e-Book News
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It is a truth too rarely acknowledged, that a commuter in possession of a sophisticated electronic device, must be in want of a good book.
Hypertext bloggist Steve Johnson, paraphrasing Jane Austen
NEWS ARCHIVE
December 2008 (includes November news)
The ECTACO Jetbook
An e-reader we've missed reporting on so far is the ECTACO Jetbook. ECTACO made their name with translation devices, but in March this year they ventured into the e-book reader field. The Jetbook however is old technology in that it uses not e Ink but a reflexive LCD screen (as in, not backlit). Although the text is crisp, glare can be a problem with other than ambient light. The 5 inch screen is smaller than most e Ink devices too, which will suit some users but not others
A large limitation at present is that the Jetbook currently supports only plain text and PDF files. That's fine if you get all your books from Project Gutenberg, but a potentially severe difficulty otherwise. The good news however is that from early 2009 the Jetbook will support both ePub and Mobipocket formats, making it viable in the mainstream e-book marketplace.
On the plus side, a handy file manager impresses and screen response time is very fast, an advantage the Jetbook and other "old technology" still has over e Ink devices. Another user-friendly touch is that the screen reopens to the page you left off reading, while many menu items are refreshingly simple to use. Text search, bookmarks and other standard features are included, and the ability to read while playing background music from the bonus MP3 player is a worthwhile extra. Still images may be viewed too. The difficulty of reading a PDF on a smaller mobile device is dealt with by embedded FoxIt software and zoomability, although PDF text remains unflowable here.
There are two fonts built into the Jetbook, Arial and Verdana, and they come in a handy six sizes. Screen display is available in both portrait & landscape modes. Text freebies pre-loaded include a dictionary, the King James Bible and Fodor's Travel Guide. After allowing for RAM already taken up by inclusions, you'll apparently have about 60MB free internal memory available in the Jetbook. You can increase this by up to 2 gigabytes using the inbuilt SD card slot. Included in the package are USB cables, ear buds and a protective carry case.
The Jetbook is claimed to run for 20 hours on a charge, and costs US$299. Given its older technology and some other disadvantages however, that price is wisely discounted against the Amazon Kindle and the new Sony PRS-700 model, but may struggle against the Sony Reader PRS-505 and some other devices. Until a true "Melbourne Cup champion" emerges to dominate the market, though, the Jetbook is one of a pack that are "worthy of consideration."
HOT NEWS PSST: For buyers, http://www.newegg.com/ at last view had the Jetbook on special at $US225, $75 off! For an even better deal, try Coupon Code PDA12225 up till 8 December only.
Chinese devices a hot new sizzle
Some significant device news comes out of China, one of the few nations still boasting significant economic growth in these financially turbulent times. Equally interesting will be the impact China's new export models have in world markets. Back in their mainland homeland, more than a quarter of Chinese are now reading online compared with just 3.7 percent in 1999, according to China Economic Net. The report notes that book piracy is a serious problem in China though, which they clevely prove by comparing the ramping up of e-book usage with actual sales figures, the latter having not increased proportionately.
1. Hanlin EZ Reader
Astak, the erstwhile Mentor Reader people, is reportedly about to distribute a Chinese six-inch Hanlin V3 e-reader in the USA, in a Western version badged as the EZ Reader. This will read non-DRM EPUB files, plus DOC, FB2, LIT, PDF, PRC, RAR/ZIP, RTF, HTML and TXT. There's also MP3 sound, and BMP, Djvu & JPEG image support. An SD card slot will allow up to 4GB extra memory. The reader is powered by a Lithium -ION 950mAh battery, and runs on a Linux OS. Price not yet available.
2. Hanvon N510
Meanwhile another spanking new Chinese model is the Hanvon N510 from the Hanwang Technology Co. Ltd of Beijing, a five-inch e Ink e-reader at only US$295 (2000RMB). This one carries the cachet of having been used in space on the recent Shenzou-7 mission, and like the new Sony PRS-700 model boasts a stylus for direct pen input. Hanvon specialises in pen input technology, and this one allows the user to input notes, edit and even paint electronically.
The device is only 11mm thick and supports book files in PDF, TXT and HTML, plus Apabi XEB & CEB formats. As well it allows .png, and.jpg images and .mp3 sound files. The screen resolution is 167 pixels per inch on a SVGA (800 x 600 pixels) display. There's a 1GB SD card to up the memory, and a mini USB port Web connection.
Yet another Format, and an Aussie one eGad…
DNAML, a Sydney, Australia-based company, and Macmillan's MPS Mobile have gone into partnership. DNAML makes Desktop Author, an interactive, multimedia software for PCs and laptops used to create e-books for reading in the company's DNL (.dnl) format. Peter Kent, DNAML's senior vice President for U.S. operations likes to compare his company's book possibilities to the magic books in Harry Potter. As in, "When they open a book, it's alive."
MPS Mobile meanwhile makes Global Reader, which it uses to distribute e-books to mobile phones worldwide. Together the two companies will approach publishers suggesting they submit books as PDF or XML files, to be converted by Macmillan Publishing Solutions to Global Reader and DNL formats for these two forms of e-reading.
Pan Macmillan has also partnered with the Lexcycle company, makers of the Stanza electronic book reader for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch. The Stanza app. has over 500,000 users so far, and is reportedly a hot free download from the iTunes store. As of 3 December you can also use Stanza to buy many e-books from a wide range of publishers at Fictionwise.com .
Google and Authors, Publishers, settle for more
Do you remember the (US) Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers suing Google back in late 2005 for its plan to scan literally millions of books from several university libraries and present them for reading online? The Google intention was similar to the access in Amazon.com, where with publisher approval readers can search a copyrighted text and preview limited portions online before choosing whether to buy full access in printed or electronic form. The dodgy bit was that the Google plan was instituted without author or publisher consent for copyrighted items, and this seemed several shades on the wrong side of legality.
Well, they've settled the dispute (subject to final court approval). The books will still become available, but authors and publishers will receive a significant portion of the charges levied by Google (although they can withdraw their books instead if they prefer). Universities will also be able to buy subscriptions to particular collections, allowing free student and staff access from their campuses. Public libraries will have viewing rights too, from designated PCs. There's no downloading permitted at this stage however, only online viewing is contemplated.
In addition an "independent" Book Rights Registry (actually composed of publishers and authors) will be established as part of the settlement, to handle the many issues involved. The whole deal will cost Google $125 million, the portions of which not taken up in legal fees going to settle present claims by authors and publishers and to establish the registry.
Despite the fat fees lawyers have reaped, some analysts think the deal has opened a legal can of worms for both Google and publishers, because of pitfalls involving author's pre-existing rights for books no longer in print, excluded electronic rights, books from non-US authors not registered with the Library of Congress Copyright Office and various other issues. Which, um, might suit more lawyers just fine. Google, meanwhile, may be in the throes of giving birth to a virtual publishing empire of scary proportions. Move over Microsoft, the new wonder children of the Web may be well on the way to becoming quadzillionaires.
ePOD Snippets
Print on demand is a linking concept between electronic and traditional books in which a digital text can go either way. As a result, one paradoxical effect of the progressive universalisation of e-books is likely to be a huge growth in print-on-demand publishing, and a corresponding decline in small, traditional print runs. In the not impossibly distant future, it's likely in fact that apart from titles by best-selling authors there won't be any traditional print runs until POD and e-book sales have clearly established a sufficient demand level to justify them. Two straws in the print on demand wind:
*Giant publisher Springer is boosting the POD possibilities of their e-books with a new programme called MyCopy. Cardholding library patrons will be able to order their own personal print-on-demand (POD) copies of Springer e-books held by the library in question, for $US24.95 (including postage and a colour cover). The service will involve over 11,000 Springer e-books published since 2005.
*· The University of Michigan recently became the first US academic library to install an EBM, or Espresso Book Machine, in its Shapiro Library. The $100,000 machine (bought with donations) can print a copy of a public domain title in less than five minutes, for around $US10 per book. In 2009 new EBM models will be able to network, and Michigan University will be able to offer remote printing from their huge free-from-copyright collection all over the world to libraries with similar machines. This will likely start a stampede to acquire such mini-printeries, for it presages a kind of ultimate instant international interlibrary loan, in which you even get to keep the copy ordered. If you've ever experienced traditional international ILL, this is as good as the beginning of sliced bread.
*Great days for the e-book
On 24 October 2008 Oprah Winfrey announces the Amazon Kindle e-reader as her new favourite gadget…
* For enthusiasts of the iRex iLiad e-reader, there's now a community site, OpenIliad.com. The new site, still in its infancy, features user tutorials, downloads (including device applications), developer information, some source code and helpful links.
EPub makes headway
*Penguin Books of the UK say that by the end of 2008 they'll have thousands of titles available in the new ePub format. Meanwhile Penguin USA is selling "eSpecials", which are updates to existing titles available without purchasing the whole text (e.g. an extra chapter). All Penguin's e-books in the UK, USA and Canada are to be managed and distributed in future by Ingram Digital.
*Elsewhere Panmacmillan.com is the latest of the majors to offer some DRM-free e-books. An example is Aussie expatriate Clive James's 'intellectual autobiography', Cultural Amnesia. Confesses Clive: "A complete unknown to me is how the eBook will do. I'm not entirely certain yet what an eBook is, but I prepared some special extra material for it just out of faith." He has thrown in three additional essays and an exclusive foreword for the e-book version.
