The ebook world might be all abuzz right now about Amazon’s Kindle 2, but top Canadian book retailer Indigo Books & Music is looking to bring books and other content to other mobile devices with the launch of Shortcovers, a new ebook service that puts books, magazines, and blogs on mobile devices people already own—like the BlackBerry Curve, Bold, and Storm, Google Android devices, and (naturally) the Apple iPhone. And users don’t have to get entire books: users can pick up free samples, purchase a chapter or excerpt for as little as 99 cents, or decide to buy the whole ebook—with an option to also buy a hardcopy version.
Tag Archive: Simon
Sony Opens eBook Reader to Other Sellers
The Amazon Kindle might be the e-book reader getting all the media attention these days, but it certainly wasn’t the E-Ink-based portable reader on the scene. In an effort to better compete with the Kindle, Sony is rolling out a software update for its Sony Reader that will enable it to handle books published in the growing Epub format, which is already supported by several publishers, including Simon & Shuster, Penguin, and HarperMedia, and others. The upshot is that the Sony Reader will be able to display books purchased from not just Sony’s online store, but also from any publisher offering material in the Epub format.
Sony Reader to Debut with 10,000 Titles
After an abortive launch earlier this year—and an earlier product marketed not-so-successfully in Asia as the Sony LIBRIé—Sony Electronics has announced that its Sony Reader will hit retail shelves in October 2006, accompanies by more than 10,000 ebook titles from major publishers via its Sony Connect eBook Store.
“Today, we’re writing a new chapter in digital technology for reading,” said Ron Hawkins, Sony Electronics’ vice president of Portable Reader Systems marketing, in a statement. “Easy and enjoyable to use, the Reader fulfills the promise of electronic reading in a way that no other device has been able to do. Not intended to replace traditional books, but to supplement them, the Sony Reader allows people to take a library of books and other reading material with them wherever they go.”



