| Please brace yourself, I have a few truths to reveal… and they may come as a surprise to many of you (if my Facebook news feed is to be believed). It doesn’t matter how many times you share the post with all of your friends, Costco will not give you a free $500 gift card. Nobody has a stash of yet-to-be-released iPhone 8.5’s that they are just dying to give away to 200 lucky Facebook users who like and share their post. A sick child will not get a new heart if you share their heart-string-pulling photograph. I am also begging every single one of you to do a single Google search to validate any news you plan to share about a celebrity that has (supposedly) passed away. Thankfully, Facebook understands the pain many of us feel when we see our friends falling for these ridiculous hoaxes. A feature being added to the site will allow those of us who do our research to flag a post as being false news (as well as a few other designations such as being pornographic, advocating violence, annoying, or distasteful); doing so will remove the post from your feed, so you can forget it ever happened. The more flags a post receives, the less it will be seen in general (though Facebook will never actually delete a post). Of course, there is a downside to this added moderation: idiots and bullies get the same functionality as everybody else. At least it’s a step in the right direction, and one I suspect will be fine-tuned over time. My suggestion some time ago was that Facebook force users to click a disclaimer before sharing or adding content that begs for confirmation that the content contained within the post was fact-checked first… and if not, accept that they risk eyerolls and sighs of disbelief from their friends. Now that Facebook has potentially solved this problem, I’d really appreciate it if they got to work on some kind of alert system that would let people know that their mothers will not think they aren’t loved if you stop sharing those sappy greeting card poems within 10 seconds of reading it… and maybe give them a heads up that I do still love them as a friend even though I’m unwilling to describe in a single word the way we met as a comment on their status.
Stop Your Facebook Friends From Spreading False News Stories is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Stop Your Facebook Friends From Spreading False News Stories
The Dream of Used eBooks is Over
| The dream of an used e-Book site may be over. A Dutch Court of Appeals has ruled that Tom Kabinet must shut down within three days or pay a daily fine of €1,000. Tom Kabinet is a Netherlands based used e-Book website that was first established during the summer of 2014. Their launch immediately put them at odds with the Dutch Publishing Association. The publishers believe Tom Kabinet infringes on copyrights. Research suggests 90% of all eBooks that are listed on the site are pirated and that criminals are reselling books they download from torrent websites. The core business model of the company is facilitating the sale of e-books that users post on their website. They don’t actually host the actual book, but digitally watermark each title to prevent reselling of the same copy over and over. When a book is sold, Kabinet takes a small commission for their role in the transaction. Things initially looked to be going in favor of the Netherlands e-Book service in July when the court decided that that Tom Kabinet can stay open for business during the court case. The main argument that was employed was the Oracle and Usedsoft case that was decided in Germany some months sooner. “Where the copyright holder makes available to his customer a copy – tangible or intangible – and at the same time concludes, in return form payment of a fee, a license agreement granting the customer the right to use that copy for an unlimited period, that right-holder sells the copy to the customer and thus exhausts his exclusive distribution right. Such a transaction involves a transfer of the right of ownership of the copy. Therefore, even if the license agreement prohibits a further transfer, the right-holder can no longer oppose the resale of that copy. He can therefore download onto his computer the copy sold to him by the first acquirer. Such a download must be regarded as a reproduction of digital product that is necessary to enable the new acquirer to use the program in accordance with its intended purpose." The entire saga between Tom Kabinet and the Dutch Publishers Association was supposed to be all wrapped up on December 23rd, but due to the Christmas holidays, the judgement was postponed until just this week. Where does this leave Tom Kabinet now? Well, it is tricky. The Dutch Court ruled that they have to close up shop within three days or pay a hefty fine. They also said the business model appeared to be legal in principle. When many other companies would have simply closed up shop, TC is continuing to fight. They are trying to purge all of the questionable books from their site in a bid to be legitimized, but it might be far too late that now. In the courts and publishers eyes they are a pirate site that is leveraging a court case as their sole argument and it failed. It looks like the dream of a legitimate used e-book site might be over, for now. The Dream of Used eBooks is Over is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Looking Forward to Microsoft’s Windows 10
| Any of us who have been around in the tech industry for a year or twenty will remember that before Apple was what Apple has become, there was Microsoft… and they were the company you loved to hate (and hated to love). There was a time when we waited on the edges of our seats to see what was coming up in the next version of Microsoft’s Windows operating system (and then we would salivate while also joking that there is no way we’d be installing it until there was at least one major service pack). Thanks in part to the availability of solid alternatives plus a little sprinkle of Ballmer (whose goofiness made a lot of us take the company less seriously), it’s been a while since we cared about a new version of Windows. Until now. Windows 10 has now been previewed, and it actually sounds pretty fantastic. Windows 7 was pretty solid. Windows 8 was basically a disaster. Windows 10 promises to pull the best from past versions, while leaving behind the stuff that just didn’t work. At the top of the feature list is a makeover to the desktop experience that intends to provide a consistent user experience across all platforms (mobile and otherwise). Hard to disagree with that approach, given how interchangeable technology is these days –but what else can we look forward to with Windows 10?