About those Pan Macmillan DRM-free books - they're in the new ePub format. There's been no official broad announcement from the company, but PM is reported to be discreetly sounding out its authors about offering their titles in ePub without digital rights management restrictions. Over at the Digitalist, a blog from the digital team at Pan Macmillan, they're openly enthusing however about the "growing body of evidence that DRM-free is the way forward for digital publishing".
The ePub format is so far readable with Adobe Digital Editions software (which can also read PDFs). Pan Macmillan now offers e-books in four different formats, with Adobe eReader, Microsoft Reader and MobiPocket as three DRM'ed versions also available for those who prefer to be tied and bound use-wise (or whose device doesn't leave them any choice).
October 2008
It's all device news this month, as the biggies roll out their new models. So it's hello again from Amazon, Sony, and iRex with…
1. Amazon's Kindle 2
This is unofficial pre-release news, but take it as real. The pic shows the forthcoming new model Kindle, looking much less old-fashioned than the first one. Indeed some people say it looks too modern now, but there'll never be any pleasing everyone.
The Kindle 2 is a shade wider and longer than its predecessor, but thinner and allegedly sturdier. Buttons on the RHS include Home, Next Page, Menu and Undo, plus a joystick replacing the scroll wheel. On the left hand side there's Previous Page, and Next Page again for the southpaws, while the speakers are on the bottom at the back and Volume up/down buttons are positioned on the right side edge. Confused? We're told that in fact the "Two" is less confusing and easier to hold than its ancestor.
Notably, the screen display size is unchanged while the keyboard layout seems an improvement. There's no charger with the unit anymore however, you just use a mini USB cable. A leather carry pouch now included is a definite improvement, but the absence of an SD card slot may bother some.
When? Why? What detail? We'll have more when it's official.
Update: Latest is that it will be available "early" in 2009.
2. Sony Reader PRS-700
As promised, Sony released details of their new model e-reader on October 2 (it'll be available in November). The biggest disappointment is that the newcomer is up $100 in price to US$400, making it more expensive than the Kindle (now US$359). Sony's argument on that is that the new model supplements rather than replaces the PRS-505, sporting extra features and new design.
In fact there seems little if any difference in essential features like display size (6 inch), memory and formats supported. Weight is just 255g (9 ounces) . There's lots more razzle-dazzle though. One key change is a touch screen menu, replacing ten buttons. You can now also highlight text, search, and annotate as well.
Touch screen features include a virtual keyboard for your notes. Then there's touch screen page turn, a swipe motion that can be programmed in various directions for handedness or other preference. There's even swipe and hold for multiple page turn. But this new reader aims to please all, so it includes a stylus for those disinclined to constantly finger their screen and golden oldie physical page turn buttons for those who'd rather.
Very welcome too is a speed-up to a pleasingly brief page turn time (about a quarter of a second), a gripe factor for all previous e Ink devices. You can now also page-flick in 20 or 30 page clumps as well as the previous 10. Another huge change answers the complaint that by not being backlit e Ink devices are actually regressive compared with previous screens that you can read in the dark. Actually, the new Sony is not backlit but front-lit. There's LED lighting around the edge of the screen for those low or no-light conditions. And there are now a handy five font sizes, and zoom too. You also get a USB cable and a protective soft cover thrown in, and included software is eBook Library 2.5.
The PRS-700 will only be available in the US of A to begin with. In fact Sony has moved its Digital Reading Business Division from Japan to San Diego, California, so it's fairly clear where the primary target market will be. However the existing PR-505 model is also available in Canada, the UK and France, with more roll-outs planned, and Sony's e-reader ambitions seem global. To aid them they're partnering with physical bookshops too, e.g. Borders and Target in the USA, and Waterstones in Britain.
Another market is the education field, with Sony trying to sell e-books and relevant software direct to schools. Sony has also targeted schools with giveaways in their release publicity for the new PRS-700 model. Perhaps they hope to do deals with textbook publishers that would make the device price feasible in this context.
Sony's e-Book Store is being revamped to coincide with the new model launch. More importantly Sony plans to double its bookstore content to 100,000 titles by the end of the year, which will be no small feat if achieved. Wireless capability however is still some way off, leaving Amazon's Kindle with a great advantage still. A Sony representative has indicated that a colour model is not on the near horizon, unfortunately. That leaves our previous speculation that the two features might be combined in a future super-model still out there.
3. iRex 1000 Digital Reader
Previous iRex products - two versions of the Iliad - achieved two firsts, as the most expensive of the e Ink e-readers and the most potentially open-sourced in approach. Now the Phillips-linked iRex company has achieved a third "first," in its new 1000 series release. The three versions of the new generation are the largest dedicated e-readers to date.
There are three models in the new series. They begin with a base model DR 1000, and step-up to the DR1000 S, which has a stylus for writing and can be used as a never-ending notepad. Then there's the top-end DR1000 SW, in which standard USB connection to a PC will be supplemented by Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. However direct Web downloads will only be available in Europe, to begin with anyway.
The first two models were released on 22 September, but the top of the range DR1000 SW may be delayed for several months. IRex prices continue to be high, though. The base model in the new series sells for about US$650, the DR1000 S for around US$750 and the DR1000 SW will go for US$850.
Aimed squarely at business professionals, the huge 10.2 inch screen size in all versions is intended to display working documents in full page view. These new e-readers may be large but they're not heavy - less than 570 grams in fact, thanks to a thickness of only 1.2cm. That makes the new iRexes as portable as a notepad - the old-fashioned kind. In fact it's easy to see office workers using the device as both a notepad and a convenient storage mechanism for all their current documents, manuals and books.
More practical than a laptop computer, this device won't take long minutes to boot up & can be taken to meetings and "thumbed through" without any fuss, with the added advantage that users can write by hand on two of the models. An invaluable feature is that you can notate your existing documents, save your comments and even network your marked-up version with your peers.
What about journals, magazines and newspapers though? The answer is yes, but only if available in PDF. Which makes for a pretty big maybe. Font size enlargement is possible, but regrettably slow and awkward. Other software glitches are reported, teething troubles that may be eliminated in scheduled monthly updates but will grate at this pricing level. Battey life is contentious too, with iRex claiming 60 to 80 hours for the Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery, while tests by Forbes.com show only about one day's use.
A 1GB SD card provides a good dollop of starter memory for the new models. You can remove that (but ONLY via the "Safely Remove" function) and add a bigger/different card if desired. The 16 greyscale display impresses with improved contrast ratio compared with previous e Ink models, which is especially noticeable with PDF rendering. The device will readily display MS Word, HTML and PDF documents and A4 PowerPoint presentations, plus TXT(plain text) and JPEG images. However in the book arena only Mobipocket format titles are available. Not that there's anything wrong with the latter format. Yet it's the fact of being locked out from many other potential book sources that annoys many present e-reader owners, and readers are looking in vain for improvement there. This is further evidence that iRex is focussed on the business market rather than domestic consumers.
*
September 2008
Plastic Logic or Plastic Fantastic?
The Plastic Logic is the latest in a long round of monochrome e Ink devices, this one a touch screen e-reader with a large 8.5 inch x 11 inch display screen. Unlike those others though this ones's made of flexible rather than rigid plastic. It's also extra-thin and lightweight (as in, only 8mm/0.3 inches thick, and less than 450 grams/one pound in weight).
Another key difference is that the Plastic Logic is touted as aimed at a business market rather than private consumers. But unlike the financial markets, it'll apparently stand up to lots of hard knocks.
Unsurprisingly then the Plastic Logic will support Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents plus Adobe PDFs, as well as newspapers, periodicals and books. These can be transmitted by either a wired connection or wirelessly. Because of its size and robustness however, some people are seeing this newbie as ideal for a tertiary student/academic market, which might prove an upset for Amazon's reported ambitions in that area.
The device's display technology uses high-resolution transistor arrays on flexible plastic substrates, manufactured at a low temperature. Plastic Logic is a Mountain View, California, company, but the R&D was done at Cambridge University, UK, and the devices will be made in Dresden, Germany. They're planned to be on sale in the first half of 2009. There is no word yet on how much they'll cost, except for the teaser phrase "competitively priced among e-reading products".
www.plasticlogic.com*
Forget the Doom, how about the e-Book Boom?
E-book manufacturers must be hoping like, um, heck that recent predictions by a hodge-podge of industry analysts about future sales of their e-readers are on the mark. In the past we've rightly rubbished such "experts", since on the whole they've been hopelessly, well, wrong. However if a combination of new factors prove irresistible (e.g. for the Kindle, Amazon's huge bookstore and the lure of PC-free wireless downloading, where available), who knows?
