Netflix and Amazon step up battle for kids’ eyeballs over summer vacation
photo: Shutterstock / James Blinn
Netflix and Amazon both want to be the company that captures your kid’s screen time this summer. Read more »
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Who wears the pants in the family? Netflix betting that it’s the kids
Kids love their characters, and Netflix is hoping they love their new Netflix programs just as much. Read more »
Audible ends the program that gave authors $1 for every audiobook sold
photo: Audible.com
Digital audiobooks site Audible.com is ending the 18-month-old program that gave authors $1 for every audiobook sold. Read more »
Day 5 of the Apple ebooks trial: Publishing execs testify; Rupert Murdoch’s role
At the Apple ebook trial on Monday, HarperCollins CEO Brian Murray and Macmillan CEO John Sargent offered testimony as witnesses for the government. Emails showed that News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch expressed the desire to “screw Amazon.” Read more »
Amazon starts selling Kindle Paperwhite and Fire HD in China
Amazon launched the Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Fire HD in China on Friday and its digital bookstore has quickly jumped from 25,000 to 47,000 titles in the past six months. Read more at GigaOM »
Amazon, Google execs clash with Apple lawyers in ebook pricing trial
On Thursday, the Apple ebook trial brought testimony from Amazon and Google executives, and some tough and often funny questioning from Apple’s attorneys. Read more »
Day 3 of the Apple ebook trial: Simon & Schuster, Amazon execs take the stand
In court on Wednesday, Amazon executive Russ Grandinetti argued that publishers’ switch to the agency model was intended to “slow down the success of the Kindle,” while Simon & Schuster CEO Carolyn Reidy said Apple did not force publishers to enact agency contracts with Amazon and other retailers. Read more »
Why the Apple e-book trial should be over already: The DoJ has an open-and-shut case
photo: Shutterstock / tlegend
As the antitrust trial against it gets underway, Apple continues to fight accusations that it engaged in collusion and price-fixing with the major e-book publishers — despite the overwhelming evidence that it did exactly that. Read more »
Amazon nabs streaming rights to Dora, SpongeBob and other Viacom shows Netflix lost
Amazon has signed a big streaming video deal with Viacom. The multi-year agreement includes Prime Instant Video access to kids’ shows like Dora the Explorer and SpongeBob SquarePants, plus grownup shows like Tosh.0. Read more »
Free is not the magic number: New trends in ebook pricing
Ebook pricing strategies are changing fast as the market evolves and retailers and publishers amass more data. Here are some new tips. Read more »
Behold: How Amazon wins the sales tax wars even when it loses
photo: Flickr / William Christiansen
Amazon has maneuvered to avoid collecting state sales taxes, but that’s only part of the story: This week’s Fortune cover article reveals that even when things don’t go the retailer’s way, it’s been able to turn them to its advantage. Read more at GigaOM »
Amazon: victim or aggressor? Issue will frame Apple ebook trial
photo: Getty Images / Spencer Platt
Apple and the federal government are about to go to trial over an alleged conspiracy to fix ebook prices — but recent court filings show that Amazon will play a large role in determining the outcome. Read more »
Amazon pushes forward with Kindle Fire HD’s international expansion
photo: Amazon
Amazon is making its Kindle Fire HD tablets broadly available internationally, with preorders shipping in June. The tablets were already available in Europe and Japan. Read more at GigaOM »
Amazon’s new Kindle Worlds gives authors a way to sell fan fiction without legal hassles
Amazon Publishing is launching Kindle Worlds, a publishing platform that lets authors sell fan fiction based on properties like Gossip Girl. Amazon Publishing retains the rights to the works and will set the prices. Read more »
Amazon acquires Samsung color display unit Liquavista
Amazon has acquired Samsung’s color screen display technology, Liquavista. The technology could be used to create low-power color screens for Kindles. Read more at GigaOM »
Amazon launches its virtual currency, with $5 worth free to every Kindle Fire user
Amazon’s virtual currency, Amazon Coins, launched Monday. It can be used to buy apps and games and make in-app purchases on the Kindle Fire and in Amazon’s app store. Read more at GigaOM »
Amazon Publishing launches Kindle Love Stories podcast, focused on romance books
Amazon Publishing is launching a weekly romance podcast, “Kindle Love Stories.” The podcast will include a discussion group at Goodreads, the reading-focused social network that Amazon recently acquired. Read more »
Book review: Former Kindle exec on Kindle flaws, Nook strengths and Google’s future in ebooks
In a new book, former Kindle exec Jason Merkoski examines where e-reading platforms are now and how they could change in the future. If you’re looking for secrets about Jeff Bezos, though, you’re in the wrong place. Read more »
The deal Goodreads should’ve struck (hint: it wasn’t with Amazon)
photo: Vitchanan Photography/Shutterstock
Goodreads, the popular social network and review site for book lovers, is now part of Amazon. Imagine if it had instead paired up with Readmill, which offers a superior user reading experience. Read more »
Authors Guild warns of monopoly in Amazon’s purchase of Goodreads
photo: Authors Guild
Amazon’s purchase of Goodreads, an influential and independent social network for book lovers, is drawing fire from the Authors Guild. Read more »
Amazon acquires book-based social network Goodreads
