Friday, 30 October 2009
Can you use regular Wireless to download books
The wireless feature does not work. The Kindle uses Sprint cellular telephone network that you can use if you are in America. The easiest way would be to plug your Kindle into your computer using USB and download books that way.
Wednesday, 28 October 2009
Saving Newspaper Subscriptions
To keep an issue of a newspaper indefinately - open the newspaper issue > Menu > select "Keep this issue", otherwise the Kindle stores the seven most recent issues of the paper. You could always save them on the computer manually.
How long does the Kindle take to ship?
Amazon are experiencing delays, but we are getting feedback of around 2 weeks.
Kindle Prices?
The Kindle is available from Amazon.com for $259 - A typical e-book would cost around $10
Where can I buy a kindle
You can only buy a Kindle through Amazon.com - It will be available in the UK soon. Watch this space...
Whispernet
What is Whispernet? The Kindle uses a technology called EVDO to download books, newspapers, blogs, etc. EVDO - or Whispernet is used by phones to connect to the internet and will not cost the Kindle users. The advantage of this technology is that the user is not dependent on Wi-Fi hotspots, of course there has to be coverage of Sprint EVDO. Without Whispernet, the Kindle would be just another e-book dependent on a computer to update your library.
Monday, 26 October 2009
Kindle for PC software
Kindle is no longer just limited to hardware. Kindle is also software that displays digital books on any device.
The application was part of Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system launch event, however the program will also run on Microsoft's earlier operating systems, Windows XP and Windows Vista.
Kindle for PC, will be free software and enable readers to view full-color photos and use touch screens to browse books, turn pages and adjust font sizes for digital books purchased at Amazon's online bookstore.
Amazon has released a version of the reader for Apple Inc.'s iPhone and iPod Touch devices.
The application was part of Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system launch event, however the program will also run on Microsoft's earlier operating systems, Windows XP and Windows Vista.
Kindle for PC, will be free software and enable readers to view full-color photos and use touch screens to browse books, turn pages and adjust font sizes for digital books purchased at Amazon's online bookstore.
Amazon has released a version of the reader for Apple Inc.'s iPhone and iPod Touch devices.
Amazon matches Nook priced Kindle
Amazon now offers just two versions of the Kindle: the widescreen DX, for $489, and a 6-inch version of the Kindle optimized for both domestic and international wireless downloads - this for $259, down from $279, the launch price of the international Kindle.
The price cut is to compete against Barnes & Noble Nook pegged at $259.
The price cut is to compete against Barnes & Noble Nook pegged at $259.
Kindler reader software for Mac
Amazon announces it will be adding a Mac version of Kindle reader software.
Adding to the availability of the iPhone and iPod touch. That software offers access to that massive library of digital books, without needing to buy the hardware.
This Desktop Kindle software will mark the first time consumers can buy and read books from Amazon's library without owning some other hardware.
Adding to the availability of the iPhone and iPod touch. That software offers access to that massive library of digital books, without needing to buy the hardware.
This Desktop Kindle software will mark the first time consumers can buy and read books from Amazon's library without owning some other hardware.
Saturday, 24 October 2009
New pricing for Amazon Kindle
Amazon has now killed the old Kindle, marked the new one down to $259, and will be issuing $20 rebates to everyone who paid $279. As Thomas points out, this not only logically streamlines the Kindle lineup, but responds to the announcement of Barnes & Noble's Nook, which will cost $259 and sounds like a more advancec device, at least in some ways.
Kindle App for Windows
Amazon already has a free Kindle iPhone app. And soon it will have a free Kindle app for Windows PCs.
Like the iPhone app, Kindle for PC turns your PC into another reading device that can be linked to a Kindle account (you don't have to own a Kindle to set up a Kindle account). You can then choose to send Kindle e-books and periodicals to your PC via a wired or wireless network connection. Also, you can read an e-book on your PC while at home (or elsewhere), then send that same e-book to your iPhone or Kindle and pick up reading where you left off.
Like the iPhone app, Kindle for PC turns your PC into another reading device that can be linked to a Kindle account (you don't have to own a Kindle to set up a Kindle account). You can then choose to send Kindle e-books and periodicals to your PC via a wired or wireless network connection. Also, you can read an e-book on your PC while at home (or elsewhere), then send that same e-book to your iPhone or Kindle and pick up reading where you left off.
Amazon Kindle Price Drop
Just weeks after announcing a new $279 international version of its Kindle e-book reader, Amazon has chopped $20 off its price and made that model its only Kindle offering for both the domestic U.S. and international markets. In the process, the company has eliminated the U.S. version of the device, which used Sprint as the carrier for the Kindle's built-in wireless capabilities
Amazon Kindle in Asia
While readers in Cambodia, Laos and Sri Lanka can now purchase Amazon's Kindle, the device is still not available in China, Singapore, New Zealand, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia, with little word on when it will make its way into these key markets
Amazon's Kindle goes global -- but not to Canada
By Matt Hartley, Financial PostOctober 6, 2009
StoryPhotos ( 1 )
Amazon.com Inc is introducing Kindle, its wireless electronic reader, for over 100 countries, including China and most of Europe, intensifying a battle for the burgeoning digital book market.Photograph by: Reuters/Mike Segar, Reuters/Mike SegarAmazon.com Inc.'s popular Kindle digital book reader is now available to literary enthusiasts outside the United States, but Canadians hoping to get their hands on the device are still out of luck.
On Wednesday, the Seattle, Washington-based Internet retail titan announced it was trimming the price of the Kindle ebook reader from US$299 to US$259 while simultaneously introducing a version of the device designed to work in more than 100 countries and territories around the world.
The new international version of the Kindle costs US$279 and will begin shipping on Oct. 19 to countries such as Bolivia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Hungary and Japan.
“Kindle is the most wished for, the most gifted, and the No. 1 bestselling product across the millions of items we sell on Amazon, and we’re excited to be able to lower the price,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com's founder and chief executive officer.
“We’re also excited to announce a new addition to the Kindle family—Kindle with global wireless. At home or abroad in over 100 countries, you can think of a book and download it wirelessly in less than 60 seconds.”
Canadians, however, are still unable to purchase Kindle devices through Amazon or download Kindle content, such as digital books and newspaper subscriptions.
Amazon.com executives could not immediately be reached for comment.
© Copyright (c) National Post
StoryPhotos ( 1 )
Amazon.com Inc is introducing Kindle, its wireless electronic reader, for over 100 countries, including China and most of Europe, intensifying a battle for the burgeoning digital book market.Photograph by: Reuters/Mike Segar, Reuters/Mike SegarAmazon.com Inc.'s popular Kindle digital book reader is now available to literary enthusiasts outside the United States, but Canadians hoping to get their hands on the device are still out of luck.
On Wednesday, the Seattle, Washington-based Internet retail titan announced it was trimming the price of the Kindle ebook reader from US$299 to US$259 while simultaneously introducing a version of the device designed to work in more than 100 countries and territories around the world.
The new international version of the Kindle costs US$279 and will begin shipping on Oct. 19 to countries such as Bolivia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Hungary and Japan.
“Kindle is the most wished for, the most gifted, and the No. 1 bestselling product across the millions of items we sell on Amazon, and we’re excited to be able to lower the price,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com's founder and chief executive officer.
“We’re also excited to announce a new addition to the Kindle family—Kindle with global wireless. At home or abroad in over 100 countries, you can think of a book and download it wirelessly in less than 60 seconds.”
Canadians, however, are still unable to purchase Kindle devices through Amazon or download Kindle content, such as digital books and newspaper subscriptions.
Amazon.com executives could not immediately be reached for comment.
© Copyright (c) National Post
Amazon Kindle in Russia
Russia's largest mobile phone operator, is talking to Amazon.com (AMZN.O) over a deal to supply its Kindle electronic reader to Russia, industry sources said on Friday.
"MTS wants to agree on exclusive sales of Kindle in Russia... If they agree, sales will start not earlier than 2010, but they have not yet agreed on anything," one source said.
source Reuters
"MTS wants to agree on exclusive sales of Kindle in Russia... If they agree, sales will start not earlier than 2010, but they have not yet agreed on anything," one source said.
source Reuters
Google Editions
Google's Google Editions service is a online book store that will allow customers to buy e-books through a variety of formats for use on any number of devices. This means the service could be potentially open to any electronic reading device.
Details on Google Editions, amassed from news reports and confirmation from Google itself, reveal that Google Editions is set to launch sometime in the first half of 2010 and, according to Google, will have about 500,000 titles available from day one.
