| Plastic Logic is a company in flux, they have yet to secure a meaningful contract to utilize their e-paper and are stuck in an endless loop of research and development. In order to better position themselves for the future, the company has split itself into two autonomous companies. Plastic Logic will remain as an EPD developer and producer and will mainly their factories in Dresden, Germany. Their United Kingdom arm will be now known as FlexEnable and will primarily focus their efforts on licensing out their technology to display makers. Indro Mukerjee Chairman of Plastic Logic said “I believe that the full potential of plastic electronics is now emerging as transformational developments in flexible transistor performance and bold, new concepts drive more and more applications. This, combined with the proven manufacturability and scalability of our transistor technology platform, makes this a defining moment for the industry. I look forward to working with our many partners and colleagues to fulfill the tremendous promise of plastic electronics in this exciting new era.” Recently the e-paper and display industry has been collapsing, which is indicative to tech companies being risk adverse. Pixel QI recently announced bankruptcy and their IP is currently in flux. GT Advanced Technologies went bankrupt after Apple pulled out of the deal that would have seen sapphire displays being employed on their next generation of phones and tablets. Liquavista which Amazon purchased from Samsung has never had a single commercially viable product and Mirasol color e-paper has been a massive disappointment. Plastic Logic Splits Into Two Different Companies is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Plastic Logic Splits Into Two Different Companies
Fall in love with February’s romance sale
| Just in time for the month of love, OverDrive is offering 30-50% off over 2,000 titles from our Romance collection. The sale, on now, continues through February 28, 2015.
The latest from Robyn Carr's popular Thunder Point series, The Homecoming follows Seth Sileski, a former town athlete and scholar. It's been a long time since Seth was the high school star everyone knows him to be, but he has to try to convince the people he cares about, including former flame Iris McKinley, that he's changed for the better. For Fifty Shades of Grey fans, pick up the first book of the Alpha series, Alpha by Jasinda Wilder. The heroine of this story is struggling to pay the bills and make ends meet when suddenly, a check for $10,000 shows up in the mail from an unknown sender. The next month, another check comes and another, for a year. But when a limo arrives at her home with a man claiming it's time to "pay your debt," she realizes that nothing is free.
Don't miss out on this amazing opportunity to expand your digital collection with popular titles from Sourcebooks, Baker Publishing Group, Random House, Hachette, Harlequin, Dreamspinner, NLA Digital, HarperCollins and more! See more content on sale at http://partners.overdrive.com/content-sales. *Some titles in lists may have limited regional or platform availability. Emma Kanagaki is a Collection Development Analyst with OverDrive. |
Kobo Set to Inherit 100,000 Blinkbox Books Customer Accounts
| Once again Kobo is going to be the beneficiary of another failed ebook business like they were last year when Sony decided to close their ebook stores in North America, Europe, and Australia. Tesco’s blinkbox Books will be closing for good on February 28th, 2015. This comes after an anticipated agreement with Waterstones to purchase […] |
Benchmarking Raspberry Pi 2
| If you follow us on Twitter, you’ll notice that I put a call out earlier today for people who’d benchmarked their Raspberry Pi 2 – I wanted to be able to share some benchmarking results with you this afternoon.
