As part of a broader “strategic alliance” in both the US and Japan between Walmart and Rakuten, Kobo will provide ebooks, digital audiobooks and ebooks devices to Walmart in the US. The two announced “an exclusive retail alliance that will enable Walmart to begin selling eBooks and audiobooks, as well as offer Rakuten Kobo eReaders, in Walmart stores and online at Walmart.com in the United States starting later this year.” Walmart will be Kobo’s “exclusive mass retail partner for the Kobo brand in the US. Walmart.com will sell Kobo edooks and audiobooks through a Walmart/Kobo co-branded app. Walmart indicates that […]
ebookstores
Apple Books Changes
Bloomberg looks at some changes on the way from Apple. In an early developer version of iOS 11.3, Apple is changing iBooks to Books; as they have done with music and podcasts, the service will be known as Apple Books going forward. The iBookstore (soon just Apple Bookstore) will be redesigned to “look more like the new App Store launched last year, according to people familiar with its development. The revamped app in testing includes a new section called Reading Now and a dedicated tab for audio books, the people said.” What happens in that audio books tab is the […]
Microsoft’s April 11 Update Will Roll Out eBookstore and In-Browser Reading
Microsoft formally confirmed that the release of the Windows 10 Creators Update on April 11 that will make the Microsoft Edge browser “the default reader for books in Windows Store” for ebooks purchased from the Windows Store. First reported in January, the features have been available only to a group of “Windows Insiders” until now. Microsoft software engineer Dona Sarkar tells Geekwire this was a user-driven addition: “We got feedback galore from Insiders saying ‘you know what, I love to read on my Windows tablet or my Windows Surface device and I would love to be able to actually read books in […]
Rakuten Kobo Acquires the Tolino Tech Platform from Deutsche Telekom
Rakuten Kobo announced on Tuesday they have signed contracts to acquire the Tolino ebook technology platform serving the German-language ebook market from founding partner Deutsche Telekom at the end of January 2017, pending approval from the German Federal Cartel Office. (That paperwork was filed December 22.) Kobo will join the three bookseller partners Hugendubel, Thalia and Weltbild. CEO Michael Tamblyn says in the announcement, “Together with our partners from the German book trade, we intend to continue to enhance the tolino ecosystem for its many dedicated customers. This acquisition allows us to bring Rakuten Kobo’s experience with collaborating with book retailers around […]
International Briefs: Kobo, Amazon, Luebbe and More
The rest of the world was open for business all week long and accounts for much of the catch-up news: – Kobo has now redirected their efforts to sell ebooks and ereading devices in Spain towards their France-based retail partner Fnac. The relationship has been expanded to Spain, where Fnac has 50 stores. Kobo first opened their own local ebookstore in 2011 and sells titles in Spanish, Catalan, Basque, and Galician. In 2013 they had partnered with La Central’s group of seven stores. – Germany’s Luebbe has sold 80 percent of their gift product line Rader for 14.1 million euros, valuing the company at about one […]
Waterstones Exits eBooks and Digital Audio; Transfers Customers to Kobo
Waterstones is giving up on ebooks again and — perhaps more importantly in the long-term, also walking away from the still-growing digital audio market. The company told their digital media customers by email and posted site notice that “the Waterstones digital download store is closing,” and digital files are no longer available for sale on their web site. Customers who purchased ebooks are having their libraries transferred to Kobo, as of June 14. Digital audio customers are being abandoned in full; their only recourse is to “please ensure that all the MP3s in your library are downloaded to your chosen […]