Amazon launched their Kindle Cloud Reader today, an HTML5 reading app that works through web browsers both online and offline. By using the browser, the app can work on iPads through Safari (as long as they are running iOS4 and higher). It works on all computer-based versions of Safari, and Google’s Chrome as well. It does not currently work on iPhones, but the company says it “will be available on additional web browsers, including Internet Explorer, Firefox, the BlackBerry PlayBook browser, and other mobile browsers, in the coming months.” For iPad users, the app includes an “integrated, touch optimized store,” […]
Apps/iOS
eNews: Guardian Shorts Debuts With Phone Hacking eBook; Melville House’s HybridBooks; and More
The Guardian has entered the digital books space with Guardian Shorts, which will provide “detailed guides to topical news stories, public policy, sports and cultural events” through ebooks ranging from between 5,000 and 30,000 words. Pricing will range from £1.99 to £3.99 “depending on subject area, length and how much new content they contain.” They launch the program with PHONE HACKING: How the Guardian Broke the Story, which packages the paper’s extensive coverage of the scandal with a new final chapter by Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger. The ebook is priced at £2.29/$2.99 and available on Kindle now and on iTunes […]
Briefs: Sony Has “No Clue” Why Apple Still Rejects iOS Reader Apps; New Bookstores; and More
Apple rejected Sony’s iOS Reader app back in January, and there’s still no sign of it now even though competitors have complied with Apple’s rules prohibiting buy buttons. CNET checked in with Sony reps who claimed they, too, complied with Apple’s rules, but reported the app was still being rejected. “We have no idea why,” the rep said. “It’s an ongoing saga. Stay tuned.” CNET Books-a-Million will also replace Borders in Concord, NC with a tentative opening date of August 25, one week after the chain opens a new store in Erie, PA. Release Changing Hands owner Gayle Shanks told […]
Facebook Buys Push Pop Press, Kills Their Product
Facebook acquired epublishing technology start-up Push Pop Press for undisclosed terms, but the appeal was clearly not their publishing platform that promised to provide “digital storytelling” tools that would enable anyone to turn text, images and multimedia into an enhanced book app with drag-and-drop ease. “There are no plans” for “building out” that platform or continuing to publish more titles like the Al Gore book-based app Our Choice that the company was created to build, Push Pop’s Mike Matas and Kimon Tsinteris write on their site. Instead they say “we’re taking our publishing technology and everything we’ve learned and are […]
Other Major eBook Apps Fall In Line with New Apple Rules
As expected, Apple’s new rule requiring content-based apps that sell outside of Apple’s own channels to remove any external purchasing links is being enforced broadly across all the major players. Yesterday the Apple Kindle app was updated, with the company saying in a forum posting “in order to comply with recent policy changes by Apple, we’ve removed the ‘Kindle Store’ link from within the app that opened Safari and took you to the Kindle Store.” Barnes & Noble announced that their Nook for iPad app will “soon be updated,” at which time you can expect their purchasing link to be […]
Kobo and Other eReading Apps Comply with Apple’s New Rule On Purchasing
Apple is doing exactly what they said they would do–enforcing a new rule on the makers of content-driven apps that requires them to remove any links to purchasing content through the web that bypass Apple’s own purchasing systems (through which Apple gets a 30 percent commission). The move gained additional attention with respect to ebook apps over the weekend, as Kobo revised their iOS app to remove the purchasing link over the weekend: “Earlier today Apple instituted new rules which affect your experience on iPhone and iPad apps. The biggest change is the removal of the ability to shop within […]