| There were so many blockbuster authors who had new titles published in our November 6 edition of eHighlights that we decided to publish a bonus edition to feature some of the other great titles available in time for the Holiday shopping season. Here are some of the notable nonfiction titles you won’t want to miss. Click here to view the Marketplace cart of these titles and more. 
Peter Ackroyd – Charlie Chaplin: A Brief Life – Random House eBook – A brief, yet excellent new biography. PW and Booklist starred reviews. Peter Ackroyd – Rebellion: The History of England from James I to the Glorious Revolution – Macmillan eBook - One of the greatest living chroniclers of Britain and its people covers the Stuart era. Kirkus & Booklist starred reviews.** Fred Armisen – The Portlandia Cookbook – Random House eBook - This companion book to the hit show has humorous stories and sidebars along with 50 recipes. 75,000 print run. Thomas Asbridge – The Greatest Knight: The Remarkable Life of William Marshal, the Power Behind Five English Thrones – HarperCollins eBook - Billed as the Lancelot of his day, Marshal is brought to life by a renowned scholar. LJ starred review. Catherine Bailey – Black Diamonds: The Downfall of an Aristocratic Dynasty and the Fifty Years That Changed England – Penguin eBook - The wealthy Fitzwilliam family had wealth tied to coal. Using their story and the stories of the miners, Bailey traces the ends of two classes in England–the lower and the very upper. Sven Beckert – Empire of Cotton – Random House eBook - Details the rise and fall of cotton in the world economy. LJ PrePub Alert. Rose Levy Beranbaum – The Baking Bible – Houghton Mifflin Harcourt eBook – A legendary baker shares her recipes. LJ & PW starred reviews. Mark Bittman – How to Cook Everything Fast – Houghton Mifflin Harcourt eBook - Newest entry in Bittman’s bestselling How to Cook Everything series. Booklist & PW starred reviews. Anais Bordier & Samantha Futerman – Separated @ Birth: A True Love Story of Twin Sisters United – Penguin eBook – Adopted identical twins discover each other through social media and manage to reunite. One of Facebook’s Top 10 Stories of 2013. Christina Boyle – American Cardinal: The Biography of Cardinal Timothy Dolan – Macmillan eBook - A positive biography of the controversial cardinal who rose from humble beginnings in Missouri.LJ starred review. Andy Cohen – The Andy Cohen Diaries: A Deep Look at a Shallow Year – Macmillan eBook - A dishy diary from the producer and host of Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live. Dick Couch and William Doyle – Navy SEALs: Their Untold Story – HarperCollins eBook and audiobook read by Will Damron - The complete history. Judi Dench – Behind the Scenes – Macmillan eBook - Famed actress Dame Judi Dench has a new memoir with lots of photos. Downton Abbey: Rules for Household Staff – Macmillan eBook – A “procedure manual” for new staff members written by Carson the Butler from Downton Abbey, the blockbuster television series. Editors of Martha Stewart Living – Clean Slate: A Cookbook and Guide: Reset Your Health, Detox Your Body, and Feel Your Best – 100,000 print run. Douglas J. Emlen – Animal Weapons – Macmillan eBook - How the weapons that animals use bear an uncanny resemblance to those of humans. LJ starred review.** Fodor’s England 2015 and Fodor’s Spain 2015 – Random House eBooks – No introduction necessary. Gabriele Galimberti – In Her Kitchen: Stories and Recipes from Grandmas Around the World – Random House eBook - Stunning photographs of grandmothers from 60 different countries with their signature dishes. Includes the recipes. Laurie Garrett – Ebola: Story of an Outbreak – Hachette eBook - The highly respected science writer worked on the ground with an earlier Ebola outbreak in Zaire. Here’s a book filled with facts, not myths. Dorie Greenspan – Baking Chez Moi: Recipes from My Paris Home to Your Home Anywhere – Houghton Mifflin Harcourt eBook – The legendary French chef has collected the best baking recipes from her friends who bake at home.LJ starred review. H. Winter Griffith – Complete Guide to Prescription and Nonprescription Drugs 2015 – Penguin eBook. Mireille Guiliano – Meet Paris Oyster: A Love Affair with the Perfect Food – Blackstone Audiobook – From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of French Women Don't Get Fat comes a memorable look at the French appetite for oysters, the characters who harvest and serve them, and the compelling reasons why we should all enjoy them. Janice Hadlow – A Royal Experiment: The Private Life of King George III – Macmillan eBook – We’ve long known George III as the mad king, but Hadlow shows a totally different side of the man. Before he slipped into madness he was a loving family man determined to be a force for the good. Booklist starred review. James L. Haley – Captive Paradise: A History of Hawaii – Macmillan eBook - The first complete history of Hawaii for adults in a long time. Sarah Helm – Ravensbruck: Life and Death in Hitler’s Concentration Camp for Women - By the end of the war, 130,000 women from 20 countries had been imprisoned in Ravensbruck. Here’s its history. Austen Ivereigh – The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope – Macmillan eBook - A biography of the new Pope by a British journalist. Marilyn Johnson – Lives in Ruins: Archaeologists and the Seductive Lure of Human Rubble – HarperCollins eBook - An archaeologist uses personal experiences to show what archaeology is really all about. Kirkus, LJ and PW starred reviews! Eric Kaplan – Does Santa Exist? A Philosophical Investigation – Penguin eBook – Kaplan, a PhD candidate in philosophy, and co-executive producer and writer for The Big Bang Theory, tries to make sense of the contradiction of insisting that Santa Claus is real by looking at it through a philosophical lens. Kirkus called it “erudite, readable, and exceedingly funny.” Timothy Keller – Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God – Penguin eBook – PW called it the definitive book on Christian prayer. Stephen Kotkin – Stalin: Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928 – Penguin eBook - The first volume of a projected three volume authoritative biography of Stalin.Booklist & Kirkus starred reviews. Gary Krist – Empire of Sin: A Story of Sex, Jazz, Murder, and the Battle for Modern New Orleans – Random House eBook – Great true crime story by the bestselling author. LJ & PW starred reviews. Joseph A. Maciariello – A Year with Peter Drucker: 52 Weeks of Coaching for Leadership Effectiveness - Maciariello worked alongside of Drucker, the foremost management guru, for many years. Carine McCandless – The Wild Truth – HarperCollins eBook - The sister of the man Jon Krakauer wrote about in Into the Wild sets the record straight. Diana Muldrow – Everything I Need to Know About Love I Learned from a Little Golden Book – Random House eBook - The editorial director of Golden Books continues to mine wisdom from the archives of the popular children’s books. Adam Nicolson – Why Homer Matters – Macmillan eBook - An exploration of the ancient poet, exploring archaeological evidence, history, and positing that The Iliad and The Odyssey are much older than we thought. Kirkus starred review. Bill Nye – Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation – Macmillan eBook and audiobook read by the author - Bill Nye the Science Guy gives a sweeping overview of evolution and the proof of its validity for the average reader. Yotam Ottolenghi – Plenty More: Vibrant Vegetable Cooking from London’s Ottolenghi - From the vegetarian superstar.LJ & PW starred reviews. Bill Parcells – Parcells: A Football Life – Random House eBook and Books on Tape audiobook read by Jason Culp – Autobiography of an iconic football coach. 150,000 print run. Pamela Paul – By the Book: Writers on Literature and the Literary Life from the New York Times Book Review – Macmillan eBook – A collection of author interviews from the weekly New York Times Book Review By the Book column. LJ starred review. Ana Sofia Pelaez – The Cuban Table: A Celebration of Food, Flavors, and History – Macmillan eBook – LJ & PW starred reviews. Barnaby Rogerson – Rogerson’s Book of Numbers – Macmillan eBook - A collection of the stories of various numbers from 1,001 Arabian Nights to 666 to the 4 suits of cards or 12 signs of the Zodiac based on cultural beliefs and symbolism. Fascinating. Michael Ruhlman – Ruhlman’s How to Roast: Foolproof Techniques and Recipes for the Home Cook – Hachette eBook - Award winning cookbook author Ruhlman adds roasting to his series covering cooking techniques that chefs use explained in simple terms for everyone. John Safran – God’ll Cut You Down – Penguin eBook - True crime. It’s not often that a true crime book is full of humor!Kirkus & LJ starred reviews. Mark Schultz – Foxcatcher: The True Story of My Brother’s Murder, John du Pont’s Madness, and the Quest for Olympic Gold – Penguin eBook – True crime soon to be a movie. Gene Simmons – Me Inc.: Build an Army of One, Unleash Your Inner Rock God, Win in Life and Business – HarperCollins eBook – The founder of the rock band KISS reveals the business methods that made it one of the most successful bands ever. 100,000 print run. Hector Tobar – Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free – Macmillan eBook – Kirkus and PW starred reviews. A. N. Wilson – Victoria: A Life – Penguin eBook - Kirkus called it a “shimmering portrait of a tempestuous monarch.”Booklist, Kirkus, and LJ starred reviews. Richard Zoglin – Hope: Entertainer of the Century – Simon & Schuster eBook - The first definitive biography of Bob Hope by Time magazine’s theater critic. Kirkus starred review. Click here to view the Marketplace cart of these titles and more. Geographical rights may vary by title. Cindy Orr is a Digital Collection Advisor at OverDrive.  |
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Weekly eHighlights: Adult Nonfiction Edition (Bonus edition)
The Best e-Readers and Tablets for the 2014 Holidays
| Welcome to another Video Installment of the Good e-Reader Gift Giving Guide! Last month we did one on the best e-readers of 2014 and today we are basically looking back on 2014 and giving our advice for the best devices to buy yourself or a loved one. Peter and myself have very different views on technology, so you can get a sense on what we loved the most.
