Sat September 14 2013
calibre V1.3 released, brings its magic to Oppo and PocketBook Mini |
05:53 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News calibre 1.0 was revealed less than a month ago, and already Kovid has pushed out the third point release for his most popular e-book library software. Yes, dear e-book aficionados, that means you've got a new calibre download that fixes various issues and adds a few improvements as well. Detailed changelog for calibre 1.3: New Features
Bug Fixes
New and improved news sources
calibre is a powerful tool which can be a bit intimidating in the beginning. If you need any assistance or have any suggestions, join our dedicated calibre forums where a crew of calibre users will welcome you dearly. |
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Fri September 13 2013
Marvin 2.0 lands in iTunes App Store, now also for iPhone and iPod touch |
03:40 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News We were just wondering how long it would take before Apple determined the fate of the latest version of Marvin for iOS, and we've got some great news -- it's been approved! Congrats to MobileReader kguil, and thank you for making this fantastic reading app possible. So what's new in Marvin 2.0? Plenty, plenty, plenty. Among the most prominent changes and new features are: location sync, support for the Marvin XD calibre driver (more about it in a moment), compatibility improvements, a refreshed UI, edge-to-edge screen scrolling, faster page rendering, an improved battery life, and various bug fixes. You can find more details on the Marvin blog. The Marvin XD calibre driver is something special, and I am sure you will love it. Developed by MobileReader GRiker, the driver provides native access to your Marvin library from within calibre. Things you can do with it include the syncing of metadata between Marvin and calibre, adding books from Marvin to calibre, deleting books from Marvin, managing your collections, viewing annotations, vocabulary words, and much more. You can find the latest version of the driver and more details in this thread. Excited? Join our Marvin forum and find out more about this reading app. App Store links: |
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O'Reilly has 50% sale on select programming e-books for today only |
11:00 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No... In celebration of today's Programmer's Day, tech book specialist O'Reilly is running a one-day-only 50 percent sale on select programming e-books, including such bestsellers as JavaScript: The Definitive Guide and The Linux Programming Interface. Use the discount code DEAL to take 50% off the regular price. The deal expires September 14, 2013 (5:00am PT) and does not apply to print books. |
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Thu September 12 2013
iAnnotate PDF on sale for just $1.99 until September 13 (iPad) |
09:26 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No... Alright, follow me on this one. iAnnotate is one of the most popular PDF viewing and annotation iPad apps in existence, and it's on sale for $1.99 right now to "celebrate" the back to school season. That's 80% off its regular price ($9.99). The deal is only good until September 13 (12pm CDT). iAnnotate bills itself as "the most powerful PDF annotation application for the iPad" that includes an "intuitive interface" and a "comprehensive set of features" for taking notes and annotating documents. Download link: iAnnotate PDF |
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Sony PRS-T3 and lighted case impressions |
08:03 AM by simplyparticular in E-Book Readers | Sony Reader I visited the Sony store in Niagara Falls, Ontario this afternoon and they had the T3 in stock. They also had an open box T1 for $90 with extended warranty, and the T2 on clearance for $80, so I could compare all three. The store associates would not let me take pictures, and I chose not to buy the T3 for various reasons, so this will strictly be a written impression. I spent about 15 minute playing with the T3 and comparing it with its predecessors. PRS-T3 Reader The bezel felt a bit narrow, but that could also be because I've gotten used to the T2 lighted case cover - it has the battery compartment which makes a nice grip. I did really like the rounded edges being totally exposed by the flap cover - very comfortable in hand compared to the snap in case edge n the T1/T2, but still not as nice as the clip system used by the 3/6/950 series. The text is sharper than both the T1 and T2, but it's less obvious compared to the T2 because they are both using the same "Original" font, where the T1 used a different one. Brightness of the background was identical to my T1 and the display T2. I was hoping for a lighter background. Software was basically identical. I knew my way around better than the 2 sales people who tried REALLY hard to sell me a T3. I meant to check out the dictionary options, but forgot. In both the stock and the lighted cover, the T3 has a very slim profile. I would guess it is about the same size as the 350 in its lighted cover, perhaps a bit slimmer. So definitely very portable, and really light. The lighted case: The lighted cover is powered by the T3, and has a super slim light that slides up out of the back. The lighted cover has big negatives for me: 2. The light only engages when fully extended - so no way to adjust position. It comes straight up and over, and that's it. 3. The lighted case had a difficult time making contact with the power nodules on the back of the T3. Three of us fiddled with two different lighted covers cases and had this problem. So the only way I could get the light to turn on was to squeeze the left side of the device/case to force the case and nodules to make contact. I gave up, since I wasn't so thrilled with the first two problems. Given the very small space involved in the lighted cover design, it doesn't take much to throw alignment off track - those power nodules are VERY tiny - there are two that are about the size of a ballpoint pen tip. I hope for Sony's sake this isn't a design flaw, just two faulty cases, or maybe an alignment problem with the display model. But I would suggest if you buy a T3 lighted cover - test it with YOUR device in store to make sure everything aligns properly! So the T3 stayed at the store. I didn't feel the sharper screen was enough to justify moving up for the T2, and the lighted cover (and the fact that you HAVE to use a cover) is a negative for me. YMMV. Happy shopping for your perfect reader! |
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Wed September 11 2013
Rumor: Photos of next-gen Kindle Fire HD emerge, goes angular retro |
05:10 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News This one is still very much unconfirmed, but a "trusted source" provided the folks over at BGR with photos of Amazon's forthcoming Kindle Fire HD 2. The partially blacked out photos were made of the 7-inch version, which, according to the source, is nearly identical to its 8.9-inch sibling. Overall, if the photo are to believed, the next-gen Fire HD will receive a complete redesign, with an angular look that could almost be considered old-school Thinkpad style. The position of the buttons has improved, with the power and volume buttons being more easily accessible, and the stereo speakers have been moved to the top of the device. What do you think about the new look? Feel free to join the ongoing discussion. If you are interested in the specs and if you don't mind them being just unconfirmed leaks, check out these related threads:
Thanks to Mobilereader daffy4u for the heads-up! |
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Calibre Companion prerelease 3.1.1b (Android) |
04:17 PM by chaley in E-Book Software | Calibre Companion CC prerelease 3.1.1b is available to people who are members of the CC prerelease program. This prerelease has the following changes:
Related: Changelog and FAQ |
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B&N Chairman talks to shareholders, no outlook for Nook Media |
08:53 AM by fjtorres in E-Book General | News Barnes & Noble Chairman Len Riggio grilled by shareholders, answers some questions, evades others:
About selling Nook:
Source: Publishers Weekly Translation: you can't sell if no one is buying. Odd to see the shareholder fixation on dividends: the company is (maybe) six months from Chapter 11 and they want to drain cash from it? Related: B&N reports $87m loss for Q1 2014, NOOK business plunges 20% (image: Mike Kalasnik / Flickr) |
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