(Get well soon, Martin!) Our old friend Dave Hunt (click on that link – it’ll take you to some of Dave’s projects, which are among the most beautiful we’ve seen made with a Raspberry Pi) has done some thorough benchmarking against a range of other devices. Click on the table to learn more and to see some very illuminating graphs. The good folks at Adafruit have also been busy benchmarking, this time against the B+, and they also found themselves coming up with some really impressive results (a 7x improvement in some cases); click on the image to learn more. Finally, here’s a really nice side-by-side comparison of the browser experience of the old B+ and a shiny new Pi 2. I recognise that second website Marco Barisione visits. |
Magazine Media in the Digital Publishing Era
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One particular panel at the conference included executives from Rodale, Conde Nast, Time, Meredith, and Hearst Publishing, and the question was posed to those industry leaders. "You don't define yourself by your distribution vehicle and the magazine industry did that for too long,” answered Joe Ripp, CEO of Time, Inc. Caysey Welton, in an article on the conference for FolioMag.com, made a poignant observation on Ripp’s response: “He makes a compelling point, but it doesn't really answer the question. It's true that most magazine brands are doing a lot more than producing a print or digital magazine. But, at the end of the day, magazines are still the core product for most brands. What's more, how does adding the word ‘media’ redefine the industry? By definition magazines are media; so adding the word is redundant and doesn't actually speak to what's happening, which is that brands and companies have more competition for eyeballs than ever before so they are building audiences across multiple platforms and extending themselves beyond content. In turn, that is disrupting the tried and true business model that magazines operated within for roughly a century.” The observation is especially interesting given the rise in popularity of digital magazines and their subscription apps. Zinio, for example, announced a new library partnership this morning that will bring nearly 300 magazine titles to library patrons with free access; leading all-you-can eat and library subscription app PressReader has upped that number to over 1,000 titles. With such a selection of content to choose from, is the magazine publishing sector keeping up, or is this a situation such as affects the book publishing space, in which a handful of major publishers control the content and therefore don’t feel the pressure to adapt and keep up? According to Welton, the answer is yes. “There seems to be an implicit need to stay connected to the core product that built these five major publishing companies, and the industry—magazines. That's where things get a little dicey. Magazines, while still the bread and butter for most, will continue to decline in terms of where they fit into the revenue pie. Ripp admitted that, but said, ‘We need to invest in new things that will offset that [decline].'”
Magazine Media in the Digital Publishing Era is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Backlash Against Mockingbird Sequel as Concerns for Author’s Status Come Out
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Reports from various news sources have noted the coincidental timing in the death of the author’s long-time attorney and older sister, Alice Lee, who by many accounts was the instrumental force behind guarding the author’s privacy and career. Alice Lee retired at the age of 100 and passed away only a few months ago, leaving another attorney in her practice to serve her place as the safeguard of Harper Lee’s interests and career. Now, attorney Tonja Carter reportedly advocates on behalf of the author, but that relationship has come under fire for a number of recent events, including one in which the author accidentally signed away her rights to her original work while the attorney was looking on. One Gawker article outlined in great detail some suspicious activity involving the author’s copyrights, lawsuits and letters that intended to represent the author but did not in fact represent her true feelings, and even visitation privileges from the author’s oldest friends being formally denied in writing. The article takes pains to point out a very strange relationship, as this attorney is a cousin of Truman Capote, Lee’s one-time best friend before the two became very publicly estranged. Essentially, critics of the pending release aren’t at issue with its content or its quality, but of the fact that they do not believe the author herself would ever have allowed its publication if she were in better health and had better care watching over her interests. Lee is reportedly nearly blind and deaf and has lived in a care facility since a stroke in 2007, and some people close to her have reported she suffers from dementia. Critics have argued that this book never would have become public if Alice were still alive to protect her sister, her status as the author’s former attorney notwithstanding. Despite official-looking statements that supposedly give the author’s blessing and cooperation on the publication, there are some differences this time around, one of the most noted being the instant access to formats that this title will offer. Lee was notoriously against an ebook edition of To Kill a Mockingbird, and only acquiesced to a digital publication last year–again, after her sister Alice retired from practicing law and Tonja Carter took over Lee’s affairs. There are already a number of conflicting reports surrounding the publication of this book, the author’s state of mind and health, and other aspects of this would-be controversy. Go Set a Watchmen is already available for pre-order in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook, and is currently the number one bestselling title on Amazon.
Backlash Against Mockingbird Sequel as Concerns for Author’s Status Come Out is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Free! – Eternal Summer 14th Episode Preview
| While Free! – Eternal Summer may have ended last September, that doesn’t mean the fun is entirely over. A preview of the special “14th episode” has been released. Collectively known as ‘the swimming anime’, Free! is a staple for all anime viewers. Some watch it for the story, some watch it for the character relationships, and some watch it just to say they’ve watched it. Whatever your reasoning, you’ll be happy to see the familiar faces in this fun, lighthearted episode. It stars our favourite Iwatobi and Samezuka boys in an all-out survival water-gun fight. The preview already promises the things we’re used to seeing from Free!, like overdramatic moments and a lot of subtext. The episode also hints at character interactions we might not have seen before, mixing up the teams and forcing them into unlikely allies. Currently, Funimation has the rights to the second season only, and are working on the English dub. Whether they acquire the first season is still up in the air, as Discotek Media recently licensed the first season for subtitled DVD release. Crunchyroll currently has both seasons available. The 14th episode will be included with the 7th and final DVD bundle of Free! – Eternal Summer, which ships out on March 18th. Take a peek below and see a preview of your last time with the swimming boys!
