Amazon’s new device launch on Wednesday garnered the most media attention, but the company also introduced some intriguing new features that merge or break apart reading experiences — while potentially raising rights-related questions. People have long speculated that it would be great to “sync” ebooks and digital audio recordings so you can go back and forth between reading and listening without losing your place, and Amazon has built that with what they call Whispersync for Voice. It offers what they call a “continuous reading experience” between digital and audio editions, in which a customer can start reading one edition and continue in […]
Amazon Will Ship Three Kindle Fire HD Tablets, Including $499 4G With $50/Year Data Plan
The theme of Amazon’s Thursday afternoon press conference in Santa Monica was not so much the device particulars as ceo Jeff Bezos’s revised explanation of their goal and purpose: “People don’t want gadgets anymore. They want services. They want services that improve over time.” And “Kindle Fire is a service.” Bezos also explained, “We want to make money when people USE our devices, not when they BUY our devices. That is better alignment.” (Last year’s opening pitch for Kindle Fire was that “what we’re doing is making premium products and offering them at non-premium prices.”) The new mantra translates into […]
Judge Cote Approves eBook Settlement, Deems Case “Straightforward Price Fixing”
After months of comments, filings, and responses, Judge Denise Cote didn’t waste any time in approving the Department of Justice’s settlement with Hachette, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster, moving it out of her docket and potentially over the Court of Appeals. Judge Cote was not persuaded that there was anything to be learned at an evidentiary hearing, “given the voluminous submissions” already filed “as well as the detailed factual allegations in the Complaint” and said the court was “well-equipped to rule on these matters.” At the end of the day, she believed the government “more than met [the] minimal standard” that they […]
eNews: First Kobo Announces New eReader and Tablet Devices; Amazon Product Launch Rumor Mill
As is now their custom, Kobo took the unassuming route of announcing its latest line of ereaders and tablets by press release on Wednesday morning, a few hours before Amazon is set to launch their newest devices in Santa Monica at a press conference (at 1:30 Eastern). Clearly glo(w)ing ereaders will be abundant this fall, following Nook’s successful launch of their GlowLight model and an authentic-seeming leak of the Kindle Paperwhite: Kobo will ship the $129 Glo (eInk reader with frontlit screen) and $80 Mini (smaller 5″ touchscreen) on October 1, with the 7″ Arc tablet, priced at $199 (8GB) and […]
People, Etc.
HarperCollins Christian Publishing, the new division comprising Zondervan and the recently-acquired Thomas Nelson, announced its new organizational structure under president and ceo Mark Schoenwald. Most of the executive team draws from the Thomas Nelson side. Among the announcements: Stuart Bitting has been named svp, chief financial officer, while Annette Bourland and David Moberg will be svp, publisher of Zondervan and Thomas Nelson, respectively. Chip Brown moves up to svp, Bible Publishing, and Paul Engle has been named svp, Church, Academic and Reference Resources; Stan Gundry remains Zondervan editor-in-chief while Eric Shanfelt moves up to svp, eMedia. Tod Shuttleworth is SVP […]
As NO EASY DAY Publishes, New Account Says Book Written When Author Was “Slighted” By Other SEALS
Despite ongoing controversy and the threat of a government lawsuit (and Navy SEALS being pulled off active duty as a consequence), Dutton is publishing NO EASY DAY by “Mark Owen” (the pen name for the retired SEAL Matt Bissonnette) today as scheduled. But things got weirder over the weekend when a group of former Special Operations veterans released a short ebook of their own, NO EASY OP: The Unclassified Analysis of the Mission That Killed Osama bin Laden, as a $4.99 KDP exclusive. It claims Bissonnette (the Times, and the ebook, uses his real name throughout) was “willing to break the […]