You may have noticed that I left Microsoft’s HoloLens out of my ‘features list’. This was intentional, due in large part to my confusion over why it was included in these announcements. It is an AR platform that displays 3D projections using a pair of rather goofy looking wireless goggles. No sense in talking much about it yet, the release date was very vague (in the Windows 10 time frame they suggested)… and typically with Microsoft this means to expect more than a few delays. For whatever my opinion is worth, I think Windows 10 is Microsoft’s last chance to impress the corporate world and prove they are still relevant –so trying to look all space age and Google-like just cheapened the rest of their news. In case you wondered if this is still the same old Microsoft, rest assured they are… few companies hold huge launch events with only the vaguest of release dates for the wares they are showing off. In this case, you can expect Windows 10 to ship sometime (later) in 2015. Almost certainly. Probably. Likely. We hope. Now, with that said, I do want to see it in action when it comes out. Looking Forward to Microsoft’s Windows 10 is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Sword Art Online: Lost Song PS3 Trailer Released
| With the end of Sword Art Online’s second season fans are eagerly awaiting the next, though it might be some time before the series returns. But for now fans can now enter the SAO universe with the upcoming game "Sword Art Online: Lost Song". Announced at last year’s Tokyo Game Show, the new game will be released in Japan on March 26th and will be available for the Playstaion 3 and the Playstation Vita platforms. The new game will be localized in English later in 2015 as well as traditional Chinese in other Asian countries. The game will be an open world RPG with an original storyline. Set within ALfheim Online, Characters will be able to take flight and be able to engage in epic aerial battles with the help of Kirito’s friends. So far, Bandai Namco has revealed the characters that will take part in the action will include Kirito, Asuna, Leafa, Silica, Lisbeth, Sinon and Philia. Also recently announced will be Klein and other character who’ve made appearances in the past of Sword Art Online Strea and Argo. While we don’t know too much abut the game’s story yet, the producer Yosuke Futami has previously spoke why it will take place in the alternate ALfheim online and about how it will focus less on the death game aspect and more abut Kirito and friends having fun in the world, for a change. There will also be a special edition of "Sword Art Online: Lost Song" available that will include a soundtrack CD, bonus Blu-ray content, a poster and a special booklet. Included will be the localized English and Chinese versions of the game that Bandai Namco says will contain better translations than Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment. The "Sword Art Online" anime had started as a series of light novels written by Reki Kawahara that has then adapted into two seasons of anime that can be seen on Crunchyroll and season 1 on Netflix. You should really check this out, Season 1 is very good. Sword Art Online: Lost Song PS3 Trailer Released is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Attack on Titan Crosses Over into Maple Story
| Have you ever wanted to join the Survey Corps and join the relentless battles against the titans? Now you can! Nexon’s Maple Story, an online 2D side-scrolling MMORPG, and Hajime Isayama’s Attack on Titan are now joining forces! Characters that are level 30 and higher will have access to a portal that will take them to the world of Attack on Titan where special coins will be needed to participate in episodic content. Train with Mikasa and Eren to become a successful team member to the survey corps and use omni-directional mobility gear! Once training is over, be prepared for the episode of defending the Wall Rose from the Colossal Titan’s attack! Those who survive the attack will be rewarded with with valuable items to be able to recreate some of your favourite AoT characters such as Eren, Mikasa, Levi and Armin! The new crossover has been available in the Japanese version since November last year but will now be available to play in the English version! Do you have it takes to take on the Colossal Titan and protect your friends? Now you can find out! Attack on Titan Crosses Over into Maple Story is a post from: Good e-Reader |
James Patterson Gives away 1,000 Free Copies of Self-Destructing e-Book
