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iPhone formatted eBooks by Lulu.com
We were promised many things in the future: flying cars, glass dome enclosed cities, faster than light travel, and electronic books. eBooks are a reality, but they haven't really caught on (mostly because it is tough to compete with the form factor and pleasure that a physical book offers up). Lulu.com is trying to change that by making self publishing easy.I know what you're thinking, why the heck am I reading about this on TUAW? Besides the fact that I am struggling to write the Great American Novel (heck, I'd settle for the 'Best Selling but Mediocre American Novel), Lulu.com has just announced a new service called 'eBook Optimization.' Self publishing authors will use this service, which costs $25, to create PDF files designed specifically for viewing on the iPhone (and the Sony eBook Reader). You can then sell your eBook via Lulu, so everybody wins![via MobileRead]
Publishing exec 'steals' Google laptops in silly demonstration
We can't say that we'd recommend a CEO steal property from Google in order to prove a point, but the head honcho of Macmillan Publishers pushed his superego aside and did just that at a recent BookExpo America in NYC. It's no secret that a number of publishers have been up in arms about Google's approach to digitizing their works, but Richard Charkin went so far as to recruit a colleague and swipe a pair of laptops from a Google Books kiosk at the event. About an hour later, the booth attendants actually noticed the missing goods and presumably began to panic, and the haughty executive then had the nerve to return the machines to their rightful owners whilst dropping the "hope you enjoyed a taste of your own medicine" line. He justified the bizarre behavior by suggesting that "there wasn't a sign by the computers informing him not to steal them," apparently referencing Google's controversial tactics when scanning books. That'll show 'em, Mr. Charkin.[Via TechDirt]
Google planning on getting into ebooks in a big way
We've been having life-changing ebook experiences of one form or another promised to us for what seems like forever, but it really could be just around the corner this time, honest -- though the whole life-changing thing is still debatable at this point. It turns out Google is pressing forward with its Google Book Search service, and planning to roll out full-on ebook sales "sooner rather than later," with downloadable books available to computer screens and mobile devices. Of course, with Sony already in the game, and Amazon prepping downloads of its own, it's not like Google will be doing this all by its lonesome, but some innovative features like the proposed rental and single-chapter purchase schemes could garner interest in the Google offering, not to mention the whole "Google world domination" thing. It seems like the primary obstacle at this point for Google is the publishing associations that still haven't decided they're so hot for Google throwing up the contents of books online for open searchability, but we have a feeling they'll come around soon enough, or Google will just go ahead with the licensees it already has -- which with buddies like Penguin, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster already warm to the book searching, probably won't be insubstantial.[Via Digg]
Next iPod an eBook reader?
Engadget is reporting that reliable sources claim that the next iPod will have plenty of screen real estate and have an eBook reading mode. It seems that a major publishing shop just sent Apple all of their archived manuscripts, so unless Steve has been jonesing for some reading material books might be coming to an iPod near you.I, personally, can't wait for this since I'm a big reader and I would love eBooks to really take off and iPod involvement can't but help.
Switched On: Why Adobe should cook the books
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a weekly column about the future of technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment:Now that Adobe has finished applying the magic eraser tool to its longtime graphics rival Macromedia, it needs to enter or create new markets to continue growth beyond its dominant position in professional publishing. With the recent focus on what is admittedly the nascent e-book market, Adobe is looking at a unique window in which it could step up and become a market leader. However, it had better hurry, because Microsoft is getting tired of staring at the walls when it comes to this market.The recent interest in e-books is due to the commercialization of electronic ink, which enables thin, crisp, paper-like monochrome (and soon color) displays that require a fraction of the power needed by LCDs. While their refresh rate makes them prohibitively slow for any kind of animation, they are the best technology for the medium developed to date and have attracted the attention of Sony and iRex, a spinoff of Philips.Electronic ink is the kind of disruptor that has allowed opportunistic companies to seize markets. Sony, for example, capitalized on the CD-ROM with the original PlayStation and entered the digital camera market via the floppy disk with its first Mavica cameras. Apple, of course, leveraged the 1.8-inch hard drive with its first iPod.Adobe is, in fact, already in the e-book business. but it is not providing a complete solution, which would require an end-user device. Sony's Reader will support the display of PDFs, but the electronics giant will use its own proprietary format and its own online service for distribution of content. The e-book market -- like the online music and video markets prior to the entry of Apple -- is so immature that it's just waiting for a company to step up with an integrated solution.
VitalSource: It's like iTunes for eBooks
I spotted this via James Duncan Davidson's blog, where he began talking about it by noting, "The best way to describe it is 'It's like iTunes for eBooks.'"
