08:49 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | General Discussions

As the saying goes, the only statistics you can trust are those you falsified yourself. That said, according to a survey conducted by Heathrow Airport, seven out of ten people going on vacation would rather schlep paper books than opt for a slim e-reader.

Heathrow Airport Retail Director Muriel Zingraff-Shariff said: "There’s no doubt that the popularity of eBooks has boomed in recent years, but when it comes to relaxing on holiday it seems you just can’t beat a good book. People want a break from technology whilst they’re abroad, so it’s understandable that people would rather swap their Blackberry for Malorie Blackman."

Which makes sense of course since the retail director of an airport would much rather have you buy paper books from the local WHSmith bookstore than buy them online, let's say via Amazon Whispernet.

The survey also found that people worry about e-readers not coping well with sun, sea, and sand, which is true, I suppose, especially if you run out of ziplock bags.

Related: Taking e-books to the beach - share your tips, E-Reader on the beach

07:00 AM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Week in Review

Here it is again, our weekly roundup! Enjoy!

E-Book General - News

• Sony's PRS-T3, more leaked specs, to debut at IFA on September 4
• Gembird to launch EnerGenie ePP2, a 9.7-inch E Ink reader with a twist
• Sony PRS-T3 gets its first hands-on (video)
• The 2013 Hugo Awards, John Scalzi nabs best novel
• Kindle Paperwhite sold out! Let's place bets (poll)
• Kobo: "Beat Amazon." Not so in Japan.
• RIP Frederik Pohl
• Microsoft to buy Nokia's Devices and Services in $7.2B deal
• Kindle MatchBook: Get the Kindle version of a previously-bought paper book cheap/free
• Doctorow on the e-book rip-off for libraries
• Android 4.4 to be called KitKat
• All-New Kindle Paperwhite V2 (accidentally) unveiled. So what's all new?
• Next-gen Kindle Paperwhite previewed by Time mag
• Google seeks patent to add "triggered sounds" to e-books
• Google aims to sync reading and listening locations between e-books and audiobooks
• The secret behind the new Paperwhite: E Ink Carta
• Sony PRS-T3 officially announced
• Should children tip their hats to a digital Dr. Seuss?
• Oyster: unlimited e-books for $9.95 a month, now live with invite (iOS)
• PocketBook unveils E Ink cover for Samsung Galaxy S4
• calibre V1.2 is out, with better support for MTP and minor bug fixes
• Paperwhite firmware upgrade arrives, spruced up dictionary lookups
• Engadget reviews Kobo Aura, verdict: it's the nicest mainstream e-reader. Not.
• E-Book pirate: We are the same as Amazon, only the price is different
• R.I.P. (Ann) A.C. Crispin

E-Book General - General Discussions

• First White House "Copyright Czar", now chief of anti-piracy group
• The e-reader "Androidified"... would you get one?
• Tablet versus lighted E Ink e-reader
• Why store your ebook collection on your ereader?

E-Book General - Deals, Freebies, and Resources (No Self-Promotion)

• Push to Kindle app on sale for $0.99 (Android)
• 65% off Baen's October 2013 Bundle
• Refurbished Sony Reader PRS-T2 w/ $25 Gift Card for $60
• Barnes & Noble magazine deal - Subscribe and get a year of back issues

E-Book Readers - Amazon Kindle

• New Paperwhite!

E-Book Readers - Android Devices

• Moon+ Reader Pro 2.1 released, adds PDF annotation support (Android)

E-Book Readers - Barnes & Noble NOOK

• Nook tablet prices drop again in UK, HD down to £79

04:23 PM by AnemicOak in E-Book General | News

Sad to hear that author A.C. Crispin passed away from cancer earlier today.

RIP Ann Crispin, Who Fought for the Writers

You owe A.C. Crispin a huge debt, whether you know it or not. As an author, she helped carve a space for women writing science fiction. She helped prove media tie-in novels could be great books in their own right. And she fought for writers to get treated fairly, with the indispensible site Writer Beware.

Sadly, Crispin died of cancer earlier today.

EDIT: A nice write up at Tor.com
http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/09/ac-crispin-obit

11:24 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

The whole story seems a tad far-fetched, but a bunch of e-book pirates has made it their mission to compete against Amazon. Torboox is a pirate site which would have stayed in a darkened, cool underground cavern had it not been for an interview with the operator of said site that resulted in a lawsuit against two major German newspapers. A classic Streisand Effect. Anyhow, TorrentFreak, too, had an interview with these guys and was told that their ultimate goal was to bring down Amazon's quasi-monopoly as an e-book seller.