| James Patterson has a new book coming out soon, Private Vegas and 1,000 fans will be given a free code to download it for free in the next five days. The catch? Users have 24 hours to read the new title before it self-destructs, disappearing forever. The 1,000 free e-Book titles will be distributed through a new iPad app and has a 24 hour timer when you open it for the first time. The book’s website shows which readers are currently devouring the book, how far along they are, how much time is left, and the speed at which they are reading. There is also a cool map that shows people around you that are also have the digital book. “I’ve been in the business of thrilling people for almost 40 years,” said Patterson in a press statement. “So much has changed and I want to make sure I keep my readers on the edge of their seat. Faced with imminent destruction, the act of reading against a clock allows fans to become a character in their own thriller.” The book shows up in shops on January 28th, so these free e-books is the only way you can read it before its released to the general public. If you are feeling financially flush, maybe you just sold your company, there is a real self-destructing book you can buy for $300,000. If you pay the $300,000 you will receive a first class flight to an undisclosed location. Two nights stay in a luxurious boutique hotel and a well-trained bomb squad to handle the self-destructing book. Users can read the book through a pair of solid gold binoculars and then watch the book blow up in spectacular fashion. Once this is all over, you will get to meet James Patterson for a five course dinner and get a ton of autographed books. This an entire experience should make for a good tale to regale your friends with the next time you get asked “so what did you do this weekend?” James Patterson Gives away 1,000 Free Copies of Self-Destructing e-Book is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Facebook to Add “Hoax” Button
|
While satire has long been a respected form of writing (even if journalism might be a strong word for it), readers of ages past had to seek out these works and were fully aware of the attempts at humor. Unfortunately, the internet has brought satire into the mainstream with sites like The Onion and DuffelBlog, and many readers are no longer as aware that the information is not only false, but is intentionally so. Facebook is now working out a way to help readers sift through the headlines, not with the aim of censoring satirical content, but rather putting a disclaimer on the article. The goal is to improve the spread of actual news while not discouraging the entertainment value of ludicrous headlines. While concerns have been raised about the ability of readers with a political agenda to “block” legitimate news by flagging it as hoax-worthy content, other sources have said it’s about time users had steps to take to help prevent comedic attempts from being misconstrued as factual content. “One way to fight the virality of falsehood is to take Facebook's approach and turn the dial down on how often such stories show up for users,” says Marcus Wohlsen in an article for WIRED. “But in doing so, the company calls attention to the fact that the News Feed is not neutral. Facebook has not only an ability but an interest in exerting control over what you see and click. It's not a conspiracy. But it's another reminder that if you rely on social media alone for news, you might not be getting the whole story.”
Facebook to Add “Hoax” Button is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Resources Restyled
| Back in April, when we launched a revamp of our whole website, we introduced a section of free learning resources. Recently we’ve been working on a new and improved design for the layout of this material, and we’re launching it today for a selection of our resources.  The new look and feel of our free learning resources Our new in-house designer Sam has produced the templates along with a brilliant set of icons, components, characters, illustrations and bespoke GPIO and wiring diagrams. The Learn and Make activities are:
We have also revamped a number of Teach resources, each containing lesson plans and links to the Programme of Study: As well as a new guide to for teachers: We think they’re looking great – and hope you all do too!             We’ll be migrating all of our resources into the new template in the coming weeks. The content still all lives on GitHub, and you can still collaborate; if you’re a regular contributor, you’ll notice that there are some extra files to make the templates work.  New recipe cards for our learning resources  Gotta collect ‘em all!
