Video Tour of E Ink’s Booth at Computex 2014

Every year Charbax posts a video tour of E Ink’s latest products and prototypes. This time the venue was at the Computex event in Taiwan, and is the first time E Ink has had a booth there. Like usual, E Ink had all kinds of products on display. Everything from ereaders to watches to signage […]

URL: http://feeds.the-ebook-reader.com/~r/feedburner/cmWU/~3/LHxnk6V2geE/

Indie Romance Authors Should Encourage Readers to Pay to be in their Next Book

Self-publishing is a growing industry and many researchers agree that by 2020, 50% of all books will be penned by indie authors. One of the downsides of electing to take the path of writing and marketing the book yourself is the financial situation. Often authors only generate money once the book is actively sold and do not get any type of advance to offset the cost of developing a new title. This is why many romance writers lean on their husbands to sustain their financial situation, while they generate a devout following of readers and try make a living from it. Sure some authors take advantage of Kickstarter or Indiegogo to raise funds, but often they fail to meet their financial targets. This is why many self-published authors are paying attention to what George R.R. Martin is doing with his new charity campaign. The Game of Thrones writer is taking a novel approach in order to raise funds for The Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary and the Food Depot of Santa Fe. Two readers who donate $20,000 will be able to be slain in a grisly fashion in the next book he writes. There is one male character and one female character available. You can choose your character's station in the world (lordling, knight, peasant, whore, lady, maester, septon, anything) and be killed in a horrendous fashion. Paying to be inside of a book is a relatively new approach and although self-published authors are unlikely to get away with charging exorbitant amounts of money, there likely is a market. Erotica and Romance are two literary genres that are dominated by female indie authors and 59% of all titles on the market are written by them. According to Bowker, the official ISBN agency for the US and Australia, 71% of self-published books were bought by women, with romance titles the most popular category, followed by literary fiction. Likely many women readers would love to have the main character named after them and would be willing to pay for the privilege. Indie Romance Authors Should Encourage Readers to Pay to be in their Next Book is a post from: Good e-Reader

URL: http://goodereader.com/blog/e-book-news/indie-romance-authors-should-encourage-readers-to-pay-to-be-in-their-next-book?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=indie-romance-authors-should-encourage-readers-to-pay-to-be-in-their-next-book

Florida Principal Pulls the Plug on Doctorow

It’s either yet another example of stupidity in public school administrations, or it’s the most brilliantly subversive plot on the part of an adult in a long time. At Booker T. Washington High School in Pensacola, Florida, an English teacher and the school librarian collaborated on a fun summer reading event. In addition to the typical summer reading lists high schoolers have, this school decided to participate in One School/One Book, in which all of the students were invited to read the same book over the summer so they could participate in a number of activities en masse in the fall. The faculty worked together on discussion materials and the activities, all centered around their pick for the project, Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother. And then the principle pulled the plug on the program, citing the book’s message of questioning authority as grounds for its inappropriateness. In an interesting twist of fate, the principle also reportedly cited a parent’s concerns about profanity in the book, despite the fact that there isn’t any. After organizing all of the work, promotion, and supplemental materials, the faculty members were told to choose a different book or cancel it. But here’s where the internet took over and made it even more fun. First, word got out about the program’s cancellation, so Doctorow and his publisher Tor donated 200 copies of the book to the student body. But more important is the very, very hopeful possibility that this was all a ploy to teach kids to actually question authority. A look at the school’s website links to their required summer reading list. Not only is Little Brother required reading for incoming eleventh graders, but other notably challenged or banned books are on there, including 1984, Fahrenheint 451 and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. The second title, by Sherman Alexie, has been banned not only for profanity but for its references to masturbation, among other topics; if that is part of the required reading list, we can only hope that Doctorow’s book is being challenged/banned to actually encourage participation in the summer event. The principle is either just another sadly typical example of what’s wrong with public education, or is quite possibly the most brilliant strategist ever to work with teenagers. Hopefully this educator is taking this stance and willingly risking ridicule and derision in order to serve as an example of the very type of authority young people should question. Unfortunately, this blog post from Cory Doctorow tells a very different story. Florida Principal Pulls the Plug on Doctorow is a post from: Good e-Reader

