Tagesarchive: April 16, 2013

There’s an unconfirmed report today that Amazon is ending the 3rd-party app development program for the Kindle.

I’m still waiting to hear back from a couple app developers I know, but at the moment Geekwire is reporting that Amazon is no longer accepting new "Kindle Active Content" app submissions from existing developers.

Their sources have indicated that the program won’t technically be shut down, but Amazon won’t be releasing any updates to the Kindle Developer Kit, the suite of tools and documentation that app developers can use to create apps for the Kindle ereaders. Amazon also won’t be accepting new app submissions, though given their past behavior I’m not sure that developers will be able to tell the difference.

Update: I have heard back from one developer who says this is news to him. His relationship with Amazon is as good as ever, and that leads me to think that Amazon is more likely banishing certain developers but not completely shutting down the platform.

I have heard complaints that Amazon’s approval process for Kindle Active Content is so capricious they make Apple look sane and reasonable. Amazon has rejected apps for what the developers describe as ridiculous reasons, blocked app updates with no explanation, and generally made life difficult for the developers.

I’ve also been told off the record that Amazon plays favorites with developers.  Amazon has reportedly neglected to approve an app from a developer so a similar app from a preferred developer can be released first.

In any case, now that a developer has called this story into question all I can say is that this situation is far from clear.

There’s no sign of any change to the relevant Developer Portal on Amazon.com, though I will note that the page is still described as being in beta. That is a surprise given that Kindle Active Content was originally launched in early 2010.

Amazon currently lists 491 apps and games in the Active Content section in the Kindle Store with prices ranging between free and $5, with a handful of titles costing as much as $50.

If I receive confirmation of this story, I will update this post.

The major publishers might not be all that interested in selling ebooks to libraries but the feeling is not mutual.

The American Library Association released their annual state of the library report today, and in spite of the lack of publisher support the adoption of ebooks and ereaders is up. Over three-quarters of American libraries reported in the survey that they lend ebooks, up from 67% in the previous survey.  The libraries are now using a wide variety of vendors, including ebrary, 3M Cloud library, Axis360, as well as others.

A growing number of libraries are also lending ereaders to their patrons. The report showed that 39% of the 7,200 plus libraries surveyed lent ereaders, up from 28% in the previous survey. That is a remarkable increase, and  I can also confirm this anecdotally. I have seen a number of news reports over the past few months of libraries announcing new ereader collections, including newly purchased Nook Touch ereaders.

This report also shows that more Americans than ever are using their libraries, and libraries are working to meet that demand. Over 91% of US libraries now offer free Wifi and internet, with 62% indicating that they were the only source of free internet access in their communities. Some are even considering following in the footsteps of BiblioTech, the bookless public library located in Bexar County. That library is still on schedule to open in Fall 2013, and it will stock ereaders and tablets for patrons to use or check out as well as a sizable ebook collection.

The data in this report comes from the annual survey which is conducted every Fall, so it is fairly out of date by this point. But even with the age issue this report is sill useful in providing a snapshot of library use.

ALA

image by Muffet

For as long as I can remember it hasn’t been hard to make a Kindle ebook. Assuming you only want to use text and at most a few images, you can find any number of tools online that will do the job quite nicely. There’s calibre, Jutoh, Feedbooks,, Mobipocket Creator (and that’s just the handful I can recall off the top of my head).

But the same cannot be said for graphic novels. Amazon may have launched a new comics section in the Kindle Store along with the Kindle Fire in 2011, but they didn’t release any tools which could be used to create graphic novels – until today.

I have just learned that Amazon has released a new tool this week that will enable independent comic artists to make graphic novels for the Kindle Store. It’s called the Kindle Comic Creator, and it was very quietly launched late last week.

According to Amazon KC2 removes the need for authors and publishers to understand the intricacies of the HTML/CSS code that goes into an ebook. This tool lets authors import artwork, arrange the layout, and even create a guided reading experience with Kindle Panel Views. KC2 is reportedly able to automatically detect the panels in an image and it will recommend a reading order that will best guide a reader through the story.

This tool is available for Windows and OSX, and it can create books with double page spread, facing pages, and right-to-left page turns from a wide variety of formats including PDF, jpg, tiff, png, and ppm.

I haven’t had a chance to use it myself, but I was told by Joshua Tallent of eBook Architects that his firm has been using it to create digital comics.  He likes it, and he even demoed an early version of the tool at O’Reilly TOC a couple months back.

