10:59 AM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Announcements

Heads up, everyone! It's with great pleasure that we announce our latest addition to the forums: Marvin. Marvin is a new sophisticated e-book reader app for iOS, boasting a staggering complement of built-in features that is guaranteed to induce uncontrollable drooling in every e-book junkie.

We also like to officially welcome kguil, the developer of Marvin. kguil has certainly been busy over the past couple of months, and he is currently working on releasing an iPhone-supporting update that should make e-book reading with Marvin even more satisfying.

Finally, a big thanks to GRiker who is not only responsible for bringing a native calibre driver to Marvin, but who also volunteered to help us moderate the new section.

Link to the Marvin forum.

06:53 AM by Cyberman tM in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

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Use discount code B2S3 – Deal expires September 10, 2013 at 5:00am PT, and cannot be combined with other offers. Offer does not apply to Print, or "Print & Ebook" bundle pricing.

http://shop.oreilly.com/category/dea...ol_direct_b2s3

06:10 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

Remember the news that a number of Dutch-speaking e-book vendors had agreed to share information of customers, ehm, suspected pirates, with the anti-piracy watchdog BREIN? Well, it caused quite the backlash. The Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice is now faced with a handful of unpleasant questions regarding the legality of this agreement. As MobileReader Katsunami reports, one of the questions is (translated):

Is it true that web stores connected to the distribution platform eBoekhuis can be compelled to submit customer information to Foundation BREIN? If yes, how does submitting this sort of information to third parties relate to the laws and regulations with regard to to the protections of personal data? If no, then what is not true in the above statement?

There is no denying that e-book piracy on the Internet is rampant; yet the question remains: Should private organizations such as BREIN, who have no legal or investigative authority, be allowed to access private customer information in their attempt to identify the people alleged to be offering pirated content?

[image: Ruben Holthuijsen /Flickr]

05:19 PM by WT Sharpe in Reading Recommendations | Book Clubs

September 2013 MobileRead Book Club Vote

Help us choose a book as the September 2013 eBook for the MobileRead Book Club. The poll will be open for 5 days. There will be no runoff vote unless the voting results a tie, in which case there will be a 3 day run-off poll. This is a visible poll: others can see how you voted. It is multiple-choice: you may cast a vote for each book that appeals to you.

We will start the discussion thread for this book on September 20th. Select from the following Official Choices with three nominations each:

• A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
Amazon US / Barnes & Noble / Kobo

• Complete Works of Sappho (Delphi Ancient Classics) by Sappho of Lesbos (Author), Peter Russell (Translator)
Amazon UK / Amazon US / Apple Store / Delphi Classics

• Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen
Patricia Clark Memorial Library: lrf

• The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
Amazon UK / Amazon US / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / Sony (Also available on Overdrive.)

• Lady Chatterly's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
ePub and Kindle Links at bottom of page

• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Amazon UK / Amazon US / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / Sony (Also available on Overdrive.)

• No Orchids for Miss Blandish by James Hadley Chase
Amazon UK / Amazon US / Barnes & Noble / Kobo

• Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Amazon UK / Amazon US / B&N (US) / Google Play (AUS)

• The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

No links provided.

• Fade by Robert Cormier
Amazon US / Barnes & Noble / Google / Kobo

06:00 AM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Week in Review

Feast your eyes on some of the discussions from this week at MobileRead...

E-Book General - News

• Kindle Fire HD: More leaked benchmarks; codenamed Soho, Thor and Apollo
• Samsung Galaxy Mega hits the United States (a 6.3-inch eReader?)
• Calibre Companion 3 final released (Android)
• US Gov seeks to strike a copyright balance, wants your input
• Forget about batteries. Use NFC to power your next E Ink display!
• Avid reader kid dominates reading contest, library director miffed
• B&N reports $87m loss for Q1 2014, NOOK business plunges 20%
• EBookDroid 2.0.6 released (Android)
• OverDrive Media Console V3.0 available (Android and iOS)
• Apple iBooks V3.1.1 released
• QUMO Libro Basic, Libro Lux, and Libro TouchLux to launch in Russia
• DRM on e-books? Five possibly good reasons to crack it
• Crowdfunding: E Ink e-reader that can also be used as a PC monitor
• Sony PRS-T3 leaks in various Internet stores / coming on Sep 19?
• Kindle Fire loses ground while Apple and Samsung gain, latest report suggests
• calibre reaches version 1.0, after seven years in the making
• Twistbook dual-screen E Ink reader concept
• Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire

E-Book General - General Discussions

• Google Books Mysterious Deletions
• How aspirin helped Amazon escape the jaws of doom
• Did a writer get bullied on Goodreads? (Salon Article)
• Your kid's Kindle could be X-rated, child protection charity warns
• Bogus takedown notice sent to the wrong person; Harvard Prof. Lessig fights back

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

• B&N Nook Glow gets price drop to $99
• Kindle Fire Refurb Deals, starting at $89 -- 22 Aug only
• Three free e-book bestsellers for new NOOK accounts (possibly UK only)
• Refurbished Nook Glow Light $59.99 today (8/23)

E-Book General - Reading Recommendations

• Book Club September 2013 Book Club Nominations

Miscellaneous - Lounge

• The future of paper books (comic)

01:35 PM by Keslynn in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

The post title pretty much says it all: refurbished Nook Glow Light for $59.99 today only. I have purchased from Tanga before and have no complaints.

Link

10:58 AM by HarryT in E-Book General | News

A bit of a bombshell announced today, as Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who's been the visible "face" of Microsoft since the retirement of Bill Gates, announced that he is to retire within the next 12 months.

As BBC News reports the story:

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer is to retire from the technology giant within the next 12 months.

Shares in Microsoft, criticised for its slow response to the booming market for mobile devices, leapt 9% on the news.

Mr Ballmer, who last month unveiled a restructuring to address the criticism, said in a statement: "There is never a perfect time for this type of transition, but now is the right time.

"We need a CEO who will be here longer term for this new direction."

The world's biggest software company has created a special committee to find a replacement. This committee includes Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

Mr Ballmer, 57, succeeded Mr Gates in 2000. The two men met in 1973 while studying at Harvard University, and Mr Ballmer joined the company in 1980.
...

Full story at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23815563

Sounds as if the stock market at least thinks that this will be good for Microsoft, especially in the area of mobile devices.

07:31 AM by taming in E-Book General | General Discussions

Salon reports on the experience of a new author who got bad reviews and allegedly nasty comments on Goodreads about her book before it was released.

From the article:

Howard, who describes herself as a woman who was “bullied throughout her entire high school career,” says that “I have NEVER expected this journey to be all sunshine and rainbows, I knew some people would hate my book but I could have handled THOSE reviews. What I cannot handle and what I didn’t expect is being targeted PRIOR TO RELEASE by a group of bullies who have wished horrible things, including rape and death, on me” and that “I will not be a part of a site where it is acceptable to wish rape, sodomy, abuse and death on someone.” Though it’s only her word on this, given the ease with which rape and death threats are tossed around at women online, it’s certainly not difficult to imagine.