| At CES earlier this year, Sony had some exciting news: brand new Android-powered, 4K HDR televisions that can boast being the thinnest LED displays in the world (at 0.2 inches, that makes them even more slim than the smartphone in your pocket). We may have already learned the what, we were just missing the when and how much… until now. For those waiting on the edges of their seats, you can get your hands on one as early as this summer. How much money should you be setting aside will vary depending on just how large you want your new display:
Each of the new models will sport Sony’s new X1 processor, making Android TV look and function exceptionally well. For those who may be unfamiliar, Sony was happy to boast about the X1:
Sony has a selection of less expensive sets available this May, but you won’t see 4K quality picture quality or the other bells and whistles with those (they still have Android-TV built-in, but are only 2K HD TV units) –and most would agree that these guys excel on the higher end hardware in this arena, and compete less-so in the more bargain-oriented price ranges. Ultimately, this is all good news as far as Sony is concerned: after a few product fails, the company is back doing what they’ve always done best (and not a moment too soon, with more consumers than ever embracing smart-TVs and a highly anticipated update to Apple TV likely to fall sometime this year).
Sony Delivers Details For Android-Powered 4K TVs is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Monday, April 20, 2015
Sony Delivers Details For Android-Powered 4K TVs
Amazon Eliminated TestDrive Feature from Appstore
| One of the things that set Amazon’s Appstore apart from the others (particularly the big guys like Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store) was their ability to offer a trial period for apps you are considering (before taking the plunge with an actual purchase). Introduced back in March 2011 at the same time as the Appstore, the feature was eliminated earlier this month on April 15 (with next to zero fanfare). According to Amazon, TestDrive had experienced significant decline in usage (with speculation that the popular “free to play” app model make most popular titles free to grab anyway). It doesn’t seem that developers really embraced the feature either, in 4 years there were only about 16,000 titles that took advantage of the service (which means lots of the apps users wanted to try weren’t included, not to mention it was only available for those in the United States). Not to worry, there are still plenty of ways to get apps for free (or nearly free) –temporary sale prices, lite versions that offer a preview before purchasing an ad-free or fuller-featured pro version, promotional apps that change over time, and Amazon’s own “Unlocked” feature that operates as a sort of Amazon Prime subscription service for apps.
Amazon Eliminated TestDrive Feature from Appstore is a post from: Good e-Reader |
The Company Responsible for China’s Netflix Switching Focus to Hardware
| In China, streaming TV is dominated by Leshi Internet Information & Technology Corp (LeTV) –services owned and run by one of the country’s wealthiest men, Jia Yueting. Word on the street has it that LeTV is looking for more investors in an effort to take aim at the mobile hardware marketplace (specifically smartphones, which the company is trying to rename as ‘superphones’). All part of a three-year plan, LeTV is hoping the initiative will help increase profits after China’s regulators forced them to make changes to their content offering while stopping their sales of televisions and set-top boxes (due to tighter controls that forced providers to remove third-party apps from these devices as they may be used to access pornography or pirated software). Intended to be considered as high-end mobile devices, the superphones created by LeTV are the first to be announced that take advantage of USB-C. Other specs are equally impressive, though it is clear they care more about finding new ways to deliver their streaming video service than forging network alliances as the phones are intended to be dual-SIM. LeTV has let it be known they plan to enter the US market, taking particular aim at Apple with an inappropriate cartoon that pokes fun at Apple’s closed-world approach to technology.