Reuters reports that Google-sold e-books also will be indexed and searchable similar to the way that Google's Book Search project. Any device with a Web browser -- computer, mobile device, whatever -- will be able to access Google Editions.
Google will be getting a 37% cut on any sale, rather than pushing electronic devices, Google is taking the slice from the sales letting the others make investment in product - good idea eh?
Details on Google Editions, amassed from news reports and confirmation from Google itself, reveal that Google Editions is set to launch sometime in the first half of 2010 and, according to Google, will have about 500,000 titles available from day one.
Reuters reports that Google-sold e-books also will be indexed and searchable similar to the way that Google's Book Search project. Any device with a Web browser -- computer, mobile device, whatever -- will be able to access Google Editions.
Google will be getting a 37% cut on any sale, rather than pushing electronic devices, Google is taking the slice from the sales letting the others make investment in product - good idea eh?
Apple's threat to Amazon Kindle
Apple made a subtle revision to its App Store policy, enabling extra content to be sold through free iPhone apps. It’s a move that immediately impacts the publishing industry, and it could pay even bigger dividends if the Cupertino, California, company indeed delivers its highly anticipated touchscreen tablet.
Apple’s earlier in-app sales model wasn’t ideal for publishers. Previously, in-app commerce was a feature exclusive to paid apps; free apps were not permitted to sell content. Newspapers and magazines already struggle to sway readers to pay for content to begin with, and charging for apps cuts off potential customers. By allowing commerce within free apps, Apple creates the opportunity for a free media app to serve as a gateway for readers to get hooked on a newspaper’s or magazine’s content, which could help lure them into paying for exclusive premium content.
If Apple does deliver a tablet, the key for publishers is to create a convenient experience that readers will pay for, as opposed to the content itself. A free app would be the first step toward offering that experience. (And then the publisher will have to figure out what to do about ads, but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.)
It is speculated that the tablet will be designed like a 10-inch iPod Touch or iPhone, and will include the accelerometer, GPS, live video streaming and multitouch.
What’s in it for Apple? Primarily, squashing Amazon’s Kindle. Who would wish to read a digital newspaper or magazine on the Kindle’s drab e-ink screen if Apple delivers a multimedia-centric tablet?
Apple’s earlier in-app sales model wasn’t ideal for publishers. Previously, in-app commerce was a feature exclusive to paid apps; free apps were not permitted to sell content. Newspapers and magazines already struggle to sway readers to pay for content to begin with, and charging for apps cuts off potential customers. By allowing commerce within free apps, Apple creates the opportunity for a free media app to serve as a gateway for readers to get hooked on a newspaper’s or magazine’s content, which could help lure them into paying for exclusive premium content.
If Apple does deliver a tablet, the key for publishers is to create a convenient experience that readers will pay for, as opposed to the content itself. A free app would be the first step toward offering that experience. (And then the publisher will have to figure out what to do about ads, but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.)
It is speculated that the tablet will be designed like a 10-inch iPod Touch or iPhone, and will include the accelerometer, GPS, live video streaming and multitouch.
What’s in it for Apple? Primarily, squashing Amazon’s Kindle. Who would wish to read a digital newspaper or magazine on the Kindle’s drab e-ink screen if Apple delivers a multimedia-centric tablet?
Friday, 23 October 2009
Bloomsbury sees Kindle as additional channel to market
Bloomsbury the publisher of the Harry Potter franchise still expects the sales of it’s hard copy books to continue to out sell electronic copies. Amazon’s Kindle is seen as an additional channel to market.
Until now, The Kindle had only been available to customers in the U.S. but earlier this month Amazon announced it will make the product available to buy worldwide and international shipping has begun now.
Bloomsbury beleive that consumers will have a natural preference of either continuing to buy books or ditching hard-copy titles for The Kindle.
Until now, The Kindle had only been available to customers in the U.S. but earlier this month Amazon announced it will make the product available to buy worldwide and international shipping has begun now.
Bloomsbury beleive that consumers will have a natural preference of either continuing to buy books or ditching hard-copy titles for The Kindle.
Barnes and Noble to release digital book reader?
Barnes & Noble Inc., the largest U.S. bookstore chain, may release a handheld device for reading digital versions of books.
Speculators believe that an e-mailed invitation it has scheduled a “major event in the company’s history” for Oct. 20 in New York, may be the announcement of a digital book reader.
Booksellers are trying to compete with Amazon.com Inc.’s Kindle and Sony Corp.’s electronic book readers and mirror the success of Apple’s iTunes.
Apple gained market share fast and locked up the relationships and the customers.
Speculators believe that an e-mailed invitation it has scheduled a “major event in the company’s history” for Oct. 20 in New York, may be the announcement of a digital book reader.
Booksellers are trying to compete with Amazon.com Inc.’s Kindle and Sony Corp.’s electronic book readers and mirror the success of Apple’s iTunes.
Apple gained market share fast and locked up the relationships and the customers.
Stephen King and the Amazon Kindle
Stephen King likes the Kindle so much that he has written a novella exclusively for the e-book reader and it's not his first. In 2000 he wrote the first mass market ebook called "Riding the Bullet". This was received well with over half a million downloads in a couple of days. Then came "The Plant" where reader were asked to pay for each installment.
His new outing is about an English teacher who spends too much time on his computer. This leads to the breakup from his girlfriend. So he buys a Kindle - the rest is history....
King says "I don't think I would have written just any story for the Kindle – because it's Kindle specific, it makes it more interesting. It gave me a chance to confront some of these questions of books versus electronics."
Stephen King has been a strong advocate of e-books and he does not believe that e-publishing does not herald the death knell for the paperback.
His new outing is about an English teacher who spends too much time on his computer. This leads to the breakup from his girlfriend. So he buys a Kindle - the rest is history....
King says "I don't think I would have written just any story for the Kindle – because it's Kindle specific, it makes it more interesting. It gave me a chance to confront some of these questions of books versus electronics."
Stephen King has been a strong advocate of e-books and he does not believe that e-publishing does not herald the death knell for the paperback.
Amazon Kindle 2 versus the Sony reader
The Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader are the two leaders in the market for the ebook reader. But how do they compare. Both have a 6 inch screen (800x600px), both use the E-Ink display. I have looked on both and find the Kindle easier to read. The Kindle is taller (and slimmer) because it has the QWERTY keyboard - the sony has an on-screen keyboard. The kindle has a longer battery life - but this is irrelevant as the E-ink display only uses power when the page is changing. One big advantage of the Sony is that is just looks better,
The Kindle does not use Wi-Fi, instead it uses a EVDO wirelss data network that searches for and downloads books. The Sony uses USB to connect to the computer. I think the Kindle is far easier in this respect.
The main point for the Sony are:-
1. It has a touch screen that allows freehand drawing
2. It's smaller than the Kindle with the same size screen
3. The sony supports pdf and ePub
4. There are three colors to choose from
The main points for the Kindle are:-
1. Whispernet download with free internet access
2. Better resolution
3.Vast selection of books from Amazon
4. QWERTY keyboard
The Kindle does not use Wi-Fi, instead it uses a EVDO wirelss data network that searches for and downloads books. The Sony uses USB to connect to the computer. I think the Kindle is far easier in this respect.
The main point for the Sony are:-
1. It has a touch screen that allows freehand drawing
2. It's smaller than the Kindle with the same size screen
3. The sony supports pdf and ePub
4. There are three colors to choose from
The main points for the Kindle are:-
1. Whispernet download with free internet access
2. Better resolution
3.Vast selection of books from Amazon
4. QWERTY keyboard
Thursday, 22 October 2009
Google Editions
Google Plan to launch an online service that will allow the user to download electronic books to phones and e-readers. Half a million publications are expected to be available next year. This could be a viable alternative to the Amazon Kindle as it will be available to a range of devices.
Watch this space....
Watch this space....
Amazon Kindle Launces in India
It was once only available in the US, now the Kindle 2 has been made available in India. The Kindle has now gone on Sale in over 100 countries. The Indians have a choice of over 280,000 books and magazines as well as lots of free content. It is still only shipped from the US and will take upto a week to arrive.
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
Alex Reader
Introducing the new e-reader: Alex is a dual-screen e-book reader by Spring Design. It's a book reader and tablet that has a 3.5"color LCD display on the bottom and a 6-inch monochrome electronic paper display on top. It runs Google Android and lets you interact with the web via Wi-Fi or 3G.
Barnes & Noble’s Nook e-reader
Some more competition for the Amazon Kindle. Barnes and Noble have entered the market and most of their innovation seems targeted at adding more functions than the Kindle 2
Its Nook e-reader hits the stores in November for $259. It has a smaller color touchscreen to the bottom of its case for easier navigation. The Nookis running Google’s Android operating system.
