Archive for the ‘overdrive’ tag
OverDrive updates Media Console for Android and iOS no comments
OverDrive has announced updates to its Media Console apps for both Android and iOS. Some of the new features:
Android (v2.2)
- Sepia display option for eBooks
- Screen-dimming override for eBooks
- Faster EPUB performance
- Sleep timer for audiobooks
iPhone/iPad (v2.2.1)
- Orientation lock for eBooks
- Night mode and sepia display option for eBooks
- Screen lock override for eBooks
- Improved range of font size settings
- In-app library “Website Finder”
The addition of the “Website Finder” to the iDevice app makes it easy to save a particular library’s digital collection website within the app so you don’t have to search for it again. OverDrive is working toward making the entire process of borrowing ebooks and audiobooks from public libraries doable from within the app itself, and this is another step on the way. The Android version of Media Console already includes the “Website Finder” feature.
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OverDrive releases new BlackBerry app no comments
OverDrive has released a new version of its free Media Console app for BlackBerry devices. The new version brings support for direct downloads of ePub ebooks from public libraries whose digital collections are supplied by OverDrive to BlackBerry phones and the forthcoming PlayBook tablet.
Like OverDrive’s apps for other devices, this new version also includes the “Get Books” feature, which lets you browse and check out titles from within the app itself, rather than having to do this from your desktop and then sideload the files.
OverDrive Console will work on BlackBerry touchscreen devices with BlackBerry OS 4.7 or higher. You can currently download the app from OverDrive or from MobiHand. Media Console will also be available in BlackBerry App World soon.
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Random House of Canada ebooks coming to Canadian OverDrive-powered libraries no comments
OverDrive has announced a new distribution agreement with Random House of Canada that will bring the publisher’s ebooks to Canadian libraries whose digital holdings are sourced from OverDrive.
From the press release:
Canadian libraries, schools, and colleges will soon have access to thousands of eBooks from Random House of Canada through OverDrive (www.overdrive.com). With this new distribution agreement, eBooks from McClelland & Stewart and Random House of Canada will be added to OverDrive’s catalog for Canadian libraries. Libraries will be able to offer their customers digital books from McClelland & Stewart and Random House of Canada’s list of award-winning authors including Margaret Atwood, Mordecai Richler, Judy Fong Bates, and Vincent Lam, as well as international best-selling authors such as P.D. James and Salman Rushdie.
To learn more about OverDrive’s digital distribution services for libraries, visit OverDrive booth #113 at the Ontario Library Association (OLA) Super Conference in Toronto, Feb. 2-5, 2011. To see if your public library is a member of the OverDrive network, visit http://search.overdrive.com.
"The Random House of Canada collection gives libraries access to more beloved Canadian authors and titles from historic Canadian publishing houses, such as McClelland & Stewart and Tundra Books," said Claudia Weissman, international business director for OverDrive. "The addition of these titles significantly expands what was already one of the largest collections of eBooks for Canadian libraries."
"Random House of Canada is committed to bringing the work of our authors to readers in whatever format the readers choose," said Lisa Charters, SVP, Digital, Random House of Canada. "We are pleased to partner with OverDrive to bring our authors’ work to even more readers in libraries."
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Library ebooks had a Merry Christmas too no comments
OverDrive says that for the first time ever the ebooks it serves to public libraries out-circulated audiobooks this holiday. Christmas day and the two days following were also the three biggest days ever for library downloads.
While OverDrive was expecting a surge in use, they were unprepared for the size of the increase in visits and downloads. As a result some OverDrive-powered public library sites might have been slow or unavailable for awhile over the Christmas holiday. OverDrive has added more capacity to the system to meet the increased demand.
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New OverDrive Library Compatible eBook Devices Cheat Sheet no comments
OverDrive has revamped its cheat sheet of compatible devices that you can use to borrow ebooks from public libraries that it supplies digital content to. The previous versions of the cheat sheet were primarily meant for librarians, but the new version is also aimed at patrons.
The cheat sheet still does not list all of the ereaders that should be compatible, but at the bottom it does now list Android and iPhone support as coming this month. At last. Support for the iPad is still “coming soon.”
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Most downloaded library ebooks – November 2010 no comments
OverDrive has published its list of the most downloaded library ebooks for last month.
