OverDrive to Support Android, Release Integrated Application no comments
In a press announcement today OverDrive says that support for Android based devices is finally coming. Once this is in place you will be able to read ebooks with Adobe DRM and borrow library ebooks to read on your Android device. The Android app is the first of a series of new apps that will integrate ebooks, audiobooks, and interactive and multimedia into one application.
From the press release:
OverDrive (www.overdrive.com), a leading distributor of eBooks, audiobooks, and digital content for libraries, schools, and retailers, announced that it will release a series of apps that will combine eBooks, audiobooks, and interactive and multimedia content into one user-friendly application. The apps will be available for both mobile and desktop operating systems, including Windows®, Mac®, iPhone®, iPad®, Android™, Windows Mobile®, and BlackBerry®. Millions of end users will benefit from a single software solution for all OverDrive-supplied content, as well as on-the-go access to eBooks from OverDrive-powered library and retail catalogs.
"The significant investments that libraries and retailers are making in premium eBook collections will have even greater value when users can access titles on their mobile devices," said David Burleigh, director of marketing for OverDrive. "Existing eBook collections, as well as upcoming interactive and multimedia content in a variety of genres, will be compatible with apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, and other mobile operating systems."
Android devices will be the first to experience OverDrive’s app with integrated eBook reading features. The app will enable wireless downloads of premium, copy-protected eBooks, as well as enhanced accessibility and usability features such as text-to-speech. This and other mobile apps are being developed under a license agreement with Adobe® and using the Adobe Reader Mobile 9 SDK. All OverDrive apps will support EPUB, PDF, and eBook content protection functionality, including library lending and expiration.
Amazon announced an upcoming Kindle app for Android a few days ago, and today the Financial Times is reporting that in the first quarter of 2010 Android based smartphones outsold those based on Microsoft Windows Mobile for the first time ever.