The Best e-Readers and Tablets for the 2014 Holidays is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Monday, November 24, 2014
JetBlue to Provide eBooks as in-flight Entertainment
| If you are a seasoned airline traveler, likely you will be familiar with the quintessential in-flight entertainment system. It provides an animated map with the location of your flight and also a host of movies, television shows, music and children’s content. You can now add eBooks to the list to keep the literary minded entertained. Starting November 26, HarperCollins will be providing excerpts from a selection of bestselling eBooks, and each digital sample will include buy buttons to a variety of retailers. Excerpted titles include Flesh and Blood by Patricia Cornwell, Yes Please by Amy Poehler, Endgame: The Calling by James Frey and Nils Johnson-Shelton, and Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses by James Dean. I think its great that Jetblue recognizes that more and more airline flyers are reading on their e-readers and tablets. This is chiefly because of the relaxing of restrictions regarding the gate to gate use of these gadgets. JetBlue to Provide eBooks as in-flight Entertainment is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Gates Foundation Mandates Research it Funds Must Provide Free Digital Access
| The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funds thousands of health and research scientists to solve many of the worlds most dire issues. Until this point, the reports and data the foundation funded were sometimes published in magazines, sold online and generally out of reach for the general public. This is set to change. The Gates Foundation has announced that starting in 2017 it will require that the researchers it funds publish only in immediate open-access journals. In order to setup a proper pipeline for scientists the Foundation is mandating that current grantees can publish in subscription-based journals as long as their paper is freely available within 12 months. But after that, the journal must be open access, meaning papers are free for anyone to read immediately upon publication. Articles must also be published with a license that allows anyone to freely reuse and distribute the material. And the underlying data must be freely available. "By reinforcing the global health community's commitment to sharing research data and information, we can accelerate the development of new solutions to tackle infectious diseases, cut maternal and child mortality, and reduce malnutrition in the world's poorest places," wrote Trevor Mundel, president of the foundation's Global Health Division, on the group's website on 20 November. The Gates Foundation spends roughly $900 million dollars a year on research. This equates to 1400 papers a year that soon will be available for anyone to read right away. Only 30% of the existing reports actually are open-access right now, so within a few years this number will increase to 100%, which will be a boon for free digital access. Gates Foundation Mandates Research it Funds Must Provide Free Digital Access is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Amazon Prepares for Free Video Service
| In many ways, Netflix has enjoyed being the de facto standard in the video streaming game –but that is all starting to change. Other services are gaining ground, particularly Amazon, and especially with their plans for a free video service (where currently you must have a $99/year Prime membership). Some of you might recall that this isn’t the first time that the rumour has circulated stating Amazon is readying a free video service, but they aren’t denying it anymore (at least not exactly). When asked for a comment, Amazon spokesperson Sally Fouts stated:
Expanding upon the ad-supported service that currently offers the first episode of certain TV shows makes sense, offering Amazon a means by which to expand their advertising network (known as the Amazon Media Group and operating across all of their properties: Amazon.com, Quidsy, Imdb.com, and DPReview). A larger video streaming service would also help encourage brand loyalty, making sales of their devices more attractive for would-be consumers. For some, choosing a video streaming service comes down to pricing; others won’t (can’t) stray from their first choice because of the growing library of original content being produced (any other Netflix subscribers completely addicted to House of Cards?).
