04:09 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

We here at MobileRead love calibre updates, especially when new features and functionalities are involved. The 0.9.44 refresh offers a few pleasant additions, including:

• An option to display all virtual libraries as tabs above the book list
• An improved cover trimming algorithm to automatically detect and remove borders and extra space from the edge of cover images. To try it use the 'Trim' button in the edit metadata dialog. This can sometimes remove too much so if you don't like the result, just click cancel. You can make the algorithm more or less aggressive via Preferences->Tweaks
• Allow customizing the comic metadata reader plugin via Preferences->Plugins to read the series index from either the volume or the issue number of the comic
• Linux MTP driver: Add ids for some newer devices
• Add a trim cover option to the bulk metadata edit dialog
• Make the book information dialog user resizable, with a splitter between the cover and the info panel. Also change the background of the cover panel for books that have been marked using the Temp marker plugin
• Driver for Samsung Galaxy Young Android phone

Also, the following bugs were fixed:

• PDF Output: Do not abort conversion if the document being converted has an HTML cover (found in some broken EPUB files)
• RTF Input: When converting RTF files with no codepage, use the input encoding setting as the codepage

Lastly, the following new and/or improved news sources are included:

• Daily Express by Dave Asbury
• The Independent
• El Periodica de Aragon
• El Correo

Want to know more about calibre? Head over to the Calibre forums.

Related: New calibre database backend - testers needed

08:01 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

Benchmark information has leaked that puts teeth in an earlier rumor suggesting that the next Kindle Fire HD will be powered by a speedy Snapdragon 800 CPU and comes with a prodigious 2560x1600 screen (8.9-inch model).

[via Android Community]

06:26 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

A troubling sign for us e-paper lovers? E Ink yesterday announced its net sales to have dropped by 46% in Q2 2013 from its prior quarter. Yet, according to the investor conference held yesterday, things are not as gloomy as they might appear:

E Ink was upbeat about this quarter's prospects.

"Customers have put off their new product launches to the third quarter from the second quarter,” company chief financial officer Eddie Chen told investors.

"There is enormous growth momentum to arrive in the third quarter. You will feel the [strength of] an upswing," Chen said.

This quarter, revenue is expected to at least double last quarter's NT$2.93 billion, as customers were scheduled to ship new e-readers for the holiday shopping season, Chen said.

Source: Taipei Times.

It's also reported that overall shipments of e-readers will remain flat compared to last year, with between 10 to 15 million units.

Further key points from the investor conference:

• E-book and E-reader show significant growth in Western Europe and Asia Pacific markets. According to IHS, the combined e-reader market share in these markets has increased from 38% in 2011 to 54% in 2013.
• Amazon Kindle has entered China and India markets.
• Kobo eReader sales in 1Q13 was up 145% YoY. With the successful launch of AURA HD in US and Europe, Kobo will expand its direct distribution into China, India, Russia, etc.
• Korea Epub will launch Crema Shine e-reader in South Korea in August
• Market share of e-reader shipments: North America: 35%, Western Europe: 27%, Asia-Pacific: 27%, Latin America: 6%, MEA: 3%, Eastern Europe: 2%
• E Ink Triton II colored e-paper Display won the "Outstanding Photonics Award" at Display Taiwan 2013
• New: 13.3" E Ink Mobius Display on a Sony product

05:57 AM by Jessica Lares in E-Book General | News

Amazon teams up with authors to bring a series of short biographies under the brand "Icons" to its library. Released on a bi-monthly basis, the first is set to be "Jesus" by Jay Parini and will be available in December.

http://www.pubexec.com/article/amazo...-launch-icons/

"In a time when our fascination with the private aspects of public lives is so intense, it's not surprising that biography has become one of the most prominent forms of narrative nonfiction," said James Atlas. "Yet reading habits have changed dramatically in the digital age and I am excited to bring these short biographies to the Kindle platform."

The first ten books in the series are Jesus by Jay Parini, Stalin by Paul Johnson, Lucian Freud by Phoebe Hoban, J.D. Salinger by Thomas Beller, Poe by Paul Collins, Van Gogh by Julian Bell, Hemingway by Mark Kurlansky, David Lynch by Dennis Lim, Hannah Arendt by Anne Heller, and Hitchcock by Michael Wood.