If this tool is really that good then comiXology had better watch out. That digital comics distributor has a dominant position in the market, and they’ve used that control to take a one-third cut of the retail price of digital comics sold via their platform.

That is a lot of money that isn’t going into the pockets of the creators, but thanks to KC2 that might no longer be true. Now that it is easier for comics artists to deal directly with the Kindle Store they can cut out a middleman and keep a greater percentage of the funds.

On the other hand, I’m not so sure they will want to do that. Amazon might pay a 70% royalty but they also charge delivery fees which can add up to a significant chunk of change on a 100MB graphic novel. And while Amazon’s 35% royalty might not have delivery fee attached it isn’t exactly a better deal than what Comixology offers.

If you have been weighing you options for distributing your graphic novel, I’d love to hear from you in the comments. What’s the best way to maximize your revenue?

Kindle Comic Creator

User Guide (PDF)

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While most ebookstores are following Amazon in trying to use discovery engines to match readers with similar books, Sony has decided to move in a completely different direction.

Yesterday Sony posted an infographic in the Sony Reader store. This infographic contains a flow chart that asks the user questions and then directs them to a particular title based on how the user answers. The chart contains 15 fiction and nonfiction titles, and asks some unusual questions to help decide which one you should buy.

I know some might be expecting me to heckle Sony for using something so ridiculous, but TBH I think this is a great idea. I can see that a lot of thought was put into sorting the books and asking the questions, and I think this chart shows the touch of a real bookseller and not just some piece of software.

That human touch is both highly appealing to this reader and something I don’t see in most ebookstores. It gives the chart a sense that this is someone’s personal recommendations, and that makes me much more interested in buying the ebooks.

The chart went up on Sunday, and Sony plans to add more charts in the coming weeks.

Sony Reader store

I know this might be hard to remember after yesterday’s stupendous Kobo news, but there are other ereader makers in the market and one of them will be announcing new gadgets next week.

Pocketbook is holding a press conference next week. This Ukraine-based ereader company is expected to announce 3 new devices, including a color ereader, an ereader with an HD E-ink screen, and an updated 7″ Android tablet.

But before I get to the products I expect Pocketbook to announce, I have a question. Have you considered the timing of next week’s press event?

I think the Pocketbook press conference raises some interesting questions. It was announced right before Kobo launched the Aura HD and happens a week later.

Kobo made an announcement this week and Pocketbook is announcing next week, and that leads me to think we might possibly be seeing ereader makers respond to the products they know that their competition have in the works.

If I am correct then Amazon might have an announcement of an amazing ereader some time in the next month or so. It’s not out of the question that Amazon plans to reveal that they’re using a Liquavista screen on their next Kindle. They have to come up with some way to match the Kobo Aura, after all.

I know that I have been saying since January that Amazon is buying Liquavista and it might be getting old. But now that Kobo has an awesome product in the Aura HD I think Amazon is going to have to release their own awesome ereader just to stay competitive.

And there is also a chance that B&N could be getting ready to announce something wonderful, though I doubt a new Nook would spook either Pocketbook or Kobo.

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There is no firm data on this so we could be in for a surprise, but the current rumors suggest that Pocketbook will unveil the PocketBook Touch Lux next week. This is expected to be a 6″ ereader with an HD E-ink screen and a frontlight. It’s the next-gen model for their existing 6″ ereader, and it is rumored to retail for 139 euros.

Note that I am calling out the rumors on these details; for all we know Pocketbook might have the 6.8″ screen found on the Kobo Aura HD. That is not very likely but it is also not impossible.

In addition to the Touch Lux, Pocketbook could also announce the Pocketbook Color, the 8″ ereader that they have been working on since at least November 2012. I have almost no details on this ereader, but it is supposed to have an 8″ color E-ink screen. It is also supposed to have a frontlight, which as we have seen in past conference videos will likely improve the color quality. I have no info on specs, price, or release date, but then again I can’t see that anyone else has that info either.

The third new product that Pocketbook might reveal next week is an updated model for the SurfPad, one of their 7″ Android tablets. Again, I don’t have any info on the specs pr price, but the new device will probably have a higher resolution screen and a faster CPU. The specs on the current model suggest a weak budget tablet, so it would make some sense to improve upon it.

I don’t really find any of the devices expected to be released next week all that interesting, but to be honest that is because yesterday Kobo set a new standard. That news has also made me wonder if competition is heating up in the ereader market again.

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