Archive for the ‘borrowing library ebooks’ tag
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.
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OverDrive on iPad 2 comments
On its blog OverDrive says that it has completed testing of the company’s media formats on the iPad. Audiobooks in MP3 and WMA formats can be loaded onto the iPad by using either the OverDrive Media Console for Windows or the Mac version. As for borrowing ebooks from your local library the blog post notes that “As of right now, the iPad does not currently support the eBook formats (Adobe PDF, Adobe EPUB, Mobipocket) supplied by OverDrive.”
Update: OverDrive has released new apps for the iPhone and Android that will support ebooks.
Update 1/8/2011: At CES an OverDrive rep told me that a version of the OverDrive app optimized for the iPad should finally be out by the end of Q1 this year.
Update 2/15/2011: OverDrive released the iPad app today.
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OverDrive to Add DRM-free eBooks no comments
OverDrive has released a press release covering some of their new initiatives. One interesting and I think new item is that they will be adding non-DRM ePub and PDF ebooks to their collection of titles available to libraries. This will be good as these titles should work on ereaders that are not Adobe Digital Editions compatible. From the press release:
DRM-free eBooks in both EPUB and PDF formats are being added to OverDrive’s catalog for libraries. These OverDrive "Open eBooks" will be compatible with nearly any eBook reader or software that can display EPUB and PDF files. Titles from Harlequin’s Carina Press, Saddleback Educational Publishing, and Rourke Publishing will be among the first DRM-free eBooks available to libraries.
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Borrowing Library eBooks on the DR800SG eReader no comments
Since I have ADE up and working again I wanted to try borrowing something on my Irex DR800SG from the public library to see how well it works.
The Los Angeles County Library system currently has something over 700 fiction and nonfiction ebooks available. This is not a lot, but they are slowly building the collection. With California having fallen off into an ocean of red ink I’m sure that the library’s budget has been curtailed.
I borrowed Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. Yes, this is a public domain title and I could get it elsewhere, but I wanted to make sure library downloads work okay on the DR800SG ereader and there was no waiting list for this title. I read many of Hesse’s works when I was a teenager – it was the thing to do back then. I’ve wanted to revisit them to see how they hold up, but many of Hesse’s titles do not seem to have made the jump to ebooks yet. I seem to recall that Narcissus and Goldmund and Steppenwolf were my favorites.
After a few clicks I was able to download the ebook to my PC and then to my ereader. Pretty painless and everything works as advertised.
I also found a few other new titles that I want and put myself on the waiting lists. Neal Stephenson’s Anthem was available with no waiting list, but at a thousand plus pages this is a nut I did not want to try cracking in view of my present reading backlog and the 14 day loan period. I will probably just buy this one later.
When borrowing library ebooks for your ereader you are probably going to find yourself in the position of having to drop whatever you are presently reading to jump on your requested book when it becomes available and finish it in the allotted time.
Having access to public library ebooks is a great feature, but I’m not sure if I would make it a priority when choosing which ereader to buy – at least not at the present time. You can find out how much material is available at your local library by visiting Overdrive’s site and entering your zip code in the search widget.
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OverDrive Announces Plans for 2010 no comments
In a press release OverDrive has announced some new digital content distribution services planned for 2010. The press release is quite long, so I will just quote a couple of paragraphs here. You can read the press release in its entirety here.
Interactive Media, DRM-Free eBooks, Periodicals, Streaming Audiobooks, Music, and Video to Join Digital Distributor’s Retail and Library Channels
CLEVELAND, OH–(Marketwire – 02/22/10) – OverDrive (www.overdrive.com), the leading global distributor of eBooks and audiobooks for libraries and retailers, announced today new services that will significantly expand its digital distribution network for copyrighted digital media. New digital book formats, streaming content services, and title discovery and fulfillment enhancements will be available in 2010, which will help OverDrive’s publishing partners, retailers, and libraries capitalize on accelerating market demand. During 2009, OverDrive achieved its fifth consecutive year of double digit growth and profitability by adding hundreds of retail, library, corporate, and school outlets for more than 1,000 publishers’ copyrighted eBooks, audiobooks, music and video in more than a dozen countries. Building on this momentum, OverDrive will introduce new services for 2010, including:
– Content Reserve® Plus: OverDrive’s global distribution platform will
integrate third party digital catalogs to add their eBooks, databases,
music, video, and enhanced multimedia content to OverDrive’s network of
retail and institutional accounts. In March, OverDrive will demonstrate
interactive educational eBook products including "read aloud" features
and DRM-free eBooks in "Open EPUB" and "Open PDF" formats at the Public
Library Association National Conference in Portland, Oregon. OverDrive
is now in negotiation with rights holders of databases, periodicals,
newspapers, music by the track, HD and mobile streaming video, and
reader apps to add their content to OverDrive’s current catalog of over
450,000 copyrighted digital titles.