Amazon Prepares for Free Video Service is a post from: Good e-Reader |
ramanPi: an open source 3D-printable Raman spectrometer
| The 2014 Hackaday Prize offered fabulous prizes for the best exemplars of an open, clearly documented device involving connected electronics. Committed hardware hacker fl@c@ (we understand that’s pronounced “flatcat”) wasn’t in the habit of opening up their work, but had been thinking that perhaps they should, and this seemed the perfect opportunity to give it a go. They decided to make an entry of one of their current works-in-progress, a DIY Raman spectrometer based on a Raspberry Pi. The project, named ramanPi, made it to the final of the contest, and was declared fifth prize winner at the prize announcement in Munich a couple of weeks ago. Raman spectroscopy is a molecular identification technique that, like other spectroscopic techniques, works by detecting and analysing the characteristic ways in which substances absorb and emit radiation in various regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. It relies on the phenomenon of Raman scattering, in which a tiny proportion of the light falling on a sample is absorbed and then re-emitted at a different frequency; the shift in frequency is characteristic of the structure of the material, and can be used to identify it. The ideal molecular identification technique is sensitive (requiring only small quantities of sample), non-destructive of the sample, unambiguous, fast, and cheap; spectroscopic methods perform pretty well against all but the final criterion. This means that fl@c@’s Raman spectrometer, which uses a Raspberry Pi and 3D-printed parts together with readily available off-the-shelf components, removes an obstacle to using a very valuable technique for individuals and organisations lacking a large equipment budget. The ramanPi uses a remote interface so that it can be viewed and controlled from anywhere. Like conventional Raman spectrometers, it uses a laser as a powerful monochromatic light source; uniquely, however, its design:
Once a cuvette containing the sample to be tested is loaded into the ramanPi, the laser is powered up behind a shutter and the first filter is selected while the cuvette’s temperature is stabilised. Then the shutter is disengaged and the sample exposed to laser light, and scattered light is collected, filtered and passed to a Raspberry Pi camera module for capturing and then analysis. The laser shutter is re-engaged and the process is repeated with the second filter. The Raspberry Pi combines multiple exposures into a single image and carries out further image processing to derive the sample’s Raman spectrum. Finally, the spectrum is compared with spectra in online databases, and any match found is displayed. fl@c@ says,
We’re very glad fl@c@ did decide to share this – ramanPi is an astonishing first contribution to the open source movement, and something that’s likely to be of interest to schools, chemists, biologists, home brew enthusiasts, people who want to know what’s in their water, businesses, ecologists and the simply curious. You can read about ramanPi in much more detail, with further videos, diagrams, discussion and build instructions, on its Hackaday project page. We hope that this is far from the last we’ll hear of this project, or of fl@c@! |
Readers who Borrow e-Books from the Library Don’t Buy More Books
| Sometimes we get spoiled in North America with the sheer of amount of options available to borrow eBooks from the library. Statistically over 90% of all libraries in North America have a digital collection and patrons can access all of the content remotely. Things are different in the United Kingdom where only a few major libraries have bothered with a modern eBook collection. In May 2013 the UK government funded a review looking into the viability of allowing customers to borrow eBook, without all of the drama. The Sieghart Review said publishers should not limit the supply of e-books in the same way that physical book loans are controlled, including the lending of each digital copy to one reader at a time, securely removing eBooks after lending and having digital books "deteriorate after a number of loans”. A pilot project was initiated in four UK libraries in March 2014 that augmented the digital loaning period for up to 21 days and included a number of front-list titles, including bestsellers that just came out. The essence of the pilot is to carry out real-time, real-world research into the impact of eBook lending in public libraries on authors, publishers and on the library service so that a suitable and sustainable model. Its been around six months since the pilot was first initiated and there has been some interesting findings. All four participating authorities have seen a significant increase in e-lending, with longer loan periods leading to more titles being borrowed. The project has also found the increase in e-lending is not decreasing physical lending or footfall to libraries. One of the most important elements to the six month report is the fact that the increase in digital loans is not driving people to buy more eBooks. "There has been extremely low take up of the opportunity to buy the borrowed eBook through use of the 'click to purchase' facility," the Publishers Association said. Click to Purchase is a relatively new e-commerce strategy Simon & Schuster and other publishers have been employing in order to allow libraries to generate additional revenue by selling the books on their website. The actual eBook sales are facilitated by companies such as Overdrive. Readers who Borrow e-Books from the Library Don’t Buy More Books is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Never got an Autograph from your Favorite Author? B&N Has you Covered
