The Nook Color gains new magazines with enhanced interactivity, along with performance updates, in a software update today. At $249, many iPad competitors could learn from the “tablet that’s not a tablet” approach: Focus on key features at a reasonable price and customers will see value. Read more »
Amazon’s new browser-based version of its Kindle e-book app is designed to get around Apple’s restrictions on in-app purchasing, but it is also a great example of how media companies should be looking beyond the world of apps to the future of the browser-based web. Read more »
Apple no longer allows e-book sellers to link out to their stores, which is likely why Amazon introduced a new web-based app that works outside of Apple’s official software distribution channel on Wednesday. Here’s a look at the new Kindle Cloud Reader, and its integrated store. Read more »
The crowded e-book market has just squeezed in room for one more contender, as iriver has created an eInk reader that works with the Google Books store. Priced at $139.99 and available from Target, the iriver Story HD can access 3 million free titles plus various paid content. Read more »
Amazon’s success with its Kindle business is hitting an inflection point as it nears 10 percent of the company’s revenues, according to an analyst report. The success of the Kindle business is at a point where it can affect the overall growth the company. Read more »
The iTunes 10.3 beta is now available for download for any and all from Apple’s official site. The iTunes build brings support for some basic iCloud functionality. Specifically, you’ll be able to view and download any past purchases you’ve made through the iTunes store. Read more »
Yesterday, Barnes & Noble released a software update for the Nook Color, bringing an app store, Google Android 2.2 and other tablet-like features. I ran out to buy a Nook Color to see if this solid e-reader could be a usable tablet. Here’s what I found. Read more »
Ebook-lending service Lendle, whose access to the Amazon API was just cut off, has become the latest poster child for a simple maxim: Building your service on top of someone else’s API — no matter how “open” it is — can be a very dangerous road. Read more »
Dat from a British analyst firm shows that the fight for e-book buyers and readers has two main contestants: Amazon and Apple. When it comes to the UK, Apple is winning. But with its new subscription plan, the market could suddenly shift. Read more »
Google today launched its long-awaited electronic book store, called simply Google eBooks, with more than 3 million titles and 4,000 publishers participating as partners. The move is likely to ramp up competition in the e-book market, which until now has been dominated by Amazon and Apple. Read more »
Though e-books seem likely to induce consolidation amongst the major publishing houses, with the risk of leaving midlist authors out in the cold, one such author looks at the bright side: e-books represent an additional revenue stream and a chance to control his own destiny. Read more »
Steve Jobs says that Apple is selling an iPad every three seconds and that 8,500 applications are available for the tablet. Five million ebooks have been downloaded and the iBooks software is getting an upgrade with support for Adobe PDF documents in the bookshelf. Read more »
The idea of reading on mobile devices is not new. Devices like the Amazon Kindle and the Sony eReader have been around for a while, but with the buzz surrounding iBooks sparking more interest, are digital books worth it? Read more »
Dell is ramping up for the hot consumer slate market with two more Android-powered tablets on the horizon. Hopefully, these two devices aren’t hobbled by restrictions to the Android Market like some current devices. Read more »
Despite all of the attention they have gotten recently, there isn’t a universal e-book format, and we must contend with the many different types of e-books that are available. Here’s a rundown of the ebook formats that are available today and how to use them all. Read more »
How do you control what will and won’t appear on your brand new platform on launch day if you’re Apple, without outright banning apps in a way that might invite accusations of attempting to start a monopoly? If it’s the e-book market you’re after, apparently all […] Read more »
Having gone toe-to-toe with Macmillan Publishing over e-book prices last month, only to retreat in the face of a consumer backlash, Amazon is once again talking tough with publishers. This time, however, the stakes are even higher for the Kindle-maker. Read more »
Amazon delivered today a beta of its free Kindle for BlackBerry e-book app, which provides access to more than 420,000 books. It marks the latest example of how the publishing industry is facing seminal changes. Are we on the verge of the death of quality content? Read more »
Everyone seems prepared to declare the Kindle e-reader dead now that Apple has released the iPad, but Amazon can still put up a fight. Here are five simple ways that the Kindle can compete with the Apple tablet. Read more »
For Barnes & Noble, sold-out pre-orders for the Nook were a rare bit of good news in its second quarter, but chasing demand for the device is forcing it to hike its investment in manufacturing. Still, it thinks the e-book game is one it can win. Read more »