Anyhow, enter one Vinita Jakhanwal, who rejoices in the title of Principal Analyst for Mobile Displays at iSuppli. Mr Jakhanwal offers oodles of optimism for Jeff there at Amazon, not to forget the Sony people, the iRex folk and assorted others. He reckons that no less than 18.3 million e-reader devices will be sold in 2012, up from 12.2 million in 2011, 7.18 million in 2010 and 3.59 million next year, while he claims 1.02 million will be this year's tally. Considering that for last year he estimates only 150,000 were sold all up, that's one, all right, hell of a roll-out. Key market segments such as education, domestic consumers, professional groups, government and the military sector will drive the rapid expansion, according to his report.
www.isuppli.com/catalog/detail.asp?id=9649*
In another direction, e-book retailer Fictionwise.com informs that the popular eReader software has now been installed on an impressive 130,000 iPhone/iPod Touch devices. So will there be a knock-down fight between reading on 3G phones as opposed to dedicated e-readers? Not necessarily, as these groups may well turn out to be different market segments. While early dedicated e-reader devices languished in the marketplace for a variety of reasons, huge numbers of e-books were nevertheless read on laptops, Palm-style handhelds and then smart-phones. Now the larger dedicated e-readers seem about to come into their own, which is unlikely to deter anyone addicted to small-small. To horribly mix our metaphors, there's room for many different strokes in such a rapidly expanding tent.
eReader have also launched a mobile site, m.ereader.com. Anyone with a Web-connected mobile device can now browse, buy, download and of course read e-books without too much fuss, just like the Kindle folk. However the dreaded DRM does add a layer of awkwardness. After purchase you still need to sign into an eReader account to obtain the book, and even after downloading it you have to enter an unlock code (which may be the credit card number used for purchase) to begin reading. Some day it'll all be just as easy as buying a physical book, we hope.
*
PODBLAST
Major Aussie bookshop chain Angus & Robertson have this month claimed a Down Under first with in-store Printing On Demand, from what's known as an EBM machine. They're only offering a tiny range of POD titles to begin with, but A&R intend to add more continuously to reach 10,000 out-of-print or previously unavailable volumes within 18 months.
Their EBM is an e-book machine in the sense that it prints a book from a digital file, although the end product is of course a physical book. POD does revolutionise book availability however, in that "in print" loses its cachet and "out of print" is no longer a fatal call, since in theory all books once digitised will become permanently available.
The first machine was installed in the company's Bourke Street, Melbourne, flagship bookshop, with a rollout planned of up to 50 machines across Australia and New Zealand within the next twelve months.
*
DAS IST GUTEN, YAH?
Project Gutenberg has been one of the great success stories of the Internet, providing an excellent source of free and legal classic e-books since the early days of the Web (and in fact before). At the same time the fact that such books are provided primarily in plain text has been a drawback, for which various good people have supplied a range of remedies.
One of the latest of these is GutenMark, a software that converts plain text e-books into separate chapters of a high-quality HTML (known technically as LaTeX). These are both more flowable for mobile screens and more appealing visually. This browser-friendly HTML can also be converted to a PDF if desired, for a full, fixed, book-like format. The latter could even be printed as a POD book, for example by schools districts wanting to distribute low-cost physical texts to students. Versions are available for Windows, Linux and at a pinch Mac OS X, with a more limited iPhone use possible.
www.sandroid.org/GutenMark/*
Briefly….
Reports are firming on a new Kindle version claimed directed towards tertiary students, not to mention the expensive textbooks they're obliged to purchase. New features will likely include the ability to notate passages, but the new device is not now expected before 2009. Meanwhile, stay tuned for another Sony Reader announcement early in October. Oh, and iRrex have announced three new super-sized DR1000 models, & we'll have more for you on those soon.
August 2008
Kindle Stuff
How many Kindles have been sold?
One Web source (the TechCrunch blog) claims that since its launch in late November last year up to the end of July 2008, some 240,000 Kindles have been sold so far .Other figures claimed elsewhere on the Web range from an improbably low 40,000 to 300,000). The perplexing question remains, though - if Amazon has really sold the higher amounts, why refuse to let the world know the truth?
An "informed analyst" (Scott Devitt) has gone much further and predicted additional sales of around two to three times the TechCrunch number over the next four quarters (i.e. 500,000 to 750,000 more Kindles). He also estimates content purchase of an additional US$120 to US$150 for each device in that period (basically figured on an e-book per Kindle sold each month).
There is one important issue such analysts skirt, though. If the early adopters are not the edge of an avalanche but instead the main body of purchasers, then such figures may be a gross exaggeration. In other words, it's possible that a large proportion of the Kindles that will sell have already done so. The outcome will depends on the extent to which the device "crosses over" to the mainstream.
Our own prediction is that new models will likely do better than the present one (which is dowdy in appearance and indeed ugly compared with the Sony Reader), but that an as-yet unannounced colour e Ink model will be the Kindle slam-dunk.
Which brings us to…
New Kindles!
Crunchgear's idea of the new Kindle
Two new Kindle models are reported in the offing. It's rumoured that both will be available in a variety of colours to jettison the "stodge" factor of the current Kindle 1.0. The screens, alas, will still be monochrome.
The first of these newbies (let's call it Kindle 2.0) will sport the same screen size on a smaller body. It's due out "quite soon" with, hopefully, better looks and wider appeal than the original Kindle, plus several technical improvements. The image above (a visualisation only) gives an idea of what the new Kindle may look like.
The second new model (call it the Kindle E?) will have a larger (21 x 27.5cm = 8.5 x 11in) screen, and will debut in 2009. This model is expected to appeal more to educational users (secondary and especially tertiary students), and to researchers and specialised business use. It may well pay dividends to Amazon by giving it a major entry point into the textbook market.
* One of the reasons electronic textbooks might help power such a large Kindle e-reader to success is the shocking cost of so many printed textbooks. With prices often over US$100 each, the expense of multiple course texts is a heavy burden for many poorer students, even where tuition is cheap or free. If they're already groaning under the prospect of expensive school fees, the cost of such required books can be the final straw that makes it impossible for such students to continue.
Of course, digital course texts would need to be significantly cheaper to justify e-reader purchase in such situations, so publisher greed at this level could kill off a potential boom market for the Kindle E and similar devices. Meanwhile some educationists with open-source inclinations are taking an opposite tack - over 1,000 US professors have so far signed an online petition promising to use and contribute to free, electronic textbooks. One of them, California Institute of Technology economist R. Preston McAfee, has even written his own free e- textbook, Introduction to Economic Analysis,+ which can also be bought in printed form for a relatively modest US$30.
+To download the free PDF click here: Introduction to Economic Analysis
Whether these efforts will start a major trend remains to be seen, but a cheaper large Kindle could make a big splash in the higher education world. Not to mention a literal lightening of the student burden involved in lugging all those over-weight textbooks around. So here for Amazon is yet another of those e-book moments that the industry has mostly flubbed so far. A marketing decision that looks to the long-term may well succeed for the large e-reader, while listening to the short-sighted bean-counters will likely doom the venture. After all, many others have been to this spot before and failed miserably.
Kindle factlets
*Oxford University Press (OUP) and three leading US university presses (Yale, Princeton and the University of California) are now or will shortly begin publishing textbooks for the Kindle.
* As at May 2008, 6 percent of Amazon's book sales were Kindle e-editions.
*The Kindle can already be used world-wide PROVIDED you have compatible power cables and/or the correct transformer. However wireless downloading of books is at present limited to the USA & Canada, so owners outside those countries need to stock their reader the "old-fashioned" two-step way, i.e. first to a PC and then by uploading from the PC to the device.
*
The Sony Reader fights back
* In the UK the Sony Reader is appearing ahead of the Kindle, & was made available for pre-order from Sony and Waterstones online stores and Waterstones bookshops from 24 July. The Reader will come pre-loaded with Sony's "eBook Library" software and 14 teaser excerpts from recent books, with a CD of 100 classic titles thrown in as well. Device price is £199, and Waterstones will begin selling them outright from 205 outlets in early September.
They're not the first e Ink devices in Britain -the iRex iLiad has already been available in the UK since May. However although the iLiad is another quality e Ink device it's priced at a hefty £399.
* In the USA all new Sony Readers (model PRS-505) released this month (August) will support both the new open-source EPUB format and Adobe's Digital Editions software, while existing owners may download software updates to incorporate those features.
These advances will enable owners to purchase outside the Sony store and to buy a far wider range of e-titles in general. Adobe e-books with DRM will also be supported. Such moves to extend the device past the restrictiveness of Sony's proprietary BBeB format for commercially available titles will be generally welcomed, and will put pressure on Amazon to open up the Kindle in a similar manner. However with the biggest store in town - in fact on the globe - Amazon may well resist the pressure, so it will be interesting to see how this factor plays out in the marketplace.
* A point that many will have thought of is that if Sony have the beautiful looking product and Amazon the "ugly duckling", why are the Sony people allowing themselves to be crippled in the market by the overwhelming advantage of Amazon's always-on wireless connection (as in, you don't need a computer to buy books, you can download them anywhere anytime by direct Web interaction)?
In fact, Sony's Chief Operations Officer Stan Glasgow has confirmed that a wireless version of the Sony Reader is already being developed. However he gave no hint of a release date. Date critical may be the factor here, for if Amazon steals all the publicity with appealing new models Sony may miss the splash zone altogether if they don't produce the goods fast enough. Or will Sony wait to combine wireless access with a colour e-reader to produce a model everyone covets?
*
iPod & iPhone - your reader app awaits
While some loyalists hold out for Apple's real entry in the e-reader stakes, others of the faith are shrugging on to second best - which is e-reading on the iPhone and the iPod. In fact e-bookselling veterans Fictionwise have now released ( since 21 July) free e-reading software for both devices. Before downloading this goodie, please note that this eReader version requires device owners to first upgrade to the 2.0 operating system through iTunes 7.7. For lucky owners of the iPhone 3G model, the new OS comes pre-installed.