| Serious readers have their favorite fiction or non-fiction authors and getting their autograph can be tremendously fulfilling. If you don’t live in a major urban center the prospects of getting something signed is challenging to say the least. Barnes and Noble, the largest bookseller in the US is undertaking a massive new initiative this upcoming Black Friday, by offering over 500,000 signed titles by 100 authors. Starting November 28th, the bookseller will offer 500,000 signed editions from more than 100 of today's biggest authors, with a selection of 100 being available in every Barnes & Noble store nationwide beginning on Black Friday. An impressive group of leading authors including Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, Amy Poehler, Donna Tartt, George W. Bush, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Jeff Kinney, Joel Osteen, Mario Batali, Mo Willems, Rick Riordan, Rick Yancey, Rainbow Rowell and many more personally signed thousands of copies of their books as part of this unique campaign to deliver meaningful gifts to Barnes & Noble customers. Barnes & Noble has been planning this program for the last seven months, as getting this many autographs can be fairly daunting. Some authors went beyond their signature to personalize the books, with Mo Willems, bestselling and award-winning author and illustrator of popular children's books (Pigeon series, Elephant & Piggie series, Knuffle Bunny series) drawing the head of his popular Pigeon character in his signed editions. Brandon Stanton, author of last year's runaway hit Humans of New York, included an illustration of a dinosaur in what he referred to as his special "dino" edition of all of the copies he signed. All signed editions will be featured on a special front-of-store display when customers walk through the doors of their local Barnes & Noble on Black Friday. Want to see exactly what books will be available? Check out the press release below, it lists every title and who autographed it. Never got an Autograph from your Favorite Author? B&N Has you Covered is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Digimarc Explains the Evolution of Social DRM in eBooks
| The European publishing industry has firmly embraced social DRM or digital watermark technology to protect and secure their eBook content. Many of the leading online bookstores in the Netherlands and Poland have been distributing books in this fashion for over five years. Social DRM or Digital Watermarks basically are basically alternatives to Adobe Digital Editions. Unlike ADE, eBook purchases do not need to download any 3rd party tools or programs, instead they simply just copy the book on as many devices as they want. Lots of users actually loan their library to friends, as long as they don’t distribute it on the greater internet. Digimarc is one of the industry leaders in making readers lives simpler and has signed up a number of big name clients over the years. Today, the executive team sat down with Good e-Reader to explain their role in the industry and how they see it growing in the next few years. When did you guys seriously start to focus on digital watermarks as a viable business model? Digimarc has been at the forefront of digital watermarking technology for almost two decades. After the acquisition in late 2012 of what is now the Digimarc Guardian platform, the leading anti-piracy solution for the publishing industry, we turned our focus to developing a service for watermarking e-books. How does the essence of your technology work on a basic and general level? Digimarc Guardian Watermarking embeds unique, imperceptible, and traceable digital watermarks into e-books in near real-time, enabling distributors and publishers to track where their content is appearing online and identify the sources of leakage and unauthorized distribution. Our cloud-based platform offers easy-to-integrate API support for most e-books formats, including EPUB, PDF, and MOBI. The platform also allows for the inclusion of visible social watermarks – indicating the customer's name, date of purchase, and other information. Who are your largest clients? In September, we officially launched Digimarc Guardian Watermarking with HarperCollins Publishers, one of the largest publishers of consumer books in the world, and LibreDigital, a leading provider of e-book distribution and fulfillment services, as partners. At this point, we have integrated with a variety of other prominent publishers and service providers, conducting watermarking at both the retailer and consumer levels. We'll be announcing more of these partnerships in coming months. Stats on social DRM and Watermark technology are hard to come by any thoughts? Our feeling is that the apparent trend towards watermarking (and away from DRM) in Europe is only gaining in momentum, followed closely by North America and other markets. Our cloud-based technology is inherently designed to address the global demand we see being driven by both publisher and user preference. What are the main benefits as you see it, between watermarks and ADOBE DRM. Unlike DRM, watermarking is both a social deterrent and an identification technology. Visible text added to fulfilled publications reminds users that their files are traceable and can be an effective deterrent to unauthorized distribution. Imperceptible digital watermarks, once detected, enable publishers to pinpoint the source of distribution and take appropriate action. Technically, Digimarc Guardian Watermarks