URL: http://goodereader.com/blog/e-book-news/florida-principal-pulls-the-plug-on-doctorow?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=florida-principal-pulls-the-plug-on-doctorow

Hoopla Digital Redesigns the Digital Library Model

Library lending of ebooks and other digital content is finally gaining a foothold in the industry as publishers and lending institutions come to some measure of agreement on how to make it work. While libraries need access to up-to-date but affordable content, and publishers need some guarantee they they will be compensated for allowing their titles into lending catalogs, the model is slowly taking off in greater numbers of libraries. Besides the drawback that publishers are still imposing checkout limits and raising the price of an ebook by as much as 300% for libraries, the biggest obstacle may be instituting the lending program itself. While companies like OverDrive and 3M Library System are to be commended and have certainly pioneered the current lending model by striking agreements with major publishers, the subscription fee to participate in those models is still an overwhelming budget item for most smaller libraries. hoopla digital, the recently launched digital division of library content supplier Midwest Tape, has launched a lending model for libraries that stands to change that. This model, which relies solely on pay-per-transaction, is a great alternative for libraries who balk at the cost of joining one of the major digital supplier’s subscriptions. “We wanted to give libraries a way to be relevant in the digital age,” explained hoopla’s Jeff Jankowski in an interview with Good e-Reader. “Why take the limitations of the physical world and apply them to start of the art digital?” These limitations that Jankowski referred to include things like wait periods and simultaneous checkouts, along with the subscription required to offer content to library patrons. This pay per use model means there are no longer any holds or unavailable books, as libraries only pay when patrons consume content. “You can’t retain customers if you have dissatisfied customers. Publishers like [hoopla] because no holds or waits means no dissatisfied customers. This helps libraries stay relevant.” That relevance is really the key to what makes hoopla an ideal model. As libraries joyfully spread the news that they now offer ebook lending, the reality is that patrons often go to the media console for their specific libraries only to find a limited catalog filled with older backlist titles, many of which are checked out because that’s all there is to read. This frustration has led many patrons to think their libraries can’t even do a good job when they do offer 21st century content capabilities. hoopla works as a single app for patrons to use in order to download ebooks, stream movies, or stream music, all of which libraries only pay for as the content is borrowed. Of course, there are parameters libraries can set up individually, such as patron checkout caps or loan periods so they don’t find themselves with an unexpected bill due to a high volume of patron traffic. Libraries can also see an up-to-date dashboard of traffic and fees, and also receive alerts when they are nearing their monthly budget limit. Hoopla Digital Redesigns the Digital Library Model is a post from: Good e-Reader

URL: http://goodereader.com/blog/e-book-news/hoopla-digital-redesigns-the-digital-library-model?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=hoopla-digital-redesigns-the-digital-library-model

New Startup Blookist Streamlines the Blog-to-Book Concept

Blogging is an interesting concept, one that draws millions of writers around the globe. From the generic “things I’m thinking right now” style of simply writing for the joy of it, to the very profitable and thematic blogs that reach a vast audience, the tool itself is as straightforward as it is genius. One company, Blookist, is looking for an easier way to let blog authors generate revenue from their blogs in a nearly crowdfunded way. Based on the increasingly popular idea that the majority of the reading public will not only recognize good content but also feel compelled to compensate writers for it in a voluntary way, Blookist lets authors start a “blook” (blog+book) and add to it, chapter by chapter, while selling those chapters to donors who come to the site for content. Adrijan Zuzic, founder and director of Blook.ist, spoke to Good e-Reader about the platform and its original launch, as well as the biggest benefit for users. “They can create a selection of their related works, so it makes it easier writers and bloggers to generate revenue. They start writing, they publish, and monetize through donations and through subscribers to their blooks. Through these subscriptions, authors can write and sell a chapter at a time, or they can keep their drafts private and then publish the blook as a whole.” Recent models to the way books and ebooks are conceived of and sold have offered some truly unique forms of paying for content. Pubslush allows authors to take pre-orders for their books in order to generate the revenue they need for professional publishing services, while Pentian lets donors share in the royalties of the book for the first three years, giving authors the funds they need to generate titles. Blookist, which seems to function much like Wattpad-for-pay, makes that type of structure possible as well. “We want to challenge ePubs, and that’s a significant mountain to climb. We really want to make writing a book as easy as writing a blog.” While still in its most recent launch stage, Blookist is offering 50% off its pro membership for readers of this article by using code “blookistcmp” on the registration page. An example of a Proust work reimagined as a blook is available HERE. New Startup Blookist Streamlines the Blog-to-Book Concept is a post from: Good e-Reader

