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Oyster for iPhone offers all-you-can-read e-books for $10 per month
All-you-can-eat subscriptions work well for digital magazines, music and videos; why shouldn't they work for e-books? Oyster certainly thinks they should, as it just launched a flat-rate book service for iPhone users. Members pay $10 per month for unfettered access to about 100,000 books from HarperCollins, Hougton Mifflin Harcourt and smaller publishers. The unlimited-use model also facilitates a Goodreads-like social component that shows what friends are reading at any given moment. Bookworms can request an invitation today. Oyster hasn't said if or when the service will go without invitations, but it hopes to release an iPad app in the near future.
The New York Times Leap Motion app: for all the news that's fit for gestures (video)
Few of us reading the morning news enjoy putting our greasy hands on a tablet or newspaper just to flip through articles. With the newly unveiled New York Times app for the Leap Motion Controller, we won't have to. The release lets news hounds navigate stories (and ads) through a unique interface optimized for touch-free gestures. Both Mac and Windows versions of the NYT app will be available in the Airspace store on July 22nd, the same day Leap Motion ships to customers. More importantly, the app will be free -- at least at launch, readers won't run into the usual paywall. If the prospect of contact-free news has you intrigued, there's a video demo available after the break.
Feedly RSS reader launches cloud service
Feedly is a service that's risen in popularity recently for the most part because the much-loved RSS service Google Reader is coming to close on July 1, but the company is definitely doing its best to make a space for itself as something more than just an alternative. Today, Feedly released the Feedly Cloud, which not only creates a standalone web-based RSS reader app, but also hooks all of your feeds into the cloud, which developers can then hook their own APIs into for various purposes. Just like Google Reader's API, the idea is to allow Feedly's work to power other readers, and in fact the service is connecting into IFTTT right away at launch, and opening up other options for future apps and tools. This also means that Feedly is available right inside your web browser (previously, the app required a plugin or extension in your browser to work correctly), and can be pulled up from anywhere. Personally, Feedly has become my reader of choice, partly because it works so similarly to Google's service, and partly because it's so easy to migrate from one service to the other. If you use Google Reader and haven't yet chosen a new service, you're running out of time, as Google is finally shutting everything down on July 1. Feedly is the best alternative I've seen so far, and this move to the cloud shows that the company is very interested in not only grabbing Google's refugees, but keeping their patronage for as long as possible.
Flipboard now lets others contribute to your magazines (video)
There's typically more than one person involved in building a traditional magazine, at last check. It only makes sense, then, that Flipboard just opened up its internet-based magazine curation to groups. Those who've built a magazine can now invite friends to add content at will, whether it's through one of the mobile apps or a web bookmarklet. We doubt that the resulting collaborations will give big league publishers a reason to panic, but Android and iOS users alike can test that theory by downloading the updated Flipboard today.
Barnes & Noble Nook Snaps offer fresh literature in $2 bites
Barnes & Noble's Nook Store has offered short-form works much like those we've seen from Amazon's Kindle Shorts section, but they haven't really been a highlight. The company's new Nook Snaps program may give those quick reads their time to shine, however. The effort will see Barnes & Noble publish three to five original shorts every other month at $2 a piece. While the bookseller is leaning on existing titles to fill out the initial catalog, it hopes that the steady supply of original material will keep us coming back.
Amazon Kindle for iOS gets line spacing options and multi-page highlights
Now that the summer book frenzy is in full swing, anything that helps us read a little faster is welcome -- so we're glad that Amazon just pushed out a relevant update to its Kindle app for iOS. The new 3.8 release adds line spacing options, so readers can fit more (or less) on to a page without tweaking the font. Those whose eyes demand an extra-large font can now pick one, too. Amazon is also laying some early groundwork for back-to-school with a focus on notation. It's at last possible to make highlights that span multiple pages, and Print Replica Textbooks gain filters for bookmarks, highlights and notes. Whether you're trying to get a jump on classes or just want to cram in one more novel during vacation, you'll want to swing by the App Store for the upgrade.
E-books not growing much in Canada, slightly better in the US
A new study from BookNet Canada notes that the e-book market may be in trouble. Paperback books, says BookNet, made up 58 percent of all purchases last year, with hardcover taking 24 percent. But e-books were only 15 percent of total sales last year, a figure that's down overall from 2012's first quarter, where they made up 17.6 percent. In other words, e-books are selling, but they're hardly taking over the market. Now, those numbers reflect sales in Canada. In the US, e-books make up 22 percent of the market, so the numbers are higher here. But still, given how ubiquitous e-books now are, it's surprising to not see them taking more of the market. BookNet says buyers cite the convenience of shopping for other items at the same time and pricing as two reasons they're still looking for books in brick-and-mortar stores rather than online. Finally, Apple's iPad only made its way up to number three on the list of the most popular e-book readers in Canada. The Kobo e-book reader was the most popular up in the Great White North, followed by Amazon's Kindle and then Apple's tablet.