are fully compatible with DRM solutions, but DRM is both expensive and ineffective against users who are intent on breaking it, and legitimate consumers are frustrated by an overly restrictive experience which prevents them from easily sharing content between devices. If people started to pirate books with your tech, what do you guys do about it, if anything? Digimarc Guardian provides the leading anti-piracy solution for the publishing industry. Our systems crawl the web 24×7 to discover and validate pirated content, especially watermarked content, on cyberlockers, peer-to-peer networks, and other offending sites. We then initiate and manage an integrated takedown process, achieving a greater than 95% success rate at removing pirated content from distribution. As the only platform to offer both watermarking and anti-piracy services, Digimarc Guardian provides publishers with a powerful weapon to both understand and combat the broader piracy ecosystem. What type of concerns do new clients have about watermarking, what are the common type of questions they ask? Typical questions about watermarking involve the level of effort required for integration, and cost. We find that most potential clients are very pleasantly surprised by our answers. On the topic of privacy, we also assure them that Digimarc Guardian Watermarks contain only anonymous digital IDs, never any personal or user information. Digimarc Explains the Evolution of Social DRM in eBooks is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Saturday, November 22, 2014
The Philippines Starts to Combat Book Piracy
| The Philippines has become rather serious at combating book piracy in schools and on the consumer level. They are doing this to attract major publishers from Europe and the United States. US based publishers have been unable to market their textbooks and print books to the Philippines because of sanctions imposed by the United States Trade Representatives 301 Report. This report basically establishes trade barriers due to flagrant abuses of intellectual property laws, such as copyright, patents and trademarks. For the first time in twenty years due to anti-piracy measures being employed by the Intellectual Property Office and the National Book Development Board the Philippines has been removed from the 301 list. The Philippines' removal in the watch list does not mean it has eradicated book piracy. IP Philippines and its partners in government and in the private sector must continue to set-up effective mechanisms to protect IPRs including combating book piracy. There are some big challenges in removing piracy altogether because there is a general acceptance. Organized crime are photocopying and scanning whole textbooks and selling them directly to schools, colleges and universities. These intuitions are aware that not all the textbooks they buy are genuine, but it is hard to tell the difference. The Philippines Starts to Combat Book Piracy is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Digital Magazine Consumption Rises 50% in Canada
| Digital magazine consumption has risen 50% in the last twelve months in Canada according to new figures from The Print Measurement Bureau's Fall report. The Print Measurement Bureau is not exactly a household name, but they have been chronicling the rise of digital reading habits since 2013. One of the most interesting figures is the fact that only 2.9 million Canadians are reading digital magazines, which is an increase of over 57% from last year. In a world of heavily customized apps geared towards tablets and smartphones the vast majority of Canadians are continuing to read exclusively on their computers, but mobile is on the rise jumping by 115%. I think the most interesting statistic is how digital reading is firmly embraced by urban dwellers with higher education rather than rural. Digital magazine reading was 55% higher in Toronto than the rest of Canada. One of the big reasons why digital magazines are on the rise is partly due to the blitz media campaigns by Next Issue. This is a pure digital service marketed by Rogers Media across all of their platforms, such as television, radio and print. Digital Magazine Consumption Rises 50% in Canada is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Friday, November 21, 2014
Google Sets Sights on App Store in China
| Android users in China (now numbering in the ten of millions) will be happy to know that many of them will have access to Google’s app store (hopefully, at least). Though a specific launch date has yet to be discussed, Google is working with a legal team to get plans together (many of the core Google Play services, like Gmail and Maps, are currently being blocked in China). Earlier this week, Google also announced that policies were changing for Chinese app developers –allowing them to make money from their paid apps being downloaded from 130 countries worldwide (China isn’t included in that list yet, but would be with a local-to-them app store). Not everybody will be thrilled to hear this news, with several alternative Chinese platforms already in place to distribute Android apps; Google stands to make a lot of money (in their stead) considering the potential revenue stream from so many new users… but it will not be without considerable investments. Beyond legal considerations, Google has no infrastructure in China (think servers and bandwidth to begin) –all of which will be subject to the seemingly arbitrary Chinese regulations.
Google Sets Sights on App Store in China is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Will Apple Start Paying out $400 Million in eBook Credits Soon?
