Using a subscription model that has presently been found almost exclusively in video-based services, Oyster has announced the launch of a (currently invite-only) monthly ebook subscription service, allowing subscribers to have all-you-can-read access to its library of digital books. At the moment, Oyster says it offers about 100,000 titles and it aims to provide an […]
Earlier today the next-generation Kindle Paperwhite was posted briefly on Amazon’s website, only to be pulled a short while later. Now it is time for its official unveiling, with Amazon sending out a press release containing the details, some of which we already saw this morning, as well as more information about the Goodreads integration […]
Amazon has announced a new service for certain customers who purchase the physical version of a book called Amazon MatchBook. Under the program, those buyers will be able to grab the digital copy of the same book for a steeply discounted rate, a sort of subsidized legal format shifting endeavor that gives readers the option […]
It’s easy to forget that owning something digitally is way different from owning it for real. And if you do forget, it can bite you in the ass. That’s what happened to Jim O’Donnell when he traveled into Singapore and found that Google Play Books app on his iPad had up and deleted all his ebooks.
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This afternoon Apple has been denied the right to suspend the verdict handed down in its defense against charges of conspiring with book publishers to raise the prices of e-books. At the moment this means that Apple is sentenced to terminate current agency agreements with publishers and hold off any multimedia agreements that could in […]
On July 24, we reported that Google would be adding textbooks to the Play Store some time this month, doing so in time for students to get their hands (er, tablets) on digital textbooks before the fall semester kicks off. As it turns out, today was that day, and the Google Play Store is now […]
Apple has blasted Department of Justice suggestions for how it should remedy the ebook price fixing issue, describing the fixes as a “draconian and punitive intrusion” into its business. The DoJ filed a list of remedies earlier today, including forcing Apple to allow rival ebook vendors such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble to include […]
More and more tech companies are showing interest in education and helping out students by offering services and features to assist them during their studies. After all, the youth are the future. Google thinks so too and has introduced a textbooks category in Google Play where students can rent and buy digital textbooks.
Just in time for the fall semester, Google will be bringing textbooks to Google Play starting sometime next month, and they plan to offer a “comprehensive” selection of textbooks for students, although they didn’t go into specifics as to how many textbooks they’ll be offering. However, they did say that all five major publishing houses are on board.
To up the ante, though, Google is promising that these textbooks will be available at discounts of up to 80%, which is sometimes even more of a discount than even buying them physically used. I’m sure exact discounts will vary greatly depending on what book you’re looking for specifically, but most books should be a lot cheaper than their physical counterparts.
Like any other piece of content that you purchase in Google Play, textbooks will be able to sync across your multiple devices, including Android, iOS, and desktop computers through the browser. Seeing as how Google is marketing the Nexus 7 as the tablet to get for students, digital textbooks seems like a great way to continue marketing that.
Google is launching an education section in Google Play later this fall, and we’re guessing that today’s textbook addition will be a part of that platform. Apple, Google, and Microsoft have all displayed a huge interest in education and helping students succeed, while Facebook is aiming to do the exact opposite by distracting students during those long study cram sessions. We kid of course.
Google Play gets textbook category as Google dives deep into education is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Anyone who enjoys comics and prefers to go the digital route knows the frustrating aspect of not actually owning the material. Though the price for online copies of various comics is often equal to the price of a paper copy, DRM has been a staple of major US publishers as a way to mitigate what is expected to be rampant piracy when the restrictions are removed. Image Comics has eschewed this convention, however, announcing that it will allow a digital comic purchase to be downloaded.
The announcement was made at the Image Expo that took place yesterday, during which the publisher stated that all digital comic purchases made from its website will be provided to the buyer as a download that can be saved to the user’s computer, smartphone or tablet. In addition, the downloads will be provided in different file-type options: EPUB, PDF, CBR, and CBZ.
Thus, buyers will likely be able to download a version that works with their preferred comic reading application or ebook reader, and provides the freedom to save the file to different devices for different situations. One might, for example, wish to read it on a laptop during lunch break, then transfer it to a smartphone for enjoyment during a train ride or poolside. Hopefully this will inspire other publishers to follow.
Said Eric Stephenson of Image Comics: “My stance on piracy is that piracy is bad for bad entertainment. There’s a pretty strong correlation with things that suck not being greatly pirated, while things that are successful have a higher piracy rate. If you put out a good comic book, even if somebody does download it illegally, if they enjoy it then the likelihood of them purchasing the book is pretty high. Obviously we don’t want everybody giving a copy to a hundred friends, but this argument has been around since home taping was supposedly killing music back in the ’70s, and that didn’t happen. And I don’t think it’s happening now.”
The publisher’s director of business development went on to state some reasons beyond the “ownership factor” that are valid for why users should own the digital content they download, among them being the risk of having DRM’d downloads being revoked if a publisher goes out of business, for example. In addition, digital downloads have resulted in “tremendous growth” and the data shows no reasonable need to worry.
SOURCE: Wired
Image Comics becomes first US publisher offering DRM-free downloads is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
A new DRM technology is being developed in Germany that gives every ebook a unique watermark of sorts, so that publishers can track them and see who is pirating copies. With the popularity of ereaders and ebooks on the rise, publishers are looking for new ways to combat the rise in piracy on ebooks, especially
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