04:43 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book Readers | Amazon Kindle

MobileReader Hotrootsoup posted an excellent starting guide for anyone who's interested in creating their own kindlets. Kindlets are Java applets that can extend the functionality of your Kindle reader.

From the guide:

Welcome! You may have noticed that it's easier to find reliable information about Atlantis than it is to find info on writing kindlets. I'm here to remedy that. After scrubbing through outdated wiki's and forum posts that assume you can read the author's mind, I have emerged triumphant.

Legal/moral note: I am not responsible if you crash, ruin, etc. your Kindle. These steps have worked for me, but they may not work for you. I do not believe that jailbreaks or further hacks void your warranty, but they very well may.

Links on Kindlets:

• Kindlet writing guide for the absolute beginner [PW]
• Guide: How to write Kindlets
• Kindlet Index (Wiki)
• Kindle Hacks Information (Wiki)
• Kindlet Entwicklungstutorial (German)

04:20 AM by Purple Lady in E-Book General | General Discussions

I wanted to buy a book from kobobooks.com today, but the format was not given anywhere on the page, so I didn't want to risk buying it. I looked up a book I bought just a few days ago and see the format there but I can't find a format on anything I search for. I searched for Hugh Howey because I know he's non drm epub, but didn't see the format there either.

Could someone look for this book and let me know if you see a format? I tried both Firefox and IE 10. Book is Mira Grant Feed.

I remember seeing a similar thread a few weeks ago and I searched but couldn't find it. I could see the format at the time, but whoever posted couldn't see it. I hope this isn't their new web page format.

04:02 AM by Billi in E-Book General | News

Barbara Mertz (September 29, 1927 – August 8, 2013) died at the age of 85. She wrote under the pseudonyms Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels.

She was perhaps best known for the Amelia Peabody series, mysteries set in Egypt.

07:13 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

That's right. This week you can save 50% on any e-book purchase from Packt Publishing, one of the leading providers of books for IT developers, admins, and avid users.

From O'Reilly Media, who now appears to be a reseller of Packt books:

We're thrilled to welcome Packt to shop.oreilly.com. Their high-quality, technically relevant ebooks are DRM-free, just like the rest of the O'Reilly catalog. You get lifetime access, multiple file formats, and free updates.

To take advantage of the deal, use the discount code WKPCKT. Promo expires August 15, 2013 at 5:00am PT.

06:21 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

Just found this sweet deal via Android Police:

If you're looking for a cheap, mod-worthy tablet with a great screen, look no further. Today eBay Daily Deals has the Nook HD+, with a 9-inch, 1920x1280 screen and built-in access to the Google Play Store for just $119.99. It's a refurbished model, but that's $30 and 20% cheaper than the already-low $150 retail price. The eBay listing has free standard shipping, plus you won't have to pay sales tax outside of New Jersey and New York.

Link to eBay: here

Edit: Alternatively, as MobileReader tubemonkey pointed out, you could also try to take advantage of a 20% off in-store only coupon that would bring the price down to $119 (new unit!). Hurry though, the offer is only good till August 10.

06:10 AM by Jessica Lares in E-Book Readers | Apple Devices

Finally!

Downloading now. Will let you know how I like it.

05:48 AM by TadW in E-Book General | News

Stephen Curry @ The Guardian writes:

I have been repeatedly disappointed at the low quality of the texts that I have bought from Amazon's Kindle store. The frequency of typographical errors, sloppy layout and poor image quality, even on my relatively small sample of around twenty titles, has made me wonder if the 'e' in ebook stands for easy money. This seems strange given the care publishers normally take over printed versions — I have only very rarely come across typos or pagination errors — but the evidence from my online purchases is mounting.

My experience has been similar, unfortunately. Who do you think is responsible? If it is the publishers, as the article suggests, then why do they care less about typographical and formatting errors than they did before?

[image by liz west via Flickr]

05:34 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | General Discussions

It's not that we're surprised after hearing of the DOJ's proposed order to prevent Apple from entering new e-book distribution contracts for five years, that publishers are anything but unhappy about the plans. In a court filing (provided by Cnet) yesterday afternoon, HarperCollins, Hachette, Simon & Schuster, Holtzbrinck, and Penguin Random House argue that the proposal would effectively eliminate the use of the "agency model" for distributing and selling e-books.

[T]he provisions do not impose any limitation on Apple's pricing behavior at all; rather, under the guise of punishing Apple, they effectively punish the settling defendants by prohibiting agreements with Apple using an agency model.

This would, according to the publishers, go directly against what has been agreed on before in separate settlements with the U.S. ahead of the trial.

[T]he Proposed Order directly conflicts with the consent decrees that the Settling Defendants negotiated with Plaintiffs and that were entered as Final Judgments by this Court, which specifically provide that "a Settling Defendant may enter into Agency Agreements with E-book Retailers" with certain enumerated limitations. As a result, the relief sought by Plaintiffs effectively modifies the Settling Defendant's existing Final Judgments and unreasonably and unnecessarily restrains the Settling Defendants' independent business decisions beyond the scope and time provided for their respective consent decrees.

On the other hand, while it's true that the proposed order would restrict publishers from entering into agency agreements with Apple, it would not prevent them from entering into agreements with any other party, as agreed on in the previous settlements.

[via Digital Reader]