Amazon is acquiring Goodreads, a book-focused social network with 16 million members. The acquisition is likely to decrease Goodreads’ reputation as a neutral hub for authors and publishers. Read more »
Amazon gets into hot water in UK over lewd Christmas card listing
photo: Flickr / William Christiansen
According to the British advertising regulator, Amazon listings are ads. That’s why a listing for a rude greeting card has just resulted in a slap-down for the online retail giant. Read more at GigaOM »
Amazon launches “Send to Kindle” button for web publishers and WordPress blogs
Amazon launched a “Send to Kindle” button that publishers can add to their websites. The Washington Post and Time are among the first to sign up. “Send to Kindle” is Amazon’s answer to read-it-later services like Pocket and Instapaper. Read more »
Amazon Publishing promises authors faster royalty payments
photo: Flickr / William Christiansen
Amazon Publishing is speeding up its royalty payments to authors, the company said in a letter to literary agents Monday. The full letter is printed below. Read more »
Amazon slashes price of 4G Kindle Fire HD by $100, expands tablet to Europe & Japan
Amazon announced Wednesday that it’s dropping the price of the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD in the United States, and is also rolling out the tablet in Europe and Japan. Read more at GigaOM »
Authors and publishers objects to Amazon’s “.book” and “.read” names; future process unclear
photo: Amazon
A flood of new website addresses with endings like “.book” and “.movie” are set to arrive in coming months. Companies like Amazon and Google are set to control the names but the terms under which they will do so are still undefined. Read more »
Like Amazon, Apple wants to create a marketplace for used digital goods
photo: Flickr / sushiina
In a patent application filed Thursday, Apple outlined the possible creation of a marketplace for used digital goods. Amazon recently won a patent to create such a marketplace. Read more »
Steve Jobs biographer dropped from Apple ebook case, James Murdoch named in email
The case accusing Apple of fixing ebook prices is heating up. New court documents show that Steve Jobs’ biographer have been dropped from the case but that Jobs himself is still at the center of it. Read more »
Amazon execs set to testify in price-fixing case against Apple
photo: Getty Images / Spencer Platt
Amazon won a court ruling last week that restrict Apple’s access to its executives and documents. Filings from the case also show that senior Amazon executives are poised to testify for the government in its price-fixing case against Apple. Read more »
To battle Kindle, German booksellers partner with Deutsche Telekom on new e-reader
Leading German bookstore chains have partnered with German telecommunications company Telekom to launch a front-lit e-reader, the “Tolino Shine,” for €99. Read more at GigaOM »
Updated: Amazon tells iOS users not to download latest Kindle app update
photo: huskyte77
Users who downloaded the Tuesday update say their books were erased from their devices and all their saved settings and bookmarks were reset. Amazon said Wednesday it was a known bug. Read more at GigaOM »
Authors face change as Amazon tightens affiliate policy on free Kindle books
photo: Flickr / Alan O'Rourke
Amazon is cracking down on a policy that allows blogs and websites to earn money when users download free ebooks through their affiliate links. That means big changes in the ways that some self-published ebooks are promoted online. Read more »
Amazon Prime Instant Video gets exclusive on FX’s Justified
photo: FX Networks
Amazon is adding FX’s Justified to Prime Instant Video. It’s the first time Justified has been available on a streaming site, and it won’t be on Netflix or Hulu Plus. Read more »
Video recommendation engine Fanhattan expands from iOS to the web
Fanhattan, which is like a TV Guide for iPad, has launched out a beta web version with new discovery and recommendation features. On the web, it offers more content recommendations from more providers — 29 on the web, compared to 16 on iOS. Read more at GigaOM »
Indie bookstores sue Amazon, big-6 publishers for using DRM to create monopoly on ebooks
photo: Shutterstock / zimmytws
Three independent bookstores have filed a class action suit against Amazon the big-six publishers, alleging that the proprietary DRM Amazon uses on ebooks creates a monopoly. Read more »
Four companies that are changing digital reading in Africa
photo: Flickr / worldreader
The digital reading revolution is not going to look the same in developing countries as it has in the developing world, but several companies are working on ways to bring digital reading to the African continent. Read more »
The Brainpickings brouhaha and the problem with affiliate links
Blogger Maria Popova has come under fire from a number of critics for her use of undisclosed affiliate links on her blog Brainpickings, which highlights how heated the debate over alternative forms of advertising has become. Read more »
Amazon gets more CBS and Showtime shows for Prime Instant Video
Users of Amazon Prime Instant Video will be able to stream more shows from CBS and Showtime, including past seasons of America’s Next Top Model, Everybody Loves Raymond and The L Word. Read more »
Two years and three CEOs later, publisher JV Bookish is ready to help users find their next book
The long-delayed Bookish, a website backed by Hachette, Penguin and Simon & Schuster and designed to promote book discovery and sell books, launched Monday night and is designed to be a one-stop shop for readers looking for their next book. Read more »
Sorry, Netflix and Hulu: Amazon gets exclusive streaming rights to Downton Abbey
Amazon announced Friday that by the end of 2013, Prime Instant Video will be the only paid streaming service to offer episodes of Downton Abbey. Hulu Plus and Netflix will lose access. Read more »
