Random House is attempting to aid online book discovery with a new Facebook app, BookScout, that gives users book recommendations from multiple publishers based on their Facebook Open Graph. So why’d it recommend me I Can Read: Berenstain Bears? Read more »
This week in ebooks: Penguin made some digital decisions, Kobo claimed massive e-reader growth and Inkling opened up its titles to Google search. Read more »
Here’s the main problem with book discovery online: Right now, it doesn’t really work. New research shows that frequent book buyers visit sites like Pinterest and Goodreads regularly, but those visits fail to drive actual book purchases. Read more »
Two years ago, Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner criticized magazine publishers’ “premature” rush to iPad. Now, the 40-year-old music magazine is launching an iPad edition that includes a music purchase partnership with iTunes. Read more »
In an effort to aid book discovery and battle Amazon’s dominance, iOS publishing platform Inkling will allow its roughly 400 ebooks to be fully indexed through Google search. The company plans to add a thousand more books this year. Read more »
A new report from Scholastic reveals that most U.S. children have still never read an ebook. Many of them — especially girls — want to, and kids also claim they’d read more for fun if they had more access to ebooks. Read more »
A year after launch, Audiobooks.com is changing from an unlimited streaming audiobook offering to a subscription service that puts it in direct competition with the Amazon-owned Audible.com. Audiobooks.com says its biggest benefit over Audible is streaming — but Audible has four times as many titles. Read more »
Apple TV users in Germany got some content of their own Friday: Watchever, the new streaming video subscription service from Vivendi. The move could open the door to more region-specific content deals for Apple TV. Read more »
The bestselling 50 Shades of Grey trilogy is set to rake in even more cash: The books will be released in hardcover in time for Valentine’s Day. With their availability in that format, the trilogy will have completed a traditional publishing cycle almost entirely in reverse. Read more »
A new iPad magazine called Paragraph Shorts curates the “best short stories” from across the web and presents them in a Flipboard-like interface. The free app aims to add value through curation, introducing readers to authors and publications they might not have known about otherwise. Read more »
Amazon may have discontinued the Kindle Touch last October in favor of the front-lit Paperwhite, but on Wednesday the Touch still got several nice new features through a software update that makes it more similar to the Paperwhite. Read more »
Self-publishing site Lulu will stop offering DRM as an option on ebooks created through its site. But ebooks created on Lulu and sold through other retailers, like Amazon and Apple, will still be subject to DRM. Read more »
Macmillan announced two new distribution and publication partnerships with Entangled, the independent romance publisher behind bestsellers like Jennifer Probst’s “The Marriage Bargain.” The agreements give Entangled a broader reach for its books, and Macmillan gains an entrance to the hot indie market. Read more »
In my quest to create a paperless home, I recently decided to digitize my recipe file. My goal was to create something easily searchable but also, hopefully, fun to browse, just the way a physical recipe file is. Here are the tools I’m using. Read more at GigaOM »
Amazon Studios, Amazon’s film production division, will produce pilots for six original comedy series, the company announced Thursday — including shows from the Onion and “Doonesbury” writer Garry Trudeau. Read more »
For every high point of 2012, there were also a few forehead-slapping moments. From Apple Maps to HP’s Autonomy to the Facebook IPO, here’s the best of the worst. Read more at GigaOM »
Amazon has launched a Chinese Kindle store with Android and iOS apps for reading ebooks. The store contains around 25,000 ebooks, most priced vastly lower than ebooks in the United States and Europe. Read more at GigaOM »
Netflix has signed a deal with Disney that will make the studio’s films available for streaming. New feature films won’t be included until 2016, but some classics, like Dumbo and Pocahontas, are available now. Read more at GigaOM »
Here’s our roundup of the best Black Friday deals on ebooks, tablets and e-readers. We’ll update this post throughout the weekend. Read more »
When the New York Times started working on its electoral calculations tool for the 2012 election, Shan Carter said at the Visualized conference Friday, they decided two things: “It shouldn’t include electoral votes or calculations.” Read more at GigaOM »
