This week Random House’s language learning program, Living Language, will launch its new Platinum Edition, a multi-platform solution that will allow users to engage with a variety of languages through course books and CDs, mobile apps, an online course, an online community, and individualized instruction from a native speaker e-tutor. The course will initially be offered for $179 in French, Spanish, Italian and German, with Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic editions to come. (The Platinum app is also available for separate purchase.) As part of the launch, coordinated by the ad agency Mullen (most recently responsible for a multi-million dollar campaign […]
eNews
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 […]
Briefs: Liberty Deal For BN Reportedly “Looks Shaky”; More on McGraw-Hill; Inkling Raises Another $17M; and More
Two-and-a-half months after Liberty Media’s initial offer to purchase Barnes & Noble for $17 a share (or just over $1 billion), the NY Post claims the deal now “looks shaky.” Or it may simply be a delay in the initial timetable, as “a deal failed to materialize last week, which was a preliminary target for a final deal since talks began in May, according to sources.” Drawing on a single, unnamed source, the paper says “at least one private-equity giant this week hired a consulting firm to take a fresh look at B&N’s books in case their deal falls apart.” […]
New York State Says Standard eBooks Are Exempt from Sales Tax
It’s a little technical, but Forbes calls attention to a recent advisory opinion from New York state’s department of taxation and finance that will be of great interest to agency-model publishers and ebook retailers. It is “the tax department’s current position” standard trade ebooks as we know them are exempt from New York state sales tax, and do not qualify as taxable “information services.” The opinion was provided in response to a query from California company that “stores a digitized catalog of electronic books available for sale to customers inside and outside New York through its on-line bookstore.” (But the […]
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 […]