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.

09:20 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

Just as predicted the updated version of the OverDrive Media Console app is now ready for the masses.

From the official changelog, here's what's new in V3.0:

• New look. Simplified menus put everything a swipe and a tap away.
• Sync across devices. Sync recent position and bookmarks across devices. (Titles must be downloaded to both devices for this to work).
• First-time user guidance. The app now provides some guidance to help new users get started.

Links to the free download: iOS and Android

11:44 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

There are many ways to view PDF documents on Android devices, but the free EBookDroid app has a few extras that make it worth your consideration. For instance, it allows you to automatically or manually crop margins and instantly zoom to a column's content. It's also super-fast.

Since V2.0 EBookDroid is a closed-source application. Earlier versions can be downloaded from Google Drive.

V2.0.6 includes the following changes and fixes:

Common changes

• Assembled APKs and source code for PDF and DJVU standalone decoders are available on Google Drive
• Tatar localization added.
• Width of navigation tabs in action bar is restricted

Book viewer features

• Manual crop view is re-styled and works in all view modes.

Bug fixes

• Attempt to fix black screen on return from settings
• Attempt to fix action bar padding
• Exit confirmation fixed.
• Menu button processing fixed
• Various crashes fixed

10:52 AM by fjtorres in E-Book General | News

Nobody likes curve busters, not even library directors. After 9 year old kid, 5-time champ of library summer reading contest, reads 63 books in six weeks, the library director suggests he should stop competing. Alternately, she suggests picking names out of a hat.

Everybody, it seems, but Gandron, who was surprised to learn Katie notified a Post-Star reporter about her son being a longtime winner. During a phone call Tuesday to Gandron, the library director said Tyler “hogs” the contest every year and he should “step aside.”

“Other kids quit because they can’t keep up,” Gandron said.

Gandron further told the reporter she planned to change the rules of the contest so that instead of giving prizes to the children who read the most books, she would draw names out of a hat and declare winners that way. She said she can’t now because Katie has come forward to the newspaper.

Nice way to "encourage" excellence!

This comes to mind:

10:17 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

Tuesday morning Barnes and Noble reported earnings for fiscal Q1 2014, and while a majority of analysts expected a loss, it was larger than expected. Net loss for the three months ended July 27 totaled $87 million, compared to a loss of $39.8 million in the prior year.

The NOOK business (which includes NOOK devices, accessories and digital content) didn't do too well either. Total revenues fell to $153 million (that's 20 percent less than last year). Revenue in device and accessories sales decreased by 23 percent, while revenue in digital content sales declined by almost 16 percent. B&N was able to make up some of the losses by reducing expenses.

On the positive side, the company noted that it intends to continue its NOOK business and that it plans to launch a new NOOK device this fall.

“Our top priority in our operating strategy is to increase all categories of our content revenue. We are working on innovative ways to sell content to our existing customers and are exploring new markets we can serve successfully,” said Michael P. Huseby, President of Barnes & Noble, Inc. and Chief Executive Officer of NOOK Media. “The company intends to continue to design and develop cutting-edge NOOK black and white and color devices. We will continue to offer our award-winning line of NOOK products including NOOK Simple Touch®, NOOK Simple Touch® with Glow Light®,NOOK® HD and NOOK® HD+ at the best values in the marketplace. At least one new NOOK device will be released for the coming holiday season and further products are in development. All NOOK devices will continue to be backed by world-class pre- and post-sales support in Barnes & Noble stores, as well as ongoing software upgrades and improvements to the digital bookstore service.”

09:44 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

Apparently NFC technology is not only convenient for mobile electronic payments, but you can also use it to energize an ultra-low power, bistable E Ink display. A team of researchers demonstrated how you could use NFC to transfer documents from your handset to a E Ink display with a single tap.

The inclusion of NFC isn't to simply push data to the display. The team, lead by Alanson Sample, have succeeded in wirelessly powering the display through an NFC transaction with an Android phone.

NFC uses inductive coupling to provide power to passive tags. The NFC E-ink display takes advantage of this through its use of a wireless power harvester microchip to store the energy from an NFC transaction in a 0.17mm thick 1mAh battery. This energy is then used to power and update the device's 2.7" display, with enough excess energy captured from the NFC transaction to allow for cycling of images when away from the phone.

Check out the following video for some hands-on action.

[via Gigaom]

08:53 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

Last month, the US Department of Commerce's Internet Task Force (IPTF) issued a tentative report titled Copyright Policy, Creativity, and Innovation in the Digital Economy (download PDF) to advance discussion on a set of copyright policies. From its introduction:

It is time to assess whether the current balance of rights, exceptions and responsibilities – crafted, for the most part, before the rapid advances in computing and networking of the past two decades – is still working for creators, rights holders, service providers, and consumers. The Internet must continue to support a legitimate market for copyrighted works as well as provide a platform for innovation and the introduction of new and dynamic services that drive digital commerce. And we must ensure that free expression, respect for consumer privacy, and cybersecurity are preserved in the online environment. The government can promote progress as a convener of the many stakeholder groups – including creators, industry, and consumers – that share an interest in maintaining an appropriate balance within the copyright system.

According to Shira Perlmutter, Chief Policy Officer at the US Patent and Trademark Office, the report calls for your input:

The Green Paper calls for new public input on critical policy issues that are central to our nation’s economic growth, cultural development and job creation. It is intended to serve as a reference for stakeholders, a blueprint for further action, and a contribution to global copyright debates. As promised in the paper, we will soon be reaching out to the public for views on a variety of topics. Please stay tuned for announcements about how to share your thoughts, insights, and recommendations.

If your input could really make a difference, what is it first and foremost that you'd want to change about current copyright policies?

[via Slashdot, source: Recording Industry vs The People]

08:26 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

MobileReader chaley has been quite busy these days preparing the final release of his well-received Calibre Companion app, which just hit Google's Play store. Calibre Companion enables Android devices to connect via WiFi to your remote calibre desktop installation. Not only can you browse and download your books, but you can also use it to remotely organize your library. Very handy if you're often on the go!

Changelog V3.0.4 (19/Aug/2013) (major release)

NEW FEATURES:

• View books by cover in a grid
• Grouping functions are available from book lists by opening a "drawer".

BUG FIXES:

• In content server, queuing a book for download that has no acceptable formats no longer hangs the queue.
• In content server, force a disconnect and go back to the book list if the content server has disappeared.
• Fix searching after choosing a user collection

Related: Calibre Companion 3 beta for Android released, Changelog and FAQ