URL: http://goodereader.com/blog/e-book-news/new-startup-blookist-streamlines-the-blog-to-book-concept?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-startup-blookist-streamlines-the-blog-to-book-concept

DigiLand DL 7: Best Buy’s New $49 Android 4.4 Tablet

For some reason I was over at Best Buy’s website browsing through tablets when I came across a new listing for the ultra-cheap DigiLand DL 7 tablet. It’s a 7-inch Android tablet with a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor that runs Android 4.4 KitKat and comes with front and rear cameras, 4GB of storage space, 512MB […]

URL: http://feeds.the-ebook-reader.com/~r/feedburner/cmWU/~3/vqovUyCXxug/

How to Setup a Kindle for a Guest or Child

One of the cool things with Kindles is you can load them up with ebooks and then give it to your kid or use it as a guest ebook reader to give to people who visit your home or office. The same thing can be done with Kindle Fire tablets. You can load them up […]

URL: http://feeds.the-ebook-reader.com/~r/feedburner/cmWU/~3/hPwXgWNEfIQ/

Barnes and Noble Orders 1 Million Samsung Tablets

Barnes and Noble and Samsung are releasing two co-branded tablets this year called Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK. This is the first time the Nation’s largest bookseller is outsourcing the hardware design and focusing exclusively on the software. According to a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing 8-K report B&N will purchase 1 million tablets over the course of the first 12 months of the deal. This will include black and white versions of a 7-inch model, and 60 days after that will be black and white models of a 10-inch tablet. Samsung intends on spending an “undisclosed” amount of money on advertising the new tablets. This benefits Barnes and Nobles marketing budget, because Samsung will hype it in the critical US and UK markets. Going the Samsung route is a double edged sword for Barnes and Noble. Their current generation 7 inch tablet has a resolution of 1440×900 pixels, while the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK will only have 1280 x 800. This is notable because magazines, newspapers and kids books won’t look as crisp as they do on the Nook HD. One bright spot is the overall processing power that will be upgraded to a quad-core chip, instead of the existing duel-core. So why did Barnes and Noble go with Samsung instead of Microsoft, which gave the company 300 million dollars a few years ago? Well, Samsung was able to lure them in with a custom white label solution. There will be no Samsung bloatware on the tablet and B&N is responsible for their heavily customized UI and library of pre-installed apps. This tablet is an e-reader first, and will have an entirely new interface and experience that will be quite different from anything that Nook has done in the past. Customers will also be able to access Google Play to download all of their apps. The new Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook will have an official release date around August, and its likely that either in September or October existing B&N bookstores will be stocking them. Barnes and Noble Orders 1 Million Samsung Tablets is a post from: Good e-Reader

URL: http://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/barnes-and-noble-orders-1-million-samsung-tablets?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=barnes-and-noble-orders-1-million-samsung-tablets

Google Making a Bid for Songza

Looks like Google is ready to spend some money again and this time their sights are set on Songza to the tune (if you will pardon the pun) of $15 million dollars. Songza is a popular music streaming app, competing with big names like Spotify and Pandora, with an emphasis on curation so that you can find exactly the song you want at exactly the moment you need it. Where services like Pandora try to find your new favourite song by making matches based on your existing preferences, Songza takes a play-list style approach, matching song selection to your activities (like exercising or trying to relax). Because Google already has their Google Play Music service in place, the assumption is that this acquisition would be all about curation –making their existing offering smarter and more value added. If the deal solidifies and finalizes, this new relationship for Google wouldn’t come long after Apple paid $3 billion for Beats (with $500 million of that price directed toward the streaming component), a company often praised for having strong curation in their music streaming app. With Pandora currently valued at $5 billion and Spotify coming in at $4 billion, Songza seems like a true bargain –especially if it gives Google any kind of leg up on their competition. Google Making a Bid for Songza is a post from: Good e-Reader