Free! – Eternal Summer 14th Episode Preview is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Anime Studio Story Now Available on Android
| Have you ever wanted to star in your own anime TV show? Well, with Kairosoft studios new game, "Anime Studio Story", you now have the power to be the star of your own show! As the title suggests, your goal is to create the best anime you can! To achieve these goals, you first create the stat of your show and then it’s all about gaining a popular fan base. The game play allows the player to help build up their character’s charisma by making him or her win the rankings of different categories such as "Popular with kids" or "Dateability", so in the end, it isn’t just about being a cool star but by also being a nicely rounded person. But what is a star without their team? As the owner of a studio, you are also given the choice to upgrade and replace new gear, hiring new staff and add on other departments to your studio to have a better chance at making a hit anime. Add on a library, a motion capture room and theatres for previewing purposes! The goal is to make a quality anime and you’ll need everything you can get to help win those awards and be the top of the show lists. If you’re a fan of simulation games or of Kairosoft them self, you can grab a copy of Anime Studio Story from Google Play for $4.99 Anime Studio Story Now Available on Android is a post from: Good e-Reader |
The Impact of Digital Magazine Covers
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One industry watcher went so far as to call this repeat process “lazy.” According to Chris Bond, Creative Lead, Digital Editions, for Toronto-based TC Media, in an article for TalkingNewMedia.com, "Unlike a print edition, the reader can't pick up the edition and flip through it before deciding to purchase. Cover videos give us the opportunity to give the reader a bit of that ‘flip through’ feeling by bringing to life what they'll get inside. While such elements help to amplify the value of the content, you don't want to overwhelm the reader with too much different kinds of interactivity.” To date, digital magazine distributors and subscription-based apps like PressReader and Zinio have relied on the cover image provided by the publisher, but as the information shows, too often that digital cover is simply a pixelized rendition of the cover the art department already created for paper. But the purpose of the covers is vastly different when the format changes. The cover that was designed to entice a consumer to pick up a print edition at the newsstand can easily give way to a more vibrant, useful digital design.
The Impact of Digital Magazine Covers is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Viz Manga Jump Starts “Kagamigami”
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The initiative has been going since September. Publications of new manga are simultaneous as the debut in Japan. As Viz works closely with Shueisha, Inc., almost every new manga that comes through them will be covered by Viz here in North America. Not only is Jump Start a great way to keep material fresh and new, it also promotes Viz Manga’s interaction with its readers. We get our own say in what Viz runs, and it’s a two-way street. Readers see what they want and Viz keeps their magazine popular and current. This round of Jump Start begins with Kagamigami – literally meaning “mirror god.” The premise of the manga remains mysterious, only promising a detective story. The manga is based on a one-shot the author, Toshiaki Iwashiro, wrote last year, called Shikigami Twilight Days. The author is also known for penning Psyren, a popular manga that Viz also publishes. The fate of Kagamigami rests in the hands of the viewers. If you like the series and would like it to be a full-time runner in Weekly Shonen Jump, give your feedback! Head over to Viz Manga and complete their viewer survey. Give Kagamigami a jump start of your own. Viz Manga Jump Starts “Kagamigami” is a post from: Good e-Reader |
How Many Members does Amazon Prime Have?