Sunday, 18 October 2009
Elonex eBook
This is an extremely portable electronic book reader with expandable storage and great battery life, but it lacks functionality and the user interface may be offputting.
This new ebook reader, from PC manufacturer Elonex, is being marketed in partnership with the bookselling chain Borders, similar to the strategy adopted for the Sony Reader which initally partnered with Waterstone's.
First impressions are that the Elonex eBook is incredibly light and thin – just 180g and only 9mm thick – while the width and height are about the size of a paperback, at 187x117mm.
This new ebook reader, from PC manufacturer Elonex, is being marketed in partnership with the bookselling chain Borders, similar to the strategy adopted for the Sony Reader which initally partnered with Waterstone's.
First impressions are that the Elonex eBook is incredibly light and thin – just 180g and only 9mm thick – while the width and height are about the size of a paperback, at 187x117mm.
Sony Reader Touch edition eBook
The Touch edition of Sony’s eBook Reader has a 6-inch screen, a stylus nestled in the spine, and a selection of hard buttons beneath the screen, including the ‘zoom’ button, and the ‘home’ button.
Most controls, however, can be made with either a tap or a swipe of your finger across the screen. Pages can be turned by a swipe to the left or to the right. You can change this setting, so that a left swipe flicks forwards through the book and a right swipe flicks backwards, and vice versa.
Most controls, however, can be made with either a tap or a swipe of your finger across the screen. Pages can be turned by a swipe to the left or to the right. You can change this setting, so that a left swipe flicks forwards through the book and a right swipe flicks backwards, and vice versa.
Sony Reader Pocket edition eBook
The Sony Reader Pocket edition eBook isn’t so small that you could fit it into your jeans pocket, but it should comfortably fit into your jacket pocket or handbag. The screen measures 4 inches from the bottom left corner to top right, which is probably about as small as you’d want to go with such a device.
Saturday, 17 October 2009
In-App Sales and iTablet: The Killer Combo to Save Publishing?
Apple on Thursday made a subtle-yet-major revision to its App Store policy, enabling extra content to be sold through free iPhone apps. It’s a move that immediately impacts the publishing industry, and it could pay even bigger dividends if the Cupertino, California, company indeed delivers its highly anticipated touchscreen tablet.
While the most obvious beneficiaries would be app developers, a market segment that can also benefit from the new in-app commerce model are people and companies that create content and need to set up shop in a way that doesn’t, in effect, charge someone for just walking in — like media publishers.
Newspapers and magazines are reportedly in talks with Apple about repurposing their content onto a “new device,” presumably the rumored touchscreen tablet Apple will deliver in early 2010. Numerous reports suggest an Apple tablet would have a strong focus on redefining print media. Enabling in-app commerce through free apps was a crucial move to help make this goal a reality.
Apple’s earlier in-app sales model wasn’t ideal for publishers. Previously, in-app commerce was a feature exclusive to paid apps; free apps were not permitted to sell content. Newspapers and magazines already struggle to sway readers to pay for content to begin with, and charging for apps cuts off potential customers. By allowing commerce within free apps, Apple creates the opportunity for a free media app to serve as a gateway for readers to get hooked on a newspaper’s or magazine’s content, which could help lure them into paying for exclusive premium content.
CNN is an exception: Its recently-released iPhone app costs $2. The Wall Street Journal will later this month begin charging for most of the content it delivers through its free app, and the Financial Times has an app that only offers up to 10 free stories a month without a subscription to the newspaper. But for the most part, publishers have loathed charging for an app, even if it then enabled them to try to charge for content within that point of sale. Reducing the cost barrier of that business model to zero changes things considerably. At least one small publisher, Scarab Magazine, has already taken advantage of the change.
Picture a free magazine app that offers one sample issue and the ability to purchase future issues afterward. Or a newspaper app that only displays text articles with pictures, but paying a fee within the app unlocks an entire new digital experience packed with music and video. This is an example of the “freemium” model that Wired magazine’s Chris Anderson explains in his book Free. It’s a model that some publishers, including Wired’s parent company Condé Nast, are already experimenting with on their websites. (Our sister publication Ars Technica, for example, offers its general content for free, as well as a “Premier” subscription option for readers to access exclusive content.)
If Apple does indeed deliver a tablet, the key for publishers is to create a convenient experience that readers will pay for, as opposed to the content itself. A free app would be the first step toward offering that experience. (And then the publisher will have to figure out what to do about ads, but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.)
It’s plausible to imagine that a freemium strategy would be much more effective through a tablet app than a website. If the tablet is indeed designed like a 10-inch iPod Touch or iPhone, as insiders have described it, then publishers developing apps will be able to take advantage of features such as the accelerometer, GPS, live video streaming and multitouch to innovate the way they engage with their audience — and, ultimately, persuade them to pay.
Only now is the relevance of a touchscreen tablet becoming more clear. Scores of tablet devices have come and gone in years past, and many analysts and tech enthusiasts wondered why Apple would enter what is considered a failed product category. Clearly, Apple sees a gaping hole — the publishing industry’s lack of vision for a working digital model — and a touchscreen tablet, combined with the App Store and this new in-app sales model, would seek to fill it.
What’s in it for Apple? Primarily, squashing Amazon’s Kindle. Who would wish to read a digital newspaper or magazine on the Kindle’s drab e-ink screen if Apple delivers a multimedia-centric tablet? Wired’s Steven Levy shares my view in his assessment of the Kindle’s newspaper experience: “[The Kindle DX's] plodding menu-based interface still made navigating newspapers difficult, and the rich graphic quality that makes magazines such an indulgence is totally missing. Even the flashiest print publication looks like The New England Journal of Medicine.”
Can Apple redefine print media to save the publishing industry? It probably has a higher chance than any other tech company out there. Apple is a market-shaper, and that’s the kind of a company the publishing industry needs to resuscitate it as the traditional advertising model continues to collapse. Daily Beast editor Tina Brown believes that, thanks to the powers of the internet and technology, we’re entering the “golden age” of journalism in the next three years. Perhaps Apple’s tablet will be a crucial part of it.
While the most obvious beneficiaries would be app developers, a market segment that can also benefit from the new in-app commerce model are people and companies that create content and need to set up shop in a way that doesn’t, in effect, charge someone for just walking in — like media publishers.
Newspapers and magazines are reportedly in talks with Apple about repurposing their content onto a “new device,” presumably the rumored touchscreen tablet Apple will deliver in early 2010. Numerous reports suggest an Apple tablet would have a strong focus on redefining print media. Enabling in-app commerce through free apps was a crucial move to help make this goal a reality.
Apple’s earlier in-app sales model wasn’t ideal for publishers. Previously, in-app commerce was a feature exclusive to paid apps; free apps were not permitted to sell content. Newspapers and magazines already struggle to sway readers to pay for content to begin with, and charging for apps cuts off potential customers. By allowing commerce within free apps, Apple creates the opportunity for a free media app to serve as a gateway for readers to get hooked on a newspaper’s or magazine’s content, which could help lure them into paying for exclusive premium content.
CNN is an exception: Its recently-released iPhone app costs $2. The Wall Street Journal will later this month begin charging for most of the content it delivers through its free app, and the Financial Times has an app that only offers up to 10 free stories a month without a subscription to the newspaper. But for the most part, publishers have loathed charging for an app, even if it then enabled them to try to charge for content within that point of sale. Reducing the cost barrier of that business model to zero changes things considerably. At least one small publisher, Scarab Magazine, has already taken advantage of the change.
Picture a free magazine app that offers one sample issue and the ability to purchase future issues afterward. Or a newspaper app that only displays text articles with pictures, but paying a fee within the app unlocks an entire new digital experience packed with music and video. This is an example of the “freemium” model that Wired magazine’s Chris Anderson explains in his book Free. It’s a model that some publishers, including Wired’s parent company Condé Nast, are already experimenting with on their websites. (Our sister publication Ars Technica, for example, offers its general content for free, as well as a “Premier” subscription option for readers to access exclusive content.)
If Apple does indeed deliver a tablet, the key for publishers is to create a convenient experience that readers will pay for, as opposed to the content itself. A free app would be the first step toward offering that experience. (And then the publisher will have to figure out what to do about ads, but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.)
It’s plausible to imagine that a freemium strategy would be much more effective through a tablet app than a website. If the tablet is indeed designed like a 10-inch iPod Touch or iPhone, as insiders have described it, then publishers developing apps will be able to take advantage of features such as the accelerometer, GPS, live video streaming and multitouch to innovate the way they engage with their audience — and, ultimately, persuade them to pay.