Remember all our resources are available for free under a Creative Commons licence, so you can print, copy, share, modify and do anything you want with the materials – we don’t want to restrict educators in any way! We know some of our Raspberry Pi Certified Educators from Picademy have been using their own modified versions of our worksheets to teach the Computing curriculum – it’s a great way of tailoring the material to the needs of their own students. Those of you who are coming to see us at BETT this week will see we’ve also been giving out recipe cards for each of these new style resources, which again have been beautifully designed by Sam. Teachers – if you miss us at BETT, you can download these recipe cards to print out for your wall displays.  Carrie Anne leading the first session of the day at BETT  The education team out in force at BETT Check out the rest of our teach, learn and make resources look through our BETT schedule on our website. |
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Kuroko No Basuke 3DS Game and Spinoff Manga Announced
| Kuroko no Basuke, everyone's favourite anime about basketball, returned to screens earlier this January, and has brought with it more good tidings. Fans of the anime will be delighted to see their favourite basketballers on a 3DS screen, as Bandai Namco Games began streaming gameplay of their upcoming Kuroko no Basket: Ties of the Future. The second 3DS game released for Kuroko no Basuke, Ties of the Future promises a better gameplay, better graphics, and most importantly, more power behind the player's special moves. For a show based on high schoolers with almost superhero-like basketball abilities, this is a good change. What good is naming your jump shot "Meteor Jam" if there isn't enough force behind it? The game also allows the player to switch characters by passing the ball, a perfect choice for the anime that promotes passing and teamwork. But that isn't all Kuroko no Basuke has to offer. The highly popular light novel series, Kuroko no Basuke -Replace-, is getting its very own manga adaptation. Replace acts as a prequel novel to the manga, following the title character Kuroko and his old teammates in their middle school years. The novels themselves are wildly popular, with 1.9 million copies in circulation and ranking in Japan's best-sellers list since 2013. The manga adaptation will be serialised in the online magazine, Shonen Jump. The artist is yet to be confirmed. Ties of the Future has a set release date of March 26th. As for the prequel manga, nothing has been carved in stone yet. But fans won't fret, not with the third season just beginning and another several games of high-tension basketball on the horizon. There is a lot more Kuroko and his basketball to come.
Kuroko No Basuke 3DS Game and Spinoff Manga Announced is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Barnes and Noble Retail Boss Leaves the Company
| Barnes and Noble has been experiencing a dramatic executive shuffle in the last few years. Not only has the Nations largest bookseller replaced the CEO of the entire company, but the entire Nook division has seen every single key person leave. Today, B&N has announced that Mitchell Klipper, Chief Executive Officer of the Retail Group, will retire by May. The Company said it has begun a search to fill Mr. Klipper's position and that he will help with the selection of the new Retail CEO and in the transition process. Klipper has been working for Barnes and Noble for over 28 years and previously acted as the company's operating chief and chief financial officer. Before taking over as retail CEO, he oversaw the company's development segment, which is responsible for its real estate operations. Over the cost of his vast history with the company he picked new locations for bookstores, oversaw construction and design for more than 600 Barnes Noble's superstores in the US. Barnes and Noble reported during a recent earnings report that booksales will will be flat this year, which is better than the projected decline they made late last year. Barnes and Noble Retail Boss Leaves the Company is a post from: Good e-Reader |
New Library in Vancouver to Serve the Downtown Eastside
| A new library has broke ground in Vancouver and will serve the poorest postal code in Canada. The Downtown Eastside is rife with poverty, drug use, sex, crime, and violence. The building that will be constructed will have six different floors, two for the library and four for social housing called Cause We Care House, designated for single mothers. It is being financed by a joint initiative between the City of Vancouver, the Vancouver Public Library and YWCA Metro Vancouver. "We'll have medical and employment services, a mother and tot program, and we'll offer support to families with infants who have been diagnosed with developmental delays," YWCA Metro Vancouver CEO Janet Austin said at a news conference at the site. The naming convention being employed for the upcoming library is entirely unique and is the first major civic building in Vancouver to have an official aboriginal name. The word nÉ™́c̓aÊ”mat ct encompasses the idea of "we are one" in the Musqueam language. The Downtown Eastside, Chinatown and Strathcona community are the last neighborhoods in Vancouver