Purdue University's ReadingMate makes the classic reading-running combo a little easier
Universities aren't just places for students to cut classes and enjoy themselves before eventually embarking on careers. They are also places where problems get solved, like the one facing runners who find it hard to read on the jog. That bane is the focus of a group of researchers at Purdue University, who are working on a system called ReadingMate, which moves text on a display in reaction to the bobbing head of a runner to stabilize what's being seen. The screen is sent information from a pair of infrared LED-equipped glasses, but it's not as simple as shifting text in time with head movement -- your eyes are performing corrections of their own, so the words dance slightly out of sync with your noggin to take this into account. It's performed well in testing, and could have applications beyond the gym, such as in heavy machinery and aircraft, where vibration can hamper reading ability in important situations. Those uses make the most sense -- we don't often find ourselves eager to attack that next Twilight chapter during a near-death treadmill experience.
Daily iPhone App: 7 Little Words for Kids is a well-made word game for youngsters
I'm a big fan of 7 Little Words, a word game that's different from the rest, in that you need to simply figure out vocabulary clues and match up syllables rather than playing Scrabble yet again or lining up letters. Now, the app's creator has returned with a version for children called (surprise) 7 Little Words for Kids. As you'd imagine, the Kids' version is a bit more colorful and easier than the serene and challenging original, but it offers the same very addictive and rewarding gameplay of being given clues for just seven little words, and then assembling a collection of syllables up to form them. The Kids' app features a number of themed stages, colors up the characters a little bit and offers stars as a reward to open up different worlds, but none of these changes are annoying, and all of them should help the game appeal to children. Plus, I couldn't imagine a better-designed game for kids to play -- there are zero ads or in-app purchases in the app, which is very notable considering how successful Seven Little Words has been with IAP. The devs really went out of their way here to make sure this app was kid-friendly and parent-approved, and while I don't have kids of my own, this is one that I'd make sure was in their hands on a long car trip or plane ride. The one qualm I have with the app was that it wasn't formatted correctly on my iPhone 5's longer screen -- again, I'm not sure how you release an app these day without making sure it works on that display. But despite that small issue, 7 Little Words for Kids is a great app for just US$0.99, and a must-buy if you've got some young minds around looking to boost their vocabularies.
Apple starts offering paid iBookstore content in Japan
While Apple's iBookstore is available in numerous countries, readers who sit outside of a certain privileged zone have had to make do with public domain e-books at best. The Japanese won't have to settle as of today: a low-key iBookstore expansion gives them access to paid content, including manga and other more localized material. Accordingly, there's an iBooks 3.1 app update rolling out that both unlocks "hundreds of thousands" of titles in the Japanese store and improves support for Asian languages as a whole. Residents who've been looking for the most official means of reading JoJolion on their iPads just need to grab the refreshed iBooks at the source.
Airturn is a Bluetooth-enabled music page turner for iPad
We heard about the Airturn when it first released a few years ago, and the company is here at Macworld/iWorld 2013 this week in San Francisco, showing off both the older two-pedal unit, and the brand new four-pedal unit you can see above. That piece in the middle of each unit is a Bluetooth device, and it hooks up to about 40 different music apps and score readers on iOS, so that musicians can turn pages and scroll down virtual music sheets without using their hands. There's even optional bite- and tongue-switch accessories The standard Airturn unit, called the BT-105, is US$120, and you can set up the pedals in quite a few apps to not only turn the page, but also toggle audio or navigate lists as you go. The four-pedal version arrived last year, and it's $159 (though both models have a discount on at the expo this weekend). Airturn shared a booth with a company called The Gig Easy, that makes music stands for the iPad. They seemed very sturdy indeed, and I'm not sure what else you'd want from a way to hold your iPad up while you play. Seems like there are plenty of excellent options for musicians looking to use iOS to read and play their tunes.