PS: Apple itself is now selling e-books on its iTunes "App Store" for 99 cents each. Sounds like a huge bargain - until you realise they're repackaged public domain books that you can already download free from links on your favourite Freebooks pages. The book offer is a canny Steve Jobs ploy that seems to imply larger plans are in the works.
*
Cover me with flashes, baby
Now here's a bit of razzle-dazzle. A limited run of the September issue of Esquire magazine (100,000 of their print total) will have a flashing e-Ink cover. There's sure to be a rush on these, and we're not sure if foreign lands like Down Under will be allocated any. While this may well be dismissed by some as mere gimmickry, it's also very much one for the history books. The blinking text will read "The 21st Century Begins Now". Unfortunately that message will fade away when the included battery runs flat after about 90 days - not, we hope, a portent.
What prompted this newsstand first? Actually it's Esquire's 75th year of publication, and what better way to show they are embracing the future as well as the past?
All this excitement was expensive too as a from-scratch development, so the Ford Motor Co stepped in to sponsor the venture. Indeed the inside of the cover will feature more e Ink in the form of an advertisement for Ford's new Flex SUV minivan. PS: we're not sure if Ford were actually told about the drawback of their ad fading (so please keep that info to yourself in case they have second thoughts).
July 2008
The e-cup - mostly empty or filling fast?
An admittedly small sample (344 respondents) of Internet users was asked by the Piper Jaffray investment bank recently whether they would buy a digital book reader (e-reader device). There are two ways of looking at the result - that a substantial majority (71 percent) said no, or that a significant minority (29%) said yes.
At this stage of e-book history the second statistic is probably more important, as if all those "yeses" actually bought an e-reader sales would soar, and the e-literati would soon comprise a third of the general reading population. However it turns out from a second question that those nearly 30% of positive respondents say they don't want to pay more than $100 for one. In other words there is virtually nil support in theory for more expensive devices (although clearly the survey is inaccurate in that quite a few people are buying them). So either the sample was too small, or the survey methodology was flawed or the survey responses are more pessimistic than actual purchasing behaviour.
Sixty percent of respondents also declared they wouldn't even want a free e-reader, which therefore increases potential e-reader uptake to 40% (i.e. people who don't hate the idea). It's clear however that price is still a major constraining factor.
Comment: Blindingly obvious to all except corporate bean-counters is the deduction that the $0 e-reader tied to a book purchase plan could be the break-through mode of marketing once an optimum device is available.
Do we have a product description for an optimum device? You bet. A colour e-Ink e-reader as attractive as the Sony Reader, able to be used wirelessly without a PC like a Kindle, and open to downloads from e-booksellers in general and not just the one monopoly store. All at an affordable price. Are we there yet? No. Are we zooming towards the mark? Looks like it.
* As proof of the last consider this snippet. The Fujitsu FLEPia is reported close to launching as the world's first colour e-Ink e-reader. The FLEPia unit is a large one (A4-sized), and battery life is claimed as a hefty 50 hours. Instant downloading potential comes via built-in Wi-Fi connectivity. The starting price - 100,000 yen (about US$940 or £475). This may not be the one, but it will certainly point the way.
*
Publisher goss:
· UK publisher Faber is to release up to 200 e- titles later this year and may also expand its print-on-demand imprint, Faber Finds.
· Penguin reported that e-book sales for the first four months of 2008 exceeded the total for 2007.
*
EPUB Advances - in slow steps so far
Online e-book retailer BooksOnBoard is reportedly the first bookseller to offer mass-market e-titles in the new, open standard EPUB format. In the case of BooksOnBoard, EPUB is currently available only in an Adobe version requiring Adobe Digital Editions software, but this is expected to change soon. The limitation means that at present several leading e-readers (Sony Reader, Kindle Reader, the iPhone) will not support these titles in their current versions.
EPUB was created by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF), formerly the Open e-Book Forum (OeBF). It's a non-proprietary XML-based file format featuring reflowability, high typographic quality and mutability and the ability to embed images, objects and Flash multimedia files. In short EPUB is one size fits all devices (potentially). Many industry participants believe EPUB may evolve into the "holy Grail" of e-book lore, as a universal, open file format in which all e-books will one day be made available (although the superiority of some other formats for specific purposes will likely ensure their survival in niche markets).
*
And it's Binary in Lane Zero…
It seems only a few months ago that it was the great book scanning race. Now Microsoft's shock decision to cancel its Live Search Books and Live Search Academic projects leaves Google the undisputed winner of the digitisation stakes - and perhaps beyond that signals the latter's assumption of the lead role among the world's computing companies. Reportedly, Microsoft has now removed around 750,000 books and 80 million journal articles from its servers. This is therefore the largest blow book digitisation has ever suffered.
The non-profit Internet Archive, also part of the project, already has about 440,000 books online. In fact the Internet Archive theoretically headed the larger project, but Microsoft funds and servers were key to its success.Their withdrawal makes all but a tiny continuing project unviable without another major sponsor. None has stepped forward, so far. Andrew Carnegie, where are you now we really need you (again)?
However the Microsoft push isn't entirely over yet, with thousands more books expected to be scanned under existing contracts before current efforts are terminated. That's possibly around the end of 2008. In particular, the British Library and Cornell University are two sites with much further work in hand.
The biggest losers though appear to be a number of smaller or more specialised collections where little scanning has been done so far. Google does not appear to be interested in these, so the way is open for a white knight or two to ride in and finance those aborted efforts.
Publishers have also submitted many books to the project in return for digital copies that they could use commercially. A large number of these may yet be migrated to online repositories, including LibreDigital and OverDrive.
Although the overall push may have been too ambitious and its termination a short-term disaster, the impetus of the Great Digitisation Race will still leave humanity many hundreds of thousands of e-books richer. Google's own very large project remains unaffected at this point.
Comment: A cautionary note, though, must be sounded as to the danger of allowing the concentration of such huge resources in too few private hands. As the Microsoft action has proved, a single boardroom decision based solely on commercial concerns could remove a great swathe of the human heritage from the Web, or even wipe it out of existence altogether. And that's plain crazy.
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Broadband for Books - the Great Equaliser?
In countries where many students hail from extremely poor families, text book availability is a huge issue. So the Indonesian Ministry of National Education recently launched its own electronic texts in a bid to make learning materials more affordable. These school e-books are called BSEs (Buku Sekolah Elektronis in the national Bahasa Indonesia language), and can be downloaded and then printed out for the cost of the paper and ink. Remember, these students do not have individual PCs and indeed sometimes there may be only one in a school.
Agonisingly slow downloads through snails-pace dialup connections are, however, a major limitation to this boon. Whereas affluent nearby Singapore has a household penetration rate for broadband of some 90 percent, Indonesia has only around five percent overall, while the Philippines and Vietnam have even less, and Thailand only a shade more. With Indonesia's service operators charging the highest cost of Net access in the region, it's difficult to change these percentages quickly for either fixed or mobile services.
Obviously, significantly cheaper services would benefits all parties (the operators by much higher take-ups rates more than offsetting individual contract receipts) if those operators did their sums correctly and the infrastructure were provided. Unfortunately the industry there seems to suffer from a get-rich quick mentality that stumps its development. In the meantime, even a very limited spread of broadband to remote areas (e.g. local access in secondary schools) could do much to eliminate the additional inequality in education that lack of suitable, up-to-date texts creates, and it's to be hoped that some party can step in to underwrite such an advance.
*
Worthy of serious study
A recent study by the Primary Research Group Inc. surveyed 45 research libraries around the world in relation to their e-book usage and trends. About three-quarters of the e-books concerned had MARC catalogue records attached, a sign that the libraries took them seriously as academic holdings.
One significant finding was that sixty-nine percent of the libraries plan to increase spending on e-books over the next two years. Despite this willingness to spend, only 45% of the libraries in the sample said that they make special efforts to help patrons reach the many, valuable free e-book sites available (such as Project Guttenberg, or even our own modest links page).
This response is extremely surprising, considering that a great many research libraries regard themselves as significantly constrained for book (and e-book) purchasing funds, often severely so. Since such assistance could enhance library effectiveness for virtually no cost, a mistrust of external resources not under direct library supervision, or even ignorance about such resources, must be suspected.
Reference texts led the popularity stakes in e-book types patronised, more than half of all patrons reporting either extensive or significant use of such e-reference books. Electronic directories and business books were also very popular. Fiction e-books were however not used extensively in research libraries, with close to 71% of libraries saying that they were in fact little used.
Only 10.17% of the libraries surveyed owned any kind of e-book reading device other than computer workstations. Many of their students may have such devices of course, but clearly there is little feeling so far at the research library level of a need to provide any such devices for use by patrons within the library.
Since there was no positive correlation between the size of a library's budget and the willingness to offer such devices, other factors than cost must be in play here. Bewilderment at the variety of devices available, fear of obsolescence, a lack of informed decision-makers, and frustration with DRM and file format issues may well be more significant factors in this situation.
In fact, it's possible that many research library users are more comfortable with e-books than their librarians are. An assessment of library patrons' skill level in using e-book services and databases compared with magazine, newspaper and journal articles found a slight superiority in the former overall.
