Hasta La Gadget!

Sony is calling it quits in the e-book platform market, the company announced today (via Engadget). The move isn’t entirely unexpected: Sony has always occupied a relatively small portion of the market compared to the big kid on the block Amazon. And in light of recent revenue figures, and the decision to cut the much more recognizable VAIO brand, absolutely no one should be shocked by this decision.

The Reader digital storefront for purchasing e-book titles will be shut down as of next month in the U.S. and Canada. Owners of Sony Readers (I’m looking at you, dad) in those countries shouldn’t be worried about what happens to all their purchases, since Sony is generously migrating accounts and existing libraries intact to Kobo, which works on iOS and Android devices as well as Android hardware. The Kobo Android now will also ship pre-installed on Xperia devices as part of the arrangement.

Sony has yet to reveal exactly how users can switch their content over, but they’ll be sending an email to Reader account holders to detail the process ahead of the projected end of March dead date for the Reader store.

As for Reader hardware, it appears to have been doomed as far back as October last year, at least for the U.S. market, when the company removed the Reader section from its website entirely and listed existing models as discontinued. Moving e-book sales to a partner is probably a smart move, given its existing decision to pull away from that category of devices.

Libraries for the most part contain books, actual physical books, although with technology becoming more integrated into our lives, libraries have introduced computers and to a certain extent, e-books as well, but it looks like the BiblioTech library in San Antonio, Texas, is looking to shake things up as it is the first and only public bookless library in America. This was the brainchild of Bexar County Judge, Nelson Wolff, who ironically enough is a collector of first-print editions books, and at one point in time also pushed for a print-only library.

The BiblioTech project reported cost $2.4 million and according to Wolff, it costs less than traditional libraries to operate since it does require a lot less space and fewer workers as well. The library will loan out e-readers to its visitors, permit downloads from home, as well as offer classes related to technology on-site as well. There are also tablets and a space for children to use them while visiting the library. So far the downside to this idea is that there aren’t that many popular titles available at the moment, simply because publishers are reportedly charging too much for e-books. According to Wolff, “It probably is a little bit ahead of its time […] We can’t get every book that we want in an e-format. And we are paying more for them.”

BiblioTech Is The US’ First Bookless Public Library original content from Ubergizmo.

A tablet for readers has always been a tricky proposition. For starters, the manufacturers that have attempted to create such a thing also make dedicated e-readers — devices with longer battery life and screens designed to make text look as much like print as possible. Barnes & Noble has given the category a shot with its Nook Tablets, though there are lingering questions as to whether that line will even survive. Amazon, meanwhile, has gone the opposite route, with reading representing just one of many features. Kobo’s latest readers see the company doubling down on reading, with a trio of tablets built around a reading core.

The Arc 10HD is the top-of-the-line model, a slate that doesn’t skimp on the specs (or price, for that matter, at $400). Most notably, it maintains a clear focus, promising to be (in Kobo’s own PR speak) “the best 10-inch HD tablet for readers.” For Kobo, that means loading up on book-centric features, including one that turns off all of those tablety distractions so you can just read. What, precisely, does it mean to be “the best 10-inch HD tablet for readers”? Does Kobo even deserve that distinction? Most importantly, is it a category within a category that really needs to exist in the first place?

Filed under: Tablets

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Exactly a day after gracing the Fire line, Amazon-owned Goodreads has arrived on the Paperwhite — if you’re willing to take a little initiative and download yourself, that is. And in all honesty, this was the upgrade we’ve been waiting for since the acquisition was first announced. It’s nice functionality to have on the Fire, certainly, and folks who own multiple Kindle devices will appreciate being able to use it across the tablets and readers, but the addition of social reading means a lot more on e-readers, where things tend to be a lot more locked down, due to hardware limitations. Overall, we were a bit underwhelmed by the implementation on the HDX. With a few exceptions, Goodreads feels more like an app than an integral part of the ecosystem. Given that the Paperwhite offers a less open platform, however, we had higher hopes for the e-reader.

And indeed, once installed, Goodreads is front and center — well, slightly to the right of center, added to the homepage toolbar, sandwiched between search and settings. If you’ve already tied your Amazon account to the social network — as we did with yesterday’s Fire update — you should be good to go. Tap the “g ” icon, and you’ll bring up the Goodreads app, which has been styled to match the rest of the Paperwhite UI. The app’s front page shows you updates across your network, including ratings and who wants to read what. From there, you can like and comment on statuses and mark those titles and “Read” or “Want to Read.” Up top, the My Shelves link lets you see your own collection. From that page, you can also click through to add books from your Amazon library, a nice way of back filling all the electronic and physical books that you’ve read over the years. It’s the next best thing to inviting people over to your place to see your real life bookshelf.

Filed under: Amazon

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Amazon announced its new Matchbook program that would allow those who purchase a physical copy of a book to receive a discount for the e-book version of that same piece of literature just last month. Bookworms can now raise both their physical books and e-books and cheer as Amazon’s Matchbook service is now available. (more…)

Amazon Kindle Matchook Service Now Live; Supports 70,000 Books original content from Ubergizmo.