Pocket announces digital publishing partnership with Matter
Just last week we mentioned that Pocket, formerly known as Read It Later, was growing its little empire of features and various apps, but hadn't yet landed on a solid monetary plan. Well here that comes now: Pocket has announced a partnership with a Kickstarter-funded digital publisher called Matter, teaming up to bring Matter's content into Pocket's readers, wherever they happen to be. Matter is a subscription-based content service, where you pay just 99 cents a month for a series of well-written pieces and editorial insight. And Pocket's made a deal to bring that content into its readers. So without installing or downloading anything else, you'll be able to access Matter's material directly, as well as use all of Pocket's various sharing and other features while doing so. It's a pretty smart plan, actually, though of course it will all depend on the quality of Matter's content. As The Daily has shown us just today, charging a subscription for digital content is a tough game to play, and one that quite a few smart people have failed to win just yet. But all of the ingredients are here: Pocket has a large audience of users who appreciate high quality content, Matter has a lot of supporters (through its Kickstarter campaign) also willing to pay for a good read and the groundwork's been laid in terms of making Pocket's interface and feature set very appealing. We'll probably look for more partnerships like this from Pocket in the future, and see if delivering this content is enough to earn these companies the money they're looking for.
Pocket for Mac gets a big update, better Twitter, Facebook, and Evernote support
Pocket used to be called Read It Later, and it actually did fairly well under that branding, as I remember. But the app was revamped to Pocket a little while ago, and since then, has been growing a little empire of apps designed to save content on one device, and pass it around to any number of various outlets. Pocket for Mac has just recently been updated to version 1.1, and there are quite a few significant updates still rolling out of the development team. The app now includes hooks into the native support of both Twitter and Facebook in Mountain Lion, as well as support for multiple accounts in Twitter. Evernote sharing has been revamped completely, so that's easier to use. There are new keyboard shortcuts, and the team has introduced a new URL scheme ("pocket://") that seems like it will be more important in future updates. There are also some fixes, including a much more responsive dock badge, which is a nice bonus. Pocket for Mac is available right now, and it remains completely free.
Amazon debuts Kindle Windows 8 app
With all the hubbub surrounding today's Microsoft event, who can blame Amazon for wanting to get in on the action? The mega-retailer used the opportunity to announce the Windows 8 version of its popular reading app. Interested parties can download the thing for free from the Windows Store, giving them access to the company's selection of 1.5 million titles. The app is available in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese and offers up good old Amazon features like Whispersync. Amazon also used the opportunity to announce that Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo and Samsung will be pre-loading the app on their devices. More information can be found in the source link below.
iBookstore lines its shelves with paid content in New Zealand, 17 Latin American countries
iDevice owners in New Zealand and 17 Latin American countries are no longer restricted to a diet composed of free content when it comes to their respective iBookstores. A quick search of the storefronts will reveal virtual shelves stocked with paid-content that haven't yet found their way to the shops' homepages. Reside in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru or Venezuela? Head on over to the appropriate store and books with price tags will be available for purchase. If this is any sign of what Apple has up its sleeve for tomorrow, we suspect that "a little more" will involve a bit of reading.
Newsweek to drop print edition after December 31st, gives the digital future a warm hug
It's no secret that print media is on its way out, as many regional and niche publications have had to either find a path through the digital wilderness or fold completely. We're still not used to national publications facing that ultimatum, though, which makes Newsweek's fresh decision to drop its print edition after December 31st both unusual and a bellwether. Anyone still yearning for the magazine's content after the presses stop will have to turn to the purely digital Newsweek Global or its The Daily Beast sibling, no matter how attached they are to the outlet's 80-year history with paper. The explanation for the cutoff remains a familiar story: print readership is dying on the vine and expensive to maintain, while web and tablet adoption is growing quickly enough that Newsweek believes it can make the switch without taking a long-term financial hit. Whether or not the transition works, it's evident the periodical knows its identity must be wrapped around an online presence -- figuratively, not literally.
Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite coming to the UK on October 25th, starting at £109
Amazon has found a relatively clear day in the calendar on which to launch its excellent Kindle Paperwhite e-reader in the British Isles. The ad-supported basic model will knock you back £109, while an extra £60 will get you the 3G version. Amazon's Lending Library service will roll-out at the same time, offering Prime members free loans from a collection of 200,000 books as part of the £49 per year subscription (which also has other perks). If you're shopping around, don't forget that Barnes & Noble's equally glowing alternative is also available in the UK these days, wearing a pretty much identical price tag.