The comfort factor increased when US institutions were isolated from the study, with the non-US institutions showed a decided ease with the less traditional e-materials (with about 70% of patrons described as "as or more comfortable"). One possible reason for this surprising result is that some better-resourced US institutions may be more conservative in their approach to new electronic resources (as compared with digital versions of traditional resources), whereas non-US institutions for whom funding for resources has always been very tight may be more willing to quickly embrace new and thriftier resource models.
June 2008
NEW DEVICES
1. The Astak Mentor EB-300
This new entrant to the e Ink e-reader stakes is due out progressively in no less than three initial models. The largest is a big brother indeed, featuring a huge 9.7-inch screen with 170 dpi resolution. A standard 6-inch and smaller 5-inch versions will also be available.
Bob Barry, Astak's director of global business development, told this column he hopes to release the 5in model in July, the 6in in September and the 9.7in in late October, at prices of under US$249, US$299 and US$450. Details including publisher links and formats are still being finalised, so the release schedule is still provisional at this stage. Popular US e-bookstore FictionWise has been mentioned elsewhere as one likely content provider.
The device will aim for a broad market, with language support for English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, & Korean. There are encouraging hints that the devices will support more rather than fewer formats. What really surprises though is different operating systems for the different models, the 5 inch one running Linux 2.6 with QT environment, the medium 6in model bearing Win CE 5.0, and the 9.7 whopper Win CE with a splash screen on boot-up.
This newest e- reader offers a 4 grayscale touch screen (finger or stylus), and there's 32 MB of SD Ram in the 5in model and 64MB in the other two, all expandable up to 4 GB with an SD card. At least one model will come with both Wifi and Bluetooth. All three models kick from a Samsung 400MHz processor and have a Lithium-ion 3.7V rechargeable battery, but the 9.7in claims only 5,000 page views per charge compared with 8,000 for the smaller models. That's still a lot of pages! Universal file types supported are plain text, PDF, RTF & HTML, and if you're buying DRM'd e-books the software you'll be using may yet be any or all of eReader, Mobipocket and Adobe Digital Editions. BMP, JPG, GIF & PNG images may also be viewed, and MP3 sound files played.
The price range for the three models will position the 6in version near to the Sony Reader, while the lower priced 5in model will attract both 'admirers of small" and the budget conscious. The whopper 9.7in model will be dearer than the Kindle and the Bebook, but may be worth it to big screen devotees. All up the Astak Mentor is an attractive new e-reader, yet close enough to its prospective rivals to make a choice difficult.
http://www.astak.com/5Ebook_Reader.html
2. The Beebook
From Holland and the "Endless Ideas" company comes yet another new e Ink e-reader, the Bebook (as in, aye, it be a book zur?). It's cheaper than its overpriced Dutch-based rival the iRex iLiad, but was initially still expensive at the equivalent of just over US$500. That's changed now, with the sellers offering it at US$399 with free delivery worldwide included, plus a quality leather case thrown in to boot. Built-in menu language support for English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch, Chinese, Russian, Ukraine, Turkish, Japanese, Korean, Bulgarian, Estonian and Polish may add to the allure.
The price reduction undoubtedly reflects that fact that if "Endless Ideas" want market share they better grab it before the Kindle and Sony Reader go international. Moreover with competition such as the Astak Mentor about to debut, the e Ink e-reader field may become crowded with desirable offerings in short order.
So what about the Bebook? Basic features seem fairly standard. There's a six-inch e Ink display (supports .doc, .txt, .pdf, .htm & .rtf files), a generous 512MB of internal memory, an SD card expansion slot, image display, USB port and MP3 playback.
Some critics have claimed the Bebook is a rebadged HanLin V3 e-reader, but we don't know the truth of that. Anyhow the Bebook is light enough at just 220g (7.76 ounces) including battery, the latter a 3.7V Lithium-Ion running at 950mAh.
There are however important lacks compared with many of its rivals - no Wifi for example. No additional software or programs can be installed in the Bebook either, and there's no touch screen too. Bebook say that a touch screen will come, but not in this model. Other features are still in the pipeline - support for Mobipocket DRM e-books, and maybe RSS news feeds support and Wifi in October. Meanwhile you're not getting any of those now. So the incentive to buy what is otherwise an appealing device at this price, especially with the extras thrown in, has to be weighed carefully against what's on offer elsewhere. But that's competition folks, hopefully stirring all on to brighter and better.
http://mybebook.com/
3. IRiver P10 PMP
iRiver, a Korean company that often pleases, have produced a new portable media player that doubles as an e-reader. The iRiver P10 has been long awaited, and was finally released last month sporting a 4.3-inch, 800 x 480 LCD touch screen, coupled with a whopping 33GB of built-in memory. That latter feature is a giveaway that video & other memory-hungry multimedia are in focus here. Naturally such a device needs grunt, and a 600MHz processor provides that, running a no frills version of Windows CE 5.0. Even so, don't expect great battery life.
For those wanting an all-purpose media device on the run though, this does have appeal. The P10 also includes software for reading PDF and Word files (Excel too if you're so inclined), and moreover the music capability (WMA, MP3, and WAV) allows you to listen while you read. The two models feature the same general specs and a 1.3-inch hard disk drive, but the Standard (priced around US$310) lacks the digital TV tuner featured in the Pro at 398,000 won (c.US$381). The device weighs just 205g. iRiver's P10 is only available in Korea at this stage.
http://www.misticriver.net/
New Versions
1. Cybook Gen 3, from Bookeen
As well as original e-readers, there are a pack of new "next-gen" versions of existing models prowling around out there. The Cybook 600 Gen 3 is one such, the next-gen aspect being that it's the first Cybook model with e Ink.
This new Cybook will display e-books in Mobipocket format; plus HTML, plain text and DRM-free PDF files, as well as three image formats (JPG, GIF & PNG.). It also has an MP3 player thrown in. Useful additional software is available too, so if you want to for example load free books you've obtained in plain text (e.g. from Project Gutenberg), you can convert them into a much better look in Mobipocket format if you install Mobipocket Creator software, which is available free from the Mobipocket website.*
So what about the Cybook device? Paperback-book sized, it weighs only a teensy 174 g (just over 6oz). There's a strong resemblance to the Sony Reader, except that some critics don't like the size & location of the Cybook controls, saying that better design could make those easier to use. Fair comment, but otherwise it appears to be a quality effort. A nice feature is the ability to change page layout and font in addition to text size - there are seven fonts included, and you can add even more if you're that picky. Inbuilt memory is a handsome 512MB, and an SD memory card slot allows you to up that substantially.
As for the running, a Samsung ARM920T 200MHz processor may sound underpowered, but the genius of e Ink is it needs much less power than other displays, so why overdo it? You'd only drain the Lithium-Polymer 1000mAh battery, which here allegedly manages an impressive 8,000 pages before requiring recharge. The OS is Linux, and so far the Cybook Gen 3 is available worldwide with secondary resellers in Europe, the USA and Canada. Price - US$379, UK £269.
http://www.bookeen.com/ebook/ebook-reading-device.aspx2. iRex iLiad Book Edition ER-0100
We've already updated news on the iRex iLiad, remarking last month that "it's over twice as expensive as the Kindle, making it a non-starter for most." That disconcerting thought must have already been occupying the mind of its makers, for they've now released a cheaper, third or "Book Edition" (ER-0100), without WiFi but with no less than 50 classic books included. This has a large, 8.1-inch touch screen and 64MB Ram plus a solid 128MB free Flash memory built-in, expandable (MMC, CF) to 8GB. The new silver casing will wow some, and the battery is better too. But the price, though dropped 150 euros to €499 is still way too high by comparison with its rivals. In $US you can buy it online for $599 PLUS what may be substantial shipping costs. In Australia you can order an iLiad online for A$899. Quality, but at a heck of a price.
http://www.irextechnologies.com/products/iliad* On the subject of Mobipocket, great news is that their Mobi Desktop 6.2 software can import the new EPUB format files (the latest version of the Open eBook OeB standard), and auto-convert them to Mobi format. Mobipocket is also planning to release e-reading software for the Apple iPhone by the end of 2008.
Kindle news
Amazon.com has dropped the price of its Kindle e-reader, down 10% from US$399 to US$359. Meanwhile an analyst from the esteemed international bankers Citigroup has estimated that Amazon will sell 2.2 million Kindles by 2010. Which seems wildly improbable to this analyst -but then we didn't lose $45 billion in financial transactions recently, so what would we know? On the other hand, if Amazon & its peers would listen to our humble marketing suggestions (viz. a $49 or even $0 device tied to a book purchase plan) perhaps such a sales bonanza might yet happen.
The e Inks - a Comparative Chart
Mobileread's wiki has a chart comparing eight brands of e Ink e-readers (there are even more than that now, and some brands have several models). The chart includes an image of each device, and features compared (there are more than twenty-five) include screen display size and resolution, refresh time**, type and life of battery, device weight, operating system, boot-up time, CPU, software, memory capability, expansion slots available, formats supported and price.
http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/E-book_Reader_Matrix** note that with e Ink, display is static unless content changes.
*
Digitising the Freebies
The RosettaBooks name represents a web presence well known as a pioneering e-bookseller. Now a similarly-named company, Rosetta Solutions, is pioneering another innovation for the book trade. Large publishers traditionally send out "galley proofs" to reviewers and retailers, i.e. pre-publication copies of important titles. Over time that's a lot of free print books. So with a trial involving four major publishers, 500 new books and a dedicated website, Rosetta Solutions are introducing the concept of digital galleys.