This holiday season, go into your local Target and you’ll see CNET reviews alongside digital cameras, tablets and other electronics. Target and CNET’s partnership is designed to help undecided shoppers make purchasing decisions, but it could also help prevent showrooming. Read more at GigaOM »
Amazon is testing a $7.99/month Prime membership to help it compete against Hulu+ and Netflix’s monthly streaming video plans. The option is only available to some users for now, and if you go to the Prime signup page, you may not see the offer. Read more at GigaOM »
Pocket, which allows users to save content from the web to view later, has added a Mac app to its lineup of iOS, Android, Kindle Fire and web apps. Read more at GigaOM »
At Apple’s iPad Mini launch event in San Francisco on Tuesday, the company also announced updates to its e-reading platform, iBooks. In addition, Apple is reportedly expanding the iBookstore to 18 more countries, including many in Latin America. Read more at GigaOM »
Friday marks the official launch of former ReadWriteWeb editor Marshall Kirkpatrick’s data-based discovery startup Littlebird (formerly known as Plexus Engine). The company, which aims to automate discovery and vetting of experts and influencers on any given topic, has also raised $1 million in funding. Read more at GigaOM »
Barnes & Noble and Microsoft have finalized their previously announced partnership, which spins B&N’s digital and college businesses off into a subsidiary that will now be called Nook Media. Microsoft is investing $300 million in the new company and retains a 17.6 percent stake. Read more at GigaOM »
Amazon’s new e-reader, the Kindle Paperwhite, started shipping on Monday but is already sold out. Customers who order one today won’t receive it for four to six weeks. Read more at GigaOM »
I spent a week testing Amazon’s new e-reader, the Kindle Paperwhite, which starts at $119. The verdict: The front-lit screen improves the reading experience all day long, not just at night, making this a big step up from the Kindle Touch. Here are my review and video. Read more at GigaOM »
Barnes & Noble’s new Nook HD tablets, priced starting at $199, aim to stand out from the pack with reader-centric features and enhanced reading experiences for magazines and catalogs. The company’s goal is to drive book discovery and purchasing through the tablets in new ways. Read more at GigaOM »
In a move to increase community and social networking and decrease reliance on paid editors and writers, Aol’s struggling hyperlocal site Patch is rolling out a redesign today in five Long Island towns. The redesign will spread to 50 more communities this year. Read more »
Walmart has announced that it will stop selling Kindles in its stores and on its website, suggesting that as it beefs up its own e-commerce strategy it does not want to turn sales over to a competitor. Target also stopped carrying Kindles in May. Read more at GigaOM »
Betaworks’ Findings.com started out as a service to share passages from Kindle books, but with Amazon cracking down on that functionality, the company will now focus on clipping and sharing content from the web. Read more at GigaOM »
A new report from the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank, shows that the number of jobs created by startups has fallen sharply since 2010. Small businesses are hiring again, so what is the particular problem with startups — and why are they suffering even in a recovery? Read more at GigaOM »
With the releases of the Kindle Paperwhite and Kobo Glo today, we saw an evolution in e-readers. The devices don’t have more tablet-like features, but they should still provide much better reading experiences than older models. Read more at GigaOM »
We’re here in Los Angeles for Amazon’s press conference. The company is expected to announce a new Kindle Fire and Kindle e-reader today, and we’ll have all the details for you live from Santa Monica. Read more at GigaOM »
Though most eyes are on Amazon’s Thursday press conference, Kobo is angling for early attention with its announcement of two new e-readers and a new 7-inch Android tablet called the Arc. How do the devices stack up to the competition? Read more at GigaOM »
Amazon and EPIX have signed a deal to make streaming movies like The Hunger Games, Iron Man 2 and The Avengers free to Amazon Prime members. Previously, Netflix had exclusive rights to EPIX recent releases. Read more at GigaOM »
What should we expect from next week’s Amazon press conference in Los Angeles? The rumor mill suggest a front-lit Kindle e-reader, a new Kindle Fire with a camera and location technology, and more streaming movie offerings for Prime members. Read more at GigaOM »
The current Kindle Touch models are either unavailable or shipping in 8 to 9 days on Amazon, suggesting that new models are coming soon — possibly including a front-lit Kindle to compete with Barnes & Noble’s Nook with GlowLight. Read more at GigaOM »
E-books now make up about a fifth of “big six” publisher Hachette’s U.S. sales, but net sales for the quarter were down overall. Read more »