URL: http://goodereader.com/blog/spotlight-on-android/google-making-a-bid-for-songza?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=google-making-a-bid-for-songza

How to Borrow and Lend Kindle eBooks to Friends and Family

A few years ago being able to lend other people your purchased, DRM-protected ebooks was a pretty big deal. But now the idea has kind of been put to the side and you don’t hear about it much anymore. In fact I pretty much forgot about personal ebook lending until Apple announced that iBooks purchases […]

URL: http://feeds.the-ebook-reader.com/~r/feedburner/cmWU/~3/fGnSwc_IvCs/

New Asus Memo Pad 7″ and 8″ Tablets up for Pre-Order

Asus unveiled several new devices this past week at Computex. Among them are two new budget tablets, the Memo Pad 7 and Memo Pad 8 (ME176CX and ME181C). Both tablets are available for pre-order at Amazon, Newegg, TigerDirect and GameStop. The 7-inch Memo Pad is $149 and the

URL: http://feeds.the-ebook-reader.com/~r/feedburner/cmWU/~3/qhF4eXtbD5g/

Lunar phase clock

We found a simply beautiful Raspberry Pi project over at Instructables: this illuminated lunar phase clock. Using John Conway’s lunar phase algorithm (that’s the same John Conway who invented the cellular automaton Game of Life in the 1970s), some simple circuitry (some soldering required, but this is an easy enough job), and a bit of elbow-grease for that handsome case, Aleator777 has produced an excellent tutorial that gives you all the steps you need to create your own lunar clock. We love artistic, decorative projects like this one – and it’s a good way to teach your kids a little astronomy. Suggestions for improvements? (We note, for example, that Conway’s lunar phase algorithm only works for this century and last century.) Leave them in the comments!

URL: http://www.raspberrypi.org/lunar-phase-clock/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=lunar-phase-clock

Rowling/Gilbraith Excerpt Now Available

Image by One Minute News. Longtime fans of JK Rowling and her new persona, Robert Gilbraith, have something to look forward to this month. The second installment in the Gilbraith mystery series will be released, but the publisher has posted a sneak preview of the title HERE. The Sphere, which follows book one, The Cuckoo’s Calling, will launch on June 19th. In The Sphere, Cormoran Strike is once again on the case with help from his secretary Robin. Joining (and possibly foiling) the cast of characters is an underhanded reporter, Dominic Culpepper, and together the three are entangled in a plot for relationship revenge that involves secret documents that bring down an important figure. We have to wonder if this isn’t a case of art mimicking reality, at least as far as the author is concerned. When Rowling first announced her return to long-form publishing with the release of a first mainstream fiction work for adults, fans were eager, to say the least. Unfortunately, the reception of that effort, A Casual Vacancy, was lukewarm at best once all the reviews were averaged. Rowling didn’t give up writing, but instead turned to a male pen name to serve as a way to write the story she wanted to write, without fear of being compared to her previous Harry Potter glory. The first book she wrote as Gilbraith hardly took off by publishing industry standards, with only 1,500 copies in its first month. After her lawyer leaked her identity as the author, however, new print runs had to be ordered to keep up with demand. Rowling has confirmed that the leak was not a planned publicity stunt, which makes sense given her history of feedback from her adult titles. Much like the storyline in The Sphere, however, when the turmoil and consequences over releasing private, secure information in the media is the main theme, we may see a glimpse of how this news impacted the author herself. Rowling/Gilbraith Excerpt Now Available is a post from: Good e-Reader

URL: http://goodereader.com/blog/e-book-news/rowlinggilbraith-excerpt-now-available?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rowlinggilbraith-excerpt-now-available

