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Author: blueZhift (Page 5 of 10)

A New Challenger Has Appeared: Google’s eBook Reader Now On Sale

July 18, 2011 /

Google is now selling its iRiver Story HD eBook reader exclusively at Target in the U.S.. We speculated here back in January that a Google branded eBook reader may be in the works and now that that shoe has dropped, what does this mean to the larger tablet vs eReader battle that is shaping up in the marketplace?

Well first of all, it may mean that Barnes & Noble, makers of the Nook eBook reader are none too happy to have Google as yet another competitor in its pitched battle with the Amazon’s Kindle. Indeed, I wonder if this is why Barnes & Noble is no longer an advertiser on Google’s Affiliate Network. They’ve moved to Linkshare, which I should note means I have to update the Nook ads on this web site!

Google iRiver Story HD eReaderThe reader itself has so far garnered only mixed reviews. The design is clearly inspired by the Kindle, and in a market that is moving to touchscreen eReaders as witnessed by the recent Nook and Kobo offerings, seems a little dated. But as I previously argued, I don’t think Google is trying to capture the eReader market and their survival, unlike Barnes & Noble, doesn’t depend on that. Like the Nexus smartphones, the iRiver Story HD is probably a hardware reference platform intended to encourage other players to enter the market.

If Google follows form, they’ll probably freely or cheaply license the underlying iRiver Story tech to 3rd parties who want to jump into the eReader market. It seems pretty clear by now that Google wants to be a part of any device that can access the net and consume digital product. Amazon is already giving readers a big price break on Kindles if they are willing to have ads display on the device’s screen saver. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see this on the Google eReader at some point in the future. If 3rd parties in Google’s eReader ecosystem follow suit, then Google wins big time, much as they are with the proliferation of Android based tablets and smartphones.

In the end, I doubt Amazon or Barnes & Noble have much to fear from Google itself. However the legions of eReader competitors Google may give rise to are another matter entirely.

Pottermore Brings Potter And More!

July 6, 2011 /

Many Harry Potter fans, myself included, have been waiting for some time to add the adventures of the young wizard to our growing collections of eBooks. But alas, they have remained out of reach, until now. J.K. Rowling recently announced that not only will the collection be available as eBooks, but readers will be able to experience the world of Harry Potter in a whole new way.

In announcing Pottermore, Rowling has thrown down the gauntlet and challenged eBooks to be more than mere words on a digital page. We’ve already seen some glimpses of a more interactive approach to eBooks in children’s books on the Nook Color. And visual novels (aka dating sims) have been around in Japan for a long time. But Pottermore promises to go far beyond that.

Rowling said that the reader will uniquely shape their own experiences as they read through the books. I would guess that the experience will be centered around the web site itself. But there is no reason to believe that it will stop there. While there are no details yet on what or how the current crop of eReaders will be supported, I can imagine the interactivity of Pottermore being extended even there. Both the Kindle and the Android-based Nook are capable of supporting interactive applications. The introduction of touch screen eInk readers can only expand the level of interactivity supported by the devices. And, of course, there is the iPad and other tablet computers.

With the resources Pottermore likely has at its command, we could be seeing something approaching what I’ll call a Literary MMORPG. Rowling’s video gave me the impression that she wants something that retains the “bookish” quality of reading, but reading that immerses and is in turn shaped by the reader. When we read a book, we all imagine the characters and settings in our own unique ways. I think Pottermore will attempt to retain that quality in a way that other media like movies and video games cannot.

Right now, no one knows how this is going to turn out. So like thousands of fans probably already have, I put my email address on the list and eagerly await further news and perhaps the chance to experience Pottermore a little early. ~_^

Digital Manga Guild Launches With Boatload of BL/Yaoi Manga

July 3, 2011 /

Tired of Waiting for LoveDigital Manga Inc. announced 23 launch titles for its Digital Manga Guild program at its Anime Expo panel on Saturday. It appears that all of these manga are of the popular Boys Love (BL) or Yaoi genre. While this may not appeal to most manga readers, all have reason to rejoice that the Digital Manga Guild is moving forward with a substantial list of titles that will be available in digital format.

The recent losses of TokyoPop and the Borders bookstore chain have made buying manga outside of Japan a more challenging prospect. While Amazon carries many titles, the loss of large U.S. publishers has made it less likely that even some popular manga will find legal publication outside of Japan. Niche titles even less so. And online purchasing is generally not an easy option for younger manga enthusiasts.

This has undoubtedly made scanlations, fan translated scans of manga, more popular. The avid manga reader may simply have no other choice than illegal scanlations for a growing number of titles. While the internet is rife with people who think everything should be free, many manga readers would gladly pay something to support the artists they love.