The Company Responsible for China’s Netflix Switching Focus to Hardware is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Wattpad and SoundCloud Bring Audio to Stories
| Wattpatt and Soundcloud have partnered up to allow authors the ability to include sounds, effects or narration in their stories. This new feature will first be implemented in their Android app with broader support rolling out soon. "Audio clips can bring stories to life. Wattpad writers can use sound effects to add impact to a story, narrate an excerpt, or share a playlist to entertain their readers in a new way," said Tarun Sachdeva, head of product at Wattpad. I think Wattpad may be onto something with their new initiative with Soundcloud. Traditionally there is separation between an e-book and an audiobook, but Wattpad is hoping to blend the two together. Wattpad and SoundCloud Bring Audio to Stories is a post from: Good e-Reader |
FUNimation Recommends 14 Anime Simulcasts for Spring 2015
| FUNimation may not have the market share Crunchyroll enjoys in North America, but the company does have a number of exclusives. This spring a number of new anime simulcasts are streaming on their platform and there are deals to be had. Today, FUNimation is recommending 14 new anime shows they have added and is offering a 33% savings on a 12 month membership. FUNimation has streaming apps available for the Playstation 3 and 4, as well as Roku, Android and iOS. Sadly, they don’t have anything on Apple TV yet, but I have heard they will be doing something soon. FUNimation Recommends 14 Anime Simulcasts for Spring 2015 is a post from: Good e-Reader |
UK Authors Earn £11,000 per Year
| The vast majority of authors in the United Kingdom are not raking in a copious amount of money as originally thought. The average author is only making £11,000 per year more than £5,000 below the income level considered to be a socially acceptable standard of living. The Business of Being an Author: A Survey of Authors Earnings and Contracts was commissioned by the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society found some very interesting facts on the viability of author earnings. The full research found that the top 10% of professional authors – defined as those who dedicate more than 50% of their time to self-employed writing – earn 58% of all the money earned by professional authors. These professional authors are earning £60,000 or more a year. The top 5% of professional authors – those earning £100,000 or more – earn 42.3% of that money. Indie authors are not doing much better in the UK, the top 10% of earners made a profit of £7,000 or more and the bottom 20% of authors who have self-published made losses of at least £400. Despite the fact that most authors are not earning enough to make a viable living this is not dissuading people from attempting to make it their vocation. A new poll by YouGov surveyed 15,000 people and found that 60% would like to be an author. UK Authors Earn £11,000 per Year is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Library staff Parodies Taylor Swift
| National Library Week occurred from April 12-18 and the emphasis for many locations was driving new people into their branches and promoting their book collections. In order to reach a younger generation Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library of Kansas produced a perfect Taylor Swift parody, transforming "Shake It Off" into "Check It Out," an ode to library membership. I have noticed a big trend with librarians all over Canada and the US in the last few years. They are actually young and hip! Gone are the days where old ladies in cats-eye glasses would shush you at every turn and instead fresh faced kids rock tattoos, neat haircuts and Beats headphones. The premise of the video is demonstrating how you can save money by borrowing books, magazines and newspapers from the library. By the end, the group is actually doing a coordinated dance number. I think you all have to agree, this is a fairly cool library.
Library staff Parodies Taylor Swift is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Amazon and Audible Bring Audiobooks to GoodReads
| Amazon is starting to engage in more synergy between the brands they own. An example of this is incorporating social book discovery site GoodReads into their complete line of modern Kindle e-Readers, so people can share and discover new e-books together. Today, Audible has announced that they are adding audiobooks into GoodReads and people can listen to samples and add audio titles into their GoodReads shelf. The Goodreads “Listen” feature, which will be rolled out in the coming days. There are 180,000 free audio samples available and if you like what you hear, you can add the title to your "Want to Read" shelf. For Goodreads members in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, or Australia who are not yet Audible members, you can take advantage of their free trial! Once you click on the Listen icon, you will see a link to the trial. Sign up and you'll receive two free audiobooks plus a 30-day free trial of Audible. Audible is the undisputed market leader in audiobook production and distribution. Matthew Thornton the Director of Communications at Audible told me that "Audible content includes over 180,000 audiobooks and other spoken-word programming from leading audiobook publishers, broadcasters, entertainers, magazine and newspaper publishers, and business information providers. Non-audiobook content includes lectures, meditations, language lessons, comedy and periodicals." Audible has added 40,000 titles their store in 2014, a very slight increase versus 2013. In both 2013 and 2014, Audible Studios and ACX productions account for just about half of all titles added to the Audible storefront. I think incorporating audiobooks into the GoodReads experience is good for users and will hopefully increase the adoption rate of audio across the board. Amazon and Audible Bring Audiobooks to GoodReads is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Best Android E Ink eBook Readers – Android eReaders List