without a public library. Sandra Singh, the city's chief librarian, said the library, which will measure about 11,000 square feet, will be among the largest branches in the VPL system. Incidentally this will also be the first official library to be constructed in Vancouver in the last 20 years. This library is going to have thousands of book and e-book titles available to patrons. Beth Davies Neighbourhood Services Manager at VPL said that “Our selections team is just starting to acquire books and other materials for the new branch, having developed a collection profile based on neighborhood demographics and feedback, and circulation patterns in other similar locations. The collection will be newly acquired for this branch; the children’s material at our current Strathcona branch will remain with the school when the library becomes a school-only library. We are not relying on community donations.” She went on to say “E-book and digital collections will be available to patrons at this location, just as at other locations, and are intended to complement the print collections.” Currently, the VPL deals with Overdrive which accounts for the largest segment of audiobooks and e-Books. Digital Newspapers will also play a key role via PressReader. I have a feeling that the digital adoption rate will be low at this new location, as the low-income patrons likely don’t have cutting edge smartphones or tablets. New Library in Vancouver to Serve the Downtown Eastside is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Harry Potter Plot Outlined on a Hand Drawn Spreadsheet
| The Harry Potter saga comprises of seven novels by British author J.K. Rowling. Many kids grew up reading these books in their youth and a soft spot remains for all things Potter. Do you ever wonder if J.K had any idea about Dumbledore's Army or horcruxes when she wrote the Sorcerer’s Stone? She planned ahead more then you think. A recent manual spreadsheet has just surfaced, giving us all an introspective on how a novel is constructed. This spreadsheet was the main story arc for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. She keeps track of all the book's subplots in every chapter and how they are developing in the real world of the book, even if they aren’t mentioned on the page. So, there's a full column on "The Prophecy" which is the main subplot Harry is worried about throughout the book. Then there's a column for the romantic subplot, titled "Cho/Ginny" followed by "D.A." which follows what's going on with Harry, Ron and Hermione's resistance group "Dumbledore's Army," one called "O of P," a column about what's the latest with the "Order of the Phoenix," a.k.a, the people who believe Voldemort is still alive, then separate columns for Snape and the Hagrid and Grawp story. I think this hand drawn plot outline really shows us that a riveting and complex story doesn’t have to be totally over thought. A one page document that outlines all of the key events is basically all you need to construct a story. Harry Potter Plot Outlined on a Hand Drawn Spreadsheet is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Amazon Stands Behind eBook Subscriptions
|
Critics were quick to point fingers at Amazon with claims that the empire was turning on its own support base, but that’s turning out not to be the case. At last week’s Digital Book World event, Amazon’s senior vice president of Kindle Russ Grandinetti spoke candidly about Amazon’s support for unlimited ebook consumption, and explained the clear path that the company will take for the model. "We can all observe the fact, that in every single digital media category, subscriptions are playing an important role. In music, in movies, in newspapers—you cannot find a digital medium where subscription isn't a model that succeeds at some level, and I don't think books will be immune to this. [We] need to think about how subscription could be a great value for the customers.” While Netflix and Amazon have offered both unlimited movie and television streaming as well as original programming without much backlash from content producers, newspapers through companies like Issuu, Zinio, and Magzter have provided digital newspaper and magazine reading with unlimited consumption pricing plan options. One of the chief drawbacks to the adoption of subscription reading, Grandinetti believes, is that ebook sales are currently doing really well. On the other hand, ebook subscription platforms like Rooster see unlimited content for one continuous low price as more media than most readers can handle; Rooster offered a cheaper alternative to subscription reading that provided less content for a lower cost, appealing to those readers who were honest enough with themselves to say that they wouldn’t reap enough benefit in terms of amount of content to justify the higher price.
Amazon Stands Behind eBook Subscriptions is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Social animals: electric eel tweets with a Pi
| Meet Miguel Wattson (geddit?), the most piscine member of the Raspberry Pi community. Miguel is an electric eel who lives in a tank at Chattanooga Zoo; and his keepers, with some help from some computer science interns, have decided to use Miguel’s tendency to generate electricity to do some showboating.  Bzzzzt.
