TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home

Archive for the ‘Apple’ Category

By David Rothman

Remember the battle between Apple and Podcaster—which let you download podcasts via wireless connections while skipping iTunes?

Apple didn’t just ban Podcaster from the App Store for the iPhone and Touch and otherwise thwart its developers. Now Apple is apparently preempting Podcaster with an iPhone firmware 2.2 update. Among the goodies in the update is the ability to download podcasts via 3G or WiFi. So, while I haven’t tried the new firmware, I’ll ask the inevitable question. Doesn’t this make Podcaster deader than ever?

Of course I welcome the new built-in capabilities, which I hope will reach my iPod Touch. Nice move, Apple. But at the same time I wonder if Apple someday will take steps to make third-party e-book apps redundant. Or otherwise war against them. With Android around, perhaps not. But Apple still deserves watching, given what’s at stake here.

Meanwhile here’s a list of 2.2 improvements as reported by Venture Beat:

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By David Rothman

I just went to BooksOnBoard with my iPod Touch and confirmed that direct downloads for iPhone and Touch owners seemed to working already.

The "seemed" is just because I haven’t tested this. But BooksOnBoard instantly recognized my Touch browser. Via a link it offered some easy instructions for downloading within the store’s shopping cart. Just use the nonDRMed ePub format.

Feedback wanted

Congratulations to all three companies on this alternative to the consumer-hostile DRM approach. Of course I’d appreciate feedback from BooksOnBoard customers who do buy Samhain romance books. Is this going smoothly for you?

I’d also welcome information from BooksOnBoard—on backup at the customer end and on the ability to use the same books on other ePub-capable devices. And can you and/or Lexcycle try to solve Jane’s iPhone-Stanza problem?

Needless to say, I hope that DRMless Stanza-type services will soon be extended to mainstream fiction and nonfiction, SF and other categories.

Hello, HarperStudio?

So  I strongly encourage publishers to cooperate with BooksOnBoard, All Romance eBooks and other companies working with Stanza’s developers and other companies—on DRMfree direct downloads for the iPhone and other devices.

Come on, HarperStudio. Dare to be different. Your parent company’s competitors at Samhain—yes, Harper’s Avon unit publishes romances—already are. Nothing against HarperStudio, moreover. I like your experimentation with different business models. Now do the same with the related issue of DRM. Otherwise you’ll be far, far less credible as innovators.

DRMless downloads vs. the gold-plated SUV approach

Thought: Could HarperCollins and certain other publishers be slow to ditch DRM just because, as some e-book fans say, the the companies have a big investment in the technology? I suspect that’s part of the reason for Harper not experimenting immediately with a Stanza-type DRMless  approach. But it’s still no excuse.

I’m reminded of Detroit trying to push SUVs and slowly heading toward bankruptcy or a whole series of Chrysler-style bailouts. But wait! I doubt that Washington will see publishing conglomerates as serious candidates for infusions of tax money.

Meanwhile DRM is like a brake on digital progress. Too bad. The end of the p-edition of PC Magazine is yet another reminder of the need for book publishers to move full speed ahead. It’s essential to do paper books when revenue from them dwarfs E. But don’t let nonsensical "protection" slow down e-books.

By David Rothman

Mac owners at last can enjoy audiobooks from libraries via the OverDrive Media Console. A slightly condensed news release follows. - D.R.

OverDrive Media Console for Mac, the free software for playing and organizing digital audiobooks from public libraries, is now available for download.

With this free software, Mac users can download audiobooks in the MP3 format from an OverDrive partner library’s download website and transfer titles to Apple® devices including iPod® Classic, iPod Touch, iPod Nano and iPhone™. OverDrive Media Console for Mac also provides the same superior listening features of the popular Windows version, which is installed on millions of computers worldwide.

A national directory lists libraries offering iPod-compatible audiobook downloads. Mac users can also purchase MP3 audiobook downloads from online stores such as Borders.com  and WHSmith Online.

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By David Rothman

Stanza is one of the hottest e-book apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch, with more than 500,000 downloads. New York Times columnist J.D. Biersdorfer recently recommended Stanza in Tip of the Week: Turn your iPhone into an e-book.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could sell your e-books to Stanza’s growing number of iPhone-toting fans? By now, more than a few of these readers might want to extend their horizons beyond free public domain books. Just the other day, All Romance eBooks said it was offering Stanza-readable books for direct download.

Want to do the same? Or are you a reader eager to have your favorite bookseller accommodate your iPhone or Touch? Check out the Stanza Bookseller page. Within the Stanza FAQ, here are some handy links:

• How can I link to a book on my web page so that it launches Stanza on the iPhone/iPod Touch?
• How can I integrate with Lexcycle’s Online Catalog?
• How can I create ePub files from my books?
• I am a bookseller. How can I make my books readable on Stanza iPhone/iPod?

