Kobo chief executive Mike Serbinis finally addresses their issues with self-published books personally, in an interview with the UK’s Telegraph. Meanwhile, WH Smith has managed to get their website back online and open for business — though it appears they are only selling print books and have not restored sales of Kobo ebooks yet. The Telegraph reports that “Kobo hopes that the majority of its catalogue – minus the offending titles – will be back online by Saturday 19 October.” As Serbinis indicates indirectly, part of the problem is that they look to technology to screen titles rather than direct […]
ebookstores
eNews: Kobo Disabled at Whitcoulls; Scholastic’s Ed-Tech; Scribd’s Subscriber Report; and More
WH Smith still has not restored service to their website in the wake of controversy over some of the Kobo ebooks they were offering for sale. In New Zealand, retailer Whitcoulls “has suspended the sale of eBooks through our website.” They write in a site note: “This suspension will remain in place until we can guarantee that any inappropriate material, that has been available through self published eBooks, has been removed from the Kobo eBook catalogue.” But Australian partner Angus & Robertson is still selling what appears to be the full and unexpurgated Kobo catalog (at least judging by a […]
Books Versus Other and the Rise of eBooks, Around the World
By next year (if not by now already) more than half of all books will be purchased online in the US rather than in physical stores, and Amazon executive Russ Grandinetti told the audience at Publishers Launch Frankfurt that the UK is only another year away — and he believes the same trend is “not more than three years” away for most of “the rest of Europe.” (At the same time, however, Bowker US survey data for the first half of 2013 actually shows online sales actually declining by a few percentage points, for the first time — though that […]
More Kindling
After a brief false start online, Amazon announced the refreshed versions of their Kindle Paperwhite devices yesterday, with the more basic model available as of September 30. The features and specs are lavishly presented online, so we won’t go to great lengths here. The most interesting thing to us is that this “sixth generation” device sells at the same price as its predecessor — $139 for the wi-fi model (without ads) — despite nearly 6 years of “predictions” that these ereaders will soon be free. The screen, which Amazon says is better than ever, now uses “Carta e-paper technology” rather than […]
Briefs: Amazon Appeals to Supreme Court, Adds Kindle Mexico; and More
On August 23, Amazon filed a brief with the US Supreme Court, asking it to hear their challenge to New York’s 2008 law requiring the etailer to collect sales tax in the state due to their network of online affiliates (Amazon Associates). The New York Court of Appeals upheld the law in a ruling in March 2013. The company hired former Solicitor General Ted Olson, now at the Washington, DC office of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, who filed the petition, to represent them in the matter. (Irony alert: Apple’s lead law firm in the ebook pricing cases is the New […]
Kobo Expands Device Line
At an event in Manhattan Tuesday night, Kobo introduced a revised and expanded line of devices along with a variety of feature innovations, all under the positioning that “Kobo stands for those who love to read.” As ceo Mike Serbinis said, “we are focused on the reader.” Their surprisingly-successful “high end” eInk reader the Aura, introduced in April, will launch in a new model available for pre-order now and on sale September 16. At $149 it’s $20 less expensive, and the company says it’s thinner and lighter. An expanded tablet line will offer 3 models instead of just one. They […]