| Apple has just received the green light from a court in New York that will finally begin offering iBooks customers refunds from a pool of prospective pool of $400 million dollars. This specific amount is dependent on the court upholding a 2013 verdict where an appeal brought the figure down to a paltry $50 million. The final number that Apple will have to pay consumers will be established on December 15th 2014. The Justice Department, lawyers, Apple and everyone involved in the court drama are basically tired and want to get this situation resolved ASAP. Customers can expect refunds from Apple starting early next year for eBooks purchased from the iBookstore from April 1, 2010, and May 21, 2012. The exact figure is yet unknown but settlements from Amazon and Barnes and Noble had customers given a $3.00 credit for any New York Times bestseller and all other books from major publishers $1.00. Will Apple Start Paying out $400 Million in eBook Credits Soon? is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Onyx Boox C65S Classic Released for 69 Euros
| The folks at Arta Tech have released another new Onyx ebook reader a week after introducing the Onyx Boox AfterGlow 2. The new ereader is a simple no-frills device called the Onyx Boox Classic. It is somewhat comparable to the old basic Kindle that Amazon recently stopped offering in favor of the new touchscreen Kindle […] |
Artificial Scarcity vs Organic Abundance – Why I am Abandoning eBooks
| In 2013 the traditional book selling industry in the US produced 304,912 print titles that were distributed to bookstores such as Barnes and Noble or Books-a-Million. Fiction and Juvenile genres continued to dominate the market, accounting for over 27% of new titles. Self-publishing on the other hand saw 458,564 titles that were produced that actually had ISBN numbers. Companies such as Amazon do not require ISBN numbers for authors to submit their eBooks into Kindle Direct Publishing. Amazon currently has 2.5 million eBooks for sale and 400,000 of them are courtesy of indie authors who opted into the program. In addition, over 300,000 titles were submitted by Smashwords. Barnes and Noble on the other hand has 2.5 million paid eBooks available and another 2 million free public domain editions for download. Self-published titles continue to grow on the Nook Platform and the company said they represent about 25% of all eBook sales on Nook devices and sales are growing roughly 20% each quarter. You can look at the traditional book selling industry as employing Artificial Scarcity where they selectively choose books that will sell in the current market climate and investing in authors who have an extensive track history of generating perennial bestsellers. Few books slip through the cracks that would be considered elevated literary fiction, the type that wins the National Novel Award or the Man Booker Prize. Self-publishing on the other hand employs Organic Abundance with indie titles being generated at almost a 3:1 ratio vs print. Print books have a fairly low shelf life, the average title is sitting inside of a bookstore for about three months before its cycled away for the next batch. Major publishers have embraced digital the last four years and they reap the lions share of revenue from all book sales on Amazon, B&N or Kobo. Self-publishers are seeing success on those platforms, as they are regularly in the top 100 bestselling books every week. There are more eBooks being produced on a yearly basis from publishers and indie authors then at any point in human history. There simply is too much content in the digital world for any sane person to browse and hopefully find the next great read. Books in the digital realm are stacked right next to each other, you can’t filter out self-published titles from traditionally published ones. In the next few years millions more books will be published and submitted to Amazon, they will generate a ton of money at the further expense of book discovery and the quality of product. I am hereby abandoning reading eBooks from this point forward. Something is fundamentally flawed with the entire online book discovery experience. There simply is too much content being generated for search engine algorithms to cope or to browse by subject matter. Instead, I am exclusively going to be visiting my local Chapters on a weekly basis and picking up a few good reads. At least the traditional book selling industry understands product placement, the psychology of colors and makes finding a new book a social experience, rather than a solitary one. Artificial Scarcity vs Organic Abundance – Why I am Abandoning eBooks is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Parkinson’s disease body illusion
| Transports is an interactive installation from Analogue, a theatre/art group, sponsored by the Wellcome Trust, which creates the illusion that the viewer is experiencing Parkinson’s symptoms. As in the rubber hand illusion, the mind is tricked into believing that the user’s hand is the hand shown in some point-of-view video; while a glove with motors makes them feel the tremors associated with the disease. The whole setup is controlled by a Raspberry Pi. The installation takes the user through a number of everyday tasks from the perspective of Andrew, a man in his thirties with Parkinson’s, who is about to give a speech at a friend’s wedding. Andrew’s experience is informed by a body of first-person data that Analogue collected from the blogs of people dealing with Parkinson’s, and interviews with patients. This installation isn’t being exhibited as public art at the moment; instead, it’s being used to raise awareness and promote empathy among health professionals and carers. Psychology students are also using it; and there are plans to refine the whole thing by using Oculus Rift or a similar VR headset, and by shrinking the apparatus on the glove. You can read more about Transports at Analogue’s site, or at the New Scientist. |
Onyx BOOX Classic e-Reader Now Available
