03:07 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | General Discussions

A UK children's charity, NSPCC, urges parents to monitor the e-books read by their children. The warnings comes after a mother caught her 13-year-old daughter discussing with a friend an X-rated Kindle publication how to make sex tapes to become famous. The Telegraph reports:

The two teenagers had been reading aloud from It’s All About the Sex Face: A Guide to Becoming a Celebrity, a no holds barred manual offering tips on how to achieve instant fame by producing a sex video.

The e-book, which costs £1.02 to download from Amazon, claims you can “actually become famous without even having a talent”.

Jon Brown, head of sexual abuse at the NSPCC, said: “It is really important to talk to your children about the risks that are out there either online or offline, in an age-appropriate way and without frightening them.

It's unfortunate that it goes so far that owning a reading device should require parents to discuss with their children the risks of making sex tapes. Or should online book sellers be required to include warnings on adult literature? What do you think?

12:49 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

We're still getting over Barnes and Noble's less-than-stellar quarterly results, when the company announced today a little freebie that sets our heart aflutter again, at least a little bit. According to the press release, starting tomorrow, Friday, August 23, anyone who downloads a NOOK reading app and sets up a new NOOK account is entitled to the following free bestseller readings:

• Red or Dead by David Pearce
• The White Queen by Philippa Gregory
• City of Bones, The Mortal Instrument Book 1, by Cassandra Clare

In addition, they're going to give out the August edition of T3 and the summer edition of the lifestyle mag The Simple Things.

Update: As pointed out by MobileReader hwlester it's quite possible that this deal is only valid for new NOOK user registrations within the U.K.

Unfortunately it seems this offer is only good for new NOOK user registrations.

10:40 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

Various online webstores predominantly from Switzerland, have leaked sales information of what appears to be the upcoming Sony PRS-T3 e-book reader.

Specs:

• 6-inch E Ink screen with IR touch, 1024x758, 16 grey levels
• WLAN (802.11b/g/n)
• Dimensions: 160x109x11.3mm
• Weight: 200g
• Cover with automatic start/sleep function
• Available in the colors black (PRST3BC), red (PRST3RC), and white (PRST3WC)

The information suggests that the Sony PRS-T3 will be priced at somewhere around CAD $158 (~US $150) and CHF 188 (~US $200), and that it will be available in late-September/early October (in Switzerland that is).

Update:
I should add that in Switzerland, grey imports of electronics is legal. Hence very often you get electronics in Switzerland on the same day when they are released elsewhere.

In one of the Swiss stores it is suggested that the release day for the Sony PRS-T3 is Sep 19, 2013 (black) and Sep 26, 2013 (red and white), and that these dates have been confirmed by the company importing the devices.

Related: Is Sony readying the PRS-T3? PRS-T2 on sale, Sony's PRS-T3 leaks out at the FCC, Possible new Sony ereader with Glo

[via TDR]

10:21 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

The latest competing for your backing dollars comes from a small group of Hong-Kong based inventors, who launched their "world's first EINK computer monitor" fund-matching campaign on Indiegogo. The idea is that you take a regular e-book reader with a standard E Ink screen, and connect it to your computer to function as a secondary monitor.

From the description:

It is the world's first EINK Ebook Reader and Monitor 2in1 device. We call it CBR. After the campaign ending, we will reveal what CBR stands for to our contributors.

The purpose of this project is to use a regular EINK ebook reader as a second computer monitor, displaying text or images that are displayed on LCD/TV monitors onto the EINK ebook reader device. It’s better for the eyes and much more readable for the user.

Color me a shade of skeptic, but I cannot quite see yet how the slow refresh and relatively low resolution of an E Ink screen could be any useful in a standard desktop work environment.

09:31 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

Some of you may have come to realize that you're not buying your e-books. In many cases you are in effect just renting them, controlled by digital-rights management and subject to tough rules buried in small print. Legal issues put aside, Digital Trends names five reasons why you might want to free your e-book collection.

1. Leave the country, lose your ebooks
2. Anger Amazon, lose your ebooks
3. Own too many devices, lose your ebooks
4. Switch to a different book store, lose your ebooks
5. Bookstore shuts down, lose your ebooks

Related:

• Renting textbooks from Amazon? Do not dare to cross state borders
• Australian Parliament recommends consumers be educated on circumventing geoblocking
• Kindle store: Indies avoid DRM to reach wider audience
• Anti-piracy group wants to catch e-book pirates; vendors now required to help them

Image: peasap/Flickr

08:42 AM by tubemonkey in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

Amazon Gold Box Deals for today are refurbished Kindle Fires and accessories.

see Current Tablet Specials for sale prices on new Fires

Deal of the Day -- exp 22 Aug

• Fire HD 8.9 refurb 16GB ($239) --> $179
• Fire HD 8.9 refurb 32GB ($269) --> $199

Lightning Deals -- exp 22 Aug

• 12am PDT -- Amazon 5W USB Charger ($20) --> $5
• 6am PDT -- Fire HD refurb 16GB ($169) --> $119
• 6am PDT -- Fire HD refurb 32GB ($199) --> $149
• 10am PDT -- LifeForm Capacitive Stylus ($15) --> $7.50
• 11am PDT -- Fire 1st Gen refurb 8GB ($119) --> $89
• 2pm PDT -- Kindle Fire Zip Sleeve ($10) --> $7
• 3pm PDT -- Fire HD 8.9 4G refurb 32GB ($349) --> $249
• 3pm PDT -- Fire HD 8.9 4G refurb 64GB ($449) --> $299
• 5pm PDT -- Fire HD 8.9 Leather Case ($45) --> $35

Terms

• valid only during time frames listed above
• must be purchased from Gold Box page
• while supplies last
• limit one per customer

10:04 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

Here we have three delicious e-book readers, all to be launched in Russia this fall. Manufactured by Hong-Kong based QUMO, the e-readers go by the name Libro Basic, Libro Lux, and Libro TouchLux. Down to the details:

QUMO Libro Basic (= entry model)

• Display: 6-inch E Ink Pearl
• Storage: 4GB
• Dimensions: 162x110x8mm
• Retail price: RUB 2890 (~$90)

QUMO Libro Lux

• Display: 6-inch E Ink Pearl, with build-in lighting
• Additional features: audio player, FM radio
• Storage: 4GB
• Dimensions: 174x113x9mm
• Retail price: RUB 4490 (~$136)

Libro TouchLux

• Display: 6-inch E Ink Pearl 1024x758, touch-sensitive, with build-in lighting
• Additional features: audio player, FM radio
• Storage: 4GB
• Dimensions: 162x113x9.5mm
• Retail price: RUB 5990 (~$181)

[source: The-Ebook, via TDR]

09:40 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

It's been almost half a year since Apple last updated its popular iBooks e-book reading app. While this update doesn't introduce anything dramatically new, it does improve compatibility with iOS and iCloud, according to the changelog.

I could wax poetics here on about the features that iBooks has (or lacks) compared to other e-book reading software, but possibly the most important factor in determining its worth is whether you want to read e-books tied into Apple's iBook ecosystem.

iPad and iPhone users can give the update a try by following this link.