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The Prime membership program has turned ten today and for customers, Prime is “the best bargain in the history of shopping,” Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said in a statement. Bezos said that worldwide paid membership grew 53% last year — 50% in the U.S. and a bit faster outside the U.S. Prime is available in Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Canada and Austria. How many members does Amazon Prime have? The company has never divulged their exact subscriber base in the US or internationally. They have only made sporadic statements that are rather ambiguous. When the service first launched ten years ago it was said “tens of thousands of people signed up on Prime's first day,” Greg Greeley, vice president of Amazon Prime Global, told the Washington Post. “Four out of five of those initial members are still active and using their original accounts.” Right after the 2014 holiday shopping season Amazon announced in press release that they had “tens of millions of members.” In order to gauge how many members Amazon Prime actually has, we often have to turn to analysts. Most of the trusted data comes from the finance industry where their number crunching assists them in their recommendations if a company is a viable investment or not. Early in 2014 Mark Mahaney of RBC Capital ended up concluding that Prime has somewhere between 10 million and 20 million members in the U.S. and perhaps 20 million to 30 million worldwide. But in September 2014 he said RBC is now boosting that estimate to between 30 million and 40 million in the U.S. and 40 million to 50 million globally. Why the change? A survey of more than 4,000 Amazon customers conducted by RBC Capital found that 37% were current Prime members. And RBC says that percentage leads to its new estimates. New data from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners issued today proclaimed that at the end of 2014, Amazon Prime had 40 million US members, up from an estimated 29 million at the end of the third quarter. This basically means that 45% of all Amazons US customers has signed on with the Prime program. CIRP also estimates that the average Amazon Prime customer spends $1,500 per year on the e-commerce site, compared to $625 for nonmembers. In the end, the one thing Prime does really well is diminishes the likelihood someone will buy from anywhere else. It creates customer loyalty and increases Amazon’s customer base. Because it sells across so many different markets — books, music, movies, household goods, clothing, etc. — the strength of its network increases exponentially with each new customer. How Many Members does Amazon Prime Have? is a post from: Good e-Reader |
You can’t spell Chromebook without eBook: OverDrive and Chromebook
| With the increasing popularity of Chromebooks, especially in schools, we have seen a bump in interest from Chromebook owners about the best way to enjoy OverDrive eBooks and audiobooks on their device – and we're here to help! If you are just getting started or need assistance with OverDrive on your Chromebook, there are OverDrive Help articles that walk you through the process of setting up the OverDrive app on your device to read eBooks and listen to audiobooks and how to enjoy streaming video titles and more in your Chrome web browser. We have recently added a print-ready Chromebooks device guide to the Learning Center Resources. Scroll to the bottom of the page and download the "Getting Started Guides" zip to find the Chromebooks guide alongside instructions for iOS, Android, Windows 8, NOOK, and Kindle devices as well as a helpful primer on OverDrive Read. These print guides complement the information that is available digitally through OverDrive Help and are popular handouts in schools and libraries for first-time users. Run into technical problems? Reach out to OverDrive Support via the General Support form (found under the Support tab) in OverDrive Marketplace.
Melissa Marin is a Marketing Specialist at OverDrive. |
*Taps monitor* – is this thing on?
| Well, that was a busy couple of days. Thanks for bearing with us while we tried to stop this website from falling over under the weight of more than one million more requests than it usually sees. (I hope we’ll have some graphs and pictures of servers weeping blood for you later on.) One of the things we had to do to try to keep things working round here was to shut the forums for a couple of days: we’re sorry you couldn’t get your fix, and you’ll be pleased to hear they’re back up now. In case you’ve been living under a stone for the last few days, I guess we should explain that the reason for this sudden loss of functionality was the release of our newest product, Raspberry Pi 2 – which has a new quadcore ARMv7 chip, 1GB of RAM and no wheels, all for the very familiar price of $35. Here are some videos to let you know what it’s all about. First up, here’s the footage that was taken live at the press conference where we announced Pi 2. Eben stands up to talk about two minutes in. A couple of boards had sneaked out into the hands of community bloggers: Alex Eames from Raspi.TV did an introductory video – and he also made the video below, where he hammers all four cores in parallel to see how the Pi 2 copes. (Splendidly, is the answer.) You can download the test he used to try it out on your own Pi 2. Make magazine also did a very jolly performance test, which should help illustrate to B and B+ owners just how much more oomph the Pi 2 has. Here’s Eben on the BBC: A certain snarky somebody shouted “Wheels!” at the press conference when one of the journalists asked what improvements we should have made to the device. Adafruit came out our rescue within hours. There’s been so much press we can’t possibly link to it all – thanks very much to everybody who took the time to write about the release. All the existing stock of Pi 2 (around 150,000) had gone by Tuesday, but we’re making new ones at a rate of 20,000 a day, so if you have one on order it should be with you soon. (Some resellers may still have stock – we don’t have figures on all of them, so shop around.) We’ve been overwhelmed at the reception you guys gave the news; thank you for your support, your enthusiasm and your excitement. We couldn’t do this stuff without you. |
What Would You Pay to Read a Book?
