Kobo is launching a higher-end e-reader, the $169 Aura HD, aimed at users who read several ebooks a week. While the Aura is more expensive than the competition, Kobo says its market research supports customers’ desire for such a device. Read more at paidContent »
In a new book, former Kindle exec Jason Merkoski examines where e-reading platforms are now and how they could change in the future. If you’re looking for secrets about Jeff Bezos, though, you’re in the wrong place. Read more at paidContent »
Kobo is now selling its e-readers directly through its website in the U.S. and Canada. Previously, customers had to go to third-party retailers to buy the devices. Read more at paidContent »
What can a book look like in the digital age and how will people pay for it? This is one of the themes we’ll be exploring at paidContent Live on April 17 in New York Read more at paidContent »
Barnes & Noble is running a weeklong promotion: Customers who buy a Nook HD+ tablet (starting at $269) will get a Nook Simple Touch e-reader ($79) for free. Read more at paidContent »
A book club reading app that supports Kindle, and two other e-reading tools I’d love to see. Read more at paidContent »
Leading German bookstore chains have partnered with German telecommunications company Telekom to launch a front-lit e-reader, the “Tolino Shine,” for €99. Read more »
As the ebook transition moves forward, Amazon should worry that Kindle is not going to be the device leading the revolution. Read more at paidContent »
Barnes & Noble plans to close about 20 retail stores a year over the next ten years — meaning it would have 450 to 500 stores in the next decade, down from 689 stores today. Read more at paidContent »
In a move that could assist vision-impaired users (and potentially aid smartphone development), Amazon has acquired text-to-speech and voice recognition company IVONA Software for an undisclosed sum. Read more »
In an effort to compete against Toronto-based Kobo, Amazon announced Wednesday that it is releasing the Kindle Paperwhite in Canada for the first time and will also sell the basic Kindle there. Amazon launched a Canadian Kindle store in December. Read more at paidContent »
The Pew Research Center reported that almost a quarter of Americans are reading ebooks. But more of the growth in ebook reading devices is happening on tablets than dedicated e-readers. Read more »
A piece in the New York Times says ebook prices aren’t falling rapidly because the growth rate of ebooks isn’t as rapid as it once was and e-readers are falling in price. But that explanation doesn’t tell the whole story. Read more at paidContent »
A new survey from the Alliance for Audited Media (formerly the Audit Bureau of Circulations) finds that newspaper and magazine publishers’ digital businesses are gradually becoming profitable, and 63 percent say “tablets are the most important digital channel for their publication’s future.” Read more at paidContent »
A very dramatic new iSuppli report announces that the e-reader market is “on an alarmingly precipitous decline,” experiencing a “virtually unheard of” collapse as tablets grow in popularity. But don’t count out e-readers just yet. Read more at paidContent »
Kajeet plans to offer some kind of 4G mobile broadband service for kids, though it was a bit stingy with the details. Chances are it will start selling dongles and hotspots directly to families, turning modems into virtual nannies. Read more »
Here’s our roundup of the best Black Friday deals on ebooks, tablets and e-readers. We’ll update this post throughout the weekend. Read more »
Barnes & Noble is shutting down Fictionwise, the pioneering 12-year-old digital bookstore that it bought for $15.7 million in 2009. The company cited “a significant decrease in demand for many of the ebook formats that Fictionwise.com sells,” like Palm and Mobipocket. Read more at paidContent »
Hachette and Random House’s parent companies Lagardère and Bertelsmann reported earnings Tuesday. At Hachette, ebooks made up 20 percent of adult trade book sales in both the U.S. and U.K. divisions. Read more at paidContent »
A new Pew report on young Americans’ reading habits and library usage finds most of them reading ebooks on cell phones or computers — but the data is nearly a year old. Read more at paidContent »
Amazon has apparently discontinued the Kindle Touch, which started at $99, in favor of the new Kindle Paperwhite, which starts at $119 and is still experiencing 4- to 6-week shipping delays. The company also discontinued the 9.7″ Kindle DX this month. Read more at paidContent »
With the launch of Whispercast, a new service for purchasing and managing content across a fleet of devices, Amazon is ramping up its competition against Apple in the education market. Read more »