The Net Galley website will make forthcoming titles available in advance of publication to authorised reviewers, to download free. The reviewer can easily select any titles of potential interest for review, the publisher saves money, the environment benefits and the whole operation is more efficient than the present set-up. Some reviewers may not like it though, as they will be unable to line their home bookshelves with impressive freebies. They may even have to buy an e-reader of some sort if they don't want to read the galleys on a PC or laptop. Which, hmm, could boost e-reader sales considerably.
*
Science Fiction ooh ooh ooh, Double Feature
Another golden oldie of the e-book trade are Baen Books, a company that early on had the guts (and good sense) to make many unencrypted titles available for sale rather than submit tamely to the paranoid DRM-obsession that so divided and diminished the early e-book world. Off-world, this successful independent Science Fiction publisher is leading the way in another dimension, namely on board the International Space Station.
Baen discovered that when the astronauts on the ISS are not just looking down with voyeuristic intention at that funny and oh so vulnerable blue ball named Planet Earth, or keeping an eye out for tall, cross-dressing aliens, they're not only big SF readers (well, you wouldn't be up there if you weren't interested in space, right?) but also fans of Baen's own titles. So in a smart publicity move Baen have made their entire, unencrypted 600 e-book "Webscriptions" SF collection available free to those international spacefarers whizzing around above us. (For us lesser, earthbound mortals it's available for a price at: www.webscriptions.net).
NB: Jim Baen, who was an enthusiastic promoter of space fiction, died in 2006. However his publishing ventures and SF magazine (Jim Baen's Universe) live on. The 2008 (second annual) Jim Baen Memorial Writing Contest for short speculative fiction was won by David Walton of Pennsylvania, with a short story entitled "Letting Go". David's winner's award was presented at the International Space Development Conference in Washington D.C. on Saturday May 31st, 2008.
*
Green titles for your paperless books
A new Web e-bookseller EcoBrain.com is cashing in on the environmental benefits of digital books. And good luck to them, we're happy to give them a free plug here considering the serious trouble our fragile planet is in.EcoBrain's "thousands of" titles span subjects including Environmental Science, sustainable living, renewable energy, green building, climate change, Nature, health, organic gardening, how-to guides, children's titles and the proverbial "much more". They also do gift certificates if you'd like to avail someone of a choice of this eco-bounty.
*
New Website a real trial
Worried about what your ancestors may have got up to? If any of them hailed from olde England then a new Net archive may turn out to be your own private docu-drama. Recently posted to the Web are 110,000 pages of transcripts from London's famous Old Bailey Court. They cover all criminal trials there between 1674 and 1913, and are available thanks to the Universities of Sheffield and Hertfordshire and the Open University. If you don't like what you find, don't blame us! Here in Australia, though, it's positively fashionable these days to find a (preferably distant) convict ancestor. http://www.oldbaileyonline.org
May 2008
free Star Wars e-Book
It's enough to make a wookie roar. Thanks to publisher Del Rey, Betrayal, the first title in the "Legacy of the Force" series is available free for a brief period, until midnight May 13 (USA time) only. Download in either DRM-free PDF, audio file, Amazon Kindle or Sony Reader versions. You'll have to hurry though.
DEVICE REPORTS
1. Kindle may genuinely be sparking
Amazon's Kindle e-reading device is finally back in stock in the USA. To the frustration of many, a lack of inventory forced long waiting periods from shortly after the Kindle's first appearance. The price remains the same at US$399 for two-day delivery, making bunnies of those who paid exorbitant amounts on eBay in the interim.
Amazon head honcho Jeff Bezos also reported adding 25,000 more items to those already available for Kindle users, for a grand total of over115,000 titles to read. However he still declined to release any actual sales figures for the e-reader, an issue that has up till now encouraged scepticism about the real level of demand for the device.
However one report says that Taiwan-based company PVI is now shipping around 36,000- 48,000 EPD (electronic paper display) modules to Amazon per month for the Kindle. There's no guarantee that has been occurring consistently since the product release last November 21 (in fact it's most unlikely), but that would put a maximum upper limit on the number of Kindles out there at about a quarter of a million. Halve that and subtract a bit for a more realistic figure, and there could be over 100,000 already sold. If so, that's above what many imagined in the first half-year (this column included), and a very creditable figure.
Jeff Bezos talks up the Kindle at:
http://www.i4u.com/article16784.html
2. Or is it a Sony?
Meanwhile, what of the sales of Kindle's rival the Sony Reader (about which Sony Corp. are being equally coy)? We do have some intelligence on this more visually appealing device (which is $100 less expensive too). Our info suggests that the Sony is in fact a slower mover than the Kindle, what with the latter's twin drawcards of the Amazon name plus wireless, PC-free downloads. Nevertheless, sales of the Sony are now notching up to respectable levels too, apparently. In that case, both outfits would seem to have little to lose by coming clean on their sales statistics. In fact knowing that they're in substantial company might encourage more prospective buyers to commit to purchase.
Canadians, meanwhile, welcomed news last month that the device is finally available for them also. The Sony Reader (or Reader Digital Book as they're officially calling it, to little avail) was released at the end of April in Sony stores in Canada (except Quebec), and at www.sonystyle.ca . Price - as in the USA, $299. UK fans, not to mention Australians and the rest of the world are still waiting however. Word is the Brits will get it next…
3. An Orange for the Iliad
A third, quality e Ink e-reader we've previously discussed is the Iliad from iRex technologies, an offshoot of the well-known Philips brand. While an excellent device, prospects for the Iliad's success have seemed crippled so far by the price factor. Specifically, at US$800 it's over twice as expensive as the Kindle, making it a non-starter for most.
Undeterred, the Orange people (Hutchinson Telecommunications) have begun a trial in France using the Iliad in a similar way to the Kindle. The Iliad already has Wi-Fi , but Orange have apparently added their own 3G connectivity via a USB port, to enable automatic downloads of subscribed newspapers and magazines. This could well prove a hit with affluent but time-poor professionals, who will be able to read the latest news and views and browse their favourite journals without any fuss. If Orange can influence the device price downwards then perhaps the Iliad could become more of a goer in a broader market.
…and speaking of e Ink e-readers, the e Ink manufacturer (e Ink, of course) has issued a joint product announcement with Seiko Epson. The partners are releasing a new display controller that will speed up the user interface for e Ink gadgets by allowing up to 16 tasks to be performed in parallel. Pen input devices (for notes and drawings) will benefit in particular, but most functions should improve. What's more, higher gray-scale levels and even simple animations will become possible at the output end. Production quantities of the new widget will be available in August.
Harpies and Sharpies?
HarperCollins are in the news again, and this month their US arm is under attack by furious British publishers who, egad, are more or less accusing them of being (commercial) bounders. It seems that when HC sell titles to the UK they insist on retaining global digital sales rights. Obviously, if the e-book market grows to be substantial then UK publishers will haemorrhage for books they've actually paid for, spending good money promoting in their assigned market while HC reaps some of their rewards.
Of course it's a tempting proposition for HarperCollins to cream off market in this way when online sales cost so little, but cricket it ain't. What's more Simon & Schuster USA are doing the same thing. However other US publishers are stepping back from emulating them, aware that this is a two-edged sword that could hurt mightily if the blade is forced back against them. Expect some shrieks and groans before this one is resolved, but we're predicting the errant twosome will resile eventually.
Onwards and Upwards
Planning to build your own interplanetary spacecraft from information available via the Web? You could be in luck. The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), in partnership with a Macmillan company, MPS Technologies, is planning to launch (sorry!) 130 high-flying titles as e-books, from mid-June onwards. Scotty says be warned though, they're a wee bit technical. www.mpstechnologies.com.
Sweet or Bad Apple?
We all know what naughty Steve Jobs said about reading, for shame. But did he really mean it? Now a rumour from a possibly credible source (worm in the apple?) is suggesting that the Mac Attack was motivated neither by crassness nor sour grapes, but was covering for the covert development of - yeup, an Apple e-reader. In other words the long-rumoured real iBook (by whatever name), as opposed to the old iBooks and Mac Books that are just your ho-hum portable computers. The project is claimed to include multi-touch as on the iPhone, to run the Mac "OS X" Leopard operating system, and to feature a 5.2 inch, 800 x 480 pixel touch screen.
An objection to the credibility of this report is that it's too early for a colour e Ink device to be available. So, such a reader would have to feature a lesser form of display, or remain monochrome. Would Apple settle for second-best? As for a black and white screen, pundits claim that won't wash with an iTunes generation that would want comics, graphic novels and colourful multi-media e-titles as well as plain ol' text. Unless Steve has some technical secrets up his sleeve? Stay tuned…
Darwin e-volves
Cambridge University (that's the original Cambridge in the UK, folks) has uploaded no less than 20,000 items relating to famed nineteenth-century scientist Charles Darwin, free to the Web. They include the first draft of his The Origin of Species. Be warned though, it was substantially revised later, but f you're familiar with the published work the draft is useful to trace the development of his ideas. There's lots of homelier, more personal stuff too for fans and detractors alike to peruse. And a photograph of the first chimpanzee Darwin taught to speak in BBC English -naah, just kidding about the last one. See, you are awake after all.
http://www.darwin-online.org.uk
April 2008
Tor Blimey
Sci-fi website Tor.com is for a limited time offering free weekly e-books in that genre, downloadable in HTML, PDF, or MobiPocket formats. You'll need to register with them to take up the offer, which comes with an email newsletter. There are free, attractive sci-fi wallpapers available too, for those who'd like to jazz up a dreary PC.
http://www.tor.com/
All for One or One for All?