Electric eels (actually a kind of knifefish, so strictly speaking they’re electric fish, which sounds much less cool) have the ability to discharge up to 860 volts from three large organs made from electrocytes – organic cells which work like the voltaic pile in an early battery – which they use to stun prey, to communicate, and to navigate. An electric eel at full power only discharges for a couple of milliseconds, but even so, has the ability to electrocute a full-sized human. This is all very glamorous and exciting, but the problem for eel watchers is that all of this drama is silent and invisible. There’s no way to tell just from watching whether or not an electric eel is discharging. Happily, there’s a way around that. Sensors (I’m guessing electrodes in the water, connected to ground, whose resistance can be measured – but I do not have an electric eel to test this setup on – your ideas in the comments please!) in Miguel’s tank detect when he discharges. These signals are sent to a LED light and speaker system in the aquarium, where they make static rapping sounds, and flash lights to demonstrate how frequently Miguel discharges. Here he is, doing his thing at feeding time. But the aquarium team didn’t stop there. Miguel’s electrical activity also sends a message to the attached Raspberry Pi, telling it to send a tweet. Miguel’s Twitter feed is full of fishy puns, eel facts, and messages about conservation – along with the occasional “POW” and “BUZZ!” A database of tweets is constantly added to by staff at the aquarium (Miguel does not have fingers and consequently finds it hard to type) "Ironically, the eel code was written in Python," said Evgeny Vasilyev, one of the computer science interns from Tennessee Technological University's Business Media Center. "The project's main set piece was Raspberry Pi, a low cost computer which provides all of the necessary functionality in a compact package." The Pi not only sends the tweets – it acts as a throttle to make sure that Miguel doesn’t start spamming the feed when he gets overexcited. Feeding time, for example, gets Miguel so overstimulated that he discharges more than once a second. The Pi keeps the frequency of tweets down to a reasonable level. The Chattanooga Times Free Press has some video of the setup: You can follow Miguel on Twitter at @EelectricMiguel. You’ll notice that he follows Tennessee Aquarium’s pioneering tweeting groundhog (no, we have no idea what a groundhog is doing in an aquarium), @ChattNoogaChuck, whose profile boasts that he is the aquarium’s chief seasonal forecaster. If you’re following Miguel, keep an eye out on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, when he’s fed, for bursts of activity! |
Chapters Flagship Vancouver Bookstore to Close June 2015
| Chapters and Indigo have announced that the Vancouver flagship bookstore at Robson and Howe will be closing its doors on June 30th 2015. The Chapters flagship retail location has fallen victim to a high rental increase for the 50,000 square feet of space over three levels of retail, including a dramatic entrance with soaring ceilings. The ground floor features a Starbucks shop-in-store, and a huge technology area. This is where Apple, Beats Audio, Kobo and a myriad of other gadgets are found. The second level features an 1,800 square foot licensed American Girl doll shop and a huge selection of non-fiction content. The store's third level features a wide open spaces with thousands of square feet, this is primarily where the magazines, romance and YA fiction are housed. In a statement, Indigo's Chief Executive Officer, Heather Reisman said "As we gain great momentum with Indigo's transformation strategy we are continuing to review all elements of our operations. With a very significant rent increase recently at our Chapters Robson store, the new terms are simply untenable for us to stay in that location. An increase of this magnitude would quite simply make this vibrant, profitable store unprofitable. As a result, we are actively pursuing another location to serve the Robson trade area which we fully intend to open in 2015. In other key markets we are also looking at new real estate opportunities for Indigo that will best serve our unique needs." It is highly unlikely that the closing of the Chapters flagship bookstore in downtown Vancouver will result in any big deals. Instead, the existing stock will be sent to existing bookstores in the Lower Mainland, such as Metrotown, Lougheed Mall, Surrey's Strawberry Hill, Coquitlam's Pinetree Village and Langley. All of the rest will be sent to the main Candian distribution center for processing. The Granville and Broadway Chapters bookstore will benefit the most from the downtown location closing. It isn’t too far away and will see a dramatic increase in book buyers. So what will happen to the prime piece of real estate when Chapters moves out? Business In Vancouver says it has received confirmation that FGL Sports is taking over the lease. This company operates Sport Chek and Atmosphere. Chapters Flagship Vancouver Bookstore to Close June 2015 is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Monday, January 19, 2015
