Tech review maven Walter Mossberg has posted a review of the Irex DR800SG e-book reader. This reader costs $140 more than the Kindle e-reader and is compatible with the Barnes & Noble store among others. Mossberg was not terribly impressed, pointing out a number of areas where its design and user interface could use improvement.
In observation of Read An E-Book Week, DriveThruRPG and White Wolf are offering a free watermarked-PDF download of the 224-page World of Darkness rulebook (list price $24.99) for as long as the week lasts. Enjoy!
A recent survey shows that 90% of academic publishers have seen a growth in e-book sales over the last two years. E-book sales now make up almost 10% of total e-book sales in those markets—twice the level of e-book sales in general. Academic publishers have apparently been much quicker to adapt to the e-book market than trade presses.
The survey found that academic publishers were also relatively unconcerned about the various challenges presented by the shift towards digital books. Although piracy was one of the biggest concerns, [report co-author Laura] Cox said very few publishers thought of it as a serious problem.
It appears the next smartphone platform to receive a Kindle reader will be Android. jkOnTheRun reports on an Engadget posting of leaked documents from Dell stating that the Dell Streak (aka Mini 5), an Android device, will include a Kindle reader application (as well as several other Amazon services).
Sony is bringing more newspaper and magazine content to its e-book store. Probably in a bid to strengthen its position before the iPad arrives, ReadWriteWeb reports, it is adding 20 new papers and magazines, including the New York Times and Boston Globe. (Sony press release here.)
Google is slowly conquering Europe. Or at least Europe’s great libraries. Even as its Google Books program has proven as controversial east of the Atlantic as west of it, it continues to make deals with European libraries to digitize their collections. The Guardian reports that Google is going to be working together with Italian libraries and the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage to digitize “up to a million out-of-copyright works”. There is no word on whether this includes any still-in-copyright works as well.
Oddly enough, it happened only a couple of weeks after Google executives received suspended sentences over a controversial YouTube video. Hmm.
TeleRead founder David Rothman sets down his opinions on the decline of newspapers in favor of the web on his Solomon Scandals blog. He feels that “the real newspaper-killer” is online papers’ lack of interactivity and community.
Speaking of which, here is an excellent argument in favor of saving newspapers, found via Adam Tinworth’s blog:
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Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, Skiff; Corey Podolsky, Entourage; Nikolay Malyarov, Newspaper Direct; David Donovan, IREX
For 11 years as CEO of HarperCollins, Jane Friedman was known as the most consistently optimistic voice in the book business. So it’s no surprise that her entrepreneurial venture, Open Road Integrated Media, has her sounding just as bullish about digital publishing.
Are ad dollars the future of ebooks? The question sparked debate Tuesday during a session moderated by TeleRead’s own Paul Biba.
Publishing Perspectives has an article looking at
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