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eBook pricing has been a hotly contested issue in the last few years, debated among industry insiders and court officials alike. But a new offer from author James Patterson could reverse what some people think they know about the value of a book. In what the bestselling author has ever-so-humbly termed “The Most Thrilling Reading Experience Ever,” one lucky fan will get to pay around $300,000 to read one of Patterson’s previously published books. This luckiest-of-lucky fans will get one first-class airline ticket, two nights in a hotel at the unknown destination, and a scrumptious meal that Patterson himself will attend. At some point after the meal and after being given 24 hours to read the book Hope To Die, the recipient will be given special bird’s eye view seating to watch a demolition team blow up the book. According to the website that was setup to sell this once-in-a-lifetime experience: “The most thrilling reading experience a human being could ever encounter includes: A first-class flight to an undisclosed location. Two nights stay in a luxurious boutique hotel. A splendid reading space including perfectly chilled Champagne. A well-trained bomb squad to handle the self-destructing book. Gold binoculars inside a fine-leather case engraved with Patterson’s initials. An unforgettable 5-course dinner with Mr. James Patterson. The whole Alex Cross book series autographed by Mr. James Patterson.” One can only hope this is a joke, and not just because the terms of service indicate the binoculars are not actually made of real gold. Of course, even if the author is deadly serious about the value of his work and his time, it does purportedly go to a good cause. Patterson has been a strong champion of independent bookstores in the past, and has dipped into his own personal funds in a monumental way to offer grants to indie bookstores. The proceeds from this “thrilling” experience are said to go to support indie bookstores. For those fans who lack the one-percenter income to participate in the thrilling experience, there was still the element of danger in a campaign for the recently released Private Vegas. One thousand lucky fans got to read a digital advanced copy of the book; the “self-destructing” ebook, as it was called, featured an ominous countdown clock at the top of the screen. Readers had 24 hours to read the book, or it would disappear.
What Would You Pay to Read a Book? is a post from: Good e-Reader |
The Yowamushi Pedal Phenomenon
| 2008 seems to be the year the sports anime began to rise. One of these was Yowamushi Pedal, a manga by Wataru Watanabe, about cycling. In 2013, the manga got its well-deserved anime adaption. Crunchyroll has been streaming the anime and the highly anticipated second season still in progress. The story follows a character everyone can relate to, an otaku named Sakamichi Onoda. He’s the only anime fan at his school, despite multiple tries to pull an anime club together. Onoda is so friendless that he takes the long back hill to school, just so he can sing his favorite anime theme song. His life takes a change for the better when he’s caught by Shunsuke Imaizumi, a young professional cyclist, who is amazed that Onoda can climb the hill on his bulky bike. Imaizumi makes a deal with Onoda – they will race up the hill. If Imaizumi wins, Onoda has to join the bike club. If Onoda wins, Imaizumi will join the anime club, which is enough incentive to get Onoda really racing. However, in the process, Onoda finds himself enjoying it, and he ends up joining the bike club. From there on out, it follows Onoda’s journey to get stronger and win as many races as he can. Like all sports anime seem to be, Yowamushi Pedal is popular. But the fans of the cycling anime are taking it a step further. While every sports anime I’ve seen makes the blood boil and the body itch to get out there and exercise, Yowamushi Pedal fans seem to be actually doing it. Because of the anime, bike sales in Japan have increased. Fans have even started meetups where they get together and go biking. Every sports anime is credited to increase the popularity of their sport by some, but for an anime to cause people to get off their couches and onto bicycles? That is an anime indeed. More interestingly is the specific demographic of new bike sales. Surprisingly enough, it’s women. In the last year, Japan has seen it’s bike market for females aged 20-30 double in size. Otome Road, a street in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro district so named for its shops marketed towards women, has reported a particular increase in interest for bikes. Considering that Yowamushi Pedal has an intended demographic of teenage boys, the fact that young women invested enough in the story to get out and into cycling is just another marker of what makes this anime so great. One of the reasons Yowamushi Pedal is so popular outside of its intended demographic is due to the homoerotic undertones. In fact, that’s one of the reasons sports anime in general draws in so many female viewers. Fangirls love our shipping. It may seem crazy to some. Will the characters of Yowamushi Pedal turn out to be gay? Probably not, no. But that doesn’t stop people from thinking they are, or accepting it as fact in their heads. And