Apple and eBooks

Well I posted earlier about Apple's eBook announcement. And I have been waiting to get more information before I posted. The best and most thorough discussion is from the MacBreak Weekly 1/24/12 podcast.



Leo and gang do a great job of covering all the different angles of the announcement. So if you want more information on the text book angle and iTunes University, check out the podcast.



So let me see if I can summarize what I consider the highlights:

• Apple has announced a new ebook authoring tool, iBook Author.


• Available for free from the Mac App Store


• Creates books in a proprietary eBook 3 format


• Only works on OS X 10.7 Lion


• Publishing options are a tad limited


• To publish a book for sale, you can only use the Apple iTunes store. Also, Apple must approve your book. If they don't approve it, you have no alternative for sale.


• If not using the iTunes store, the book can only be released for free. Going this route, you can publish to PDF or the proprietary format.

My take... this is a bit of a blunder. Apple has shown its hand to competitors Amazon, Adobe, and Barnes and Noble in regard to its eBook strategy. Limiting the publishing options and the app to only OS X Lion, also prevents wide adoption. Thusly, competitors should have time to respond and should be able to take the moral high ground if they support actual standards.



From what I have heard, the books produced from the tool are fabulous and very cool.



But is it my book? Not really. It seems to me, if you were to write your own book, I would use another tool and maybe port it to iBooks Author if I think it would be worth it.



Anyway, I would like to spend some more time with ePub3. It looks like the content is just HTML5 with some special packaging rules. Hopefully I can post more on the subject.

Big eBook News From Apple Tommorrow?

According to this Ars Technica story, Apple is gonna announce some new eBook creation tool tomorrow. And GigaOm explains why eBooks are gonna be a big deal.



If the product is indeed announced, here is why that is a big deal. Right now there are very few eBook creation tools. Apple includes an ePub format tool with its Pages word processer, but that is the only eBook specific tool that I am aware of. Right now, most eBooks are just text, very plain like a paperback book. However, formats like ePub allow you to create much more interactive books closer to HTML pages than paperbacks. Thus, a tool for making these sort of book easier to write is gonna be a big deal. The paper book and text book industries are in for be changes methinks.

Kindle Fire Burns up the Tablet Market

Well there is big news today and it is the new tablet from Amazon, the Kindle Fire. Here are the quick facts:



Price: $199

Size: 7 inches

Memory: 8 Gig

Camera: None

Networking: Wifi, but no 3G

OS: Amazon's version of Android



Functionality

• Book Reading


• Web Browsing


• Music player


• Amazon Store App


• Games (They already have Angry Birds)


• Videos - An Amazon Prime movies and streaming app

Note: Rumor has it that a 10inch version is in the works. So if you are more interested in a full size tablet, you may want to think twice about buying this version.



My thoughts are as follows.



First, the price is huge. A $300 dollar price difference is significant. Many people who have balked on the $500 iPad may take a hard look at the $200 Fire. Heck this is cheaper than most iPods! All the other tablet manufacturers are gonna be under serious pressure. They can't make money on the books, videos and music like Amazon. Right away it looks like Amazon and Apple are the only horses on this race.



Second, it has all the key features a tablet needs. Web browsing, book reading, and movie playing. (At least that is what I do the most on my iPad 2.) I really think features like cameras and 3G are not something wanted or needed by most consumers. People will ask themselves if they really need an iPad?



Third, this puts pricing pressure on rival Barnes and Noble right away. By also announcing a black and white Kindle touch at $99, this will probably force Barnes and Noble to drop the price of their most excellant Nook Touch and Nook Color.



Fourth, this announcement is a direct shot at Apple. Amazon is gonna put their integrated music, video, ebook, and shopping services against Apple. This is why I scolded Apple for their silly attempt to get 30% of any in app purchases. You risk waking the sleeping giant. And now, the sleeper has awakened and he looks angry.



Finally, this makes me wonder about Android or at least Android on the tablet. Does this move put Amazon firmly in control of the UI on Android tablets? From the demos I've seen, the interface is a lot more elegant than any Android device I have seen to date. This is the danger of open source software, someone might fork the code right at your existing business model.



