By Hannah Johnson Yesterday, the European Commission released a report which proposes a seven-year period of use on digitized, public domain works. This proposal seems aimed specifically at Google and its ongoing book scanning project. The New York Times reports: “During a period of preferential use, a public domain book, for instance, that was digitized by Google would be available …
CES 2011: Video Interview with Bookeen Cofounder Laurent Picard
By Hannah Johnson At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Publishing Perspectives was on the lookout for book-related companies, and we stopped by the Bookeen booth to look at their e-readers and talk about the business they did at CES. Take a look at our full-length video interview for a closer look at the Bookeen e-readers and their …
Are Publishers Becoming Technology Companies?
By Hannah Johnson There’s no doubt that technology is now an integral part of creating and delivering content. Media companies are not only working with technology solutions providers and experts, but also building the necessary applications and hardware themselves in order to deliver their content to consumers. In today’s feature story, Publishing Perspectives reported on the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show …
For Digital Publishers and Device Manufacturers, CES 2011 Was All About the Deal
By Hannah Johnson LAS VEGAS: The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) concluded on Saturday with over 140,000 total visitors and 2,700 exhibitors representing a huge range of products and companies, from the largest technology giants like Microsoft and Sony to small startups — and now, media companies. Since its debut in 1967, the focus of CES has been on hardware. Well-known …
Read Library E-books on iPhone and Android Devices
By Hannah Johnson It appears that library lending is going digital. Overdrive, a global distributor of digital content to libraries and schools, announced its new mobile apps for iPhone and Android devices yesterday. With these apps, users can download e-books and audiobooks from library catalogs directly to their mobile devices. The content automatically expires after the check-out period is over. …
Is the UK Ahead of the US in Enhancing E-books?
By Edward Nawotka Enhanced e-books are a hot topic in publishing. So far, I think, our imagination has outpaced our ability to execute and there have been few steller examples of how publishers can harness recent technological change to advance books as they appear in digital formats. One of the few examples that has really worked is London-based Touch Press’s …
Creating Free Content to Sell More Content: A Good Idea or Not?
By Hannah Johnson At the Mediabistro eBook Summit, held yesterday in New York City, book marketing dominated the morning sessions. But nobody was talking about print advertising or book tours. Instead, well-trodden topics like social media, online audience building and reader demographics were discussed in light of the growing e-book sales in the United States. As an e-book publisher, Brendan …
US Children’s Publishing Embraces Digital Changes
By Helen Gregg On Tuesday, December 7, Publisher’s Weekly and Digital Book World hosted an online seminar (or webinar) called “Children’s Publishing in the Digital Age.” Moderated by PW’s Co-Editorial Director Jim Milliot, speakers included Susan Katz, president and publisher of HarperCollins Children’s Book Group, Rick Richter, founder of Ruckus Media, and Kate Wilson, founder of UK-based Nosy Crow. Each …
New Zealand’s Kiwa Media Pioneers Multi-lingual, Multi-media (and Maori) E-books for Children
By Edward Nawotka AUCKLAND: Looking for an enhanced e-book that you can read in English, Spanish, Japanese, Italian Chinese or . . . Maori? Kiwa Media, a software developer in Auckland, New Zealand has has what you need. Throughout 2010, Kiwa Media has launched some fifteen enhanced e-books for children -– dubbed QBooks –- that function like typical illustrated e-books, …
Take our Enhanced E-book Survey
By Hannah Johnson Inspired by today’s discussion question, “Which E-book Enhancements Do You Prefer?” (and some interesting comments about integrating Google Earth into e-books), we have set up a new, two-part survey. We’re asking you to tell us which e-book enhancements you think are the best. If you don’t see your favorite enhancement on this list, leave a comment! The …