Publisher HarperCollins, a News Corporation company, is to form a new trial venture challenging many of the traditional practices of the publishing industry. Innovations mooted include profit-sharing instead of cash advances to authors, and - more controversially - ending the return of unsold copies from booksellers.
Of interest here is that each title published will be in simultaneous e-book, audio and hardcover editions. A radical possibility under consideration is that if the purchaser opts for the (more expensive) hardback edition, he or she will receive both audio and e-book versions as a free bonus. That presupposes that such a possibility would be attractive to a customer. While they're looking at new ideas, perhaps free audio with the e-book, or vice-versa, might be more appealing?
A digital dance in the electronic UK
It's e-books a go go in Britain these days, what with the news flooding in from those sceptred and increasingly digitised isles. Bloomsbury, the publisher of the mega-selling Harry Potter series, has announced it is preparing electronic versions of all its back catalogue in conjunction with Microsoft. Yes, e-Ron, e-Hermione and eeks Lord Voldemort should be available at last. Fitting really, seeing the latter's Tom Riddler was well and truly integrated into the book. Indeed some of the e(nhanced)-books ideas present in the series may represent genuine future possibilities for muggles rather than off-limits magic. The Bloomsbury step will at a minimum allow print-on-demand and Net searching within a text, but that's just for starters.
Penguin meantime is already way ahead, with 5,000 e-titles currently available and as many more intended by the end of this year. Pan Macmillan is reported gathering steam in its own digital push, while Random House Group (UK) hopes to have some thousands of e-books available by the end of 2008. In the British retail market, Waterstone's is planning to launch an e-book range in July, while Borders UK, from a new website launched this month, hopes to be selling digital titles by the end of 2008.
Feverish action by UK publishers to tie up e-book rights with their authors has also recently been reported. And all this before the Sony Reader and the Amazon Kindle are even released in Britain - both are expected in the second half of this year. Publishers are clearly hoping that the economically-buoyed Brits will overtake their trans-Atlantic cousins in digital enthusiasm, a possibility that will be keenly watched worldwide.
Squawk!
Speaking of Penguin, Penguin USA will be innovating next month with the release of enhanced classic e-books, beginning with Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Such out-of-copyright e-titles are available free elsewhere of course, but the Penguin versions will include lots of extras such as the rules of social etiquette at the time, a filmography, period dancing and illustrations, and even recipes. A further nine enhanced classics will follow, with a UK release later. Disappointingly though, the price will be the same as the print edition, although those are only US$8.
Penguin is clearly out to create a buzz, and it will be interesting to see what sales they can generate in an e-book zone that was previously almost profit-free. We can wonder, too, what the scary extras in the planned Frankenstein will be. Meanwhile Penguin UK last month began offering online first chapters of all its new fiction titles, to be known as Penguin Tasters.
Read any Good Maps Lately?
A frequent complaint about e-books is that they've failed to adequately explore the potential for new or richer forms of the book inherent in their more flexible format. But there are plenty of attempts being made to give that the lie. One such by UK spy novelist Charles Cumming is "The 21 Steps," based on an updated version of John Buchan's pre-WWI thriller "The 39 Steps". Many people have at least seen that novel as a film, but Cummings' own work uses Google Maps as its base, with added text and pointer bubbles to click.
The quest for authenticity in the story is enriched by sight of all the actual locales, and the work is part of a We Tell Stories project from Penguin UK, seeking to appeal to the online generation who the naughty man from Apple claims don't read books anymore. Other stories in the Penguin project, also based on classic novels, will use blog entries, text messages, and possibly photosets, online calendars and other unorthodox media to tell their stories. Whatever will they think of next? Lots more, hopefully, for out of all this outré swirl may yet emerge some genuine new directions for digital literature
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OverDrive Goes into ---- well, Overdrive
OverDrive has for some years been one of the largest wholesalers of digital books on the Web. Now the company is evolving in two radical new directions.
First up there's a direct retail sales pitch to consumers, via a collaboration with giant, US-based bookstore chain Borders, who are keen to boost their flagging bottom line. Next month (May) OverDrive will offer e-books and audiobooks to online customers at Borders.com and also in "digital centres" in Borders' "bricks and mortar" bookshops.
Secondly, OverDrive is biting the bullet and offering DRM-free MP3 audiobooks to its Borders customers. The spoken titles are from many publishers, such as majors Random House Audio, Blackstone Audiobooks, Hachette Book Group and Books in Motion, with "thousands" of titles reportedly available. Penguin and Simon & Schuster are two other giant publishers reported as independently leaping on the DRM-free audiobooks bandwagon.
The moves further advance the cause of e-books free of DRM (digital rights management) control, a liberalising proposition that was long anathema to many distributors and retail companies. More recently, though, it has been recognised that the irksome restrictions of DRM, coupled with the confusions of a maze of proprietary formats, have, when compared unfavourably with the simple arrangements in place for buying printed books, likely been a major factor in holding back the growth of the e-book medium by deterring potential customers.
http://audiobooks.borders.com
Comment:
Many companies have progressively loosened their DRM restrictions, and so far the sky has not fallen with more flexible DRM or without it altogether. Indications are that most people would prefer to pay for rather than steal their books, but are keen that the price of the digital version is recognisably just (i.e. significantly cheaper than the physical variety).
If it can definitely be shown that - a few scammers aside - the proposition holds up in the marketplace, then perhaps DRM will eventually go the way of the Dodo. One exception is likely to be academic textbooks, where horrendous prices plus student lack of funds might make the lure of illegal downloads irresistible. That aside, those wishing to promote general reading via the digital alternative may well find that the easiest way of presenting e-books could turn out to be the best way as well, satisfying authors, publishers and consumers alike.
The key question for the publishing industry in the years ahead is less likely to be whether anyone is stealing any of their books but whether enough people are reading books anymore to keep the industry viable. The imaginative promotion of reading rather than fear-drenched DRM obsession may turn out to be the key to whether publishing can survive and prosper.
March 2008
Ready for the Readius?
A year ago (March 2007) we brought you a brief item about an e-Ink e-reader being developed by Polymer Vision, a Philips company, in conjunction with Telecom Italia. Predicted then to be available around the end of 2007, the special point of interest was that the gadget features a unique rollable (i.e. flexible and extendible) display screen. Now named the Readius, this device is stirring excitement but running late. A mid-2008 date is currently anticipated for first release in Italy, with a schedule for wider availability as yet unannounced.
The Readius will run the Windows CE OS on a 400MHz ARM processor, and dabbles in many functions. For example you can also use it as a 3G + phone (HSDPA standard). Meanwhile its high-speed Net interface, including standard POP3 and IMAP email, claims full portal status and seems to suggest favourable comparison with the Kindle. So we're looking here at magazines, newspapers and RSS feeds as well as books. Audio output accommodates audio e-books, music and podcasts too. There's no word yet on commercial partners to enable downloading books direct from the Web rather than via a PC, but they'd be crazy not to given the inherent potential. So all up this is a communication, media and entertainment centre as well as a unique e-reader.
It's still an e-reader for those content with a readable surface only half the size of a paperback though (which seems to be a lot of folks in these miniaturised days, particularly the cool young with their enviable 20/20 vision). That apart, the specs are reasonably encouraging. Thanks to a Micro SD High Capacity slot in addition to the inbuilt 256MB of storage, you can potentially access GB rather than MB of books. Which may come in handy in future if they're memory-hogging multi-media affairs rather than simple text. Page refresh is also quick as a flash, unlike the beautiful but chug-a-lug Sony Reader, which seems to want to replicate physical page-turning duration times two.
The Readius also features an 8-button "Simple Touch" interface that is alleged to be pleasingly user-friendly, and there's USB 2.0 connectivity and Bluetooth 2.0, too, for those so inclined. Battery life is estimated at 30 hours, for simply reading anyway. At 115gms (4oz) the Readius is a truly lightweight affair, and the 5-inch/ 12.5cm (diagonal) display screen rated QVGA (= 320x240 pixels) doubles the 2.5-inch displays found in so many current devices. That's thanks to its "rollability" of course, as the device is no larger than a typical mobile/cell phone when closed. Different strokes? Yes the display orientation is variable too.
As an e Ink device the Readius will still only be greyscale, but with the progress in that area colour in a later model may be expected. However Polymer Vision themselves say that colour may be as much as five years away (although if it takes them that long someone else will likely beat them to it, I fear). The price? Lips are sealed, but think expensive mobile phone range and you'll be on the right track.
http://www.polymervision.com/
See Me, Feel Me, Read Me, Hear Me
Amazon.com has agreed to buy Audible .com, the largest Internet distributor of what are variously known as audiobooks or audio e-books. The going price was a tidy $US300 million, and the deal confirms that the world's Internet book giant is serious about the digital e-market for reading. Presumably a tie-in with the Kindle is in the works too.
Meanwhile the Kindle itself is reported as out of stock, with "demand… still outstripping supply." So would-be buyers will have to wait their turn. But what does that mean, really? It's all very well saying you can't keep up with demand, but how many are they making? Until Amazon gets less coy and releases some hard sales figures the degree of success of the Kindle will remain a deep mystery…
Who'll buy my e-book?