“If you look at it, they are very similar. Amazon is nothing but a hoster for the authors. No wonder they can offer 70% provision,” he [Spiegelbest, the operator of the pirate site] says.

“Amazon does nothing to ‘produce’ books. Thus they are very similar to Torboox. Both of us – legal and illegal – are book hosters, not traditional book publishers. The ebook market is shared between two book hosters.”

The pirate claims that piracy "controls" around 50 percent of the whole e-book market with Amazon owning the majority of the rest. He goes on explaining how Amazon's size is bad for authors and publishers, and that the only way out was a flat-rate on e-books that, conveniently, the pirate site is planning to offer.

“In the end the publishers have to talk to us. They have to find a way to make us legal. It is their job not ours. A flatrate will be 10 euros a month – no limit. Licensing will again be the job of the publishers. If a publisher isn’t wise enough to participate – no problem,” Spiegelbest says. [...]

We have the concept. The publishers have the content. Together we can indeed battle Amazon. And Amazon is not monopolizing films, games or music – why ebooks? For me the biggest problem is this: Will the publishers understand before they vanish? That’s 50-50, no more,” he concludes.

Related: E-book customer sharing with anti-piracy group BREIN faces political backlash, Rapidshare loses court battle against German booksellers

10:12 AM by faithbw in E-Book General | General Discussions

I just purchased the new Nexus 7 and the high pixel density makes text very crisp and clear. I actually find the text clearer and easier to read on the Nexus as opposed to the Sony PRS-350 that I previously owned.

However, I wonder how tablets with high pixel density stack up against some of the newer lighted e-reader like the Aura HD and the new Paperwhite. Which one is better for reading in bed in the dark. Which provides an overall better reading experience?

09:41 AM by Breid in E-Book General | General Discussions

I am very possibly representative of a minority viewpoint on this forum, but I am puzzled by other folks' desire to store thousands of ebooks on their ereaders. I am building my collection and add all my purchases to Calibre, which I backup regularly. But I only keep my to be read books on my ereader, and as I currently have 40 titles on that shelf, I reckon that will keep me in reading material for at least a month.

I am wondering if I am a slow reader, or if other folks have a higher 'must store' threshold than mine?

[image by Abhi Sharma / flickr]

08:29 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

Whether it's the new Kindle Paperwhite, Sony's just unveiled PRS-T3 Reader, or Kobo's upcoming Aura - let's face it, it's not exactly easy to pick the right device to satisfy our e-reading cravings. So props to the guys from Engadget for this in-depth review of the Kobo Aura. Their verdict? Great hardware, great software, albeit pricey ($150).

Funny enough, at one point the reviewer states that the Aura is "easily the nicest mainstream standalone e-reader we've seen", while a little further down he remarks that this device is "decidedly not mainstream" due to its heavy price tag. Confused?

All told, the Aura's hardware isn't perfect, but this is easily the nicest mainstream standalone e-reader we've seen, though the $150 price tag may be a lot for all but the most devoted bookworms to stomach.

The Kobo Aura is the best flagship e-reader on the market. There are, however, some caveats here. First, it's still a hard sell if you're locked into Amazon, as the Paperwhite's recent tweaks have made it all the more compelling a proposition. Second, the $150 price tag makes the device decidedly not mainstream. Kobo just can't compete with Amazon's subsidized reader prices, particularly not with the Kindle's Special Offers ad model, which shaves even more off the price. If you're already locked into Amazon, it's best to wait it out. If you're a Kobo devotee or someone who has yet to pull the trigger on an e-reader (and don't mind paying for quality), do yourself a favor and take a serious look at the Aura.

Related: Kobo forum

07:51 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

Psst. Have you heard? With all the recent coverage of the new Paperwhite, it's easy to miss that Amazon just released a new firmware for their first-gen Paperwhite. Among the general improvements and enhancements, one nice new feature to have is the option to select a different dictionary while looking up a word. Also, when a looked up word has different meanings, you can now navigate through the various definitions from within the dictionary definition window. Finally, found search terms are highlighted now (something we think is so intrinsic that it should have been included with the very first firmware release).

Did you already upgrade and want to share your experience? Or are you still holding off for a while to see what other users have to say? Then come and join us in the on going firmware discussion.