Only now is the relevance of a touchscreen tablet becoming more clear. Scores of tablet devices have come and gone in years past, and many analysts and tech enthusiasts wondered why Apple would enter what is considered a failed product category. Clearly, Apple sees a gaping hole — the publishing industry’s lack of vision for a working digital model — and a touchscreen tablet, combined with the App Store and this new in-app sales model, would seek to fill it.
What’s in it for Apple? Primarily, squashing Amazon’s Kindle. Who would wish to read a digital newspaper or magazine on the Kindle’s drab e-ink screen if Apple delivers a multimedia-centric tablet? Wired’s Steven Levy shares my view in his assessment of the Kindle’s newspaper experience: “[The Kindle DX's] plodding menu-based interface still made navigating newspapers difficult, and the rich graphic quality that makes magazines such an indulgence is totally missing. Even the flashiest print publication looks like The New England Journal of Medicine.”
Can Apple redefine print media to save the publishing industry? It probably has a higher chance than any other tech company out there. Apple is a market-shaper, and that’s the kind of a company the publishing industry needs to resuscitate it as the traditional advertising model continues to collapse. Daily Beast editor Tina Brown believes that, thanks to the powers of the internet and technology, we’re entering the “golden age” of journalism in the next three years. Perhaps Apple’s tablet will be a crucial part of it.
Bloomsbury backs Kindle but sees books dominating
Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Friday called the worldwide availability of Amazon's e-book reader The Kindle a fantastic development, but said it still expects sales of hard copy books to prove more popular.
"It's an absolutely fantastic development for the book trade and it's something for all of us British publishers to look forward to," Chief Executive Nigel Newton told Dow Jones Newswires Friday.
Until now, The Kindle had only been available to customers in the U.S. but earlier this month Amazon announced it will make the product available to buy worldwide and international shipping begins on Monday.
Newton doesn't view The Kindle as a threat to hard-copy book sales."It's an additional channel of sales for us. If you look at the downloads of Dan Brown's most recent novel to The Kindle, that gives you an idea of the size of the market that exists. In the future, everything will be available to download but in my view printed books will remain the dominant way that people will read," he said.
However, he thinks consumers will have a natural preference of either continuing to buy books or ditching hard-copy titles for The Kindle.
"There's no question that people will buy just one or the other. But the important thing for us is that we should benefit either way," he said.
Dan Brown's novel "The Lost Symbol" has topped the Kindle e-books chart for four weeks and sold more than 1,000 digital copies on its first day of release.
Newton said:"The Kindle is great for people that read on buses, the tube, planes and take books on holiday with them. It's so much more convenient to take a device of that size rather than piles of books."
He said talks with Amazon about which of its titles would be made available on the e-reader were at an early stage and he doesn't yet know at what prices titles will be sold for.
"The business model is still emerging but the important thing for us will be to have the margin as similar as possible to what we have in books," he said.
more at http://www.totaltele.com/view.aspx?ID=449905
"It's an absolutely fantastic development for the book trade and it's something for all of us British publishers to look forward to," Chief Executive Nigel Newton told Dow Jones Newswires Friday.
Until now, The Kindle had only been available to customers in the U.S. but earlier this month Amazon announced it will make the product available to buy worldwide and international shipping begins on Monday.
Newton doesn't view The Kindle as a threat to hard-copy book sales."It's an additional channel of sales for us. If you look at the downloads of Dan Brown's most recent novel to The Kindle, that gives you an idea of the size of the market that exists. In the future, everything will be available to download but in my view printed books will remain the dominant way that people will read," he said.
However, he thinks consumers will have a natural preference of either continuing to buy books or ditching hard-copy titles for The Kindle.
"There's no question that people will buy just one or the other. But the important thing for us is that we should benefit either way," he said.
Dan Brown's novel "The Lost Symbol" has topped the Kindle e-books chart for four weeks and sold more than 1,000 digital copies on its first day of release.
Newton said:"The Kindle is great for people that read on buses, the tube, planes and take books on holiday with them. It's so much more convenient to take a device of that size rather than piles of books."
He said talks with Amazon about which of its titles would be made available on the e-reader were at an early stage and he doesn't yet know at what prices titles will be sold for.
"The business model is still emerging but the important thing for us will be to have the margin as similar as possible to what we have in books," he said.
more at http://www.totaltele.com/view.aspx?ID=449905
Kindle E-books gain a foothold at Frankfurt Book Fair
By LAURA STEVENS
FRANKFURT
While paper books still outnumber texts that can be read online or on dedicated readers like the Kindle or eBook, use of the electronic versions is growing.
Many publishing firms unveiled electronic editions of their books for the first time this year at the 61st Frankfurt Book Fair. But many publishers, while they are certain that e-books will play a bigger role in their future, say it has yet to be seen just how big the trend will become.
De Bezige Bij, or The Busy Bee, a Dutch publishing company based in Amsterdam, published its first e-books in August, said Pieter Swinkels, a senior editor at the company.
"Everybody is interested in it (but) at the moment it still feels like you're looking into a dark room," he told The Associated Press Friday.
"Books are still a good piece of technology, they can still do everything you need," said Jason Cooper, a director at Faber & Faber, one of the largest independent book publishers in the United Kingdom.
He said that, while books won't vanish, it's important to start rolling out electronic titles, which Faber & Faber did last year.
Unlike many other publishers at the fair, MIT Press has been bringing out e-books since the early 1990s, said Gita Manaktala, editorial director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology university press. Now they've added titles for Kindle, and nearly half of MIT Press' 4,000-strong backlist is available electronically.
"One thing that's really driving a shift toward e-books are libraries," she said. Electronic editions are in demand, she said, because they are more convenient, take up less space and can be made available to more people.
Joachim Leser, a spokesman for the Stuttgart-based publishing company Klett-Cotta Verlag, said the company is working to get e-books out to all kinds of technologies, including iPhones and Sony eReaders.
"The problem right now is that the customers don't have any orientation, and they don't know where to find it," he said. "Personally, I think that everything ... will end up going in the direction of both cell phone and iPod technology."
Peter Prange, a best-selling author of German-language historical novels, including "Die Principessa," said it's complicated for authors to watch the e-book process.
"It's wonderful for the world, but a catastrophe for the authors," since they make almost no money, he said.
Prange said that, while electronic books are convenient and portable, they don't have the familiarity of traditional books.
"Books are friends. And I want the book that I've read to be on my bookshelf. Therefore I believe that paperless books will be about as successful as bathrooms without toilet paper," he said
FRANKFURT
While paper books still outnumber texts that can be read online or on dedicated readers like the Kindle or eBook, use of the electronic versions is growing.
Many publishing firms unveiled electronic editions of their books for the first time this year at the 61st Frankfurt Book Fair. But many publishers, while they are certain that e-books will play a bigger role in their future, say it has yet to be seen just how big the trend will become.
De Bezige Bij, or The Busy Bee, a Dutch publishing company based in Amsterdam, published its first e-books in August, said Pieter Swinkels, a senior editor at the company.
"Everybody is interested in it (but) at the moment it still feels like you're looking into a dark room," he told The Associated Press Friday.
"Books are still a good piece of technology, they can still do everything you need," said Jason Cooper, a director at Faber & Faber, one of the largest independent book publishers in the United Kingdom.
He said that, while books won't vanish, it's important to start rolling out electronic titles, which Faber & Faber did last year.
Unlike many other publishers at the fair, MIT Press has been bringing out e-books since the early 1990s, said Gita Manaktala, editorial director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology university press. Now they've added titles for Kindle, and nearly half of MIT Press' 4,000-strong backlist is available electronically.
"One thing that's really driving a shift toward e-books are libraries," she said. Electronic editions are in demand, she said, because they are more convenient, take up less space and can be made available to more people.
Joachim Leser, a spokesman for the Stuttgart-based publishing company Klett-Cotta Verlag, said the company is working to get e-books out to all kinds of technologies, including iPhones and Sony eReaders.
"The problem right now is that the customers don't have any orientation, and they don't know where to find it," he said. "Personally, I think that everything ... will end up going in the direction of both cell phone and iPod technology."
Peter Prange, a best-selling author of German-language historical novels, including "Die Principessa," said it's complicated for authors to watch the e-book process.
"It's wonderful for the world, but a catastrophe for the authors," since they make almost no money, he said.
Prange said that, while electronic books are convenient and portable, they don't have the familiarity of traditional books.