| A surprising number of Android-powered ebook readers with E Ink screens have been released over the past 8 months. People often ask which one is the best to get so I wanted to put together this article outlining the best ebook readers currently available on the market with open Android operating systems. All the devices […] |
Two Teaser Trailers for Saekano -Blessing Flowers- Visual Novels
| Two new trailers have been released for the PlayStation Vita, a visual novel based off of the romantic comedy, Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend. The new title, Saekano -Blessing Flowers-, was announced earlier this year and have plans to release in Japan on April 30th and buyers will have the option to either buy the regular or limited edition game, the latter including a soundtrack and cloth posters! However both versions include a Vita theme. The two trailers focus on two five minute scenarios, one that focus’ on swimming and the other on napping! For fans of Saekano, unfortunately there has been no mention on whether or not it’ll get a western release, we will just have to sit patiently and wait! Two Teaser Trailers for Saekano -Blessing Flowers- Visual Novels is a post from: Good e-Reader |
$79 Fire HD 7 + $12 Covers, & Kindle eBook Deals
| Today only, April 20th, Amazon’s main Deal of the Day is the Fire HD 7 tablet for $60 off what it regularly costs. That drops the price of the 8GB model from $139 to just $79, and the 16GB model from $159 to $99. Those prices are for the ad-supported models; add an extra $15 […] |
Is the Traditional Publishing Industry Finally Catching Up?
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Basically, it seems as though the entire publishing landscape has grown into admitting that self-publishing is a viable option, as long as there’s a caveat that states the success isn’t normal. But if that’s the case, why are some of the largest publishing events in the world–events like BookExpo America and last week’s London Book Fair–not only welcoming self-published authors and self-publishing professionals, but finding there are lines of people–reader fans and experts alike–waiting for an audience with these members of the industry? To be sure, events such as these still relegate self-publishing and digital only to segregated areas of the event. BookExpo offers its Author Hub and uPublishU in side portions of the show floor, but last year’s setup was hardly a dimly lit storage room in a forgotten basement; the area was engaging, welcoming, and provided a full schedule of activities and speakers. The London Book Fair likewise moved the self-publishing focus to the second floor of the conference center, but it was easily accessible and not hidden away; beyond that, it was crowded throughout the event with authors, readers, and industry professionals. One notable feature of the author-centric self-publishing movement is the understanding that indie authors and companies are moving the entire industry forward at a rapid pace, while only a few holdouts in the traditional industry are digging their heels in and refusing to follow the crowd. For the most part, even the big names who’ve controlled publishing for centuries are looking to experiment, and finding new titles from among the ranks of the indie bestseller lists. The current climate cane be summed up in a statement that has been made since the beginning of the digital revolution: there’s never been a better time to be an author or a reader.
Is the Traditional Publishing Industry Finally Catching Up? is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Don’t miss your chance to register for Digipalooza!
 Are you planning to attend Digipalooza 2015 the world’s premier digital content conference for libraries and schools? If you haven’t registered yet, what are you waiting for? Space is limited and we want to see you there! Come for our unrivaled program specifically designed and tested to drive circulation, increase usage and help you get the most out of your OverDrive digital library. Stay for the new friends you’ll meet, the delicious food you’ll eat and the memories you’ll create at our legendary parties! Our program this year covers a variety of topics, including:
After fast-paced, content-packed days of informative sessions and networking activities, attendees are invited to explore Cleveland’s entertainment scene. Registration covers admittance to two evening events- a kickoff event at OverDrive’s Blue Sky Campus and a huge party at Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum. Don’t just take our word for it; previous attendees have called Digipalooza “a can’t miss conference”. Claim your spot now (while you still can)! You don’t want to miss this. Register now at www.digipalooza.com and join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #digip15. Melissa Marin is a Marketing Specialist at OverDrive.  |
Visualising core load on the Pi 2
| Since we released Raspberry Pi 2 back in February, a lot of you have been asking questions about how work gets divided between the four cores. David (what’s your last name, David? Let us know and I’ll update this post) in Cambridge has written a remote CPU-monitoring webserver, which outputs a nice scrolling graph of CPU load on all four cores onto a webpage, so you can view it remotely while your Pi 2 works, along with CPU temperature. The monitoring software itself is lightweight, so it shouldn’t be a big consumer of resources on your Pi – the Pi’s sending a series of numbers representing load, and all the heavy lifting, turning it into visual data, is being done in Javascript by the browser on whatever machine you’re viewing it on. Here are the results, running on a simulated iPhone 4s. This is very easy to set up; everything’s embedded in the executable, so all you have to do is to run the program. You’ll find full instructions and code in Dave’s GitHub repo here – if you already have another webserver running on your Pi you may need to change ports, but that aside, this is an absolute doddle to run. Let us know if you have a play; we’d be interested to learn about what you find!