Efforts like the Digital Manga Guild promise to not only make more  yaoi manga available, but cultivate the next generation of manga translators. So over time, if successful, we should see a wider variety of manga being translated and sold outside of Japan. The many scanlation groups clearly show that there are talented people out there who want to share their love of manga with others. And the thousands reading scanned manga online indicates that the time for digital manga has arrived.

The iPad Cometh!

June 23, 2011 /

I received a most wonderful gift for Fathers Day which just arrived today. An iPad 2 from my lovely wife! I’m really looking forward to putting it through it’s paces!

In particular, I’ll be checking out more digital comic offerings from Dark Horse and comiXology, as well as manga from Viz. On the publishing side, it’ll get a workout with my son’s graphic novel I’m currently editing.

And of course, I’m writing this post with it right now!

Touching Off eReader/Tablet Battle

June 3, 2011 /

Over the last few weeks, the battle front for eReaders vs tablets has gotten very interesting indeed. The news that Amazon may have a new Kindle in the works, promised that 2011 could be an interesting year for eReaders.

Kobo Touch eReader

Kobo Touch eReader

This was followed by Borders’ announcement of the new Kobo Touch eReader. An eReader with a touch sensitive E Ink screen? Just as it was looking like the back-lit LCD screen might push E Ink off the map thanks to the iPad primarily, a new twist is added to the mix. Shortly after the Kobo Touch news, Barnes & Noble announced its own new Nook Simple Touch Reader. And at $129 and $139 respectively, both of the new eReaders are competitively priced.

In addition to the infrared touch screens, both new readers tout advanced social media related functionality. It’ll be interesting to see just how usable this is given the slower refresh rate of E Ink displays relative to LCD. The new E Ink Pearl displays are reported to be faster, but will it be fast enough? I can’t wait to get my hands on one for some testing!

Nook Simple Touch Reader

Nook Simple Touch Reader

Anyway one looks at it, the Kindle just got some new competition. Amazon is not likely to take this lying down, so I hope we’ll see some news from them soon on the next Kindle. As for the iPad, these new readers are cheap enough that owning one of them plus an iPad is a viable option. Also, as touch screen devices, going from iPad to eReader won’t be as jarring an experience as it is now that we mostly expect tablet or tablet-like devices to have touch displays.

The new eReaders are scheduled to begin shipping next week, so I’ll be planning a trip to Borders and Barnes & Noble for some much anticipated hands on time.

Will Publishers Survive The eBook Revolution?

May 28, 2011 /

My youngest son, who’s only 10, wants to publish his Young Authors story as an eBook and sell it for 99 cents. I told him sure, I’ll do it. With the process I’ve built, it’s pretty easy to do and should be a fun project. And who knows, it might even be profitable!

Scenarios like this can only cause great fear and trepidation in the large publishing houses, who like the music industry before them, are faced with a serious threat to their existence as they have known it. Any artist with the technical know-how and inclination can create and sell directly to the public. Authors no longer need publishers to sell their books. Arguments about editing and quality of work aside, those are the brutal facts.

So how can publishers survive? Well first of all, they can last a long time on their enormous back catalogs books that can be converted to eBook formats. It means renegotiating a lot of contracts, but, if they aren’t too greedy, it can be done. Readers don’t just want cheap eBooks, we want quality ones as well. The big publishers have many of the world’s best writers to draw on. If they market and price their products well, people will continue to buy.

The tricky thing for them will be attracting and retaining new talent. The authors of today know that they don’t need publishers to sell their books if they’re willing to publish in purely digital format. Publishers have to offer something more. Money certainly helps, but today’s author is going to be very reluctant to cede much control/ownership of their works to publishers. I think editing and marketing are the places where the big publishing houses offer the most attractive services. They have the resources to promote authors across all major media.

To survive, the major publishers need to identify and sign the next generation of authors. These writers are not waiting around to be discovered. They are writing and publishing eBooks right now and some of them are already having a lot of success doing so. If publishers miss this boat, they really will be sunk.

TokyoPop Manga Licenses Fly Away Home

May 27, 2011 /

Anime News Network has reported that TokyoPop’s manga licenses will revert to their owners when the publisher shuts down at the end of May. There is no word on the status of TokyoPop original English language (OEL) works.

TokyoPop LogoThis is rather disappointing. I had held out some hope up until now that perhaps TokyoPop could continue its current licensed series in eBook form, at least until license expiration. But it is very likely that the licenses were specific to printed distribution. Digital distribution usually requires negotiating a new license if not part of the original.

It’s a near certainty that at least some of the most popular titles will be licensed by some other publishers. Still, anyone following any current TokyoPop series is in for some anguished waiting while things get sorted out.

