Hasta La Gadget!

Amazon has launched Whispercast for Kindle, a new mass-deployment and management system for ebooks – and soon apps – on Kindles and Kindle apps for schools and businesses. Intended to allow Kindle titles to be bought and shared out among students and employees, as well as remotely control device passwords, wireless settings, and what titles can be purchased. Meanwhile, Amazon says Whispercast for Kindle will soon be able to handle distributing and managing Kindle Fire applications.

For businesses, Amazon is keen to highlight Kindle’s compatibility with digital documents, even if they’re not ebooks purchased from its own store. PDFs and other content can be pushed out, to employees and to customers, and the system will work with company-owned Kindles or Kindles/Kindle apps running on users’ own hardware.

“Today, we are announcing Whispercast, a free, scalable solution for school and business administrators to centrally manage thousands of Kindles and wirelessly distribute Kindle books as well as their own documents to their users” Dave Limp, Kindle VP, said of the new system. “Organizations can also design bring-your-own-device programs at school or work using personally-owned Kindles, Kindle Fires, and other tablets using the free Kindle reading applications for receiving content.”

The system works with both the dedicated Kindle hardware Amazon offers and the free apps provided for iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows. Individual users can be assigned to groups – whether that’s classes or grade levels for schools, or teams within businesses – and content limited to certain groups.

Whispercast for Kindle is a free service; there’s more information here

Amazon has begun notifying Kindle users that they may have a refund on ebook purchases in the pipeline, in the aftermath of the antitrust settlement around price-fixing by publishers. The message, sent out to users “in most US states and territories” impacted by the decision today, confirms that Kindle shoppers will be among those to gain from a $69m fund set up by Hachette, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster, with the Attorneys General estimating that the refund will amount to $0.30 to $1.32 apiece on eligible ebooks.

For those ebooks to be eligible, they need to have been purchased between April 2010 and May 2012, and of course have been published by one of the three settling publishers. The settlements themselves are still yet to be approved by the Court, Amazon warns, something which isn’t expected until February 8, 2013.

“In addition to the account credit, the settlements impose limitations on the publishers’ ability to set e-book prices” Amazon highlights. “We think these settlements are a big win for customers and look forward to lowering prices on more Kindle books in the future.”

Credits from the fund will automatically be added to eligible Amazon users’ accounts, though they will also be able to request a check instead. However, if individual customers want to sue any of the three publishers individually, they’ll have to opt-out of the settlements.

“If the Court approves the Settlements, eligible consumers like you will receive automatic credits to your E-reader accounts. The credit can be used on any purchases of E-books or print books. The amount of your payment has been determined based on the qualifying E-book purchases identified by Amazon.com in your E-reader account” Amazon

Finally, Amazon points out, a separate suit against Apple and two remaining publishers is on course for a trial in 2013.

Amazon email to customers:

Dear Kindle Customer,

We have good news. You are entitled to a credit for some of your past e-book purchases as a result of legal settlements between several major e-book publishers and the Attorneys General of most U.S. states and territories, including yours. You do not need to do anything to receive this credit. We will contact you when the credit is applied to your Amazon.com account if the Court approves the settlements in February 2013.

Hachette, Harper Collins, and Simon & Schuster have settled an antitrust lawsuit about e-book prices. Under the proposed settlements, the publishers will provide funds for a credit that will be applied directly to your Amazon.com account. If the Court approves the settlements, the account credit will appear automatically and can be used to purchase Kindle books or print books. While we will not know the amount of your credit until the Court approves the settlements, the Attorneys General estimate that it will range from $0.30 to $1.32 for every eligible Kindle book that you purchased between April 2010 and May 2012. Alternatively, you may request a check in the amount of your credit by following the instructions included in the formal notice of the settlements, set forth below. You can learn more about the settlements here:
www.amazon.com/help/agencyebooksettlements

In addition to the account credit, the settlements impose limitations on the publishers’ ability to set e-book prices. We think these settlements are a big win for customers and look forward to lowering prices on more Kindle books in the future.

