an entire school, students have far more flexibility in selecting digital textbooks without having to wait for educational bureaucracy to catch up to digital publishing.
CourseSmart Rolls Out Digital Textbook Subscriptions for College Students is a post from: E-Reader News |
Conde Nast, Amazon Partner on Magazine Subscriptions
| Conde Nast has made digital publishing headlines for some time as it’s one of the first major magazine publishers to create flawless and device-optimized digital editions of its family of magazine titles using Adobe’s Digital Publishing Suite. These editions, available for a variety of smartphones and tablets, also come bundled for print subscribers, but can be had as stand-alone digital subscriptions. Now, Conde Nast is turning to Amazon for help in managing these subscriptions. The publisher has now signed on to have its reader base initiate and renew their subscriptions through the online retailer, a sensible move considering that electronic retailing is what Amazon does best. Standard methods of subscribing will still apply for now, but the publisher hopes to transition to Amazon’s database for future readers. During the initial phase of the partnership, subscribers can get six months of several Conde Nast titles–Vogue, Glamour, Bon Appetit, Lucky, Golf Digest, Vanity Fair and Wired–for only six dollars. The remaining Conde Nast title, eleven in all, will be added to the program at a later time. An article for Reuter’s by Jennifer Saba outlined how this partnership came about, referencing a meeting between Amazon’s director of Kindle content Russ Grandinetti and Conde Nast’s president. “‘We are using the partnership with Amazon to make purchasing and renewing subscriptions as easy as humanly possible,’ Bob Sauerberg, president of Conde Nast, said in an interview last Wednesday. ‘We want to go from selling print subscriptions to selling access to all our content,’ he added, referring to the introductory offer that allows readers to get online and print subscriptions bundled together for individual titles.” Despite being one of the more innovative publishers in terms of jumping straight into digital, Conde Nast’s digital subscriptions still make up less than 5% of its readership, a move that it hopes to shift through the arrangement and through its similar subscription arrangement with Apple.
Conde Nast, Amazon Partner on Magazine Subscriptions is a post from: E-Reader News |
An E Ink eBook Reader and Secondary Computer Monitor Rolled into One
| Have you ever wanted to use your ebook reader as a computer monitor? If so, I’ve got some good news for you. The folks from Shenzhen Ocean Blue Technology in China are trying to raise $2000 via IndieGogo to build the first E Ink ebook reader, named CBR, that can double as a secondary computer […] |
Overdrive Media Console for Android and iOS Updated
| Overdrive has just released their long awaited 3.0 update to the Media Console app for Android and iOS. This app allows patrons to borrow ebook and audiobooks from their public libraries. The big draw about the update is the ability to sync bookmarks and last page read across devices. This is especially important if users read on a smartphone and than pick up on their tablets at night. A redesigned user interface with an all-new look is included in the update, along with streamlined navigation and a one-stop reorganized menu. App functions are just a swipe and tap away. OverDrive also introduced variable speed playback for iOS, where readers can control the speed in which an audiobook is being played. The most important update is a guide to using the app. The old Media Console app was not very intuitive, while many common features were buried and hard to find. This all changed with a new guidance system for first time users, as the app now prompts users to add libraries and get books. The updated app is available from Good e-Reader for Android or iOS. Overdrive Media Console for Android and iOS Updated is a post from: E-Reader News |
National Library of Australia Digitizing Old Newspaper Articles
| The National Library of Australia has embarked on an ambitious project of digitizing decades old newspapers to be added in a new database which they have named 'Trove'. It will be a treasure trove indeed as it's not only newspapers that are being provided with a digital makeover but books and journals as well. Past photographs too are being included in 'Trove', which means anyone wishing to have an insight of Australia and its people will have a rich source to fall back on. “It’s now got over 300 million resources available, focussing on Australia and Australians, but the newspapers is the part of Trove which gets most use and has our most devoted followers,” said digital historian at the National Library of Australia, Dr Tim Sherratt. The project which began in 2008 has grown to include over a '100 million newspaper articles and 10 million newspaper pages'. “A large portion of the newspaper users tend to be people interested in or passionate about family history. It has certainly very much changed the way people do that. (It’s helped people get) All those details about death notices, marriage notices, all those little stories that just fill-in detail which you wouldn’t otherwise have access to,” said Sherratt. “There are a number of cases where local history groups or local libraries have actually organised themselves to support the digitisation of their own local papers,” Sherratt further added. National Library of Australia Digitizing Old Newspaper Articles is a post from: E-Reader News |
