The Kobo Touch will be available for sale in Japan as soon as July, according to a report from the Asahi Shimbun. Rakuten ceo and chairman Hiroshi Mikitani said the company plans to price the Kobo Touch reader at around 10,000 yen ($126) or cheaper, with plans to sell 50,000 ebook titles by the end of the year. “As a Japanese company, we cannot lose (to overseas rivals),” Mikitani told the paper. “With Kobo devices, we will be able to export Japanese content. The Japanese publishing industry will become a huge content industry.” Further details will be announced at a […]
eReaders
eNews: State Department May Spend Up to $16.5 Million for Kindles and eBooks
The most talked-about story for much of Monday afternoon was a report from NextGov on a pending no-bid State Department contract for Amazon to fill “an immediate need for approximately 2,500 ereaders and 50 titles of content” with Kindle Touch 3G units to be “used as a classroom tool for English language programs globally.” State’s acquisition managers claimed they had “identified the Amazon Kindle as the only e-Reader on the market that meets the Government’s needs, and Amazon as the only company possessing the essential capabilities required by the Government.” Under scrutiny the story changed several times (as evident by paidContent’s report, rewritten […]
Regal to Launch Zola Books Platform at BEA
Among the start-ups debuting in a private industry beta at next week’s BEA is former literary agent Joe Regal’s Zola Books, an ambitious ebook retailer that aims to innovate in multiple ways, aspiring to improve book discovery, share data with authors and publishers, empower book “curators” of all kinds to recommend titles (and get compensated), move forward the state of the art of how an HTML5 reader can work across multiple devices, and make “social reading” more natural and less obtrusive. A separate component, launching when Zola Books formally opens for business (which will not occur until after the DOJ […]
The New New eReaders Are Browser-Based In HTML5
OverDrive is just the latest company to announce plans to offers an HTML5, browser-based reading platform. Called OverDrive Read, it is built with the help of the recently-acquired Australian company Booki.sh. The company will demo the new platform at BEA and ALA. “Unlike eBook apps or devices, OverDrive Read enables readers using standard web browsers to enjoy eBooks online and offline without first installing any software or activating their device.” Start-up Inkling made a similar announcement earlier in the week. Previously available only through an iPad app, their Inkling for Web is an HTML5 web reading app works for all […]
Bookselling: Kepler Aims For $1 Million in Fundraising; Easons Plans Own eReader; and More
Kepler’s 2020, the non-profit organization that is now the de facto owners of the Menlo Park bookstore after longtime owner Clark Kepler retired, has begun a fundraising drive to raise more than $1 million by the end of the summer. (Nearly $400,000 has already been promised by prominent individuals in Silicon Valley.) But first they have to finish negotiating down what had been almost $1 million in debt. The new funds are designed as “start-up capital for the new Kepler’s” rather than cash to pay off the old Kepler’s bills. “The good news is that most of the publishers were willing […]
Waterstone’s In “Far-Reaching” Alliance with Amazon to Sell Kindle
Already running late with its promised ereading initiative, Waterstones announced that “a far-reaching partnership” with Amazon “to launch new e-reading services and offer Kindle digital devices through its UK shops.” Downplayed in coverage of the announcement is that, even with a plug-and-play solution, Waterstones still won’t be ready to launch the initiative until sometime “in the Autumn.” First they need to install wi-fi in their stores (which apparently they had never done previously). Waterstone’s managing director James Daunt says in the press release, “The best digital readers, the Kindle family, will be married to the singular pleasures of browsing a […]