"Books are friends. And I want the book that I've read to be on my bookshelf. Therefore I believe that paperless books will be about as successful as bathrooms without toilet paper," he said
Kindle a semifinalist for Butkus Award
Longhorn Sergio Kindle has been named as one of 16 semifinalists for the Butkus Award, presented annually to the top linebacker in college football. Von Miller of Texas A&M, Travis Lewis of Oklahoma, Sean Weatherspoon of Missouri and Daryl Washington of TCU also were selected as semifinalists.
The award could go to a player who isn’t expected to make it onto the field this season: Boston College’s Mark Herzlich.
Herzlich, one of the semifinalists announced on Friday, will miss this season while recovering from a rare form of cancer called Ewing’s Sarcoma. The Associated Press reported that Herzlich has helped raise more than $80,000 for research and education about the disease. Award namesake Dick Butkus noted that the honor also is designed to remind the players “that they have a responsibility to serve as role models and to give back to society.”
Herzlich said his recovery is nearly complete, and he plans to play next season.
The other semifinalists: Obi Ezeh, Michigan; Chris Galippo, Southern Cal; Greg Jones, Michigan State; Sean Lee, Penn State; Rolando McClain, Alabama; Brandon Spikes, Florida; Eric Norwood, South Carolina; Perry Riley, Louisiana State; Quan Sturdivant, North Carolina; and Rennie Curran, Georgia.
The award could go to a player who isn’t expected to make it onto the field this season: Boston College’s Mark Herzlich.
Herzlich, one of the semifinalists announced on Friday, will miss this season while recovering from a rare form of cancer called Ewing’s Sarcoma. The Associated Press reported that Herzlich has helped raise more than $80,000 for research and education about the disease. Award namesake Dick Butkus noted that the honor also is designed to remind the players “that they have a responsibility to serve as role models and to give back to society.”
Herzlich said his recovery is nearly complete, and he plans to play next season.
The other semifinalists: Obi Ezeh, Michigan; Chris Galippo, Southern Cal; Greg Jones, Michigan State; Sean Lee, Penn State; Rolando McClain, Alabama; Brandon Spikes, Florida; Eric Norwood, South Carolina; Perry Riley, Louisiana State; Quan Sturdivant, North Carolina; and Rennie Curran, Georgia.
Friday, 16 October 2009
Google sparks e-books fight with Kindle
By Georgina Prodhan
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Google plans to launch an online store to deliver electronic books to any device with a Web browser, threatening to upset a burgeoning market for dedicated e-readers dominated by Amazon's Kindle.
The Web search giant said on Thursday it would launch Google Editions in the first half of next year, initially offering about half a million e-books in partnership with publishers with whom it already cooperates, where they have digital rights.
Readers will be able to buy e-books either from Google directly or from other online stores such as Amazon.com or Barnesandnoble.com. Google will host the e-books and make them searchable.
Google spokeswoman Jennie Johnson said many of the details of the project, including which online retailers would participate and whether the digital books would be viewable on e-readers like the Amazon Kindle, have yet to be determined.
Google also ruled out making the device itself.
"We're not focused on a dedicated e-reader or device of any kind," Tom Turvey, Google's director of strategic partnerships, told journalists at the Frankfurt Book Fair.
Technology research firm Forrester expects about 3 million e-readers to be sold in the United States this year, from a previous base of about 1 million, helped by lower prices, more content and better distribution.
Google Editions will allow Google to make money for the first time out of one of its book ventures -- which also include a controversial project to scan and index tens of millions of books through partnerships with libraries.
Turvey said Google would give publishers 63 percent of revenues and keep 37 percent for itself where it sold e-books directly to consumers. Google already partners with publishers to make physical books searchable and available for sale.
In cases where e-books were bought through other online retailers, publishers would get 45 percent and most of the remaining 55 percent would go to the retailer, with a small share for Google, he said.
Kaufman Brothers analyst Aaron Kessler said it was not surprising that Google plans to sell electronic books, but the near term revenue potential may not be as high as other opportunities such as display and mobile advertising.
COMPETITION FOR AMAZON
Forrester media analyst Sarah Rotman Epps said Google would not necessarily steal market share from Amazon, although it would strengthen the position of others who support open standards usable across a range of devices, such as Sony's.
"Certainly it presents collective competition to Amazon, but for many consumers the word 'e-reader' is synonymous with the Kindle," she said.
Readers will be able to access e-books they have bought through Google on any device including PCs, laptops, netbooks and smartphones like Apple's iPhone through their gmail account more at
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE59E28H20091015
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Google plans to launch an online store to deliver electronic books to any device with a Web browser, threatening to upset a burgeoning market for dedicated e-readers dominated by Amazon's Kindle.
The Web search giant said on Thursday it would launch Google Editions in the first half of next year, initially offering about half a million e-books in partnership with publishers with whom it already cooperates, where they have digital rights.
Readers will be able to buy e-books either from Google directly or from other online stores such as Amazon.com or Barnesandnoble.com. Google will host the e-books and make them searchable.
Google spokeswoman Jennie Johnson said many of the details of the project, including which online retailers would participate and whether the digital books would be viewable on e-readers like the Amazon Kindle, have yet to be determined.
Google also ruled out making the device itself.
"We're not focused on a dedicated e-reader or device of any kind," Tom Turvey, Google's director of strategic partnerships, told journalists at the Frankfurt Book Fair.
Technology research firm Forrester expects about 3 million e-readers to be sold in the United States this year, from a previous base of about 1 million, helped by lower prices, more content and better distribution.
Google Editions will allow Google to make money for the first time out of one of its book ventures -- which also include a controversial project to scan and index tens of millions of books through partnerships with libraries.
Turvey said Google would give publishers 63 percent of revenues and keep 37 percent for itself where it sold e-books directly to consumers. Google already partners with publishers to make physical books searchable and available for sale.
In cases where e-books were bought through other online retailers, publishers would get 45 percent and most of the remaining 55 percent would go to the retailer, with a small share for Google, he said.
Kaufman Brothers analyst Aaron Kessler said it was not surprising that Google plans to sell electronic books, but the near term revenue potential may not be as high as other opportunities such as display and mobile advertising.
COMPETITION FOR AMAZON
Forrester media analyst Sarah Rotman Epps said Google would not necessarily steal market share from Amazon, although it would strengthen the position of others who support open standards usable across a range of devices, such as Sony's.
"Certainly it presents collective competition to Amazon, but for many consumers the word 'e-reader' is synonymous with the Kindle," she said.
Readers will be able to access e-books they have bought through Google on any device including PCs, laptops, netbooks and smartphones like Apple's iPhone through their gmail account more at
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE59E28H20091015
Amazon's Kindle goes global -- but not to Canada
By Matt Hartley, Financial PostOctober 6, 2009
StoryPhotos ( 1 )
Amazon.com Inc is introducing Kindle, its wireless electronic reader, for over 100 countries, including China and most of Europe, intensifying a battle for the burgeoning digital book market.Photograph by: Reuters/Mike Segar, Reuters/Mike SegarAmazon.com Inc.'s popular Kindle digital book reader is now available to literary enthusiasts outside the United States, but Canadians hoping to get their hands on the device are still out of luck.
On Wednesday, the Seattle, Washington-based Internet retail titan announced it was trimming the price of the Kindle ebook reader from US$299 to US$259 while simultaneously introducing a version of the device designed to work in more than 100 countries and territories around the world.
The new international version of the Kindle costs US$279 and will begin shipping on Oct. 19 to countries such as Bolivia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Hungary and Japan.
“Kindle is the most wished for, the most gifted, and the No. 1 bestselling product across the millions of items we sell on Amazon, and we’re excited to be able to lower the price,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com's founder and chief executive officer.
“We’re also excited to announce a new addition to the Kindle family—Kindle with global wireless. At home or abroad in over 100 countries, you can think of a book and download it wirelessly in less than 60 seconds.”
Canadians, however, are still unable to purchase Kindle devices through Amazon or download Kindle content, such as digital books and newspaper subscriptions.
Amazon.com executives could not immediately be reached for comment.
© Copyright (c) National Post
StoryPhotos ( 1 )
Amazon.com Inc is introducing Kindle, its wireless electronic reader, for over 100 countries, including China and most of Europe, intensifying a battle for the burgeoning digital book market.Photograph by: Reuters/Mike Segar, Reuters/Mike SegarAmazon.com Inc.'s popular Kindle digital book reader is now available to literary enthusiasts outside the United States, but Canadians hoping to get their hands on the device are still out of luck.