Apple May Be Considering a Stylus for Their Next iPad
| Few things entertain the tech industry more than speculating on what Apple may have up their sleeves. It appears to be that time again, with rumours of an updated iPad gaining traction –the latest of which being a series of patent filings that suggest the company will introduce a proprietary stylus/iPen/Apple Pen of some sort. This rumour is a weird one. All speculation suggests that this stylus would be an optional accessory, which makes it not at all unlike the thousands of existing third-party options on the market already. So with that in mind, why would Apple create their own product? The only thing that makes sense is that this accessory would feature additional sensors that improve and customize its functionality with the new iPad (possibly making it work elegantly for things like 3D handwriting)… offering more incentive than just feeling more like pen and paper than finger and tablet. It also probably means we have yet another thing in our lives that requires charging (hopefully with the same Lightning connector that Apple is already using for their mobile product line). If this latest rumour turns out to be true, Steve Jobs would be most unimpressed (having famously said that ‘if you see a stylus, they blew it’). Would you opt into an Apple-branded stylus? Do you currently use a stylus with your tablet (Apple or otherwise)? While there are certainly potential applications in the corporate and educational worlds, the idea that a pen of any sort is necessary seems antiquated to me (though it does feel a little odd to write my own signature with my fingertip, I have to admit).
Apple May Be Considering a Stylus for Their Next iPad is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Amazon Enters the Feature Films Business
| Once upon a time, movies cost crazy amounts of money to make… which reserved their creation for huge studios with equally large budgets. Now we live in an age where high definition cameras are in the palms of our hands and the bottoms of our pockets. Using computers for special effects is faster and easier than ever before. Post-production takes a fraction of the time it used to. So what does all of this mean? Companies like Amazon have the opportunity and the option of producing their own feature films. After winning a Golden Globe for their dark comedy television series Transparent, Amazon has announced their intentions to produce indie style movies with budgets between $5 million and $25 million (in addition to more work on television series, including a second season of Transparent and something brand new from filmmaker Woody Allen). Amazon’s original movies are intended for theatrical release, though they will also see early distribution on their Prime Instant Video service (proving membership really does have its privileges). Original content is one thing that sets streaming services apart. Netflix has long since offered their own content unavailable anywhere else, which means Amazon has to make the same move in an effort to be competitive. To this end, it’s important that Amazon doesn’t cause people to equate smaller budgets with a lower quality entertainment. Does original content help you decide on what streaming services you subscribe to? Who do you think is doing it best?
Amazon Enters the Feature Films Business is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Tech Meets Innovation: The Hospitality Industry in the Digital Age
| When consumers and experts alike think of the travel industry, transportation giants usually come to mind. But what savvy industry watchers are learning is that transportation is only one small part of the equation. Accommodations providers are driving the real shift in the travel industry, and of those, it's the smaller companies and startups that are generating actual change. Accommodations used to refer to the hotel sector, and in some regards, the vacation rental side of business. But the booming privately owned homeshare concept is getting a lot of consumer attention and edging in on the market share for accommodations, largely due to digital and tech amenities that hotels and rental condos—and now homeshares—have to offer. There's been a shift in how the hospitality industry handles consumer engagement. With the move to things like mobile apps, online booking and check-in, and even a catalog of hundreds of titles to choose from for the typical guest newspaper that now appears seamlessly each morning on a guest's mobile device, today's traveler expects not only convenience and price, but a greater level of affordability and value thanks to the self-service, digital concepts. A newly launched magazine that tracks the hospitality industry, Megatrends Shaping Travel In 2015 takes a closer look at how consumers are responding to what the travel and hospitality sectors have to offer in the digital age. One of the chief findings of the publication from Skift if that whole new levels of connectivity and convenience have become the norm. The