Top 10 Android Apps of the Week – June 6 2014

Welcome to another beloved installment of the Good e-Reader Android Apps of the Week! All of these apps are available via our App Store and can be downloaded without registration by clicking on the name of the app! 100 Ballz – The goal of the game is to get the balls through the glass by opening the gate. For each ball you manage to get through the glass you're rewarded with a different amount of points, depending on its color. If the ball misses the glass, it dissapears. When you lose all of your balls, the game is over. Zombie Diary 2: Evolution – The war between humans and zombies continues. So many heroes have already fallen, but you've managed to survive. Don't pat yourself on the back just yet because danger is around every corner. You need to do all you can to resist the walking dead and rescue as many survivors as possible. It's a brand new gaming experience that's unlike anything you've played before! Wikipedia Beta – You can install Wikipedia Beta alongside your current version of Wikipedia for Android, so you can test our new features before they go live for all Wikipedia for Android users. Your feedback will help us fix bugs and decide what features to focus on next. Rival Knights – Live the fantasy: Be a knight & joust your way to victory! Compete with thousands of other players in games of glory & adventure! This is the most intuitive, action-packed & visually stunning knight combat game on touch screens! FTBpro – The Soccer News App – FTBpro is the largest fan generated media platform in soccer for all the latest breaking soccer news, transfer rumors, fixtures, results, tables, schedules, live scores, and more – straight to your phone or tablet. Fruit Splash Mania – Play the addictive new puzzle game from the makers of Candy Blast Mania, Jewel Mania and Bubble Mania! Take a bite into Fruit Splash Mania with its unique line-drawing puzzle gameplay! Match together festive Fruits that ripen into colossal combos! EndlessTV: Videos, TV and News – Tired of the dreaded spinning wheel of "waiting to download"? Then get Endless TV. Start to watch streaming videos of news, celebrity gossip, sports, history, music, and more. Swipe to watch a different show in the same channel. Swipe up to change channels. The videos stream continuously, without lag or latency. Wallow in great videos on your phone or tablet! Topps Bunt – The exclusive digital trading card app of Major League Baseball, is the only real-time, real-world MLB digital trading card game where the cards you own and collect earn points based on how your players perform on the field each day. Look & Cook – Experience Food! – Look & Cook is like having your own private sou-chef. Step by step instructions, with stunning food photography, close-up images and how to HD videos, help you make the most delicious meals. Within each recipe you can find a shop section: a list of hand-selected accessories and gadgets available for in-app shopping, for perfect, professional looking dishes. Red Bull Wallpapers – Red Bull Wallpapers brings the World of Red Bull directly to the palm of your hands. Customize your lock and home screen with the best free sports wallpaper, breathtaking action sports backgrounds in HD, and portraits of your favorite Red Bull athletes. Top 10 Android Apps of the Week – June 6 2014 is a post from: Good e-Reader

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Global Audiobook Trends for 2014