Ebook pricing and device trends that hold in North American countries don’t necessarily work for less developed market. Executives from Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Google, France’s FNAC and India’s Indiaplaza discussed similarities and differences between digital reading cultures Wednesday afternoon at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Read more at paidContent »
At the Frankfurt Book Fair on Tuesday, Berlin-based Txtr announced a tiny e-reader that will cost under €10 when subsidized by mobile carriers. With the Beagle, the company aims to convert the 80 percent of global mobile phone users who don’t already read ebooks. Read more at paidContent »
Amazon’s new e-reader, the Kindle Paperwhite, started shipping on Monday but is already sold out. Customers who order one today won’t receive it for four to six weeks. Read more »
I spent a week testing Amazon’s new e-reader, the Kindle Paperwhite, which starts at $119. The verdict: The front-lit screen improves the reading experience all day long, not just at night, making this a big step up from the Kindle Touch. Here are my review and video. Read more »
A new study led by researchers at the University of Cincinnati looks at the lessons engineers can learn from color-changing animals like squid, octopus and cuttlefish. They find the secrets of a cuttlefish’s skin could be key to helping build a better e-reader. Read more »
Why is the ebook edition of J.K. Rowling’s new novel, “The Casual Vacancy,” $17.99? Thank the fact that publisher Hachette is in a sweet spot between the ebook settlement’s approval and the time that it actually takes effect at non-Apple retailers. Read more at paidContent »
Print and digital media are so disconnected, they often appear a lifetime apart. But new technology promises to bridge the divide and save newspapers by bringing interactive buttons, Facebook likes and audio playback to newsprint. Read more at paidContent »
With the releases of the Kindle Paperwhite and Kobo Glo today, we saw an evolution in e-readers. The devices don’t have more tablet-like features, but they should still provide much better reading experiences than older models. Read more »
Though most eyes are on Amazon’s Thursday press conference, Kobo is angling for early attention with its announcement of two new e-readers and a new 7-inch Android tablet called the Arc. How do the devices stack up to the competition? Read more »
Microsoft invested $300 million in Barnes & Noble’s Nook business. As the following chart shows, that probably wasn’t a great idea: Production problems, slowing ebook sales and other factors are contributing to the Nook’s troubles. Read more at paidContent »
In June, the U.S. State Department was close to a $16.5 million, no-bid deal with Amazon that would have provided Kindles to overseas programs. State has now withdrawn its request for proposal. It plans to “conduct additional market research” and open up to more vendors. Read more at paidContent »
The current Kindle Touch models are either unavailable or shipping in 8 to 9 days on Amazon, suggesting that new models are coming soon — possibly including a front-lit Kindle to compete with Barnes & Noble’s Nook with GlowLight. Read more »
Mobile analytics companies provide app publishers with data about their users. Hiptype, a Y Combinator startup, wants to do the same thing for ebooks. That could be huge for data-starved book publishers — except that for now, Hiptype only works on platforms that support HTML5. Read more at paidContent »
Amazon is reportedly set to unveil a new version of its Kindle Fire tablet by August. A hurry-up launch could spike interest in its flagging Fire product but would also come at a time when a growing number of discount tablets are crowding the market. Read more at paidContent »
Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other e-reader companies are collecting data about your e-book reading habits, but they’re keeping their most interesting findings close to the vest. Read more at paidContent »
New reports from the American Libraries Association and Pew Internet and American Life Project reveal that despite the increasing number of e-books available to library patrons, libraries themselves face big challenges in weathering the transition. Read more at paidContent »
New data from PwC’s media report projects that e-books will make up 50 percent of the U.S. trade book market by 2016. What will happen in the rest of the world during that time? PwC gave paidContent an exclusive look at the new report’s e-book data. Read more at paidContent »
The U.S State Department has signed a no-bid, $16.5 million contract with Amazon to provide Kindles — 2,500 of them to start — for its overseas programs. Why has the government decided the Kindle is the best e-reader — and what’s Amazon providing for that money? Read more at paidContent »