Adult Fiction:
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
- The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson
- The Confession by John Grisham
- The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
- The Help by Kathryn Stockett
- Fall of Giants by Ken Follett
- Happy Ever After by Nora Roberts
- 9th Judgment by James Patterson
- Private by James Patterson
- The Search by Nora Roberts
Adult Nonfiction:
- Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
- Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern
- Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang by Chelsea Handler
- Decision Points by George W. Bush
- At Home by Bill Bryson
- The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking
- Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
- Is It Just Me? by Whoopi Goldberg
- The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich
Juvenile Fiction:
- Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
- Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
- Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
- New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
- The Angel Experiment by James Patterson
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
- 3 Willows by Ann Brashares
- Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
- The Alchemyst by Michael Scott
- Virals by Kathy Reichs
Juvenile Nonfiction:
- The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
- Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
- Justin Bieber by Justin Bieber
- 1,001 Facts About Dinosaurs by Neil Clark
- Of Thee I Sing by Barack Obama
- Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah
- Michael Jordan by Robert Lipsyte
- The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the World of Harry Potter by Tere Stouffer
- The Action of Subtraction by Brian P. Cleary
- All New Crafts for Thanksgiving by Kathy Ross
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eReader & Tablet News – 11/24/2010 no comments
OverDrive has announced that they now have Johanna Skibsrud’s The Sentimentalists, winner of the Giller Prize, available for Canadian libraries. The ebook is available at Kobo, but only for Canadian customers. This is really too bad — the author is probably missing out on a lot of sales due to this silliness.
At Amazon UK, The Sentimentalists
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OverDrive recently announced that next month it will finally be releasing an iPhone app that will let you read borrowed library ebooks on your iPhone. Supposedly iPad and Android apps are forthcoming as well. OverDrive has been taking its sweet time with these reading apps.
Now there is an alternative, for the iPad and iPhone at least. The Bluefire reader is free at iTunes and supports Adobe DRM. You should be able to read not only ebooks from your library (as long as their digital books use Adobe DRM), but ebooks purchased from many online sellers.
Bluefire also supports PDF files and includes a Get Books feature that lets you purchase ebooks from within the app. It would be nice if an Android version is also in the works.
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Pocketbook accidentally released a press release yesterday in which they inadvertently revealed they would have a new Mirasol-powered ereader on show at CES 2011. Nate at The Digital Reader was told by a source at Pocketbook that the Mirasol based ereader will not be released until Q3 2011.
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Yesterday Amazon launched Amazon.it, its new Italian-language site. Amazon.it launched with more categories than any previous Amazon website has had at launch.
"On August 3, 1995, we shipped our first order to Italy from the U.S.," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "A customer in Genova ordered a book called ‘Ranks of Bronze’. Since then, we’ve shipped millions of items across a broad range of categories to customers in Italy, from our websites around the world. We are now excited to open our virtual doors directly to Italian customers."
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Pandigital has a new color LCD ereader. The new model
has a 9-inch LCD touchscreen with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels. Overall size of the new ereader is 5 x 7 x 0.5 inches and it weighs in at a hefty 20.5 ounces. Format support includes ePub and PDF as well as music and picture files. The Barnes & Noble ebookstore is the official content partner.
The 9-inch Pandigital ereader is $213.80 at QVC.
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Sony will finally have a reading app for Android and the iPhone available in December. This according to a new page at the Reader Store. It’s about time!
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Yasmin Studios has released an interactive version of Snow White for the iPad. Snow White – Children’s Interactive Storybook HD features graphics and animation, professional narration, optional music and characters that can be moved and respond to touch.
Snow White – Children’s Interactive Storybook HD is available at iTunes for $0.99. Yasmin Studios also has several other children’s ebook apps available.
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Bondi Digital Publishing has put every copy of Playboy magazine published from 1953 to 2010 on a hot-swappable USB hard drive that you can buy for $299.95. There are over 650 issues and more than 100,000 pages.
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Overdrive Sony PRS-300 giveaway no comments
Overdrive is giving away a Sony PRS-300 Pocket Edition ereader. To enter the contest you need to follow them on Twitter and tweet about it. The contest ends Nov 18, 2010. For full details, including the message you need to tweet, see the OverDrive blog.
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Overdrive Most Downloaded eBooks for August 2010 no comments
Overdrive today listed the most downloaded ebooks from libraries for August. No surprise that Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy novels are still in the top positions.
1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
2. The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
3. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson
4. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
5. Private by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro
6. The 9th Judgment by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro
7. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
8. 61 Hours by Lee Child
9. The Search by Nora Roberts
10. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
The most downloaded library audiobooks:
1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
2. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson
3. The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
4. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
5. Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich
6. The 9th Judgment by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro
7. 61 Hours by Lee Child
8. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
9. Private James by Patterson and Maxine Paetro
10. 1st to Die by James Patterson
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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.