The Audiobook industry has certainly grown up in the digital world. The rise of audio publishing is directly proportionate to the rise of digital distribution. In 2007 a paltry 3,073 titles were available and rose exponentially to over 20,000 published titles in 2013. The entire industry is said to be worth over two billion dollars, which is a huge jump from $480 million in retail sales in 1997. The audiobook industry first gained momentum in 1970 when low cost cassettes allowed libraries to easily purchase and distribute them to their patrons. The industry was rather niche until 2002 when CDs became the dominant medium and represented 78% of all sales in 2008. The standard CD audiobook declined in 2011 in favor of digital downloads, which currently accounts for 61% of all sales in 2013. The United States is currently the dominant audiobook market in terms of sales. The United Kingdom has only generated £126 million in 2013 and has been experiencing an annual 6.8% growth rate. The largest four players in the industry are estimated to account for 49.8% of revenue. With the exception of defunct AudioGo Limited, the industry is dominated by well-established publishers that already operate in the print publishing market and have access to a wide range of titles that can be easily converted to audiobooks. Concentration in the industry has declined slightly over the past five years as more enterprises have entered and competition has intensified. The industry remains fairly fragmented as smaller enterprises have access to just a few titles for publishing. The most dominant content distribution platform for audiobooks currently is Amazon owned Audible. This company has the highest market penetration and has seen a 33% increase in sales in 2012. They have created over 26,000 audiobooks and adding close to 1,000 titles a month. Most of their success derives from their new technologies that allow readers a myriad of options. If you purchase both the audiobook and eBook you can have the book professionally narrated to you, as you are reading. Else, you can read a few chapters on your Kindle and pick up exactly where you left off on the audio edition. This type of synergy is fairly compelling for people who read at night and do things during the day. Matthew Thornton of Audible commented – "We’re seeing heavy growth among younger listeners, people in and getting out of college who are part of the emerging app culture." One of the ways Audible has such a large catalog is primarily due to their established relationships with major publishers. They also own and operate the Audiobook Creation Exchange. Publishers and authors who own unused audiobook rights can post them on ACX, along with narration preferences (e.g., narrator's gender, accents, voice types). Audio publishers and audio studios—as well as individual narrators with home studios—can search for titles that interest them and then audition to turn those rights into audiobooks. Rights holders can hire a narrator or producer, or create entrepreneurial partnerships with shared royalty structures that allow audiobooks to be produced without upfront costs. Alternatively, existing audio publishers can simply use ACX to discover audio rights to produce on their own. When it comes to audiobook sales in the digital format they are often 10% of the eBook industry, in terms of overall value. Major publishers are hoping to accelerate this growth to over 20% within the next two years. "We're going to continue to see more and more titles being published," says Chris Lynch, president and publisher of Simon & Schuster Audio "Increasing our list in a way that's smart, thoughtful, strategic, and economically viable—that's a big focus for us," says Mary Beth Roche, v-p and publisher of Macmillan Audio/QDT. "We're going deeper into the science fiction/fantasy and mystery/thriller categories." Global Audiobook Trends for 2014 is a post from: Good e-Reader

URL: http://goodereader.com/blog/digital-publishing/global-audiobook-trends-for-2014?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=global-audiobook-trends-for-2014

Kobo Offers Savings on their Tablet Lineup for Fathers Day

Kobo is discounting their entire lineup of tablets in preparation for Fathers Day. Customers in Canada will be able to save $30 off the Kobo Arc 7HD 16GB, $50 off the Kobo Arc 7 HD 32GB, and $100 off the Kobo Arc 10HD. The offer is available at Indigo, Chapters, Coles, Future Shop, Best Buy, Staples and The Source from May 28 – June 18. When customers purchase one of these new tablets they will get six digital magazines for free via the Kobo Magazine Store.  These include -  Golf Digest (June), Wired (June), Popular Science Digest (June), Field & Stream (June), Men's Fitness (June), The Hockey News (May). Kobo tends to give discounts like this each major holiday, the last one was Mothers Day. The Canadian based company should be announcing their next generation hardware devices in October. Kobo Offers Savings on their Tablet Lineup for Fathers Day is a post from: Good e-Reader

URL: http://goodereader.com/blog/tablet-slates/kobo-offers-savings-on-their-tablet-lineup-for-fathers-day?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=kobo-offers-savings-on-their-tablet-lineup-for-fathers-day

