Archive for the ‘Google editions’ tag
Google opens eBookstore no comments
The Google eBookstore, formerly known as Google Editions, has opened its doors for business. At launch there are almost three million free ebooks and hundreds of thousands of paid titles.
Adobe is supplying the DRM, so any ereader or other device that supports Adobe’s DRM system should be able to read ebooks from the Google eBookstore. To read on Android or iPads and iPhones you will need to install Google’s reading apps. You can read across multiple devices and your last-read page will be synced, unless your device requires Adobe Digital Editions to transfer the ebook, in which case the sync feature is broken.
Google eBooks are stored in the cloud, so you can read them on the web or with one of the Google reading apps without downloading the content. If you will be reading offline you can, in most cases, download a PDF or ePub file. In some cases publishers have prohibited downloads. Currently you cannot read Google eBooks offline using the Web Reader on your computer, although Google says it is working to enable this.
Google ebooks will also be sold through some indie bookstores and other retail outlets.
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Around the Web – 8/04/2010 no comments
Mike Shatzkin has an interesting post about three new platforms for ebooks due to appear on the scene soon: Google Editions, Blio and Copia. While I am somewhat skeptical of Copia’s hardware, their ebook platform does have some interesting features.
CNN has a video interview with author Anne Rice in which she explains why she is leaving Catholicism. (via Huffington Post)
Eco-thriller author Marianna Jameson writes an interesting post on the Novelists Inc blog about the sometimes eerie similarities between her book Frozen Fire (co-authored with Bill Evans) and BP’s mess in the Gulf.
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Google to Scan National Library of the Netherlands no comments
Google has announced, via its Inside Google Books blog, a new conquest in its ongoing quest to scan the world’s out-of-copyright books. More than 160,000 public domain books from the National Library of the Netherlands will be scanned into the Google Books collection.
The scanned books will also be available through the National Library’s website and through Europeana.
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Google will Scan Books from Austrian Library no comments
As you know, Google is on a controversial mission to scan the world’s out-of-copyright books. Die Presse reports that Google has just reached an agreement with the Austrian National Library to digitize 400,000 out-of-copyright books from the 16th to mid-19th centuries. Google will pay € 30 million to scan the approximately 120 million page collection.
Google has so far digitized around 12 million books.
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Google Editions to Open this Summer no comments
Google has been promising its Google Editions online bookstore for awhile. Yesterday the Wall Street Journal reported that Google intends to open its bookstore in the clouds in late June or July.
Ebooks purchased from Google should work on a variety of devices. Other ebook sellers will also be able to offer Google Editions and earn revenue on sales. The WSJ reports that Google has not yet decided if it will follow the Agency Model where publishers set ebook prices, or if prices will be set by Google.
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Notion Ink Tablet; HTC Tablet Rumors; Onyx Boox 60 1 comment
The first announced device to use a Pixel Qi display will debut at CES 2010.
Notion Ink’s new tablet will be based on the Nvidia Tegra T20 chipset and will run Android.
Some of the features include WiFi, Bluetooth and UMTS/HSDPA connectivity, 1080P HD video playback, camera, GPS and a digital compass. Notion Ink’s new tablet will sport a 10.1-inch touchscreen and weigh 1.7 lbs.
I’m going to be able to spend a couple of days at CES, and this is definitely one of the new devices that I’ll want to check out.
Pixel Qi displays could turn tablet devices such as this one into very viable larger format ereaders. Is it possible that the much rumored about Apple iSlate or whatever it turns out to be called will use Pixel Qi? 9to5Mac.com has some interesting speculation on an Apple-Pixel Qi connection.
Google/HTC Tablet Rumors
Smarthouse.com reports that HTC and Google have been working on another tablet which they will be showing behind closed doors at CES to select HTC customers.
Google’s Google Editions ebook store should launch in the first half of 2010, and no doubt Google would love for you to buy a device such as this one to access it on.
Onyx Boox 60
The Onyx Boox 60 ereader will be distributed in the US by Dulin’s Books.
The Boox features a 6-inch Vizplex e-Ink display with 16 grayscales and uses Wacom touchscreen technology which needs a stylus to use but avoids the scary glary capacitive touchscreen that Sony, for example uses. Using the stylus you can make annotations and even freehand drawings and sketches.
Other features include WiFi and 3G connectivity, Webkit browser, search and dictionary functions, text to speech support, changeable fonts and font sizes, PDF zoom in/out. Folders are also supported.
Supported formats include Adobe Digital Editions as well as PDF, TXT, HTML, MOBIPOCKET, EPUB, CHM, PDB, JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, MP3 and WAV.
This looks like a pretty good ereader with lots of features, but the price is $349, which is rather steep when compared to the nook or Kindle. The Wacom touchscreen and the ability to zoom in and out on PDF docs and annotate them looks great, but I think that a 6-inch screen will be too small for many of the users who really need these particular features.
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Google’s Cloud Publishing Plans no comments
Google has announced that it will launch an online bookstore called Google Editions in the first part of next year. Any web-enabled device should be able to access the 400,000 to 600,000 titles Google will offer.
Google Editions purchases will be stored in the cloud, with purchasers also being able to store a local version in their device’s browser for temporary offline reading. Essentially you will be paying for online access to a book that you wish to read, but you will not physically own a copy.
Possible Google book cloud sighting over Moscow.
Publishers will get 55 percent of ebook sales revenue, while Google will keep 37 percent. Google plans also to sell Editions books through other brick and mortar and online retail outlets, possibly including Amazon. In these cases the online retailer would receive 55 percent of the sale less a small fee to go to Google. Publishers would receive the remaining 45 percent of each sale.
Google Editions represents perhaps the first serious challenge to the Kindle Store in terms of content. As fast as the Kindle store is growing however, I wouldn’t be surprised if it can boast having well over 400,000 titles by the time Google Editions launches. Also, since web browsing ability is required, Editions seems aimed more at netbooks, smartphones, etc. Reading a lot of books on a backlit LCD screen is not fun for your eyes, though it is fine for casual reading. Most ereaders coming out with a wireless connection do not include web browsing like the Kindle does. Perhaps we’ll be seeing a whole new generation of ereaders with access to the cloud as part of their feature set.
Recommended Reading: For an interesting and in-depth article about cloud publishing and Google see Blackplasticglasses.com’s post.
Photo from Youtube.
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