Important update, 11:11 p.m.: See Jane Litte’s comment, posted this afternoon. Jane couldn’t bring up a whole book for direct downloading from All Romance eBooks—just an excerpt 

But bookstore COO Lori James tells me that Jane "didn’t click on the link to purchase the book at the end of the excerpt.  If she had, she would have been taken directly to the page where she could add the book to her cart and check out…

"This isn’t an erroneous claim," Lori says. "It’s really working rather fabulously, and we’ve been hearing for the past couple days from lots of happy users." Read Lori’s comment.

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By David Rothman

What if your iPod or Touch screen could display the same view as on your PC or Mac?

Including even programs such as Mobipocket that will work on a PC but not the Apple gizmos?

I can’t promise that the free Mocha VNC Lite app for the iPhone and iPod will allow such miracles. But maybe some kind soul can at least try—and share the results with us.

Lite does not just provide the desktop view, it also offers at least right mouse-button support.

Thwarted by clash with Vista

So why haven’t I tested Mocha VNC Lite on my HP machine?

Because, alas, VNC Lite needs a VNC server on the desktop, and the free versions of the required software don’t get along well with Vista. Could this be my punishment for the Faustian deal I made when I bought a Vista-OS desktop?

VNC server info

For the desktop end of the WiFi link, compatible software comes with the Mac’s OS X Software and free versions apparently exist for Windows and Linux.

By the way, a 3G connection will also work. So if my hunch is correct, you just might be able to access your desktop e-library from anywhere with your iPhone.

And speaking of Mobi…

As for Mobipocket running on iPhone or Touch itself, does anyone have an update?

Is an iPhone/Touch version of Mobipocket for the iPhone still due by the end of the year, as was suggested at the IDPF conference last spring? Mobi has wonderful features. But its delayed appearance on the iPhone reminds us of one more negative of DRMed proprietary formats. The Stanza iPhone app can read Mobi, imperfectly, but not the “protected” variety.

Related: Gizmodo’s  20 essential iPhone Apps, through which I discovered VNC Lite.

By David Rothman

Like many, I’m rooting for Android OS phones because of their open approach. What’s more, they’ll run FBReader and, I’d hope, other ePub-capable programs. But can Android compete successfully against the iPhone, whose prices have dropped? Not to mention all of Apple’s experience with interface and design.

In Android: No iPhone Killer, Ted Landau of the Mac Observer served up these first impressions based on a quick tryout

The hardware design felt “clunky” — especially the flimsy-feeling sliding of the touchscreen, needed to reveal the keyboard underneath. As for the software, it had had some impressive features (including a few that I hope to see added to the iPhone someday, such as barcode reading and application multitasking) and a decent collection of built-in apps. But it did not have a particularly intuitive user interface.

So, is he on target and not reflecting the possible biases of a Mac-related publication?

The third-party question: Maybe from an e-book perspective, it’s too early to say which platform will be best. Much will depend on Apple’s long-term treatment of third-party apps such as Stanza.

By Chris Meadows

It is being reported in a number of places (notably Ars Technica and Engadget) that a recent Apple patent covers a dockable, tablet-like device for multi-touch computing. As Ars says, the patent has actually been around, in slightly different form, since 2005, so it is probably still too soon for speculation. (In fact, Ars is rather cynical about it—their headline states that the patent “offers hope, inevitable disappointment.)

Nonetheless, if Apple ever does come out with a tablet, a “neo-Newton” as Ars calls it, it could be good news for a lot of e-readers who prefer the responsiveness and bright colors of LCD and the responsiveness of the iPhone/iPod Touch software, but would like a bigger screen on which to read.

By David Rothman

Barack Obama has not just stood out as a senator and presidential-elect per se.

He is also a source of hope as a role model, and a fairly a tech-smart one at that. Far more than his predecessors, he is comfortable with electronics and the use of the Net as a tool for fund-raising and organizing.

The e-book angle

Now here’s an e-book-related issue. Is it possible President-elect Obama could further literacy by reading an e-book from time to time and telling the press about it?

Granted, paper books exist, too, and the world is already talking about his reading them—and even writing them. But e-books have a special role to play in literacy campaigns among African-Americans and other minorities and young people in general:

• They can easily be distributed on many phones and MP3 players, including iPod Touches. Imagine the benefits in rural areas and urban neighborhoods without good libraries nearby. Having better eyes and a more open attitude, young people are more likely to try out smaller screens than older users are. What’s more, big-screen e-book readers will appear in the future and come down in price. Furthermore, improved book distribution isn’t just a minority issue. Some Caucasian Alaskan are hundreds of miles from well-stocked libraries.
• Distribution is cheaper and easier than for p-books, especially in an era when even giant bookstore chains like Borders are are in peril. At least some savings can be passed on to consumers even if editorial costs and some other expenses will be the same. There is a shortage of good books with minority themes, and E would be one way of economically addressing it.
• Freebies are available of many classics, including some by minority writers (not enough of these books—but a start).
• Young people lead busy lives; now what if they could check out p-books at the library and download the e-versions to read when they were in line at the movies or were stuck in study hall? Cellphones are spur-of-the-moment devices that the young can stash away in pockets or purses (at least when schools allow phones and other electronics). Dedicated readers could be used, too, especially within school systems that banned phones and other interactive devices.
• Some of the young would actually rather press a button than turn a page. So reports an acquaintance of mine who works with K-12 students from a Virginia housing project.
• E-books could reduce backstrain from p-textbooks. Not every textbook lends itself to digitization, especially for small screens. But many do.

