Sep 02
Following the e-book price fixing scandal that saw Apple found guilty
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Jul 25
After the European Commission accepted offers from Apple and four publishers to free up e-book pricing restrictions in December 2012, it’s now accepted Penguin’s commitment to do the same. Much like Penguin’s vow to the US DOJ, it will end its agency agreements with Apple and other retailers, and “most-favored nation” clauses will be absent from any new deals struck over the next five years. Most importantly, e-book retailers will now be able to control prices and discounts of Penguin’s catalog for two years. This legally binding pledge essentially brings an end to EC’s “competitive concerns,” as all involved in the original price-fixing investigation have now settled up.
Filed under: Apple
Via: Reuters
Source: European Commission
Mar 19
We’re sure by now, you’ve seen a number of videos of a number of animals, babies and even the elderly playing with an iPad to your amazement. But we’re sure you have yet to see a video of penguins playing with an iPad, and if you have, make believe you haven’t for the sake of this story.
For you people who have yet to see penguins interacting with an iPad, a video from the Aquarium of the Pacific shows them playing a game called “iPad Game For Cats,” which we’re sure these penguins would die from embarrassment if they knew they were playing such a game.
The game is designed with felines in mind as it has a toy mouse running around the screen, which would entice any cat to come play with your iPad. As penguins would do, they don’t play with the toy mouse, instead, they try to eat it over and over again. We’re sure the penguins that played with the iPad have once again learned we humans will continually tease them with food for our own enjoyment, which is what will probably spark the great penguin uprise of 2035.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: iOS Does The Harlem Shake In Jailbreak Tweak, Conan O’Brien Tells Us What Everyone Uses Their iPads For,
Nov 19
NYT: Penguin to extend ebook and audiobook library rentals to LA and Cleveland
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Penguin will refresh its ebook lending system later today, according to a report from the New York Times. The publisher will start lending out its titles in Los Angeles and Cleveland, mimicking the program that trialled (despite some DRM issues) in New York. Public library users can even expect downloadable audiobooks to join the lending list soon, through a team-up between Penguin and OneClickDigital. Expect the same lending rules, with new books appearing six months after their first release and the bizarre ‘one copy at a time’ system, in which each title can only be rented at one person at any one time. Worse still, at least for libraries, at the end of each year they must buy each title again or lose access to the digital copy.
[Image courtesy Sten Rüdrich]
Via: The Verge
Source: The New York Times
Oct 29
The pressure of digital transitions can lead traditional media companies to circle the wagons — for better or for worse — and book publishers certainly aren’t immune as e-books take hold. Bertelsmann and Pearson are worried enough to be merging their respective Random House and Penguin publishing wings into a joint venture, not-so-creatively titled Penguin Random House, that they hope will better survive “long-term trends” like the shift away from paper-centric business models. While the two are engaged in the usual corporatespeak of creating “synergies” (read: resource cuts), we’re more interested in talk of the union being a springboard for digital efforts: Penguin Random House wants to be “more adventurous” with e-book models like self-publishing. Whether the merger leads to a renaissance for established publishers or just reduced competition when the deal closes in the back half of 2013, we’re bracing ourselves for the possibility of a Fifty Shades of Jamie Oliver crossover.
Continue reading Penguin and Random House merge, promise a brave new e-book future
Penguin and Random House merge, promise a brave new e-book future originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Oct 2012 10:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Oct 08
Last week’s release of the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite offered an opportunity to look back on the rapid growth of e-reading, and look forward to what the digitization of publishing will mean to four major market forces: publishers, bookstores, authors and readers. As during any technological disruption, winners and losers trade fates until the upheaval settles and a new cycle of status quo begins.
Amazon is not the only bookstore represented in the scramble for new-era survival, but its major role has multiple dimensions: seller, publisher, enabler, inventor and primary instigator of disruption. Amazon is banking on being a winner, and was recently handed an advantage by the U.S. government in its uneasy relationship with publishers.
While industrial forces work their way through the dislocation of new paradigms, individuals — both book consumers and book authors — stand to be the biggest winners, and that is a good thing.
Continue reading Editorial: Bring on the digital overthrow of publishing
Filed under: Handhelds, Tablets, Wireless, Amazon
Editorial: Bring on the digital overthrow of publishing originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Oct 2012 17:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Oct 04
Google, Association of American Publishers strike deal over book digitization
Posted in: Today's Chili 
The Association of American Publishers (AAP) and Google today announced an agreement that marks the end of nearly seven years of litigation, kicked off in 2005, when five members of the organization filed an infringement suit against the online giant. The deal helps bring digitized books and journals to the Google Library Project, giving publishers control over what content will make it into Google’s collection. Publishers who opt to keep their book in the online library will get access of the digital copy for their own purposes. As a jointly issued press release notes, the deal, which includes McGraw-Hill, Penguin, Wiley, Pearson Education and Simon & Schuster, does not impact current Authors Guild litigation.
Google, Association of American Publishers strike deal over book digitization originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Oct 2012 11:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sep 28
Penbo Lovable Penguin
Posted in: Today's Chili
Love makes the world go round, or so that is what we have been taught to believe. Well, some of our friends in the animal kingdom are easily lovable without much effort on your part, such as puppies, kittens, and of course, penguins. It is not going to be easy keeping a pet penguin in your home due to the kind of special environment that it needs to thrive in, which is why if your little toddler has been bugging you for a pet penguin for his or her birthday, you can give in to that request – without getting a real penguin. Still, the $59.99 Penbo Lovable Penguin is one lovable bugger, as Penbo interacts with you through touch and sound.
Not only that, there is a surprise-colored (pink, blue or green, although we would have liked to see the entire rainbow range) Bebe which will pop out from Penbo’s stomach pouch (is this some sort of penguin-kangaroo hybrid that we do not know of?), playing games with one another to boot. Penbo is capable of chirping and dancing around, and just like some of the more modern toys, will be able to communicate and interact with Bebe and other Penbos too. Best to get rechargeable batteries in your home if you want the Penbo Lovable Penguin to be a permanent fixture, as it runs on half a dozen AA batteries.
[ Penbo Lovable Penguin copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Sep 06
Judge approves settlement for Hachette, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins in e-book lawsuit
Posted in: Today's Chili 
It’s a big day in the world of e-books, and not just for the crew at Amazon. Today, Judge Denise Cote approved settlement terms for three of the publishers accused by the Justice Department of price fixing. Hachette Book Group, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins each agreed to settle with the government, rather than face trial — as Apple, Macmillian and Penguin Group will do in June of 2013. As part of the settlement agreement, each of the publishers will be required to terminate their contracts with Apple within one week. Similarly, they will be required to end contracts with other e-book retailers where clauses exist that would hinder the seller’s ability to set pricing. Further, the settling companies won’t be able to form contracts for the next two years with e-book retailers that would hinder the seller’s discretion to set pricing.
During the settlement approval period, individuals and companies alike were given 60 days to weigh in on the matter, which included objections from the American Booksellers Association, the Authors Guild and Barnes & Noble. Ultimately, Judge Cote determined that arguments against the settlement were “insufficient” to block the approval.
Judge approves settlement for Hachette, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins in e-book lawsuit originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Sep 2012 16:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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