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Sunday, April 19, 2015
Is the Kobo Glo HD Worth the Upgrade?
| E-Readers are for the most part, immune to the same sort of upgrade cycle we see with smartphones and tablets. The amount of RAM, processor and internal storage are fairly consistent and not much innovation is happening in the e-reader world. This leaves software and resolution as the main reasons why upgrading is worth it. Today, we ask the question, is the upcoming Kobo Glo HD a must buy? The brand new Kobo Glo HD features a six inch e-ink Carta screen with a resolution of 1448×1072 and 300 PPI. The screen is powered by infrared touch, which means you cannot pinch and zoom, it only registers single presses. This is very much akin to the same technology found on the Kobo H2O, whereas the Kobo Aura has a capacitive multitouch display. Underneath the hood is a 1 GHZ processor and 4 GB of internal storage. When you take the e-reader out of the box for the first time you only have 3.1 GB of memory, primarily because the OS takes up a fair amount of space. In the past, the lack of memory could be offset by inserting an SD card, but for some reason Kobo decided to forgo it in this model. Most people who own Kobo e-readers have older models, such as the 1st generation Glo which came out in 2012, or maybe even the Kobo Touch that was issued in 2011. Both of these devices only have a resolution of 1024 x 758 and an older e-paper screen. They both employ E Ink Pearl, which is more susceptible to ghosting and slower page turns. The new Kobo Glo HD, uses an e-ink Carta screen, which is what the Kindle Voyage employs. Is the Glo HD worth upgrading if you have an H2O or Kobo Aura? This becomes a bit trickier to answer because the Glo HD is considered an entry level device. The H2O is waterproof and can be relied on to read anywhere, at anytime. The Aura is better with PDF files, because you can pinch and zoom. This also is useful if you are browsing the internet. The Glo HD is worth upgrading to if you own any model issued before 2012. It simply has a better user experience and is amazing with its high-definition screen. This is tremendously useful if you are reading like crazy and staring at the screen for hours at a time. Do you like to watch videos? Below is our comparison of the Kobo Glo HD vs the Kobo Aura, Kobo H2O, Kindle Voyage and our review/unboxing.
Is the Kobo Glo HD Worth the Upgrade? is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Gillian Anderson to Pen New Title, WE
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In the meantime, actress Gillian Anderson, who played Agent Dana Scully on the show, has kept busy with other projects. One particular project is a forthcoming book, WE, penned with co-author Jennifer Nadel, a Green Party candidate, activist, and journalist. WE will focus on women’s issues, but unlike other books in the feminist self-help genre, this one will be inclusive of anyone who even identifies as a woman and speak to a broad range of high-interest topics. This isn’t Anderson’s first effort at publishing; she has a previously c0-written title with Jeff Rovin, A Vision of Fire (The Earthend Saga Book #1), that was met with mediocre consumer reviews. The most common gripe is that the book is basically a revamping of the same investigative and relationship angst that Anderson portrayed in X-Files. Much like the character she portrayed on the screen, the main character of the book is a constant skeptic when it comes to the very strange things happening right in front of her, though nothing as unfortunate as Scully actually being impregnated by an alien and then still somehow refusing to believe in the crazy theories her partner Mulder laid out. Not much else is known about WE at this stage, other than the fortuitous timing of the publication date, March 8, 2016, a day which coincides each year with International Women’s Day.