A study from Fairfield Research Inc. released in the influential US magazine Publishers Weekly (18 Feb.08) found that 17% of book buyers had already purchased an e-book, while 27% were ambivalent on the subject of wanting to and 55% of the 2,924 respondents said that no thanks, they would only buy a printed book. Well that's progress of a sort. From tiny acorns…
Simon says - Go Audio
The 2007 financial report of major US publisher Simon & Schuster highlighted a dramatic rise in the sale of audio e-books, with the company reporting that sales of audio digital downloads had doubled. S&S has also digitised 14,000 standard (i.e. text) e-book titles, and is about to sign with a distribution partner for the latter.
Ecotasty
Want a highly portable eco-friendly e-reader with more? The Mobile Power Station is a solar-powered media player that handily includes USB connectivity for charging other devices as well. It boasts a sizeable 3.5" TFT LCD colour display, and a massive 2GB of internal memory, plus an SD slot if you want to double that. You can either read e-books or listen to them as audio files, or read and listen to music simultaneously).
Extras include a voice recorder with built in microphone and a LED torch feature. Lithium-ion rechargeable batteries are the go here, powered from 2 solar panels - have light, never need to plug in! The device will also play MP3, WMA, AMR, WAV, ADPCM, and PCM music files, not to forget AVI format Video, plus display JPEG, BMP and animated GIF images. And you can play games on it too. The Mobile Power Station hails from the land of the Han, and is marketed by Chinavasion (a Chinese-owned company located in Shenzhen province, next door to Hong Kong).
OK, maybe not the best e-reader around, but surely a lovely super-portable gadget overall. It costs around US$125, which sounds like value to me. It's my birthday this month folks, so now you know what to send me for a present. Ah, if only...
http://www.chinavasion.com/product_info.php/pName/solar-powered-mp4-player-2gb-mobile-power-station/
Jolly good show, chaps!
Random House and Hachette, the two largest publishers in Britain, are to offer e-book versions of many titles from the northern autumn of 2008. The development will follow the imminent release in the UK of the Sony Reader, although books should be available for a variety of devices. No word yet on the Kindle there, though Amazon are hardly likely to fail to respond.
Kids lead the way
Students in Port Jervis, New York State (USA) elementary schools are now creating their own multi-media e-books, featuring original stories embellished with audio and video clips. The digital books will also be shared with other schools via the Web. This development is thanks to enthusiastic technology teacher Scott Reichert plus a grant from the New York State Association for Computers and Technologies in Education. Which kind of begs the question - if elementary (primary) school students can make multi-media e-books, how come adults so rarely do?
Going to London to see the - e-books?
At the London Book Fair (April 14 -16 2008) there'll also be a London eBook Show several times a day at stand S725 (Hall 2). It'll be hosted by Peter Kent, best-selling author of the Complete Idiot's Guide to the Internet. Peter also works for Sydney based DNAML Pty, who develop electronic-publishing software. Demonstrations of how to create multimedia e-books will be a standout feature among a wide range of topics presented.
http://show.ebook.com/
February 2008
was a quiet month for e-news, so please proceed to March above.
January 2008
The iRiver note-capable colour e-reader (prototype only)
Palmed Off Properly
In an update to the below, eReader.com was sold this month (January) to the largest independent e-bookstore Fictionwise. From its earliest days as Peanut Press the popular store/format morphed through a confusing series of Palm identities, all the while gaining in readership and clout. Since 2001 "Palm e-books" has been variously associated with Palm Inc, Palm Digital Media Group, PalmSource, and PalmGear (which became Motricity). Motricity in turn rebranded the e-book operation from Palm Digital Media to eReader.com, in a clear bid to universalise its appeal.
As you'll note from our Software page, eReader the software can be obtained either free or in a purchasable eReader Pro de luxe variety. Following the sale to Fictionwise, the price of eReader Pro has now been halved to $US4.95, which includes a basic dictionary. Fictionwise reportedly intends to continue ereader.com as an independent entity, while expanding the eReader e-book format to function on even more mobile devices than at present.
Kindle advantage sparks competition
eReader.com is the large Web e-bookstore owned by Motricity, who used to be called something like Palm. Anyhow the Mo' folk have apparently been spurred to action by the most attractive feature of Amazon's Kindle device. That would be the ability to buy & directly download books from the Net without first saving them to a PC. So Mo's new eReader Pro for Windows Mobile technology will do the same, for free, for Windows Mobile handheld devices or Smartphones. Mo'st encouraging.
Tattle
Major textbook publisher Pearson is reported to have gained a contract to supply 45 percent of California school districts with history e-textbooks. The books are no mere print facsimiles either. Indeed they offer the opportunity to galvanise students with interactive audio features, animation, tutorials, games and videos (let's hope there are also some traditional words in there).
An extra advantage of Pearson's new digital texts is that teachers can tweak the offerings to different classes and individual needs (there's even a Spanish language option), or include links to further material. This is the kind of enhanced educational e-text long talked about but seldom seen.
With all those extras, Pearson is daring to charge prices comparable to the physical version. And with such profit potential, lots of expansion is in the works. Next up for Pearson are mathematics texts for Texas schools. It's not clear yet if they'll be offering a primer for the White House…
ADE update to lessen DRM despondency
Adobe is to release an update to its Digital Editions software that will include a "fix" for a problem that has left some customers angry. About three-quarters of a million people have downloaded Adobe's Digital Editions to date since its release in June 2007, but not all of them are pleased with it.
At present computer crashes and other difficulties can cause e-book buyers to be locked out of their purchases permanently, with no means of restoring them short of buying another copy. Meanwhile many book buyers would like to be able to read their e-books on various platforms, but have been prevented up till now by restrictive DRM. For some that makes their "ownership" of PDF e-titles a hollow mockery. Companies involved have been treating book sales merely as heavily restricted "licensed software" they say, a retrograde tendency that by contrast makes buying a physical book a much more appealing and definitive experience.
And so to a fix. Well, sort of. Already out in beta, a finished version of Adobe Digital Editions 1.5 should be available early this year. A so-called "Named Activation" feature will permit users to back up purchased PDF content or move it to other devices - but only if the content publisher permits that in the digital rights management (DRM) attached to the purchase. If not, the reader will still have to approach the original bookseller to discuss the issue.
At present, Adobe's Digital Editions version 1.0 software uses an Internet connection to initially check on the valid ownership of books it is asked to read. Unfortunately situations can and do arise where the software refuses to acknowledge content the frustrated reader has already paid for. This happened because under the previous 'Easy Activation,' feature Adobe had locked book purchases to one copy on one computer, and if anything happened to that copy the hapless consumer had no redress.
Now, Named Activation will assign e-books to an "Adobe ID" password that stays with the purchaser rather than the PC used, so he or she can use back-up copies, other devices etc without being penalised. The new feature will be retrospective to some extent. That's provided book purchasers can "unlock" existing "disallowed" books (the new ADE software will recognise them if they're on the same Windows installation on the same PC as originally purchased, & then be able to lock them onto the new Adobe user ID).
Adobe still washes its hands of customers who lose their purchases entirely however, for example in a major computer meltdown. Here the company's position conflicts with the more generous attitude taken by some e-booksellers. The latter kindly folk reason that unlike the case with a physical book, when you buy an e-book you just pay for a stream of digital and virtual information. Therefore, given the hazardous and fraught nature of computers and related devices, the seller can afford to guarantee you that stream if misfortune should strike you.
Adobe critics charge that, by contrast, the company's position is unbalanced. They say it can be compared with that of financial institutions that use every conceivable blandishment to induce customers to switch from say physical banking to the virtual form, because it saves the institutions money, but who then turn around and disclaim responsibility for the additional security and access problems peculiar to the virtual environment. We can all hope that, in response, Adobe envisages further improvements beyond this welcome Digital Editions update.
New CUP presentation
Cambridge University Press recently announced it has launched its own e-book brand for academic libraries, viz. Cambridge eBook Collections. The Cambridge initiative will feature subject-based collections, sold on a user basis of unlimited, multiple concurrent, and perpetual access. The first release will include specialist collections of mathematics, physics, economics, language and linguistics (all 100 titles each) and business & management (60 titles); initially available to the Asia Pacific region only.
Cambridge University Press is the oldest surviving printer and publisher in the world, having been operating continuously since 1584. It was founded under a royal charter granted by King Henry VIII, and today is a leading academic publisher globally. The books are made available through a partnership with the Australia-based Ebooks Corporation
Joint Information
Britain's forward-minded Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) has been involved with e-books from the early days, and has sponsored much valuable research in this area. Now they've leapt boldly ahead with a plan to provide UK higher-education students with free access to e-textbooks during a two-year trial study period.
JISC has struck a deal with MyiLibrary, a subsidiary of the Ingram Digital Group, for access to 26 textbooks in the business and management, engineering, and media studies subject areas. The trial will seek to clarify to what extent the students will use these digital resources and to what effect. If the findings are favourable the study may well presage a major advance into digital textbooks in the UK for higher-education students.
Nintending to read?
Do you or your kids own a Nintendo DS? They tell me the Moon Books Project has lots of free downloadable classic books (and movies) in English that read just fine on the device. Yep, it's all part of a big subversive adult plot to resuscitate reading. And we're proud to be a part of that movement...
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