Top 10 iOS Apps of the Week

One of the best parts of having a smartphone or tablet is populating it with the greatest of the great apps. To help you choose your next favourite, take a look at our picks for the top ten iOS apps this week! TwoDots (Free) The App Store is filled with games that are designed to capture our attention and fill our time (or steal it away), but few games do it better than TwoDots. Made by the same folks who brought out Dots, this app is an awesomely addictive puzzle game. Navigate yourself through 85 levels that start easy and get increasingly more difficult, trying to connect different items: dots, sink anchors, make bombs, extinguish flames and more! Titles like TwoDots make waiting rooms a little more bearable. Minecraft – Pocket Edition ($6.99 USD) We all know Minecraft is addictive and fun, just ask the millions of people who have been playing it. With the pocket edition. you can play in survival and creative mode, multi-player and randomly generated worlds, while you craft and create and breed to your heart’s content! When you have a game that is centered around building things by placing blocks, it only seems fitting that you can play it on your mobile devices as you go on non-digital adventures as well (or if you need your kids to sit quietly for a few minutes, either one). THE GAME OF LIFE Classic Edition ($0.99 USD) I would be willing to bet that nearly every last one of you played THE GAME OF LIFE when you were children, and now you can also play it on your iOS devices! Some board games do not translate to the digital world very well, but this title does a very nice job –perhaps because it lends itself well to the 3D animations and colourful graphics that perform so well on our smartphones and tablets. Because you can pass and play with up to 6 of your friends, this app may just be the saviour of your next road trip! Couch-to-5K ($1.99) I know, I know, I know… you have been meaning to get more exercise –and it is right there on your to-do list, just below the entry that says ‘make a to-do list’. Running and jogging can be fantastic exercise (as well as being a great way to lower stress and clear your head), but it can be very intimidating for those of us who have never tried the sport before. With Couch-to-5K, no experience is necessary. Honestly! It doesn’t matter whether you are doing your routine on a treadmill or sidewalk, you can workout with your own personal trainer and your own music playlist. Actual human audio cues will let you know what you should be doing and when. This program worked for me and it can also work for you! Tinder (Free) Tinder is social media done a little differently. If you are looking to meet somebody new (for friends, dating or otherwise), take a flip through this app. With anonymous swipes, let people know if you are interested in them: swipe right to like or left to pass. If the feelings are mutual and you both like each other, it becomes a match and you can use the in-app chat to get to know your choice a little more. Taking your location from the GPS, Tinder can help you to meet new people no matter where you are! Geocaching ($7.99 USD) If you haven’t yet joined the world-wide treasure hunt, you shouldn’t waste any more time! Geocaching is a great deal of fun and can be an amazing adventure. Caches are hidden all over the world (by the millions) –in fact, I can almost guarantee you walk by at least one of them each day… you just have to know how and where to find them! Using this app, you can locate geocaches and log your finds; I must warn you though, it can be very addictive! Shazam (Free) Shazam is one of those apps that you likely need to discover again for the first time! Included as part of Siri in the next version of iOS, this app lets you identify music and TV almost instantly. Gone are the days where you have no answer to the question ‘what song is this? or ‘who sings this?’, just load of Shazam and in moments you will know (plus you can buy it with one more tap of the screen if you choose). Watchup: Your Daily News (Free) There are plenty of ways to read the news on your iOS device, but what if you prefer to watch it? With Watchup, you can tune in to a considerable number of local, national and international news channels and watch their actual newscasts. If you are as forgetful as me, this app will let you schedule a reminder so you receive your newscast at the preferred time and if you want to know more about a particular story just click through to read text articles on the topic you are currently watching. Momondo (Free) Whether you travel for business or pleasure, getting a good deal on airfare is something that everybody appreciates. Using Momondo, you can easily search hundreds of airlines for the cheapest flights to any destination. One of the handiest features of the app is the ability to save flights from your past searches so you can monitor whether the prices are going up or down and determine whether the latest deal is really that great. Once you find the flight you want to book, click through the app to make them yours! Wine Reviews & Ratings: Natalie MacLean (Free) It’s almost (the weekend | 5:00 somewhere | the end of the work day | any other time that pleases you), so it is time for a hard-earned glass of wine. Thanks to Wine Reviews & Ratings: Natalie MacLean, you have access to the reviews, prices, ratings, prices, food pairings and recipes for over 150,000 different wines (plus if you live in Canada, current store stock is also available for many locations)! All you need to do is scan the bar code or search the database and you can decide whether the bottle in your hand is the one you should be taking home. I especially love the cellar journal that lets you keep a record of everything you currently have at home –because inevitably I am at the liquor store and cannot for the life of me remember what I still have left. Top 10 iOS Apps of the Week is a post from: Good e-Reader

URL: http://goodereader.com/blog/reviews/top-10-ios-apps-of-the-week?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=top-10-ios-apps-of-the-week

Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook is a Bad Idea for B&N

If you haven’t already heard the big new that every tech website on the web is posting about today, Barnes and Noble has announced that they will be releasing a co-branded tablet with Samsung this August. That in itself isn’t a bad idea for a struggling B&N that has experienced declining tablet sales over the […]