Gillian Anderson to Pen New Title, WE is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Kindle Writeon is Destined to Fail
| Amazon Kindle Writeon is a community where writers share their works in progress and solicit feedback from people on story direction, editing and fact checking. The service publicly launched at the beginning of March and was in beta for numerous months. How is Writeon doing? Sadly, its failing in the marketplace because its trying to compete against Wattpad and that’s where all of the readers are. When Writeon was in beta last year, Amazon tried to kickstart the community by trying to leverage the Kindle forums to get the party started. The unilateral consensus amount the users was overwhelming negative. They saw Amazon as tried to get people to be unpaid editors for shabby indie e-books. Kindle Writeon is a barren wasteland full of books with little to no comments or feedback. On the very frontpage the average title has six people actively participating in a conversation, most of them is from the author themselves. Amazon originally launched Writeon to compete with Wattpad, who is the undisputed market leader. Readers spend 9 billion minutes on Wattpad every month and more than 500 writers have published pieces that have been read more than a million times. There are over 70 million stories, in 50 languages, on the site. They have offical apps for Android, iOS and any major internet browser. The Toronto-based company has received over $67 million in funding from Khosla Ventures, Union Square Ventures, OMERS Ventures, W Media Ventures, and Golden Venture Partners, and has attracted such famous authors as Margaret Atwood. I think the big problem Amazon is facing is trying to compete against all of companies that they do not own and they are doing it poorly. An example of Amazons flawed attack strategy is summed up with Kindle Worlds. This was their attempt at sanctioned fan-fiction, that had publisher support and major intellectual properties attached, such as HASBRO and properties such as Pretty Little Liars. The problem is, hardly any books are being posted and not many users are buying in. FanFiction.net posts 100 new stories every hour across all categories. And Amazon? Its entire output for all 24 "Worlds" of content, which also includes franchises like Gossip Girland Vampire Diaries, was just 538 stories over the course of more than a year. What other doomed service was Amazon Kindle Unlimited. No publisher in their right mind would throw their support behind Amazon, who they already view as too powerful. Instead, they are throwing down with Entitle, Oyster and Scribd. Not only can you borrow e-books, but in some cases you can borrow audiobooks. Amazon has not announced any specific figures, but they never hype the service to the media anymore or issue press releases. This is very telling because the Seattle company loves to be in the limelight with the most mundane of stories they try and feed journalists. How can Writeon be saved? I have some ideas. Since most of the e-books that are featured on the site are in progress and not completed yet, they do not have an ASIN number, which is the equilivant of an ISBN. I would automatically have this number assigned to all books in progress and tie it into GoodReads. This way Amazon could leverage their large social book community to draw hype to these titles. You can get the buzz going and build synergy between Goodreads and Writeon. I would also make a dedicated Writeon app for Android and iOS in order to have the service to get featured on the App Store or Google Play. Just having the Writeon number interjected against the competition would give mobile users a chance to contribute on the go. Sadly, I don’t think Amazon will do any of these things. I have heard from internal sources that Writeon does not have much support within the company and is treated like the runt of a puppy litter. Kindle Writeon is Destined to Fail is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Saturday, April 18, 2015
Sony Digital Paper Loses Retail Visibility
| The Sony Digital Paper has been exclusively available online for the last year. Sony sells it directly, but they also have a number of partners that range from law firms to entertainment companies. One of the drawbacks with any piece of technology is being able to try it out before you make a buying decision. In order to make this possible Sony begun an experimental program to showcase the DPT-S1 in two locations, one in Stanford and one at their flagship store in New York. Sadly, one of them has closed. The Stanford Bookstore Palo Alto California has closed and this was one of the two retail outlets in which the Sony Digital Paper was on display and available for students to purchase. Recently the Sony Digital Paper has been discounted from $999 to $799, which should increase the adoption rate. We have reviewed MANY e-readers since 2008 and this is the best one to edit and create PDF files. Sony Digital Paper Loses Retail Visibility is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Libraries Opening to Self-Published Authors