many fans are taking going a step further, believing some of the characters to be transgender. These theories are particularly popular around Tumblr. The large female audience of the show has helped Yowamushi Pedal become a platform for gay and trans representation, an are with a strong lack of good representation in today’s media. Besides, if the anime can have such an effect on the audience to give them a real interest in cycling, perhaps the audience can have an effect on the anime – fingers crossed! To put it in simple terms, this anime is a phenomenon. People are buying bicycles. They’re getting outside. Women are getting on the road. Perhaps it’s because we all see a little bit of ourselves in Sakamichi Onoda. If that skinny little otaku can get on a bike, then so can I. For people who love to play video games there is a new Nintendo 3DS title that was just released by Bandai Namco. The game features new rivals for the characters to face, and will be fully-voiced with an original story. I would like to personally challenge you to watch the first episode without singing along to Onoda’s favorite anime theme song. “Hime hime, hime, suki, suki…” The Yowamushi Pedal Phenomenon is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Now Accepts Self-Published Authors
| The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America governing body has approved bylaw changes that now accepts self-published author for Active and Associate memberships in the organization. Self-Published authors will need to abide by the same requirements to join the SFWA as ones that are traditionally published. Specific details will be posted at sfwa.org by the first of March, but the basic standards are $3,000 for novel, or a total of 10,000 words of short fiction paid at 6 cents a word for Active membership. A single story of at least 1,000 words paid at 6 cents a word will be required for Associate membership. Affiliate, Estate, and Institutional membership requirements remain unchanged. Science fiction is facing a crisis right now as traditional publishing is starting to see a massive decline in sales. The genre was down 21% in 2013 and a further 7% in 2014. Overall science fiction unit sales have declined 1,488,000 in just two years. It’s down more than one-quarter in two years and is now only half the size of the Graphic Novel market. Fantasy titles are not selling at all right now either, as unit sales plunged 13% in 2014. The move to embrace self-published authors is likely the smart move for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America governing body. Many authors these days are finding it hard to get a trade deal because the big New York publishing houses only sign new authors if they think their books can sell or if a genre is especially hot right now. Sadly, science fiction is hardly hot at all, and this is why most people are electing to publish their books themselves on Amazon. Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Now Accepts Self-Published Authors is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Avast Finds Adware In Android Apps with Millions of Downloads
| Everybody knows that you have to be careful for malware and adware when installing apps, especially from lesser known sources. Unfortunately, the security firm Avast is now telling us that we are just as vulnerable to these security threats when downloading apps from the Google Play store –even those with millions of downloads. The latest discovery involved a series of advertisements posing as warning messages that were displayed to end users when they unlock their Android devices; the culprit in that case being a card game app called Durak that boasts 5 to 10 million installs to date. Originally brought to Avast’s attention by way of comments in their user forums, the firm was able to find this same malicious software in over a dozen apps, each with different developers (with more apps being researched and confirmed to be infected as I write this). The worst part of malware is how clever it can be –many won’t even display ads for days or weeks following installation (in some cases not until you have rebooted your device)… when you consider how many apps and settings you change over that kind of time period, tracking down the source can be very difficult. Once the ads do display, the warnings are hard to ignore (often scaring you with suggestions that your smartphone is filled with pornography, infected by a virus, or out of date with required security patches). After the warnings is a call to action which tends to result in more malware-infected apps being installed once a user clicks through (and in worse-case scenarios, even sends SMS messages to your contacts trolling for sensitive information and personal data). In some cases, the adware and malware were providing links back to legitimate apps by trustworthy developers –which likely points to other motivation, such as credit for new user referrals. It goes without saying that these security threats are a violation of Google’s Terms of Service (and they have suspended apps that are known offenders)… but the fact that they got through to the Play Store in the first place means that you can never really let your guard down. A video detailing the behaviour, look, and feel of the adware in question is linked below.
