e-books

Apple may be working on new e-book features for iOS

Apple may be working on some new search and highlight features for reading e-books on iPads, Patently Apple reported today.

The company filed a patent application for "creating and viewing digital note cards," according to the application published today (PDF below). The patent outlines technology for a new floating toolbar that allows users to do quick searches of text and enable highlighting and note-taking.

Users would be able to highlight text with various colors or by applying different fonts -- like strike-through font -- and add notes. In addition to text, these notes could include other media such … Read more

Barnes & Noble Nook business to sink deeper this year

The Nook business ain't what it used to be.

Barnes & Noble announced yesterday that it expects a higher loss from its Nook business for fiscal 2013, which ends in April. The company didn't reveal specific numbers, but its EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) showed a loss of $262 million for fiscal 2012.

B&N expects overall annual sales from the entire Nook Media business to be less than $3 billion. The Nook business itself includes the tablet, an e-book reader, accessories, and digital content such as books and movies. The Nook Media business … Read more

An Amazon Prime report card: Is it really worth $79 per year?

I've been an Amazon Prime customer for nearly a year now, meaning it's time for me to decide whether to continue subscribing to the program.

In case you're unfamiliar with it, Prime works like this: For $79 annually, you get unlimited movie and TV streaming, one free borrowed e-book per month, and automatic two-day shipping on nearly everything you buy (with no minimum dollar amount).

Awesome deal, right? Maybe, and maybe not.

Let's start with the streaming. Amazon has vastly expanded its movie- and TV-show libraries over the past year, to the point where I'd … Read more

Macmillan reaches e-book pricing settlement with DOJ

The U.S. Department of Justice has reached a settlement with Macmillan in an antitrust case related to e-book pricing, leaving only Apple to battle the suit.

In an antitrust lawsuit filed last April, federal prosecutors accused Apple and five book publishers of conspiring to artificially hike prices. The same day, the Justice Department announced it had reached settlements with three publishers but said Apple and the other two publishers had opted to fight the charges. Lagardere SCA's Hachette Book Group, News Corp.'s HarperCollins Publishers, and Simon & Schuster (owned by CBS, which publishes CNET) agreed to settle. … Read more

Get a Kobo Mini e-reader for $59.99

Tablets are great and all, but if you're mostly into reading, it's hard to beat an e-reader. Eye-friendly screens, ultra-light designs, amazing battery life -- the perks go on and on.

And let's not forget price. Amazon's entry-level Kindle is now down to $69. But here's an even more wallet-friendly option: Best Buy has the Kobo Mini e-reader for $59.99 shipped (plus sales tax). That's for the white model; the black one literally sold out while I was writing this post.

So that's only a $10 difference, right? And when you factor … Read more

Amazon patents way for you to sell your digital items

Online consumers may one day be able to sell or trade their digital items to other users, at least if a new Amazon patent comes to fruition.

Granted to the retail giant on January 29, the patent dubbed "Secondary market for digital objects" describes an electronic marketplace for swapping digital items.

You'd start off by housing your purchased music, videos, apps, and e-books in your own online storage space, just as many of us do today. When you get tired of listening to the same songs or reading the same books, you can move those items to … Read more

Apple promoting iBooks Author books in iTunes

A little more than a year after introducing its self-publishing book software, Apple is heavily promoting some works that were made using it.

The company today began promoting some of those titles in a new section called "Breakout Books" which rounds up books that have high user ratings. That spans across three genres: romance; sci-fi and fantasy; and mysteries and thrillers, along with a collection of other titles.

The promotion, spotted by The New York Times, comes just days ahead of when Inkling, which was founded by former Apple executive Matt MacInnis, plans to hold an event in … Read more

Nook Media finalizes $89.5 million Pearson investment

Nook Media, the Barnes & Noble subsidiary that covers the bookseller's Nook line and accessories, has completed its investment deal with Pearson.

Barnes & Noble announced the deal last month. Pearson will invest $89.5 million into Nook Media and will receive a 5 percent stake in return. Pearson will have the option to acquire another 5 percent of Nook Media if certain unidentified conditions are met.

Pearson is now partners with Barnes & Noble and Microsoft. In April, Microsoft and Barnes & Noble announced a joint partnership that would see the software giant invest $300 million in the Nook unit. … Read more

Freebook Sifter finds Kindle freebies

E-books are all kinds of awesome. E-book prices? Not so much.

That's why I'm always on the lookout for freebies, relying on sites like Hundred Zeros to help me find gratis reading for my Kindle.

Lately I've been exploring another source: Freebook Sifter, a new site that lists over 35,000 no-cost books available from Amazon. It's not the prettiest site I've ever seen -- all links and text, no cover art or images -- but it definitely delivers on its promise.

When you first visit the site, you'll see a random listing of … Read more