Borders Sale Seen As More Likely

May 10, 2011 /

Publishers Weekly has reported that the likely sale of ailing bookstore chain Borders in part or whole may be one outcome of recent actions. The bankrupt company has sought court permission to sell some assets that do not have any current lien against them.

I suppose it’s a good thing that I used up my remaining Borders Bucks this morning. Given that rival Barnes & Noble has shown little public interest in acquiring Borders intact or any of its assets, I think any buyout of Borders will be quickly followed by a total liquidation.

The book business has changed. While Barnes & Noble is in better shape, recent actions intended to reduce its interest payments speak to a continuing struggle to stay afloat. It’s hard to say whether B&N would benefit from the loss of Borders, or if Amazon has already done so.

The end of Borders will accelerate the push towards eBooks because of the very real problem of finding a new book bookstore nearby. Faced with the option of waiting several days for a book to come in the mail, or downloading the same book for a few bucks less instantly, many will opt for the eBook.

eBook readers are rapidly moving into sub-$100 range and free eReader software is ubiquitous. Faced with fewer locations to sell physical books, publishers are being forced to sell more eBooks to survive. In particular, I’m sure that they are working very hard to make as much of their back catalogs available in eBook format as possible. They’d better be quick about it too, or someone else will!

With or without Borders, bookstores will survive. But the age of the large bookstore chain seems to be coming to an end. Many of us are going to need some new places to hang out.

Digital Comics On The iPhone

May 9, 2011 /

Even as comic and manga publishers fret over the future of their media as the digital transition takes hold, it’s a great time to be a reader! The last few days I’ve been rediscovering comics in digital form with the help of iPhone readers from Dark Horse, comiXology, and Viz.

Growing up, keeping up with the comics I liked was not an easy task. If I had the money there was the very real problem of getting to the nearest comic shop which for me was at the top of a very steep hill near Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza. Eventually I moved on to other books only revisiting comics latter for the occasional Batman graphic novel release.

My first glimpse of what comics could be on a portable device came when the Digital Comics service debuted on the PSP. The guided, panel to panel mode was the perfect way, for me at least, to read comics on that big beautiful screen! That was back in 2009 and digital books hadn’t really taken hold of my conciousness and the PSP was not something that I carried around with me all the time, so the thought of turning it into a reader and building a library on it was not something I was ready to do.

Fast forward two years to the iPhone, a device I usually have on my person which between 3G and Wi-Fi is almost always on the network. And with a display screen nearly as large as the PSP and much more available storage space, using it as a reader only awaited the right apps. Well it looks like the right apps have arrived!

Oz: The Manga

David Hutchison's Re-imagining of Oz in Manga Form

Last Saturday was Free Comic Book Day, so I decided to give reader apps from Dark Horse, comiXology, and Viz, a workout. I started thinking about this originally when Viz released their manga reader for iPhone and iPod touch. Being iPadless, I was curious to see how manga fared on the iPhone’s much smaller screen.

The iPhone version of the Viz reader was a bit of a disappointment. While manga are clear and readable, you have to manually pan and zoom. Not only that, all reading is done in portrait mode. Twilt your iPhone all you want, that picture is not rotating. This would not be all bad except for the fact that I knew of a better way to read graphic novels in that form factor.

Both the Dark Horse and comiXology readers gave a much more enjoyable reading experience. The key to this being their guided panel to panel reading mode. It makes reading a comic somewhere between viewing a slideshow and a movie. Both were easy to use, though I felt that the Dark Horse app performed a little better overall. And both Dark Horse and comiXology allow you to read titles in your library online in a web browser. Right now it doesn’t look like you can read Viz manga from your in app library on a computer. That’s an interesting omission given that Viz does make several of its Shonen Jump manga titles available for online reading.

As a manga reader, it’s a little disappointing that Viz’s reader is not quite up to the standard set by the digital comic readers. But I’m sure we’ll see improvements in later releases. In the meantime, I’m having a lot of fun rediscovering comics such as David Hutchison’s Oz: The Manga, which looks great on my iPhone!

Amazon Pulls Some Yaoi Manga From Kindle

May 5, 2011 /

Anime News Network reposts that Amazon has pulled some yaoi manga titles from the US Kindle store. Amazon’s policy prohibits pornographic or “offensive” material on its Kindle eBook platform. However print versions of some of the titles pulled from the Kindle remain on sale from Amazon.

In addition to the usual censorship questions and anti-gay bias, one wonders why digital media is not being given the same leeway and respect as print. Much like the abuse of the DMCA take down provisions on YouTube, I think that because pulling  an eBook is easy and incurs little or no cost to Amazon, other considerations lose out.

It seems likely though, that once digital accounts for the overwhelming majority of revenue and profits, it won’t be so easy for Amazon, Apple, or anyone else to cavalierly censor materials based on the opinions of a vocal minority.

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