Avast Finds Adware In Android Apps with Millions of Downloads is a post from: Good e-Reader |
2014 Q4 Results Suggest Phablet May Be Killing the Tablet
| Video killed the radio star, and phablets may be killing tablet sales (if the results of a study by research firm Canalys can be believed). According to their statistics, worldwide tablet shipments have dropped 12 percent year-over-year to just 67 million units overall during Q4 2014 –Apple saw an 18% loss, while Samsung recorded a 24% decline. During this same period, larger format smartphones like the iPhone 6 Plus were tremendously successful. Some of the change is being attributed to bargain pricing from competitors (with Amazon moving 4 million units and Lenovo shipping 3.7 million units, totalling over 11 percent of the tablet market share together)… but other theories seem more likely. It may be that Apple shrinking the size of their laptops is adding portability competition for the iPad lineup –but it’s probably their border-crossing smartphones that are to blame. Users see smartphones as more feature-rich and mission-critical –so if they have to choose a single device to upgrade, they will win every time. It’s also true that phablets represent a compromise between getting tablet functionality without actually having to carry one with you everywhere (particularly as they relate to users who would have chosen smaller sized tablets like the iPad Mini). There is one more theory of course: technology is getting too good. Cameras in the last few generations of tablets and smartphones are good. Speed for mobile devices is good. Plus or minus a few ounces of weight isn’t a compelling reason to upgrade. These reasons and more add up to users looking toward new accessories and apps than to expensive upgrades –many of us already have tablets, and they are plenty good enough. 2014 Q4 Results Suggest Phablet May Be Killing the Tablet is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Onyx M96C 9.7 inch e-Reader Released
| Large screen e-readers are quite rare these days, as the industry seems to be firmly behind devices that are six inches in size. People who rely on reading complex PDF documents or need some extra screen real estate will certainly want to take a look at the new Onyx M96C 9.7 inch e-reader. The M96C features a capacitive touchscreen display which allows you to interact with the device with your fingers, whereas the older M96 relied on an accompanied stylus. The resolution is 1200×825, which makes it solid for reading documents that are image heavy, such as manga. Underneath the hood is a 1 GHz Freescale CPU with 512MB RAM, 4GB internal storage, and a microSD card. You will be able to connect up to the internet via WIFI and connect up external devices via Bluetooth. Onyx has done a fine job these days at releasing e-readers that have an open version of Android. This allows users to install their own apps, which makes it versatile to be able to deal with the ecosystem of your choice. Its running Android 4.0 out of the box but there is an upcoming update to enhance it 4.4. This e-reader does not have Google Play as an avenue to download apps. The company released numerous devices in 2014 that had it preinstalled, but likely it was an unsanctioned version. Rather than draw the ire of Google, Onyx is relying on their users to install their favorite app store instead. We recommend our own App Store, as it features a dedicated e-Ink section. The Onyx M96C costs 350 euros, which is around $425 US. This e-reader is certainly more viable than the Kindle DX, and worth considering if you need a large screen for your day to day reading. Onyx M96C 9.7 inch e-Reader Released is a post from: Good e-Reader |
4 New Manga Series Available via Shonen Jump
| On Monday, February 9th, Viz Media’s digital magazine, Weekly Shonen Jump, announced that it will begin it’s next round of "Jump Start" with 4 new series’ beginning with Toshiako Iwashiro’s ( Psyren, now published in North America) Kagamigami (Mirror God) in issue 11. Based on Iwashiro’s one-shot Shikigami Twilight Days, which ran in Shonen Jump last year, will premier in Japan on the same day. In the manga, "Famous detectives (!?)" Mako meets the mysterious boy Kyōsuke. Viz Media launched the "Jump Start" intiative in North America last September. Under this project, Viz’s digital English version of Weekly Shonen Jump will run the first three chapters of "almost every single" new series that debuts in Shueisha’s original Shonen Jump magazine in Japan. Other titles that will be premiering in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump in oncoming weeks in Japan will include Yūki Tabata’s (Hungry Joker) Black Clover, Yuu Miki’s Kaizou Ningen Roggy and Utsumi Yuusuke’s (Gado-den) Urban Battle Satellite. After next Monday’s launch of the three chapter preview for Kagamigami, in the English edition digital edition of Weekly Shonen Jump, will begin the launch of the simul-publication of 2014’s Jump hit, My Hero Academia which was recently a Manga Taisho Award nominee. The manga following a boy with dreams but no super powers in a world where super powers are the norm. 4 New Manga Series Available via Shonen Jump is a post from: Good e-Reader |
