If you live and work on the Internet like I do, and happen to travel all the time, then you need a good connection to the Internet. Unfortunately, hotels – both big and small fail to deliver, doesn’t matter at what price. Read more »
Apple now holds about 20 percent of the U.S. ebook market, director Keith Moerer testified in court on Tuesday. Moerer also said that the iBookstore’s sales grew by 100 percent in 2012. Read more at paidContent »
Apple debuted iBooks for Mac at WWDC in San Francisco Monday. The desktop app will be available as part of the launch of OSX Mavericks this fall and will allow purchasing as well as reading. Read more »
Amazon launched the Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Fire HD in China on Friday and its digital bookstore has quickly jumped from 25,000 to 47,000 titles in the past six months. Read more »
On Thursday, the Apple ebook trial brought testimony from Amazon and Google executives, and some tough and often funny questioning from Apple’s attorneys. Read more at paidContent »
Amazon has acquired Samsung’s color screen display technology, Liquavista. The technology could be used to create low-power color screens for Kindles. Read more »
Content owners, whether they are publishers, retailers, or marketers, are always looking for new ways to deliver a unique experience to their customers. We call this content personalization. Key trends in this area are led by a collection of technologies that we call post-programming curation. These technologies use the best of behavioral tracking, collaborative filtering, audience targeting, and dynamic content presentation. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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 »
Amazon hired Charles Kindel, who helped drive Windows 7 Phone development at Microsoft, to lead a new super-secret mobility project. Weird, huh? Read more »
Goodreads, the popular social network and review site for book lovers, is now part of Amazon. Imagine if it had instead paired up with Readmill, which offers a superior user reading experience. Read more at paidContent »
Amazon launched a “Send to Kindle” button that publishers can add to their websites. The Washington Post and Time are among the first to sign up. “Send to Kindle” is Amazon’s answer to read-it-later services like Pocket and Instapaper. Read more at paidContent »
Amazon announced Wednesday that it’s dropping the price of the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD in the United States, and is also rolling out the tablet in Europe and Japan. Read more »
A book club reading app that supports Kindle, and two other e-reading tools I’d love to see. Read more at paidContent »
Amazon is cracking down on a policy that allows blogs and websites to earn money when users download free ebooks through their affiliate links. That means big changes in the ways that some self-published ebooks are promoted online. Read more at paidContent »
The digital reading revolution is not going to look the same in developing countries as it has in the developing world, but several companies are working on ways to bring digital reading to the African continent. Read more at paidContent »
When it comes to discoverability and walled gardens, there’s a flip side. Read more at paidContent »
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 »
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 »
Amazon stock is up, up and away yet again — here’s the latest news and a chart that shows the company’s gravity-defying growth. Read more »
Many of the biggest stories in the connected consumer space occurred mostly offstage in 2012, from Apple’s new media services to policymakers in Washington. Overall, the past 12 months have laid important groundwork for significant advances in the connected consumer space. The year 2013 should be eventful. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The purpose of the on-screen guide has shifted. By connecting the guide to content-recommendation engines and advertising platforms, service providers and connected-TV device manufacturers are using the EPG as an access point for understanding consumers and reaching out to them to own the living room. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
This weekly feature (back after a brief hiatus) looks at the books that are selling better in digital format than in print. This week’s picks: Two books from self-published author Michelle Leighton, who’s just signed a deal with traditional publisher Penguin. Read more at paidContent »
Although it’s not clear exactly why, an Amazon customer in Norway has lost access to all of the books she bought with her Kindle — a healthy reminder of how with ebooks, we have very little actual control over something we have theoretically purchased and own. Read more »
Reports of Amazon considering the purchase of Texas Instruments’ mobile chip business for billions of dollars may not make sense at first glance. But there are several reasons why such a deal could make sense for Amazon in both devices and cloud computing activities. Read more »
This week on the audio podcast, Matt and Kevin share hands impressions of with Apple’s new iPod touch, Jelly Bean on the Galaxy S III and thoughts on prices for the iPad Mini and Windows RT tablets. Plus a recap of other mobile gadget news! 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 »
Fans who preordered the ebook edition of J.K. Rowling’s new book, “The Casual Vacancy,” are in for a disappointment today: Due to a file formatting mishap, It’s basically unreadable on e-readers. Read more at paidContent »
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 »
In a letter to literary agents, Amazon Publishing VP Jeff Belle shares sales numbers for some of the company’s titles and says that authors who previously worked with other publishers — like Barry Eisler — are doing better under Amazon. Read more at paidContent »
At an event in the UK on Tuesday, Waterstones CEO James Daunt shared a few more details on how the bookstore’s partnership with Amazon will work, but admitted that working with “a major competitor” is not easy. Read more at paidContent »
Just a few days after the approval of the DOJ’s ebook settlement, HarperCollins has entered into new contracts with ebook retailers, and they’re already discounting its titles. What kinds of deals will you get? Read more at paidContent »
Amazon’s new Kindle Fire HD tablets are impressive and aggressively priced, but unlike prior Kindles, you can’t pay extra to turn off the special offer ads. Business models are clearly changing to reflect the new digital economy, but has Amazon gone too far this time? Read more »
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 »
Amazon’s big press event announced four new Kindles, an e-reader as well as a a feature called Kindle Serials, which will bring old-school serialized publications to the e-reader age. Read more »
We’re here in Los Angeles for Amazon’s press conference. The company is expected to announce a new Kindle Fire and Kindle e-reader today, and we’ll have all the details for you live from Santa Monica. 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 »
What should we expect from next week’s Amazon press conference in Los Angeles? The rumor mill suggest a front-lit Kindle e-reader, a new Kindle Fire with a camera and location technology, and more streaming movie offerings for Prime members. Read more »
Sick of staring at the seat in front of you during your flight’s takeoff and landing because all you have is a book on an e-reader? Well, the FAA is asking whether or not portable electronic devices might be okay to use during the entire flight. Read more »
Amazon shared a few facts about Amazon Prime, which offers unlimited two-day shipping and other perks for $79 a year. The company won’t state how many members Prime has, but says it ships more items with Prime than with its basic free shipping option. Read more at paidContent »