Brøderbund's Living Books return for iPad via Wanderful
Some of you may not remember the early 1990s. Heck, some of you probably weren't born yet in the early 1990s. But for Mac users of a certain vintage, it was an exciting time. The growing popularity of CD-ROM drives paired with Mac II-series machines (did the IIci really cost over $6,200 at introduction? Criminy) made for engaging, inventive multimedia applications on the platform. Among the best of these multimedia experiences -- the young-kid equivalent of Cyan's revolutionary Myst immersive world, which is now back as an iPad app -- was the Living Books series from Brøderbund. The Living Books took children's picture stories (Mercer Meyer's Just Grandma and Me, Marc Brown's Arthur's Teacher Trouble and several Dr. Seuss books) and transformed them into clickable, lovingly animated and narrated environments. Kids (and eager grownups) could listen to the story read all the way through, or take control and play inside each page of the virtual book. Objects onscreen reacted to clicks with individualized sounds, motion or transformation; even the narration, delivered in multiple languages, was broken down word by word. This let new readers explore and absorb at their own individual paces. Trust me when I say that they were all kinds of awesome. Or, you know, you could skip the whole trusting me thing and just find out for yourself. These classic children's applications (in both the "great and old" and the "ran on pre-OS X versions of Mac OS" senses of the word "classic") are making a return to the market in the form of iPad apps. The original content may have been developed two decades ago, but the experience is brand-new -- and certainly almost all the target audience of early readers will be experiencing the Living Books for the first time. The new Living Books, which preserve the animation and narration of the originals while adding teacher's guides and other enhancements, are available from Wanderful Interactive Storybooks. Current titles for iOS include The Tortoise and the Hare, Arthur's Teacher Trouble, Little Monster at School and the just-released Harry and the Haunted House. (The iOS version of Just Grandma and Me currently available from Oceanhouse Media is not the original Living Books version, much to the chagrin of App Store shoppers.) Versions for Mac OS, Windows and Android are in the works, as are other titles from the Living Books library. Wanderful's mission to restore access to these landmark titles is a labor of love. When Brøderbund was acquired in the late '90s, the rights to the original Living Books began to bounce from corporate owner to corporate owner. They eventually landed with publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, which maintained the rights to the software titles; the author agreements, however, had lapsed. Many companies might have given up the effort to recover the rights at that point. In this case, however, Wanderful founder Mickey W. Mantle -- the early '90s-era CTO at Brøderbund who managed the development of the original Living Books -- pressed on, and eventually obtained most of the author agreements needed to bring back Living Books. Nearing retirement after a decade-plus stint at Gracenote, Mantle recruited several former Brøderbund colleagues to rebuild the Living Books content for a new, more flexible platform. In the process of "getting the band back together," Mantle approached Mark Schlichting, the illustrator and creative director who invented the original Living Books products. Schlichting (a father of three grown sons and now grandfather to three young kids) came back to the project with the insistence that the new iOS Living Books not be simple reproductions of the originals; he wanted to see them enhanced and improved to stand with the best children's apps available today. I had the opportunity to meet both Schlichting and Mantle at this weekend's Mac Computer Expo in Petaluma, Calif. It's clear from their enthusiasm and pride in their apps that this band of software veterans is ready to tackle the App Store. Sure, the Living Books are about as far from sleek, tightly rendered Retina-quality graphics as you could possibly get. The effort and care that went into their original versions, however, is still evident in the restorations that you can download and run 20 years later. Each Living Books title is US$4.99 in a single-language version; a premium edition that includes all languages plus a teaching guide is $7.99 (languages can also be added to the single-language version via IAP for $1.99). If you are looking for apps to enhance your child's love of reading, the Living Books are a sure thing.
Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite gets torn-down, promptly put back together (video)
Now that you've been fully acquainted with Amazon's new Kindle Paperwhite, perhaps it's time to get to know it on a deeper level -- and what better than a tear-down to do just that? The folks over at Powerbook Medic took their own unit apart piece by piece on video, highlighting what appears to be a simple process, mostly done by dealing with screws. The trickiest part seems to be pulling off the bezel, as it's held in place with glue. Unfortunately, the repair shop doesn't analyze the e-reader's internal components in the iFixit fashion, but it has gone full-circle and provided a second video on how to put it all back together. Curious to see this Kindle's e-ink-filled guts? You'll find both videos after the break.
Google Wallet reaches the web, reminds most of us that it exists
Unless you happen to be using the right phone on the right carrier, you might not know that Google Wallet is even a reality: the close association with NFC-based mobile payments on one network has largely kept it out of the public eye. Many more are about to see Wallet in action now that Google has quietly introduced it to the web. No, you won't tap your phone against your computer screen; the web version is mostly targeted at microtransactions and gives readers more than a few ways to buy without getting burned, such as long and blurred-out previews, a narrow price range between 25 to 99 cents and an Instant Refund option that gives no-questions-asked credit within half an hour. Only Oxford University Press as well as Pearson's DK and Peachpit publishing wings are known to be testing Wallet at this stage, but Google is already soliciting new partners for the e-commerce service before the customary blog post is active -- a sign that Mountain View is eager to get Wallet on the web rolling a little faster than its slow-moving mobile counterpart.
