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Sony Reader Store goes 100% EPUB on Friday
Listen up Sony Reader owners: you've got three days to change your ways. On December 11th, the eBook Store from Sony will be renamed the Reader Store with a new URL to prove it. In addition to a new store layout, the change also extends the open EPUB format to Sony's entire inventory of eBooks. In fact, any new electronic books will only be available in EPUB which helps explain the motivation for Sony's PRS-500 trade-in program. As such, we can say goodbye to Sony's proprietary BBeB ("BroadBand eBook") format which goes the way of ATRAC (outside of Japan, anyway). Sony's also making its Reader Library 3.1 software for Mac and PC available on the same day with support for the imminent Reader Daily Edition launch and compatibility with Windows 7 and OS X Snow Leopard -- how timely. [Thanks, Ben]
Sony offering ePub upgrade / trade-in program for PRS-500 e-reader
Sony's already made its commitment to the ePub e-book format fairly clear, but it does still have a lingering problem with some older e-book readers that don't support the format. While some of those are beyond hope, the company does now have an upgrade available for the PRS-500, although it's not quite as simple as you may hope. Turns out you actually have to send your reader in to Sony to receive the firmware update, which is completely free of charge and should take less than 14 days. For those looking to make a clean break with the past, however, Sony is also offering a trade-in program for the PRS-500, which will give you either $50 or $75 off the new Reader Pocket or Touch editions. Hit up the link below for complete details on both options.
Foxit's eSlick ereader now supports EPUB, puts Kindle to shame
Foxit's eSlick isn't exactly the most exciting ereader of all time, but now things have changed slightly with the addition of EPUB support, making this $259.99 device a more affordable (although less pretty) alternative to the Sony Reader, and a more flexible option than the Kindle. We looked around and have yet to spot the new firmware's download link, but chances are devices shipped this month will come preloaded with the new code. Still, Barnes & Noble's identical price tag will easily overshadow this in a few weeks -- hello Nook, goodbye eSlick.
QUE proReader hitting Barnes & Noble retail stores in 2010
In a rather odd unfolding of events, it seems as if Barnes & Noble is finally clearing up the mystery behind that Plastic Logic e-reader slated to hit its retail locations by Spring of 2010. After making said announcement, the book seller then went out and introduced an e-book reader of its very own in the Nook, and only now are we learning that the Plastic Logic-built QUE proReader will also be splashing down at the outfit sometime next year. In a brief release posted today, we're told that the recently teased big-screen reader (8.5- x 11-inches) 10.5-inch will be sold throughout B&N's retail footprint and on its website; makes sense given that B&N is powering the proReader's online e-book store, but the fact that it'll be placed prominently near the outfit's own (somewhat competing) device is certainly interesting. We're expecting to see more come CES 2010, and seriously, with the rate at which these readers are hitting brick-and-mortar locations, Amazon might want to consider implementing some kind of physical trial in order to not go overlooked in its corner of the web. Update: Plastic Logic rather dubiously lists "large 8-1/2 x 11-inch shatterproof display" on its specsheet. A bit of digging into the Barnes and Noble listing, however, reveals the following spec "Display (viewable area): 10.5-inch diagonal, 944 x 1264 pixels at 150ppi, 8 gray levels." Sneaky.
Switched On: Making book with ePUB
Ross Rubin (@rossrubin) contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. The ePUB standard, developed by Adobe, allows consumers to purchase books at a variety of digital stores and use them on a wide range of compatible devices without the manufacturer having to explicitly support them. That may sound a bit like the PlaysForSure initiative that Microsoft tried mounting to challenge the iPod but ultimately shifted away from (at least for MP3 players) in favor of the Zune, but ePUB has a better shot than PlaysForSure did. First, unlike PlaysForSure, which was playing catch-up to the already dominant iPod, ePUB is appearing relatively early in the market; it need not break anyone's "stranglehold." Second, after attracting the support of Sony, the format achieved a significant coup with the support of Barnes & Noble, which noted last week that it was "excited" to be supporting the format in its forthcoming Nook e-reader.
Bookeen now shipping $280 Cybook Opus e-reader
We admire Bookeen's resilience here, we really do. After last hearing about this e-book reader in May, we sort of assumed it had just given up on the matter. After all, it's WiFi-less and yet still as pricey as many of its rivals. That said, the Cybook Opus certainly looks different than most every other reader out there, so surely that counts for something. We're not saying it counts for $280, but if you are, you're approximately 1.389 clicks away from having one shipped to your domicile.[Via GizmoScene]%Gallery-73754%
Google makes over a million public domain books available in EPUB format
The deal may have first been announced somewhat quietly last month, but now that Sony's come out with what's arguably its most attractive e-reader to date, the availability of over a million public domain books in the Sony-friendly EPUB format is sure to garner a fair bit more attention. As Google announced on its Inside Google Books blog, those books are now all available for download starting today and are, of course, completely free and able to be used on the EPUB-supporting device of your choice. The move also takes on a particular prominence in light of Google's recent fight with Microsoft, Yahoo, Amazon and the Open Book Alliance, who have taken issue with Google's settlement with book publishers and authors that would give it the right to digitize orphan works and make the now out-of-print (but non-public domain) books widely available.
Sony takes Reader openness one step further, will offer EPUB titles only
Slowly but surely, the mega-corp who has historically clung tight to its own formats while the world opts for others is finally seeing the light. Just over a year after Sony pushed out an update that enabled its Reader to use purchased books in the open EPUB format, the outfit is now promising to sell digital books only in that format by the year's end. Moreover, Sony is aiming to nix its "proprietary anti-copying software in favor of technology from the software maker Adobe that restricts how often e-books can be shared or copied." Once the switchover takes place, books purchased in Sony's online store will be readable on any device that supports EPUB, one of which will be Plastic Logic's forthcoming e-reader. And to think -- if only this change of heart would've happened prior to the introduction of ATRAC...
Video: Bookeen Cybook Opus ebook reader gets handled and adored
The guys and gals at MobileRead have scored hands-on time with the Cybook Opus and early impressions are good. They were smitten with the ergonomics of the device and its "gorgeous" 5-inch e-ink display, but oddly neglected to point out any weaknesses. Equipped with an accelerometer, 1GB of storage, microSD expansion slot, and a user-replaceable battery, the Opus is able to read PDF and ePUB files -- with or without DRM -- and organize them into folders. There are rumors of a €250 ($349) asking price, but the exact details of when and where it will be available remain unknown. Click through for a video of the reader doing its thing or hit the read links for more extensive coverage.[Via Slashgear]Read - MobileRead exclusive : sneak preview of the Bookeen OpusRead - Cybook Opus: Discovering the reader, video
Sony Reader goes open, will be able to work with other booksellers
While Sony's Reader has never received the enormous press or enjoyed the supposed whirlwind sales of Amazon's Kindle e-book, and is certainly lacking in, erm, EV-DOness, the Reader is about to get one trick the Kindle doesn't have yet: openness. Sony will be shooting out an update on Thursday to allow the Reader to use purchased books in the protected EPUB format from whoever is peddling them, instead of being tied to the Sony's e-book store, or just DRM-free text and PDF documents. That openness should help Sony beef up its selection -- which is lagging behind Amazon's -- and will hopefully mark a bit of a turning point in the e-book market to more standards and, more importantly, more books.