On Wednesday, the Seattle, Washington-based Internet retail titan announced it was trimming the price of the Kindle ebook reader from US$299 to US$259 while simultaneously introducing a version of the device designed to work in more than 100 countries and territories around the world.
The new international version of the Kindle costs US$279 and will begin shipping on Oct. 19 to countries such as Bolivia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Hungary and Japan.
“Kindle is the most wished for, the most gifted, and the No. 1 bestselling product across the millions of items we sell on Amazon, and we’re excited to be able to lower the price,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com's founder and chief executive officer.
“We’re also excited to announce a new addition to the Kindle family—Kindle with global wireless. At home or abroad in over 100 countries, you can think of a book and download it wirelessly in less than 60 seconds.”
Canadians, however, are still unable to purchase Kindle devices through Amazon or download Kindle content, such as digital books and newspaper subscriptions.
Amazon.com executives could not immediately be reached for comment.
© Copyright (c) National Post
Kindle International Actually Less International Than It Leads You to Believe
Kindle International Actually Less International Than It Leads You to Believe
Category: Internet, Gadgets
Posted: October 14, 2009 02:45AM
Author: d3bruts1d
The recently announced Kindle International may not be as great of a device as it originally sounded. Wired's Gadget Lab uncovered a bit of detail that Amazon tucked away in the fine print. Outside of the US, the Kindle's experimental web browser used for blogs and internet access will be unavailable. That leaves the device only useful for downloading books from Amazon's Kindle Store.
Included in the high cost of the Kindle International is the connection to AT&T's wireless network. This is done so that the users will never see a monthly bill. It's likely that AT&T is passing along a high roaming cost to Amazon for the international wireless access, and Amazon's probably doing what they can to keep costs down. Here's a suggestion for Amazon, sell a Kindle with no access and let the user pick up the monthly bill.
Still like the idea of the Kindle International? The article goes on to state that the device is being shipped from the US, which of course will add additional shipping costs to anyone overseas. But the big kicker is the Kindle International only includes a US power adapter. Want to charge the International device while outside of the US? That'll cost you extra for an adapter. Not a big deal for US travelers who already have the adapters, but a kicker for those that live outside the US and don't already have one. Wired estimates that the $280 Kindle International could cost as much as $350 by the time it's all said and done.
Sounds like it should have been named Kindle Limited.
Category: Internet, Gadgets
Posted: October 14, 2009 02:45AM
Author: d3bruts1d
The recently announced Kindle International may not be as great of a device as it originally sounded. Wired's Gadget Lab uncovered a bit of detail that Amazon tucked away in the fine print. Outside of the US, the Kindle's experimental web browser used for blogs and internet access will be unavailable. That leaves the device only useful for downloading books from Amazon's Kindle Store.
Included in the high cost of the Kindle International is the connection to AT&T's wireless network. This is done so that the users will never see a monthly bill. It's likely that AT&T is passing along a high roaming cost to Amazon for the international wireless access, and Amazon's probably doing what they can to keep costs down. Here's a suggestion for Amazon, sell a Kindle with no access and let the user pick up the monthly bill.
Still like the idea of the Kindle International? The article goes on to state that the device is being shipped from the US, which of course will add additional shipping costs to anyone overseas. But the big kicker is the Kindle International only includes a US power adapter. Want to charge the International device while outside of the US? That'll cost you extra for an adapter. Not a big deal for US travelers who already have the adapters, but a kicker for those that live outside the US and don't already have one. Wired estimates that the $280 Kindle International could cost as much as $350 by the time it's all said and done.
Sounds like it should have been named Kindle Limited.
Kindle looks to Europe
BY ARCHIBALD PREUSCHAT
European publishers gathering in Frankfurt Wednesday for their biggest conference of the year hope some of the buzz around electronic books in the U.S. will rub off on them now that the international version of Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle is on its way.
The reality, however, is that language issues and a divided wireless market mean the Kindle's arrival in Europe is likely to be slightly different than in the U.S.
U.S. sales of e-readers are growing. In a recent report, Forrester Research Inc. estimated that three million e-readers would be sold in the nation this year, and six million next ...
more at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704107204574471110330426026.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsForth
European publishers gathering in Frankfurt Wednesday for their biggest conference of the year hope some of the buzz around electronic books in the U.S. will rub off on them now that the international version of Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle is on its way.
The reality, however, is that language issues and a divided wireless market mean the Kindle's arrival in Europe is likely to be slightly different than in the U.S.
U.S. sales of e-readers are growing. In a recent report, Forrester Research Inc. estimated that three million e-readers would be sold in the nation this year, and six million next ...
more at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704107204574471110330426026.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsForth
Kindle lightens textbook load, but flaws remain
By JESSICA MINTZ (AP) – 2 days ago
SEATTLE — It's an experiment that has made back-to-school a little easier on the back: Amazon.com gave more than 200 college students its Kindle e-reading device this fall, loaded with digital versions of their textbooks.
But some students are finding they miss the decidedly low-tech conveniences of paper — highlighting, flagging pages with sticky notes and scribbling in the margins.
"I like the aspect of writing something down on paper and having it be so easy and just kind of writing whatever comes to my mind," says Claire Becerra, a freshman at Arizona State University.
Becerra tried typing notes on the Kindle's small keyboard, but when she went back to reread them she found they were laden with typos and didn't make sense. After a month, she says she takes far fewer notes and relies on the Kindle's highlighter tool instead.
Amazon wants to adapt the Kindle to academia, where it could reduce the notoriously high cost of textbooks. The Kindle DX, with a larger screen than the regular model, costs $489, but digital books can cost less than half what physical ones do.
While it might be the future of textbooks, Amazon or any other e-reader company has a long way to go to make it happen — even for a technology-saturated generation that should be more receptive to the shift.
When The Associated Press hit five of the test campuses to ask students how they felt about the Kindle, the responses were lukewarm.
Most said they liked the prospect of having anytime access to a semester's worth of reading on the Kindle, which can wirelessly download books or get material by being plugged into a PC.
But several disliked taking notes on a keyboard with Tic-Tac-sized keys that sits under a 9.7-inch screen.
Students can also highlight text or bookmark pages — the digital equivalent of dog-earing — then look at those excerpts and links on separate screens.
Madeline Kraizel, a freshman at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, has amassed three Kindle pages of bookmarks for her chemistry textbook. That's getting unwieldy, and she isn't sure whether there's a better way to organize them.
Another drawback: The Kindle doesn't show page numbers. Because text can be made bigger or smaller, a turn of the virtual page doesn't necessarily correspond to the printed book. Instead, Kindle uses "location" markers.
That threw Kraizel and one of her classmates, Hun Jae Lee. Lee, 19, says professors had to give Kindle-equipped students a few words to search for. Eventually, they started referring to both Kindle locations and textbook page numbers.
Other students struggled when professors had them read documents in PDF format, which doesn't show up well on the Kindle. Users can't zoom in or make notes on them, and diagrams sometimes get separated from notes explaining them.
John Sherman, a first-year MBA student at the University of Virginia, says he can read some case studies on the Kindle but still needs to print others.
"For the cases that require a lot of calculations, I find paper cases to be better," says Sherman, 31. "For me, it helps to scribble my thoughts in the margins."
Todd Schiller, 22, a student in the University of Washington's doctorate program in computer science, says he prefers the visual cues of a paper textbook to the "tunnel vision" that today's e-reading promotes.
Opening two big textbook pages puts the section he's reading into context: Seeing how many pages remain in a chapter or the book helps him understand how far along he is in the author's plot or argument.
Students at seven schools are responding to surveys throughout this academic year and get to keep their Kindles. Amazon.com Inc. hasn't speculated on what improvements or new products might result and declined comment for this story.
The dozen or so students interviewed by the AP had compliments for the Kindle, too.
Most like how light the device is — just over a pound — and many would be willing to overlook technical hassles if it meant not having to carry any books. Most still had to buy and carry textbooks for non-Kindle classes this fall.
Students were also impressed with the "electronic ink" screen, which Amazon touts as far easier on the eyes than reading off a computer monitor. But it can't be backlit, disappointing one student who wants to read during dark early-morning bus commutes.
Kraizel, the Case Western freshman, says always having the Kindle with her has improved her study habits. It's much easier to cram in a few minutes of studying between classes, she says, and she's noticed that when she sits down for a serious study session she's more familiar with the material.
The Kindle can also do things books can't, like read homework aloud. Una Hopkins, a 46-year-old student in the nurse-practitioner program at Pace University in New York, got five chapters finished that way when she was stuck in traffic.
"It was robotic, but it got me where I needed to go," Hopkins says.