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Which is why it boggles the mind that more libraries aren’t fostering relationships with individuals who can stand to draw in patrons, provide free content for circulation, and offer educational opportunities: self-published authors. While it is obviously not the norm across the country, self-published authors have faced reluctance and even outright scorn when trying to make their way into the library sector. Some libraries have even had to adopt a no-indies policy, even if the material is donated, on the grounds that “if we let one author’s book on the shelf, we’ll have to take them all.” The sad truth is that the same attitudes that prevented a number of authors from publishing before the digital and print-on-demand revolutions still permeate some libraries. Concerns over quality and appropriateness still color librarians’ willingness to take a risk on an author who wasn’t “vetted” by the industry; limitations on shelf space prevent the circulation of even donated copies of authors’ works. Some libraries contacted prior to this article won’t even let a local author have a book signing at the library if he self-published, despite long-standing policies of renting out their space for events. Fortunately, there have been enough pioneering libraries who’ve embraced indie authors–particularly their local authors–that the attitudes are shifting. Colorado’s Douglas County Library System pioneered the large-scale purchase of thousands of titles from Smashwords as far back as 2013, while more recently the Rutland Free Library in Vermont began hosting author fairs that invite any and all authors–regardless of method–to their events. As the attitudes towards authors and the preconceived notions about the quality of their work start to fall away, there are still obstacles to having your book purchased for circulation by libraries, many of which go back to time, budget, and discovery. Librarians simply do not stand at their circulation counters all day, browsing some mythical massive catalog of book titles; even if an author has opted for a publishing route that will include his work in viewable catalogs for library distribution, that simply isn’t how librarians discover titles. The truth is that authors–self-published or traditionally–have to do the legwork of reaching out to libraries. This can be done somewhat effectively through curation platforms like Self-e, but a personal contact of some kind is still far more likely to result in a relationship. Having strong book reviews from well-known sources is also another measure of proof for libraries to take a chance on a book. Finally, maintaining a strong presence in terms of both social media and further follow-up titles lets librarians know this is a serious career and not a passing fancy; the last thing they want is to purchase a book that their patrons loved and then have no other titles to offer those patrons who clamor for more.
Libraries Opening to Self-Published Authors is a post from: Good e-Reader |
First Trailer Teases ‘Boruto – Naruto the Movie’
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The first trailer for Naruto’s upcoming film, ‘Boruto’, dropped this Friday, giving fans a tease of the animation, voice cast, and style going into this beloved series’ eleventh film Almost every fan of anime can tell you that, at some point, they’ve watched Naruto. Whether you’ve stopped over time, or continued to watch religiously until the very end, at least a little piece of your soul has been touched by it. Last November, the 15-year-long manga finally came to a close with it’s 700th chapter serving as a look into the future of the characters. One of these characters, Boruto Uzumaki, the son of Naruto and Hinata Hyuuga, is the titular character and lead of the film. Although a full plot has yet to be released, the story was written by Masashi Kishimoto himself. Hiroyuki Yamashita, who directed episodes of Naruto: Shippuuden and the Road to Ninja movie, will be directing the film. Both Junko Takeuchi and Noriaki Sugiyama, who played Naruto and Sasuke Uchiha respectively, are returning to the film. Boruto will be voiced by Yuko Sanpei, and Sarada Uchiha, another character and the daughter of Sasuke and Sakura Haruno, will be voiced by Kokoro Kikuchi. The film is part of the Naruto Project, a special project created in celebration of Naruto’s 15 year run. It also includes another Naruto movie titled “The Last: Naruto the Movie”, a spin-off book, and a stage play, alongside a sequel mini-series titled “Naruto Gaiden,” and a series of epilogue books. So, while the manga may have come to a close, the legacy of Naruto is far from over. Have a look at the trailer below and see just what we’re up for! First Trailer Teases ‘Boruto – Naruto the Movie’ is a post from: Good e-Reader |
