Hasta La Gadget!

Barnes & Noble has had a quarter worth remembering, bringing in $1.5 billion and reducing its losses to $41 million — down from $57 million last year. Retail business was up, thanks to the closure of Borders branches and blockbuster sales of Fifty Shades of Grey, while College sales increased quarterly losses by $2 million to $14 million. While online sales fell 7.6 percent and the Nook business remained flat, the company saw digital content purchases skyrocket by 46 percent — and the company couldn’t produce enough GlowLight devices to satisfy demand. Wondering about the company’s tie-up with Microsoft? There’s still no news beyond that it hopes the new partnership will be up and running by the fall.

Continue reading Barnes and Noble sees quarterly sales surge, losses fall to $41 million

Barnes and Noble sees quarterly sales surge, losses fall to $41 million originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Aug 2012 09:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In the market for a new e-reader? One could certainly do worse than Sony’s Reader line. The company’s been packing features onto its devices, and the already leaked latest entry is no different, with upgrades over its predecessor, packed into a newly redesigned body with bigger, better looking buttons. Sony’s promised more intuitive touch with the Reader PRS-T2, smoother zooming and improved page turning, this time out. On the sharing side of things, Evernote functionality joins the fray here, letting users save their favorite passages to the service. Users can also post passages from books, along with corresponding covers and other identifying information to Facebook, if you’re the sort who loves to share such literary info. On the store side of things, Sony’s offering up browser-based account access now, so when users buy books on their desktop, they’ll get pushed to the reader.

The PRS-T2 offers up 2GB of storage, two English and four translation dictionaries (though, contrary to its name, doesn’t do so in an Austrian accent), two months of battery life (WiFi off) and the customary six-inch Pearl E-Ink display for $129. Oh, and Sony’s also throwing in a free copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, for good measure. The PRS-T2 starts shipping today. More information on the subject can be found after the break.

Continue reading Sony Reader gets a new design, Evernote integration and a free Harry Potter book for $129

Sony Reader gets a new design, Evernote integration and a free Harry Potter book for $129 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Aug 2012 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Between clients for the PC and Mac and functionality on mobile devices, Amazon’s got no shortage of methods for helping users get content onto their Kindles. Just in case you still weren’t happy with the available options, however, the mega-retailer has extended the list to include a Send-to-Kindle Chrome extension that lets users send posts, stories and various other content to their e-readers. The extension lets users preview content and limited it to selected text, as well. Amazon’s also promising similar functionality for Firefox and Safari “soon.” Check the source link below to download the offering.

Filed under: Tablet PCs, Software

Send to Kindle comes to Chrome, Safari and Mozilla support promised ‘soon’ originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 14:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We first caught sight of Sony’s latest reader when it mysteriously swung past the FCC, but now the PRS-T2 has arrived to spill the beans at Park Row’s most famous resident. J&R’s pre-order page reveals that the 6-inch touchscreen WiFi-only device is packing a 800 x 600 E-Ink display, a battery promising two months life and a built-in stylus. Software options include six dictionaries, Evernote Clearly, Facebook for Reader and a free copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. The electronics superstore has the device listed as “coming soon,” and when it arrives, will set you back $130 — but, as its write-up notes, that’s the price you pay to avoid being bothered with adverts.

Sony Reader PRS-T2 up for $130 pre-order at J&R originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Aug 2012 04:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We have ad-supported e-reading today, but the ads always sit on the periphery at most. That makes us more than slightly nervous about a newly-granted Microsoft patent for contextual e-book ads. The development would make the pitch based on not just targeted pages but the nature of the book in question: a sci-fi novel might try to sell lightsabers, and characters themselves might slip into the ads themselves if there’s a fit. Promos could be either generated on the spot or remain static. Before anyone mourns the end of unspoiled literature, just remember that having a patent isn’t the same as using it — Microsoft doesn’t have its own dedicated reading app anymore, let alone any warning signs that it’s about to pepper our digital libraries with marketing. If the Newco partnership results in copies of War and Peace bombarded with Black Ops II ads, though, we’ll know where to place the blame.

Microsoft patents contextual ads in e-books, whether we like it or not originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Aug 2012 12:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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