Thank you for being a Kindle customer.

The Amazon Kindle Team

Amazon to Kindle customers: There’s an antitrust refund incoming is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Amazon has confirmed that the UK, France, and Germany are next in line for the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library system, with the ebook loan program set to launch later in October. The scheme, which launched in the US back in November, and offers subscribers to Amazon Prime a range of books they can borrow on their Kindle. Up to one book per month can be borrowed, with no limit on how long it can be kept.

Amazon says that there will be over 200,000 titles for readers to choose from, with local-language ebooks as well as high-profile inclusions like the full Harry Potter series. Kids, mystery, science fiction, romance, non-fiction, and other categories are catered for.

As for publishers and authors, the Kindle Direct Publishing platform will support Kindle Owners’ Lending Library inclusion too, and the KDP Select fund – which pays out royalties per loan – has also been boosted to accommodate the predicted increase in demand. For October, it’s gone from $100,000 to $700,000, and Amazon says it is planning on another increase for November.

In September, Amazon says, authors were paid $2.29 per-borrow. To use the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library you’ll need an actual Kindle hardware device and to be a Prime subscriber – in the UK, that’s currently £49 per year.

Amazon Kindle Owners’ Lending Library gets Euro launch this month is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

When it comes to reading, some of us prefer to get our reading done at night just before we retire for the day. The thing is, having that reading lamp turned on might not be too suitable for folks who have a companion who is sensitive to light. The advent of e-book readers, however, has split the camp right down the middle to two – one with a built-in backlight, while the other still needs ambient light if you were to get any reading done. The Bookeen Cybook Odyssey HD FrontLight would be part of the former, where it boasts of a high resolution, front-lit E Ink display.

Available in Europe from November onwards, the Bookeen Cybook Odyssey HD FrontLight will have a higher resolution 6” display that churns out 758 x 1024 pixels, resulting in a pixel density of 213 pixels per inch. Not quite Retina display quality, but it certainly is getting there. Apart from that, the anti-glare capacitive touchscreen and a new user interface should make reading electronic books a whole lot more fun than before.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Bookeen to release Cybook Orizon next month, Bookeen Cybook Opus Paraded,

It would appear that the honor of being the lightest e-reader on the planet has been claimed by Bookeen and their new Cyberbook Odyssey HD FrontLight, complete with E-Ink HD display and the 6th generation since the start of the line. This device will be launched in November starting in Europe and the folks at Bookeen have made it clear that they’re coming for Amazon’s lunch, noting their power in a single sentence: “Since 1998, Bookeen has been the European champion in digital reading years before Amazon entered the market.”

Bookeen is making it clear that with this device they’ll be attacking the “independent” market as the only solution to do so “against Amazon or Kobo.” This device works with a 213 DPI resolution display and works with what Bookeen claims is 62% more pixels than “current e-readers” – though they do not specify which. This display has 758 x 1024 pixel across it, to be specific.

You’ve got a capacitive touch display up front working with that E-Ink and you’ll have twenty level of FrightLighting to adjust according to your needs. This device also has the ability to activate the FrontLight or de-activate it depending on if you’re in the dark, the light, or anywhere in-between. For reading documents, you’ve also got features here on this newest generation device that past generations simply were not capable of.

One of these options is PDF reflow – tap the button and your PDF’s text is re-adjusted without you needing to change the display in any way. You’ve got what Bookeen calls a High Speed Ink System as well for “action at a fast pace.” This device will be coming out in more than 40 countries, weighs in at 180 g/6.35 oz, and boasts both touch-screen management and mechanical buttons.

You’ll be able to pick this device up in Old Pink, Black, Red Vermillion, and several more case colors. It’ll also be joined in its release later this year by a Cybook Odyssey 2013 Edition – a new version of the company’s best-seller. Prices and further specifications will be revealed soon – stay tuned!

Cyberbook Odyssey HD FrontLight stakes claim on Euro e-reader market is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.