OverDrive audio book software now compatible with iPod
By Paul Biba
Here’s part of a press release I received from OverDrive.
OverDrive (www.overdrive.com) today announced that digital audiobook catalogs from leading publishers will be compatible with iPod® and other Apple® devices after a simple upgrade of OverDrive’s free, easy-to-use audiobook software. Starting in mid-June, millions of new and existing users with Windows® PCs will be able to install OverDrive Media Console version 3.2 with enhanced transfer functionality for iPod, iPhone™, iPod touch®, and iPod nano®, as well as Zune® and thousands of other portable devices. Participating publishers include Random House Audio, Hachette Audio, Penguin Audio, BBC Audiobooks America, Brilliance Audio, Tantor Media, and many more.
OverDrive Media Console’s enhanced Transfer Wizard will expand the largest selection of iPod-compatible audiobook titles for libraries by making the vast majority of existing audiobook titles on library download websites playable on Apple® devices. Retail customers at Borders.com, www.WHSmith.co.uk, and BooksOnBoard.com will also benefit from the free upgrade. Best sellers such as Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight,” Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers,” John Grisham’s “The Appeal,” and Chuck Palahniuk’s “Pygmy” from libraries and retailers in OverDrive’s global network will become iPod-compatible downloads, along with highly-anticipated releases like Dan Brown’s “The Lost Symbol” and Tami Hoag’s “The Trouble with J.J.”“iPod-compatibility instantly adds value to digital media catalogs powered by OverDrive and further expands the collection to the millions of iPod owners eager to download from the library,” said David Burleigh, director of marketing for OverDrive. “A simple software upgrade is all it takes to allow the transfer of thousands of additional bestsellers to the popular media player.”
Once OverDrive Media Console version 3.2 is installed, most titles in a library’s OverDrive WMA Audiobook collection will instantly become iPod-compatible for users with Windows PCs. The growing collection of iPod-compatible, Mac®-friendly OverDrive MP3 Audiobooks will still be available to help libraries better serve patrons with Apple computers.
September 18th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Been hearing a lot of hype on this…does this mean that these audiobooks will be pirated and torrented up the whazoo now? Perhaps that’s why they’re starting with a small sample?
November 16th, 2009 at 8:07 am
I read somewhere that the screen of the Zune is larger than the current generation iPod and that makes it more attractive. However, I also found out that the resolution of screens of both these players is the same!! That means though the screen size is larger, the pixel count is the same, resulting in a poorer than iPod clarity for the Zune. Wonder what that will do in the market!