Dec 27
New research from Pew Internet says that ebook readership is up (duh), and overall we own more tablets and ereaders. That’s not all that surprising, really. Still, here’s a look at how America reads. More »
Dec 23
Happy holidays from space; there’s a new, free, astronomic e-book in the iTunes store and all you need to check it out is an iDevice and some time. Hubble Space Telescope: Discoveries boasts a collection of picture, video, and animation that lets you stare out into the beautiful void like never before. More »
Dec 06
Why, hello there!-I was just appraising some rare PDFs in the back room when I heard you come in. Feel free to peruse our inventory, and if you have any questions, please allow me-one of the world’s foremost authorities on and purveyors of fine electronic books-to act as your steward through the wonderfully esoteric world of antique eBook collecting. More »
Nov 19
Today the Kindle turns five and it’s come a long, long way in that past half-decade. In case you don’t remember, in 2007 the first generation Kindle had a 800 x 600 screen, 250 MB internal memory, and was the only model to ever have a microSD slot. And it launched for the low, low price of $400. Despite the pricetag, the device was wildly popular, selling out in the first few hours, and remaining out of stock until April 2008. More »
Nov 18
If’ you’re a really fast reader, you can finish off a book in a day, maybe tackle a short one in as little as an hour or two. Good for you but that’s nothing compared to the BFS-Auto book-scanning robot. It can handle 250 pages in a minute. That’s fast even for a machine. More »
Nov 17
I hope you’re not a huge fan of skeumorphic virtual page turning. If you are, I hope you have an iOS device. Why? Because Apple just got a patent for that. Yup, Apple has a patent on turning fake pages. More »
Nov 16
If you’ve been a long-time iOS user and also read your fair share of ebooks, then you’ll know that Apple implemented a pretty cool page-turning animation when reading ebooks, meaning that sliding your finger across the screen to go to the next page resulted in the page actually turning, just like it would with a real book. And finally, USPTO has granted Apple the patent for that animation.
The patent’s illustration shows three different images of a virtual page being turned. One with the corner of a page being turned slightly, the next image with the page halfway turned, and the third showing the page almost entirely turned over. A swipe of the finger will activate the page turn, while a vertical finger swipe will flip the page just enough to reveal what’s on the next page.
The patent, which is for “Display screen or portion thereof with animated graphical user interface,” represents only one of 38 different patents that have been granted to Apple this week. The New York Times notes that this isn’t the first “seemingly obvious” patent that Apple has been awarded. The company was granted a patent for the musical note icon for iTunes, as well as the infamous glass staircase design Apple uses in their stores.
iBooks isn’t the only application that Apple uses its page-turning animation in. With iOS 6, Apple uses the animation in several of their own apps, including Maps and the Calendar app for iPad. Another notable patent that Apple won this week was for the iPad Smart Case, which acts much like a Smart Cover but gives the iPad a little added protection all around.
[via AppleInsider]
Apple granted patent for page-turn animation is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Nov 07
DC Comics has announced that it will be offering its comic books on a variety of digital platforms, including Apple’s iBooks, Amazon’s Kindle, and Barnes & Noble’s NOOK ereaders and tablets. Of course, DC Comics has been selling graphic novels in digital form for quite some time, but this is the first time that DC is officially releasing new content on a weekly basis to various big digital platforms.
Starting today, you’ll be able to get your comic fix through the official stores of your respective devices. DC also reported that for the year to date, its digital comic sales are up 197% year-over-year. Hank Kanalz, DC’s senior vice president of digital, says that the addition of more digital content won’t detract attention from physical comic book stores, but will expand the audience instead.
Previously, DC Comics sold its content through apps from Comixology including its own DC Comics app in Google Play and iTunes. However, those were the only two places that users could buy DC-owned comics. Now, users can go through the official bookstores on various devices without having to download additional apps in order to buy comic books.
Today will see 70 titles available in iBooks, the Kindle store, and the NOOK store, including the week’s New 52 superhero books, several Vertigo issues, select “digital-first” titles that publish online before print, as well as some back issues. A combination of same-day new titles and backlist titles will be added in the coming months.
DC digital comic books now available for iOS, Kindle, and NOOK devices is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Nov 06
Apple avoids antitrust investigation by allowing Amazon to lower ebook prices
Posted in: Today's ChiliApple has negotiated a deal with European Union regulators that will result in the company avoiding a potential investigation on antitrust violations. However, in return, Apple is letting Amazon set their own prices for ebooks, which will most likely be lower than what Apple offers in their iBooks store.
Reuters is reporting that the European Union is about to accept the offer from Apple and four major book publishers: HarperCollins, Hachette Livre, Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck, and Simon & Schuster. The proposal by these five companies was made back in September, and the EU is said to make a decision soon.
However, it probably won’t be until next month until we hear from the EU about their decision, but one source says that they will “likely accept the offer” from Apple and the publishers. The EU antitrust authority was investigating Apple’s ebook pricing, which some said prevented Amazon and other retailers from undercutting Apple’s prices.
However, this agreement is good news for Amazon, as well as consumers. Apple originally made a backroom deal with book publishers that would force Amazon to raise prices so that they wouldn’t hold a price advantage over Apple’s iBooks. However, this new deal with the EU will see Amazon ebook prices most likely going back down soon.
[via Reuters]
Apple avoids antitrust investigation by allowing Amazon to lower ebook prices is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Nov 03
Barnes & Noble cut the price of Nook Tablet, Nook Color once more, really wants to be on your Christmas list
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Barnes & Noble recently took the wraps of two new tablets, updating its range (along with everyone else it seems) in preparation for next year. That doesn’t mean it’s washed its hands with the OG Nook tablet and Nook Color — in fact, both just got another price cut. Starting tomorrow, you’ll be able to pick up the original 8GB tablet for $159, the 16GB version for $179 and the Nook Color for $139. With two price cuts in three months, anyone would think it was trying to get rid of stock. This still puts last year’s lower capacity model shoulder to shoulder with Amazon’s 2012 Kindle Fire (with ad subsidies), but with Christmas just around the corner, we’re not complaining about more choice for less dollars.
Filed under: Tablets
Barnes & Noble cut the price of Nook Tablet, Nook Color once more, really wants to be on your Christmas list originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 03 Nov 2012 14:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | Comments
Who's in charge here?
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.