Kobo still believes in eInk dedicated readers, reinforced in today’s announcement from the London Book Fair: Later this month they will release an oversized eInk reader with a 6.8-inch display (most other readers have screens that are 6 inches or smaller). They say the 265 dpi device “offers 30 percent more reading surface and the closest experience to print-on-paper,” and with a 1GHz processor they also say it’s “the fastest eReader on the market – 25 percent faster.” Called the Kobo Aura HD, Kobo’s evp and general manager of devices Wayne White calls it “the Porsche of eReaders…designed for those […]
territorial rights
Proposed UK Copyright Changes Would Allow Personal, Private Copying of eBooks
The latest step in a process that has been underway for a while, the UK’s Intellectual Property Office published their proposals for changes to the country’s copyright law to provide “greater freedom to use copyright works such as computer games, paintings, photographs, films, books, and music, while protecting the interests of authors and right owners…. These form part of the Government’s response to creating a modern, robust and flexible copyright framework.” Trade publishers will be most focused on the “private copying” rule “to permit people to copy digital content they have bought onto any medium or device that they own, […]
Little Brown UK At Odds with Authors Over Tor’s DRM-Free eBooks
The industry debate over whether or not to remove DRM from ebooks has moved from philosophical and strategic differences of opinion to a potential contract (and territorial) dispute that threatens to strand some authors in the middle. On opposing sides are Little Brown UK–a substantial sci-fi and fantasy publisher through the Orbit imprint–and Tor, which shares some authors with Orbit, and lifted DRM from their entire list of ebooks as of July. Little Brown UK ceo Ursula MacKenzie corresponded recently with at least some agents, reportedly to express concern about the impact of Tor’s new DRM-free policy on LBUK’s publishing […]
Gabriel Garcia Marquez eBooks Available Through Co-Venture Between Leer-e and Random House Mondadori
On the eve of his 85th birthday Tuesday, Nobel laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s international bestseller 100 YEARS OF SOLITUDE is now available in ebook format in multiple Spanish-speaking countries thanks to a co-publishing arrangement between Garcia Marquez’s longtime print publisher Random House Mondadori and Spanish ebook company Leer-e. It’s the fourth book by Garcia Marquez to be published in a digital edition, as CHRONICLE OF A DEATH FORETOLD, LIVING TO TELL THE TALE, and THE STORY OF A SHIPWRECKED SAILOR were previously released in November 2010. (The digital list price for SOLITUDE is 5.82 euros before tax, and is available […]
eNews: Indiebound Reader App Launches; eBooks in Europe; and More
Indiebound has launched its ebook reading app, Indiebound Reader, in conjunction with Bluefire, as announced in August (and originally set for release in October). So far the app is only available for Android devices, but “it will soon be available” for iOS devices. Consistent with Apple’s revised rules, the iOS version will be for reading only, and will not include in-app purchasing. Indiebound Reader page At the same Reuters Global Media summit where Penguin ceo John Makinson spoke of “dark clouds” hovering over the publishing horizon in 2012, Hachette ceo Arnaud Nourry was more optimistic about the prospects for digital […]
Another Frontier for Kindle: Japan
Amazon is moving quickly on their expansion of the Kindle platform into multiple languages. Both the Nikkei business daily and Jiji press in Japan report that the company is close to launching a Japanese Kindle store, “hoping to start the business in time for the Christmas sales season.” Japanese publishers were understandably concerned about ebook pricing, but Nikkei says Amazon has been discussing “a framework in which the timing and scope of price cuts would be discussed with publishers in advance.” Japan’s electronic content market is already estimated to comprise $850 million, which is considered small since that’s about three […]