The device's usefulness goes beyond textbooks: Another Washington grad student in computer science, Franziska Roesner, has used the Web browser to read and write e-mail when she's away from her computer. It's slow, but it worked, she says.
And sometimes its uses go beyond productivity entirely. Students at Arizona State have found the Minesweeper video game that comes with the device. They've also figured out how to download music.
Roesner, who was steeped in Kindle hype as an intern at Amazon over the past two summers, lamented the device's problems with PDFs, which make up the bulk of this quarter's assignments. Still, she won't write off e-readers.
"If reading devices like this really come to replace reading paper," she wrote in an e-mail, "I think in 20 years we'll look back at the Kindle with nostalgic affection and amusement, like we now look back at 1990s computers."
Associated Press Writers Amanda Lee Myers in Phoenix, Zinie Chen Sampson in Richmond, Va., Thomas J. Sheeran in Cleveland and AP Technology Writer Peter Svensson in New York contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
SEATTLE — It's an experiment that has made back-to-school a little easier on the back: Amazon.com gave more than 200 college students its Kindle e-reading device this fall, loaded with digital versions of their textbooks.
But some students are finding they miss the decidedly low-tech conveniences of paper — highlighting, flagging pages with sticky notes and scribbling in the margins.
"I like the aspect of writing something down on paper and having it be so easy and just kind of writing whatever comes to my mind," says Claire Becerra, a freshman at Arizona State University.
Becerra tried typing notes on the Kindle's small keyboard, but when she went back to reread them she found they were laden with typos and didn't make sense. After a month, she says she takes far fewer notes and relies on the Kindle's highlighter tool instead.
Amazon wants to adapt the Kindle to academia, where it could reduce the notoriously high cost of textbooks. The Kindle DX, with a larger screen than the regular model, costs $489, but digital books can cost less than half what physical ones do.
While it might be the future of textbooks, Amazon or any other e-reader company has a long way to go to make it happen — even for a technology-saturated generation that should be more receptive to the shift.
When The Associated Press hit five of the test campuses to ask students how they felt about the Kindle, the responses were lukewarm.
Most said they liked the prospect of having anytime access to a semester's worth of reading on the Kindle, which can wirelessly download books or get material by being plugged into a PC.
But several disliked taking notes on a keyboard with Tic-Tac-sized keys that sits under a 9.7-inch screen.
Students can also highlight text or bookmark pages — the digital equivalent of dog-earing — then look at those excerpts and links on separate screens.
Madeline Kraizel, a freshman at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, has amassed three Kindle pages of bookmarks for her chemistry textbook. That's getting unwieldy, and she isn't sure whether there's a better way to organize them.
Another drawback: The Kindle doesn't show page numbers. Because text can be made bigger or smaller, a turn of the virtual page doesn't necessarily correspond to the printed book. Instead, Kindle uses "location" markers.
That threw Kraizel and one of her classmates, Hun Jae Lee. Lee, 19, says professors had to give Kindle-equipped students a few words to search for. Eventually, they started referring to both Kindle locations and textbook page numbers.
Other students struggled when professors had them read documents in PDF format, which doesn't show up well on the Kindle. Users can't zoom in or make notes on them, and diagrams sometimes get separated from notes explaining them.
John Sherman, a first-year MBA student at the University of Virginia, says he can read some case studies on the Kindle but still needs to print others.
"For the cases that require a lot of calculations, I find paper cases to be better," says Sherman, 31. "For me, it helps to scribble my thoughts in the margins."
Todd Schiller, 22, a student in the University of Washington's doctorate program in computer science, says he prefers the visual cues of a paper textbook to the "tunnel vision" that today's e-reading promotes.
Opening two big textbook pages puts the section he's reading into context: Seeing how many pages remain in a chapter or the book helps him understand how far along he is in the author's plot or argument.
Students at seven schools are responding to surveys throughout this academic year and get to keep their Kindles. Amazon.com Inc. hasn't speculated on what improvements or new products might result and declined comment for this story.
The dozen or so students interviewed by the AP had compliments for the Kindle, too.
Most like how light the device is — just over a pound — and many would be willing to overlook technical hassles if it meant not having to carry any books. Most still had to buy and carry textbooks for non-Kindle classes this fall.
Students were also impressed with the "electronic ink" screen, which Amazon touts as far easier on the eyes than reading off a computer monitor. But it can't be backlit, disappointing one student who wants to read during dark early-morning bus commutes.
Kraizel, the Case Western freshman, says always having the Kindle with her has improved her study habits. It's much easier to cram in a few minutes of studying between classes, she says, and she's noticed that when she sits down for a serious study session she's more familiar with the material.
The Kindle can also do things books can't, like read homework aloud. Una Hopkins, a 46-year-old student in the nurse-practitioner program at Pace University in New York, got five chapters finished that way when she was stuck in traffic.
"It was robotic, but it got me where I needed to go," Hopkins says.
The device's usefulness goes beyond textbooks: Another Washington grad student in computer science, Franziska Roesner, has used the Web browser to read and write e-mail when she's away from her computer. It's slow, but it worked, she says.
And sometimes its uses go beyond productivity entirely. Students at Arizona State have found the Minesweeper video game that comes with the device. They've also figured out how to download music.
Roesner, who was steeped in Kindle hype as an intern at Amazon over the past two summers, lamented the device's problems with PDFs, which make up the bulk of this quarter's assignments. Still, she won't write off e-readers.
"If reading devices like this really come to replace reading paper," she wrote in an e-mail, "I think in 20 years we'll look back at the Kindle with nostalgic affection and amusement, like we now look back at 1990s computers."
Associated Press Writers Amanda Lee Myers in Phoenix, Zinie Chen Sampson in Richmond, Va., Thomas J. Sheeran in Cleveland and AP Technology Writer Peter Svensson in New York contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Will Barnes & Noble E-reader Push Amazon Kindle Prices Lower
Jacqueline Emigh, PC World
Oct 14, 2009 11:26 pm
Now that Barnes & Noble is reportedly launching its very own E-reader, will prices on Amazon.com’s competing Kindle keep tumbling on further?
Based on recent historical trends in the still emerging e-reader market, that would only stand to reason.
After all, following Sony’s introduction of the $199 Sony Reader Pocket Edition in August, Amazon.com cut pricing on the Kindle by $40 to $259.
In a report accompanied by what it says are photos of the rumored device, Gizmodo pointed, as a differentiator, to the purported device's dual screen — a six-inch monochrome e-ink screen said to lie on top of a smaller, color, multitouch screen.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps predicted that e-reader prices will continue to fall. She also forecast that in 2010, we’ll see Barnes & Noble – as well as a new generation of table PCs from Microsoft, Apple, and others — stepping up serious competition to Kindle.
As more e-reader details emerge, it’ll be interesting to find out whether or not the dual-screen device speculated on at Gizmodo is one and the same as the e-reader jointly announced by Irex, B&N, and Verizon Wireless a few weeks back.
From Gizmodo’s photos, the hardware looks nearly identical to that of the Irex gadget. But Irex said nothing about a dual-screen, and the user interfaces seem different to me.
In any case, there’ll soon be at least one – and possibly two – new entries into the e-reader race. And in either scenario, that’s good news for cash-strapped consumers
Oct 14, 2009 11:26 pm
Now that Barnes & Noble is reportedly launching its very own E-reader, will prices on Amazon.com’s competing Kindle keep tumbling on further?
Based on recent historical trends in the still emerging e-reader market, that would only stand to reason.
After all, following Sony’s introduction of the $199 Sony Reader Pocket Edition in August, Amazon.com cut pricing on the Kindle by $40 to $259.
In a report accompanied by what it says are photos of the rumored device, Gizmodo pointed, as a differentiator, to the purported device's dual screen — a six-inch monochrome e-ink screen said to lie on top of a smaller, color, multitouch screen.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps predicted that e-reader prices will continue to fall. She also forecast that in 2010, we’ll see Barnes & Noble – as well as a new generation of table PCs from Microsoft, Apple, and others — stepping up serious competition to Kindle.
As more e-reader details emerge, it’ll be interesting to find out whether or not the dual-screen device speculated on at Gizmodo is one and the same as the e-reader jointly announced by Irex, B&N, and Verizon Wireless a few weeks back.
From Gizmodo’s photos, the hardware looks nearly identical to that of the Irex gadget. But Irex said nothing about a dual-screen, and the user interfaces seem different to me.