"It seems appropriate to launch a series of short, thought-provoking biographies with a figure who has dominated our collective imagination and cultural iconography for over twenty centuries," said Jay Parini, author of Jesus. "This first book in the series will consider Jesus as the human face of god and dramatize the transformation from man to myth."

"We are thrilled to collaborate with James Atlas doing what he does best, and excited about the amazing authors that he's brought on board," said Ed Park.

image: The Last Judgement (cropped), Michelangelo

05:39 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

The time for Rapidshare to rule the world of one-click file hosters is long gone, which doesn't mean that the Swiss-based company is having it any easier staying out of trouble. In fact this week, the German Federal Court of Justice affirmed an earlier court decision (German) that Rapidshare had to proactively filter the files uploaded by its users and take effective measures against the use of illegal content on its service. The case was brought by a group of German booksellers, book publishers and Germany's music rights authority GEMA.

As expected, Alexander Skipis, CEO of the German Booksellers Association, is in a celebrating mood.

"The decision of the Federal Court of Justice to affirm the judgement is a crucial step forward. Cyberlockers like Rapidshare bear responsibility for content on their servers, and they can no longer hide behind making vague excuses. The days are gone when one could profit from copyright infringing uploads."

No comment from Rapidshare on this yet.

[via Golem.de]

03:33 PM by Xanthe in E-Book Readers | Barnes & Noble NOOK

Just a heads up to let folks know that there is an update rolling through for the HD. The main fixes seem to involve a comic book reader and Google Play Music, from what I've read.

From the FAQ:

The ver2.1.1 update is available over the coming weeks as an automatic download that will roll out to registered NOOK HD devices connected to Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi should be turned ON and connected to a hotspot, and the device should be left in sleep mode). Or to get the software update right now, be sure you are connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot, tap the Settings icon in the Status bar at the top of your screen, tap on All Settings, then tap on Device Information, and check to see that your Software version matches the number at the top of this page. If it does not, tap on Software version and then tap on the Check for updates button. Follow any on-screen instructions. Do not turn off your device while it is downloading or installing a software update.

The same applies to the NOOK HD Plus.

11:02 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

Here is a deal too great to miss. Kobo is currently offering the Kobo Arc (7" 1280x800 screen, Android) at a $70 to $100 discount (depending on how much RAM you choose). Alas, it appears the offer is only good if you order it from the US or Canada.

The discount potentially suggests the imminent launch of a successor model (Kobo Arc 10 HD anyone?).

The deal:

Kobo Arc 16 GB for $129.99 (was: $199.99)
Kobo Arc 32 GB for $179.99 (was: $249.99)
Kobo Arc 64 GB for $199.99 (was: $299.99)

Link

For more information on the Kobo Arc, visit our Kobo forums.

[via Ebook Friendly]

10:05 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | General Discussions

Are books dead yet? After all the recent news we've heard about the slow down in e-book sales, you'd think the answer is a definite NO. Meet Seth Godin, who not only sees a quick end to the paper book, but also a renaissance in how we're going to communicate ideas in the future.

Books, those bound paper documents, are part of an ecosystem, one that was perfect, and one that is dying, quickly.

Ideas aren’t going away soon, and neither are words. But, as the ecosystem dies, not only will the prevailing corporate systems around the paper book whither, but many of the treasured elements of its consumption will disappear as well.

What are the disappearing treasured elements? Seth has a list: the bookstore, the library, the "traditional" publisher, single tasking, reading for pleasure, the bookshelf, and, what he calls, the Pavlovian response.

Yet, despite what appears to be the end of the world for every book loving person, Seth isn't all that pessimistic:

Yes, we're entering a new golden age for books, one with more books and ebooks being written and read today than ever before. No, books won’t be completely eliminated, just as vinyl records are still around (a new vinyl store is opening in my little town). But please don’t hold your breath for any element of the treasured ecosystem to return in force. [...]

I called this post, "An end" as opposed to "the end." As always, we'll reinvent. We still need ideas, and ideas need containers. We've developed more and more ways for those ideas to travel and to have impact, and now it's up to us to figure out how to build an ecosystem around them.

Link: An end of books

Related: Poll: 3 out of 4 Americans prefer paper books, Trend Watch: Paper books back in vogue