URL: http://feeds.the-ebook-reader.com/~r/feedburner/cmWU/~3/GQf3XkHQprc/

Simon & Schuster Offers New Author Tools

As major publishing houses adapt to the current climate of digital, self, and hybrid publishing, many of the smarter ones are looking for new ways to remain relevant with their authors, especially their established ones. Think of it this way: in this current publishing state, a well-known and bestselling author with a built in and highly engaged fan base can quite easily look around and think to herself, “Why do I need you?” Simon&Schuster answered that question today with an announcement about a new tool set for their authors, one that gives them support in a variety of career determining moves. Called S&S InkedIn, this networking service will be available only to their authors through the professional site LinkedIn. “Simon & Schuster’s authors are a talented and knowledgeable community that, using S&S InkedIn, can come together for the purposes of sharing information, advising each other, and enjoying the unique, only-an-author-would-understand camaraderie and inspiration of their peers in a private, professional social network,” said Ellie Hirschhorn, Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Officer of Simon & Schuster, in a press release. “We encourage all our authors to join and learn what others are doing to promote themselves and their books, exchange ideas and tips, invite other authors to participate in local and online events, or discuss any topic that they deem relevant. S&S InkedIn, and the entirety of our newly refashioned Author Portal, reflects our ongoing commitment to providing Simon & Schuster’s authors with the tools and resources they need to have the best publication possible.” This most recent addition to Simon&Schuster’s Author Portal is designed to equip authors with the same skillsets and access to tools that self-published authors already rely on. Interestingly, the goal of S&S InkedIn is to help their authors promote their books themselves, participate in webinars and conferences that will teach them how to engage and market their work, and more. Critics of this idea may scoff at the idea that a publisher has launched an innovative portal to help authors do all of their own legwork; after all, aren’t marketing and promotion the publisher’s job? The reality there is that authors–regardless of how they publish–will only have a long-term career if they make business-minded decisions and take on much of their own promotion. That is not a new reality in the world of publishing. In fact, it’s an unfortunate myth that traditionally published authors somehow get to sit back and let the publisher make them into household names. “S&S InkedIn is just one of numerous recent improvements to Simon & Schuster’s Author Portal, which was initially launched in 2011 to provide Simon & Schuster authors with one location to find the information and resources they need throughout the publishing process. With a completely new look-and-feel that makes it even easier for authors to find valuable information about their books and the publishing process.” Simon & Schuster Offers New Author Tools is a post from: Good e-Reader

URL: http://goodereader.com/blog/e-book-news/simon-schuster-offers-new-author-tools?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=simon-schuster-offers-new-author-tools

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 2 vs Tolino Vision

Welcome to another Good e-Reader Comparison Video. Today we take a look at the brand new Tolino Vision and the Kindle Paperwhite 2. These e-readers are fairly similar, as they both employ the same screen technology to eliminate full page refreshes on page turns and have similar hardware. The Tolino line of readers was basically developed to fight Amazon in Germany and develop a homegrown solution to appeal to readers. How do these two devices stack up against each other? The Tolino Vision features the latest in e-Paper innovation, e Ink Carta. This is the exact screen technology found on the Kindle Paperwhite 2. This will not only provide higher contrast, but also eliminate the refreshing when you turn a page in an eBook. The overall resolution is a very respectable 1024 × 758 pixels. One of the things that stands out with this model is that the screen is flush with the bezel. The only other e-reader to do this was the six inch Kobo Aura, it almost feels like a tablet or smartphone in this respect. Underneath the hood is a Freescale iMx6 1 GHz processor and 512 MB ​​RAM. There is 4GB of internal memory, which can be expanded via the Micro SD. The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 2 features a six inch e-Ink display screen with a resolution of 1024×768. The front-lit display has received a small upgrade and gives a better illumination experience then the previous model. Underneath the hood is a 1GHZ processor and 256 MB of RAM. There is 2 GB of internal storage and the majority of your content will be held in the cloud. On the hardware front the Tolino has the advantage of a fresh and modern design and they also have expandable storage via SD. The Paperwhite 2 has a more refined front-light, which evenly distributes the light. The Tolino seems to get a blue hue and at maximum brightness tends to make blacks not as deep or rich. Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 2 vs Tolino Vision is a post from: Good e-Reader

URL: http://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/amazon-kindle-paperwhite-2-vs-tolino-vision?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=amazon-kindle-paperwhite-2-vs-tolino-vision