In any case, there’ll soon be at least one – and possibly two – new entries into the e-reader race. And in either scenario, that’s good news for cash-strapped consumers
Wednesday, 14 October 2009
Amazon unveils Kindle 2: No UK launch yet
By Nate Lanxon on 09 February 2009, 4:04pm
As was widely expected, Amazon on Monday unveiled the Kindle 2 -- the second generation of its ebook reader -- at a press conference in the Morgan Library and Museum, New York.
Like the first version, the Kindle 2 features wireless downloading of ebooks over mobile-phone networks, but now offers enough storage to save 1,500 entire books, and a complete book download should take less than 60 seconds. No computer is required for browsing, buying or reading.
It's also got a 152mm (6-inch) screen with a 600x800-pixel resolution, weighs 289g, and measures a tiny 9mm thick.
Battery life has been improved as well -- it now lasts for up to two weeks' worth of reading between charges. This is the great thing about the e-ink these readers use: power is only consumed as pages are turned, so, when you're reading, the device uses no power whatsoever, and looks just like real paper, with no glare and no backlight.
The new Kindle also will read your books aloud, should you need it to. And, if you don't have any books, you can always browse the entirety of Wikipedia for free -- all data costs are paid for by Amazon.
At the moment, the Kindle 2 is available in the US only and costs $360 (£240). When contacted about a potential UK release, an Amazon spokesperson told us that "at this time we have no announcement to make".
As was widely expected, Amazon on Monday unveiled the Kindle 2 -- the second generation of its ebook reader -- at a press conference in the Morgan Library and Museum, New York.
Like the first version, the Kindle 2 features wireless downloading of ebooks over mobile-phone networks, but now offers enough storage to save 1,500 entire books, and a complete book download should take less than 60 seconds. No computer is required for browsing, buying or reading.
It's also got a 152mm (6-inch) screen with a 600x800-pixel resolution, weighs 289g, and measures a tiny 9mm thick.
Battery life has been improved as well -- it now lasts for up to two weeks' worth of reading between charges. This is the great thing about the e-ink these readers use: power is only consumed as pages are turned, so, when you're reading, the device uses no power whatsoever, and looks just like real paper, with no glare and no backlight.
The new Kindle also will read your books aloud, should you need it to. And, if you don't have any books, you can always browse the entirety of Wikipedia for free -- all data costs are paid for by Amazon.
At the moment, the Kindle 2 is available in the US only and costs $360 (£240). When contacted about a potential UK release, an Amazon spokesperson told us that "at this time we have no announcement to make".
Amazon delays UK launch of Kindle
Amazon will not launch its Kindle e-book in the UK in time for Christmas, as the giant online retailer has become caught in Europe's complex web of Wi-Fi operators. The Kindle, which allows the download of hundreds of books wirelessly from the internet, has been a hit in the US where 380,000 units are expected to be sold this year.
By Sarah Butler
Published: 8:54PM BST 16 Oct 2008
There had been hopes that Amazon would launch a European version of the Kindle at the Frankfurt Book Fair this week, but Brian McBride, managing director of Amazon UK, said that it would not be ready for launch here until next year at the earliest.
The delay is partly because the Kindle uses a free wireless service called whispernet, which enables users to download books, and signing up networks around Europe is a complex operation.
Mr McBride told The Bookseller: "If you need agreement with carriers in the US, there is one carrier. In Europe it is a minefield, as there are so many operators. If you buy a Kindle in the UK and want to read it on the beach on holiday, unless we have signed deals in Spain it is not going to work on the beach."
He added: "It has launched in the US and we will let them handle any technical wrinkles before we bring it over here."
Amazon, which celebrates the 10th anniversary of its launch in the UK this week, sees downloadable books and audio books as a potential growth area for the future.
At present the market is very small, although high street store Waterstone¹s began selling Sony's E-reader last month and Borders in the UK sells rival gadget iLiad.
Mr McBride said that he was not concerned about being slower to market than rivals retailers as the Kindle was about "long term business growth." David Jeary, an analyst at Investec, said: "This is not necessarily good news for Christmas but obviously it is a long-term race and therefore there is scope to catch up. An interesting question is whether the e-book market will develop to be a true competitor to the physical book. My view is that short term it will be a specialist taste."
By Sarah Butler
Published: 8:54PM BST 16 Oct 2008
There had been hopes that Amazon would launch a European version of the Kindle at the Frankfurt Book Fair this week, but Brian McBride, managing director of Amazon UK, said that it would not be ready for launch here until next year at the earliest.
The delay is partly because the Kindle uses a free wireless service called whispernet, which enables users to download books, and signing up networks around Europe is a complex operation.
Mr McBride told The Bookseller: "If you need agreement with carriers in the US, there is one carrier. In Europe it is a minefield, as there are so many operators. If you buy a Kindle in the UK and want to read it on the beach on holiday, unless we have signed deals in Spain it is not going to work on the beach."
He added: "It has launched in the US and we will let them handle any technical wrinkles before we bring it over here."
Amazon, which celebrates the 10th anniversary of its launch in the UK this week, sees downloadable books and audio books as a potential growth area for the future.
At present the market is very small, although high street store Waterstone¹s began selling Sony's E-reader last month and Borders in the UK sells rival gadget iLiad.
Mr McBride said that he was not concerned about being slower to market than rivals retailers as the Kindle was about "long term business growth." David Jeary, an analyst at Investec, said: "This is not necessarily good news for Christmas but obviously it is a long-term race and therefore there is scope to catch up. An interesting question is whether the e-book market will develop to be a true competitor to the physical book. My view is that short term it will be a specialist taste."
Amazon's Kindle to launch in UK
Amazon's Kindle to launch in UK
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has unveiled the European Kindle
Amazon's Kindle e-book reader is going on sale in more than 100 countries around the world, including the UK.
The reader has been confined to the US since its launch in November 2007; Amazon expects to have sold a million of the devices by the end of the year.
The global version will run on the 3G network, although Amazon has not specified the networks that will provide connectivity for the devices.
The Kindle store will offer over 200,000 English language titles.
Hundreds of publishers are signed up including Penguin, Faber and Faber, and HarperCollins.
It will also carry more than 85 US and international newspapers and magazines.
"We have millions of customers in countries all over the world who read English-language books. Kindle enables these customers to think of a book and download it in less than 60 seconds," said Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Penguin chief executive John Makinson hopes it will kickstart digital book sales in Europe.
"The publishing industry is experiencing explosive growth in digital book sales in the US," he said.
KINDLE IN EUROPE
0.36 inches thick with 6in e-ink display
2GB of internal memory
QWERTY keyboard to add notes to text
Battery life "weeks on a single charge"
USB synching for people out of coverage area
The look and feel of the device will be the same as the US version with the exception of network access.
Following difficulties making the Kindle's Whispernet wireless download system work in the Europe, Amazon has decided to make downloads available via the 3G network.
This means that people wishing to download a book outside of a 3G coverage area will have to transfer content over USB.
In May of this year, Amazon unveiled a new version of its e-reader aimed at reading magazines, newspapers and documents. The Kindle DX is currently available only in the US.
The European version of the Kindle will begin shipping on October 19 with a $279 (£175) price tag.
www.bbc.co.uk
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has unveiled the European Kindle
Amazon's Kindle e-book reader is going on sale in more than 100 countries around the world, including the UK.
The reader has been confined to the US since its launch in November 2007; Amazon expects to have sold a million of the devices by the end of the year.
The global version will run on the 3G network, although Amazon has not specified the networks that will provide connectivity for the devices.
The Kindle store will offer over 200,000 English language titles.
Hundreds of publishers are signed up including Penguin, Faber and Faber, and HarperCollins.
It will also carry more than 85 US and international newspapers and magazines.
"We have millions of customers in countries all over the world who read English-language books. Kindle enables these customers to think of a book and download it in less than 60 seconds," said Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Penguin chief executive John Makinson hopes it will kickstart digital book sales in Europe.
"The publishing industry is experiencing explosive growth in digital book sales in the US," he said.
KINDLE IN EUROPE
0.36 inches thick with 6in e-ink display
2GB of internal memory
QWERTY keyboard to add notes to text
Battery life "weeks on a single charge"
USB synching for people out of coverage area
The look and feel of the device will be the same as the US version with the exception of network access.
Following difficulties making the Kindle's Whispernet wireless download system work in the Europe, Amazon has decided to make downloads available via the 3G network.
This means that people wishing to download a book outside of a 3G coverage area will have to transfer content over USB.
In May of this year, Amazon unveiled a new version of its e-reader aimed at reading magazines, newspapers and documents. The Kindle DX is currently available only in the US.
The European version of the Kindle will begin shipping on October 19 with a $279 (£175) price tag.
www.bbc.co.uk