Hasta La Gadget!

Hot on the heels of purchasing Blinkbox and Peter Gabriel’s WE7, Tesco has purchased Andy McNab’s e-book publishers, Mobcast. It seems clear that the British supermarket heavyweight is currently engaged in a phony war with rival Sainsburys, which snapped up Rovi, Global Media Vault and Anobii for its competing online content service. McNab’s company is rather small, only offering around 130,000 titles in the UK, but like the earlier purchases, its infrastructure and resources will most likely be cannibalized to boost the company’s forthcoming digital platform.

Continue reading Tesco recruits Andy McNab’s e-book firm Mobcast to help win the Supermarket content war

Tesco recruits Andy McNab’s e-book firm Mobcast to help win the Supermarket content war originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Sep 2012 11:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In the US, the e-book price fixing scandal appears to be winding towards its inevitable conclusion. Many of the publishers settled with the DOJ right off the bat, and now the states themselves have gotten three publishing houses to cough up $69 million in their own agreement. (Of course, Apple, Macmillan and Penguin have all decided to go the trial route, but we’ll have to wait till next year to see how that plays out.) In Europe, the battle is still raging on, but Reuters is reporting that the accused are offering concessions in a bid to put the antitrust allegations behind them. The only name missing from the list is Penguin, which may or may not be part of the plea deal. Not all the details of the proposals have been revealed yet, and there’s no guarantee the commission will accept them. The heart of the settlement, however, would involve allowing Amazon to sell e-books at a discounted price for two years. Would cheaper Kindle books be good, clean fun for the whole family? Sure, but it certainly pales in comparison to the potential penalties if Apple and their publishing partners go to trial.

Filed under: Apple

Apple and publishers offer deal to put price fixing scandal behind them in EU originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 10:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When the US Department of Justice sued Apple and five major book publishers over alleged e-book price rigging, it immediately became clear that a few of these companies would do just about anything to avoid trial. That same day, three of the publishers — HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster and Hachette — elected to settle with the DoJ. Now, those same three publishers have reached an agreement in 49 states (all but Minnesota), wherein consumers will receive a combined $69 million in compensation.

Specifically, the payout applies to people who bought agency-priced e-books between April 1, 2010 and May 21, 2012. Interestingly, the payout includes folks who bought e-books from Macmillan and Penguin, even though those two publishers aren’t settling. As for making sure people get paid, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google, Sony, Apple and Kobo have agreed to identify and contact affected customers. According to ABC News, most of these retailers will give customers the option of receiving a check or a credit toward future purchases. Sony, meanwhile, will automatically issue checks, while Google will direct customers to an online submission form where they can file a claim. Whatever the method, payments are expected to begin 30 days after the settlement is approved. The DoJ settlement, which is separate from the agreement with the 49 states, is still awaiting clearance.

States reach $69 million settlement with three publishers in e-book price fixing case originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 11:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Barnes & Noble has continued its quest to stock the shelves of United Kingdom bookstores with Nooks, by adding Argos, Blackwell’s and Foyles to the list of where you can get one. Those retailers will join John Lewis in carrying the Nook Simple Touch and its Glow Light-toting cousin, giving UK’ers nearly a thousand bricks and mortar sites to get one — including bookstores at 55 colleges and universities. Those locations will join Barnes & Nobles recently launched online website in selling the e-readers — but if you like to Touch before buying, the PR is after the break.

Continue reading Barnes & Noble continues British invasion, forges pacts with Argos, Blackwell’s and Foyles

Barnes & Noble continues British invasion, forges pacts with Argos, Blackwell’s and Foyles originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 08:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We know Jeff Bezos & Co. have some sort of intriguing announcement planned for next week, but while we wait for that to take place, you might want to update your iOS-friendly Kindle application. Amazon just pushed out version 3.2 of the reading app and it’s loaded with a slew of new features, including adjustable margins for your “preferred reading experience,” rapid highlights to let users mark passages within their content, as well as improved brightness controls that, in theory, should make the overall viewing experience a tad bit better. Meanwhile, “Print Replica Textbooks” have been enhanced with fresh highlighting traits and an all-new notebook feature to save bookmarks, notes and images. The Kindle update can be snagged now from the App Store directly from any Cupertino-made slab, or you could always click on the source link below — your choice.

Filed under: Software

Kindle for iOS updated with rapid highlights, adjustable margins and more originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 01:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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