No, I don’t have an illusion that all minority children will suddenly start reading E and P just because the Obama loves books ranging from Roth novels to Moby Dick. And tech is just part of the equation: parents and teachers count far more. But E could help. And if Mama wants to read a Harlequin romance on a cellphone—well, even that could be useful to her as a role model.

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By David Rothman

I’ve  talked up the iPhone/Touch as an e-book platform.

So now, in the interest of balance, I’ll point you to a Silicon Alley Insider post with a not-so-upbeat headline.

Apple slashes iPhone production, says chip analyst (AAPL), Insider reports.

Many complexities exist here—such as the difference between production and demand. But an excerpt is hardly encouraging:

Apple has cut its calendar Q4 iPhone production plans significantly more than originally estimated, according to a report by Friedman Billings Ramsey analyst Craig Berger. Instead of a 10% sequential production drop in Q4, Berger’s “recent checks” suggest Apple’s iPhone production could fall “more than 40%” from its Q3 levels. Berger thinks a similar cut was made for Q1, but notes that there’s still plenty of time to change that.

Yes, the iPhone will remain a major e-book platform. It’s just that if demand falls during the current global recession, the e-book potential might not be quite as big as we were hoping.

Could hurt other e-book platforms as well

Keep in mind that we’re talking short-term, and that the recession could hurt other e-book platforms, too.

Furthermore, some recession-battered users may actually see the iPhone as a thrifty investment because of its new  up-front price—lower than earlier—and multi-use capabilities.

Update, 10:41 a.m., Nov. 4: Fortune is skeptical about Berger’s accuracy as an iPhone analyst.

Related: Techmeme roundup on the production cutback.

By David Rothman

Gizmos like the Kindle and the Sony Reader still cost hundreds of dollars, rather steep for devices intended mainly for book-reading.

But sooner or later, as E Ink and the rest drop in price, we’ll see $100 machines.

Meanwhile, the news is good for thrifty people who favor the multi-use approach:

• Asustek will sell a $200 EEE PC laptop next year—finally living up the old rumors it would reach that price (Digitimes via CNet). That would be half the $400 price of the Give One/Get One offer from One Laptop per Child, which, however, deserves credit for popularizing the concept of lower-priced laptops. And remember, the $200 for the Asustek hardware will buy only a laptop for you or your child, not a second one for a student in a developing country.
• “Subnotebooks like the Asus Eee PC, the Dell Mini 9 and the HP 2133 Mini-note will soon cost as little as $99,” predicts PCWorld, which expects that cell-phone-style contracts will drive down the costs up front in the U.S. Also see a related Wall Street Journal article and DSLReports.com. In Taiwan you can already buy a $429 Asus for $29 with a two-year wirelesss contract.” Anyone know about possible rental plans in Europe?

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By Chris Meadows

Ars Technica has an interesting review of a forthcoming iPhone e-book app called Classics.

Not yet available on the App Store, the gimmick of Classics is that it attempts to replicate the page-turning experience of a “real book” as closely as is possible on the iPhone’s screen. For $2.99, it will launch with a library of 12 public-domain titles, such as Alice in Wonderland or 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, with the possibility of adding more with later updates.

Without actually trying the app out, I cannot agree or disagree with the specific points Ars makes in its review. Nonetheless, I have to wonder if a nifty page-turning animation will really be sufficient to make readers pay even $2.99 for public-domain books that can be downloaded for eReader or Stanza from Manybooks or Feedbooks for free.

By Paul Biba

The following is from a press release issued by Ipsos. What is interesting is not just iTunes incredible market lead, but the fact that two music services that are DRM-free are increasing their share. The press release gives several factors for Rhapsody’s market share increase, but neglects to mention that in the time frame of the research Rhapsody went DRM-free.

Excerpts from Ipsos’ TEMPO Digital Music Brandscape study show that one year following its launch, Amazon.com Music has made a phenomenal first showing. Meanwhile, Rhapsody’s increased focus on advertising and partnership appears to be paying off. But neither development has slowed iTunes’ step, with the site continuing to gain dedicated users who perceive it as the best fee-based digital music destination.

iTunes Continues to Expands Lead Despite Increased Competitive Pressure

The fifth annual TEMPO Digital Music Brandscape study is an in-depth examination of fee-based online music brands, and is part of TEMPO, an Ipsos quarterly study of digital music behaviors.

Awareness and use were steady among most dominant brands this year, but did increase for three top competitors while declining among many lesser-known players. (more…)

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