days of cable-based ethernet connections in hotel rooms or paying a premium for in-room wifi are gone, even if not all hotel and rental chains have adapted. Travelers are no longer content with a complimentary print copy of USA Today thrown on the lobby desk in the morning, and instead of booking their stays with hotels that can offer local news, but also the news from back home while guests are away. "As consumers become self-serve and mobile-dependent, new models and approaches to both customer relations and local discovery are emerging, and hospitality is the big crucible where all of this is playing out," says Rafat Ali of Skift. "We see this at every touchpoint in the hospitality industry: From how hotels are building direct links to customers in digital, to how customer service is being rethought through social and mobile tools. Within the confines of a property we see this in how hotels are redoing lobbies and how customers check in, as well as everything about the customer experience inside a hotel room, entertainment inside the hotel, and food & beverage offerings, too. Brands are also questioning customer interaction pre-, during and post-trip, as they examine and rebuild it in new ways." Tech Meets Innovation: The Hospitality Industry in the Digital Age is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Energy Sistem Releases 3 New e-Readers
| Energy Sistem, a Spanish tech brand that has recently launched its new range of e-Readers. The Energy Reader Slim, Energy Reader Screenlight and Energy Reader PRO all have wildly different specs and the pricing structure makes them all tremendously affordable. Likely the best model this company has just released is the Energy Reader PRO. It features a six inch e-Ink Pearl HD display with a resolution of 1024×758 pixels. It has a touchscreen, which makes it easy to click and navigate around the UI or just simply flip the pages in your favorite e-Book. It also incorporates a front-lit screens, you may elect to read in the dark and customize the different levels of illumination. Underneath the hood is a ARM Cortex A9 1.0Ghz dual core processor and 8 GB of internal memory. It also has the option to expand the memory up to 64GB with a SD/SDHC card. This model costs 119 Euro The mid level model is called the Energy Slim, which has a 6 inch screen with a resolution of 800×600. It also has a front-lit display, to allow you to read in the dark, but does not have a touchscreen. Instead, it has a D-Pad and manual navigation buttons to flip pages. This e-reader will run you 84 Euros. The entry e-reader is named the Energy Slim, it doesn’t have a front light or a touchscreen display, and is aimed primarily at people new to e-readers or are on a budget, the cost on this unit is 69 Euros. I like the fact that all three models have support for EPUB, PDF and MOBI, this means it will play nice with the vast majority of books you will download or buy from the internet. In order to get you reading right away, there is 1,500 titles that come bundled on all three models, in different languages. In the near future will be reviewing all of these readers, so if any of them look especially compelling to you, we will be doing a comprehensive hands on review, unboxings and comparisons. Energy Sistem Releases 3 New e-Readers is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Magzter Unveils Unlimited Digital Magazine Subscription Platform
| Magzter has been an anomaly in the digital magazine space, its primarily competitors have all been offering unlimited magazines for a low monthly fee for quite sometime. Instead of jumping into this space right away, Magzter has focused on securing more publishers to their platform and currently and developing their in-house tools to allow other companies to self-publish on Android and iOS. Today, Magzter is ready to jump into the whole Netflix for Magazines concept with the advent of of Magzter Gold. Magzter currently has 5,000 digital magazine titles in their extensive library, but only 2,000 are available via their Gold subscription package. The entry level cost is $9.99 a month to read them all, or you can opt into paying $4.99 per month for full access to 5 preferred titles. Magzter Gold will get you a number of notable publications, such as Maxim, ESPN The Magazine, and Fast Company, as well as many top magazines from different countries – including the UK, Singapore, and India. "It's still early days for digital magazine reading," said Girish Ramdas, CEO & Co-Founder of Magzter. "Barriers to entry, like paying for and managing multiple magazine subscriptions, have stalled true adoption. With Magzter Gold, we're delivering a better experience, giving readers instant access to the largest collection of digital magazines anywhere, on any device, and for one low monthly price." This is a tough industry for Magzster to get into, as their primary competition Next Issue, PressReader and Zinio have been offering unlimited magazine subscriptions for a number of years. Magzter Unveils Unlimited Digital Magazine Subscription Platform is a post from: Good e-Reader |