– OverDrive Reciprocal®: OverDrive’s consolidated bookshelf service will
provide readers a single location for access, preferences, permission-
based contact from publishers and authors across numerous eBook formats,
audiobooks, interactive titles, subscriptions, and suppliers of premium
media. Reciprocal will provide single sign-on (SSO) eCommerce and
membership card support to dozens of eBookstores, libraries, and user
accounts. As a certified Payment Card International (PCI) Level 1
compliant service center, OverDrive will provide SSO for multiple credit
card or debit payment methods from a single bookshelf and their
OverDrive Reciprocal Dashboard.
The read aloud features are necessary for those with vision impairments. Some libraries suspended buying Overdrive ebooks last year when an Adobe software update disabled text-to-speech.
Reciprocal sounds interesting as well, depending on how it is implemented.
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OverDrive Audiobook App Available for Android 3 comments
Overdrive has released its audiobook app for Android. Owners of Android based devices can use this new app to borrow or purchase audiobooks from their local libraries and other sources. Audiobooks borrowed from public libraries will automatically expire and are removed from the device when the loan period is over.
OverDrive Audiobook App Now Available in Android™ Market
Android app enables wireless audiobook downloads from libraries and booksellers
(Cleveland, OH) – February 11, 2010 – OverDrive (www.overdrive.com), the leading global distributor of audiobooks and eBooks to libraries and retailers, announced that its audiobook app for AndroidTM is now out of beta and available as a full release. OverDrive’s audiobook app for Android enables users to wirelessly download MP3 audiobooks from more than 10,000 libraries and major online retailers, including Barnesandnoble.com, BooksOnBoard.com, and Borders.com. Major devices, including DROIDTM by Motorola®, DROID ErisTM, and Nexus OneTM, can now be used to access OverDrive-supplied MP3 audiobooks on the go. To install OverDrive® Media ConsoleTM for Android v1.0, visit the Android Market on your device or download directly from http://overdrive.com/software/omc.
Android users can visit http://search.overdrive.com on their devices to find libraries that offer MP3 audiobook downloads. With the zip code search, users can find a local library’s mobile-optimized download website. Using the ‘Advanced Search’ feature, they can browse for audiobooks in the MP3 format. Users will then be able to check out an available title with their library card and download directly to their Android device with OverDrive’s audiobook app.
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Borrowing Library eBooks on Your Sony eReader no comments
One of the new features that Sony proudly announced when they officially unveiled their new ereaders was the ability to borrow ebooks from your local public library, providing your library uses the Overdrive system. This seemed like a really good idea, and one that someone should have thought of a long time ago. In reality how good is it?
I use the Los Angeles County Public Library, which as you can imagine is quite large and has a lot of holdings. In spite of its size, the LA County Library only has a little less than 230 ebooks available for download at this time. Of these, 50 are fiction and the rest are nonfiction. The library only has a fixed number of “copies” to loan out, so almost all titles have a waiting list. After putting yourself on one of these waiting lists you will be notified by email when your requested ebook is available for download. Your newly borrowed ebook will be usable for a period of 21 days, after which time it will be deactivated. I was mainly trying to test the process so I found an unloved nonfiction ebook that I could download immediately and give a temporary home to on my Sony ereader.
First you will need to install Adobe Digital Editions on your computer, which went pretty smoothly in my case. Make sure you use the same email address to register it as you used to register your Sony ereader. After installation, ADE found my Sony PRS 600 by itself with no problems. It was a simple matter to then drag and drop my newly downloaded ebook onto the ereader in the Digital Editions window. The process, once you have the software installed, is comparable to purchasing and installing an ebook onto your reader using the Sony eBook Library, except you use a library card instead of a credit card.
The system seems to work pretty well and is a good feature. I was a bit skeptical when I first heard Sony was integrating this ability into their ebook readers. The last time I tried to download digital media from the library I could never get it to work because of some kind of DRM conflict. That was a couple of years ago though, and the system appears to be much more usable now. You will need to live near to a library system that has digital media provided by Overdrive (many do) for this to work for you. You can go to Overdrive’s website and search for any compatible libraries near you.
While being able to check out ebooks from public libraries and read them on your ebook reader is a really good concept, I wouldn’t let it sway your decision about which ebook reader to purchase. The number of titles available at this time is just too limited. You will probably find a few titles that are on your reading list, but you will have to get in line before you can read them.
Probably we will see our public libraries carrying more ebooks as time goes on and as ebook readers become more and more popular. Hopefully too we will see compatibility with more ereaders than just Sony’s.