Well anyway, it should be interesting to watch. Here are links you might find interesting.



Feature Comparison from This is My Next

Molly Wood from CNet

Josh Lowenstein from CNet

Engadget Video Demo

Nook Touch Loses Charge or Discharges Quickly

Is your brand new Nook Touch lasting 4 days instead of 2 months? The Nook Touch can't hold a charge? This is the problem I ran into days after getting this wonderful new e-reader.



Solution:

This appears to be a software problem. To "fix" the battery try the following.



(1) Turn your Nook all the way off. Hold the On/Off button for like 5 seconds. A popup will appear asking if you wish to turn off the device. Confirm this and let the machine go off. Wait a minute or so. Hold the On/Off button for about 5 seconds to get the device to turn on.



According to the Nook forums, this has solved the problem for a number for people. However I had to do a little more.



(2) Let your Nook battery run all the way down. The Nook will display a message stating that you must plug in your Nook if you wish to turn it on. I was unable (or too impatient) to drain the device any further. I then plugged the device in for 4.5 hours. Then I did step (1) above.



The 2nd set of steps was given to me by Nook tech support. It worked for me. If neither of these methods works for you, please call Barnes and Noble Tech Support.

Nook Touch Battery is not Holding Charge

I just got back from a week long trip. Much to my frustration, my brand new Nook Touch can't hold a charge longer than 4 days. This is not good for a device advertised to hold a charge for 2 months under normal use.



So to eliminate possible issues I:

1. Turned off Wifi


2. Removed my 8gb MicroSD card

The Nook showed no improvement. If anything it got worse.



So I called tech support this morning. First person was clueless. Second person disconnected. Third person (who was helpful) suggested I drain the device 100%. Then let the device charge for 4.5 hours to see if that resets the battery.



That should take 24 hours to try (for the battery to drain all the way). I will report back with the results.



Update: I fixed my Nook. Details can be found in a newer post here.

Impressive ePub3 Book

Cult of Mac has a cool link to a sample ePub3 book. The amount of interactivity is quite impressive. I did not know something like this was possible.



Of course, I not sure it would look real great on a Black and White Kindle or a Nook.

Nook Touch Cannot Read Anything on MicroSD Card

After copying some epub books to the MicroSD card of my new Nook Touch (the My Files/Books directory), none of the books can be read. Instead the following error message is displayed:

The Nook cannot read this file. It may be an unsupported format.

Note: They are valid books files and work fine when copied to the free space on the Nook.



Solution: Create a new directory in the My Files directory named My Documents. Once that is done, you can read the books in the My Documents directory or the Books directory.



As to why? It beats me. I called tech support. Got help right away. Waited for the dude to research about 5 minutes. He came back with the answer. It works. Kudo's Barnes and Noble for great customer support.

New Nook eReader 1 ups the Kindle

Barnes and Noble released its new Nook e-reader today. The $139 device is wifi only and has a touch interface. Battery life is 2 months compared to the Kindle's 1 month.



I really want to try this out. The Kindle is a great device, but the user interface is awful. Read Write Web has the details:



Read Write Web: Can Barnes & Noble's New Nook Top the Kindle?

Nook Color - Android Tablet Worth a Look

Did you know that the Barnes and Noble Nook Color is an Android Tablet? I sort of did, but it didn't really hit me until I saw one last week. Wow the web browser on that little guy was fast and looked really good. Much better than the primitive one you find in a kindle.



Anyway, I plan to get one in a couple of weeks and then more reviews will ensue. I've added links to the device in this post and on the main page if you are interested in checking it out. Most Barnes and Noble stores also have demo units available in the store.

iPad Validating eBook Readers

According to WSJ, iPads are not killing the sales of eBook readers. In fact, they seem to be accelerating their sales. This makes sense to me. First, the iPad and future tablets are driving down the prices of the readers. In addition, Kindle for the iPad validates the usefulness of having all your books in electronic form.