| Onyx Boox is not content to just sit idly in the marketplace while the competition rushes out new e-readers for the holiday season. On the heels of the Afterglow 2, Onyx has just released a bare bones Basic reader to do battle against the Kindle. The new Onyx Boox Classic features a six inch e-Ink Pearl HD display screen with a resolution of 1024 X 758. This device does not have a touchscreen, instead you will have to rely on the D-Pad to browse and navigate the device. This concept seems to be a bit retro, since most modern e-readers now have a touchscreen display, but the price is only 69 €. Underneath the hood is a single core 1 GHZ Freescale processor, 512 MB of RAM and 4 GB of internal storage. The hardware itself is fairly competitive on the marketplace, and should keep things robust in terms of user experience and features. One of the main selling points on the entire modern Onyx portfolio is the fact they all run an open version of Android. This allows users to tap into Google Play to download and install any app they want. Sadly, this reader only has Android 2.3 and does not have the ability to install any 3rd party content. The Onyx Basic is really designed to compete against the Kindle 5 . On the companies sales page, it basically pits both of the devices head to head and the Onyx comes out on top. This e-reader is available now, and apparently quite the hit in Poland! If you are looking for something cheap and cheerful, this e-reader fits the bill. Onyx BOOX Classic e-Reader Now Available is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Kobo Now Lists eBook File Type and if it has Adobe DRM
| There tends to be some confusion among new e-reader owners on what formats their new device reads. Numerous Kindle owners try to buy eBooks at a good price online, only to get disgruntled when they aren’t compatible. In order to solve many of the top customer concerns Kobo now lists the format their eBooks are in and whether or not they have Digital Rights Managment (DRM). When you are browsing the online Kobo catalog their is a new section at the bottom of the description. It is called Download Options and lists the eBooks are EPUB 2, EPUB 2 (Adobe DRM), PDF, PDF (Adobe DRM). When you buy an eBook with DRM on it, the title is only compatible with Kobo e-readers and tend not to play nice with any other device. Things get easier if you manage to find something that does not have any encryption, this means you can basically load in on your smartphone, tablet, e-reader or loan it out to a friend and not need Adobe Digital Editions to facilitate the transfer. The new download system is live in most countries. We have confirmed reports that Canada, US, Australia, UK all have it, but sadly not New Zealand. Kobo Now Lists eBook File Type and if it has Adobe DRM is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Support the People Who Make the Web with Google Contributor
| Advertising sucks in general, but we recognize it as a necessary evil in a lot of situations –not the least of which being a means to raise the funds required to keep the Internet going (or at least the content contained ‘within it’). Now, what if you could visit your favourite sites, and instead of seeing an advertisement block on the screen and being encouraged to click on it… you could just donate a little money to the site and not go through that dance? Google is betting you might just take them up on that offer, creating a new service that does that exact thing: Google Contributor. Contributor is being labeled as ‘alternative monetization’, allowing us to designate a monthly fee we are willing to sacrifice in the name of Internet content with the promise of not having to see Google ads (though you will still see a pixelated box in the space where the ad would have been displayed). Contributor is currently in beta, with participants getting involved by invitation only. During this phase, there are 10 publishing partners (like Mashable, Imgur, and WikiHow) with an opt-in dollar amount of $1, $2, or $3. I’m not sure I see Contributor as a viable alternative to advertising… at least not in it’s current form. I would wager that most seasoned web surfers are already quite familiar with tuning out advertisements. Now, if I could see an ad-free version of the site (where the entire screen real estate was given to the content I’m actually interested in seeing), I’d be much more likely to toss in a few dollars.
Support the People Who Make the Web with Google Contributor is a post from: Good e-Reader |
What do you Look for in an e-Reader?
| When it comes to buying an e-reader for the first time or upgrading to the largest and greatest, there are lots of factors to consider. Do you want a very large screen to fit a copious amount of text or are you looking for something with a great ecosystem to buy eBooks? Over the course of the last month we asked the question, what do you look for in an e-reader? 694 people weighed in and today we look at the results. Arguably the most important factor people look for in an e-reader is a large screen. 25.43% of the voting popular made it apparent that when it comes to reading digital books, a very large screen makes a world of difference. High resolution came in second with 16.62%, which makes it quite evident that high PPI and overall screen clarity matters. Things were more competitive with the next tier down. 9.68% of the vote said that portability was important while 7.66% mentioned that an e-reader with open Android is important. 7.66% of the population stated that price is most important while 7.23% of the said that a particular e-reader brand, such as Kindle, Kobo or Nook weighed in on their decision. What was most surprising about this vote is that serious readers aren’t engaged with gimmicks such as GoodReads, X-Ray, Badges, social media or achievements. A paltry 1.01% of the vote said things were totally unimpressive. What do you Look for in an e-Reader? is a post from: Good e-Reader |
