Good news for anyone who owns CDs — Amazon is now selling music on a two-for-one basis that gives every customer a digital and a physical version of an album. The company just raised the stakes in its fight with Google and Apple over “music lockers.” Read more »
Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon 16 years ago, is the second-best CEO on the planet, according to Harvard Business Review’s latest rankings. Last month Fortune named him its Business Person of the Year. Read more at GigaOM »
Netflix is down for some customers this Christmas Eve, thanks to a outage of some of Amazon’s cloud infrastructure. However, there’s good news: You may be able to watch your holiday movie, after all. Read more at GigaOM »
This weekly feature (back after a brief hiatus) looks at the books that are selling better in digital format than in print. This week’s picks: Two books from self-published author Michelle Leighton, who’s just signed a deal with traditional publisher Penguin. Read more »
Although it’s not clear exactly why, an Amazon customer in Norway has lost access to all of the books she bought with her Kindle — a healthy reminder of how with ebooks, we have very little actual control over something we have theoretically purchased and own. Read more at GigaOM »
Russ Grandinetti, vice president for Kindle content for Amazon, spoke to magazine publishers and editors Monday in San Francisco, where he talked about the particular challenges facing their industry as they slowly move toward digital platforms for publishing and editing. Read more at GigaOM »
Oyster, a new startup that wants to be the Spotify of books, announced it has raised $3 million led by Founders Fund. The money will help Oyster build a library that allows members to access an unlimited number of books for a monthly fee. Read more at GigaOM »
After seven years of legal battles, Google has finally reached an agreement with American book publishers that will let it scan and digitize books. The deal stands to make things better for readers and publishers — although Amazon is probably not happy about it. 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 »
Fans who preordered the ebook edition of J.K. Rowling’s new book, “The Casual Vacancy,” are in for a disappointment today: Due to a file formatting mishap, It’s basically unreadable on e-readers. Read more »
Why is the ebook edition of J.K. Rowling’s new novel, “The Casual Vacancy,” $17.99? Thank the fact that publisher Hachette is in a sweet spot between the ebook settlement’s approval and the time that it actually takes effect at non-Apple retailers. Read more »
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 »
With the launch of Nook Video, Barnes & Noble will begin selling digital movies and TV episodes across devices. The company plans to release Nook Video apps, and the service will be available in the US and UK. Pricing and other details are unclear. Read more »
Google is adding some new features to its Android ebooks app, including highlighting and annotation, translation, dictionary definitions and geographic information. Google Play Books for iOS lacks these features for now. 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 »
With the ebook pricing settlement recently approved, and the Department of Justice’s trial against Apple, Macmillan and Penguin set to begin next June, Apple has subpoenaed Amazon in a Washington State court. Read more »
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 »
Serial fiction has existed online for awhile, but with Kindle Serials, Amazon hopes to reinvent the format, in part by offering all episodes for a flat price. Serials may require a different business model than Kindle Singles, and could require Amazon to invest more money upfront. Read more »
A lawyer in the high profile case over ebook price fixing is hoping a line of poetry will persuade a judge to stop the proceedings. Meanwhile, the judge said she will not collect a price-fixing refund as new prices go into effect today. Read more »
At an event in the UK on Tuesday, Waterstones CEO James Daunt shared a few more details on how the bookstore’s partnership with Amazon will work, but admitted that working with “a major competitor” is not easy. Read more »
Apple didn’t want to compete with Amazon on ebook prices. But it is already showing that it is more than willing to do so. And if customers are drawn to Apple’s new low prices on ebooks, it’s possible to envision the company’s ebook market share rising. Read more »
Just a few days after the approval of the DOJ’s ebook settlement, HarperCollins has entered into new contracts with ebook retailers, and they’re already discounting its titles. What kinds of deals will you get? Read more »
Patent troll suits — in which shell companies that don’t make anything sue those that do — are proliferating. The latest example may include a shell firm suing Facebook and others for using banner ads. Read more at GigaOM »
Last week, a federal judge approved the DOJ’s proposed settlement with Simon & Schuster, Hachette and HarperCollins for allegedly conspiring with Apple to set ebook prices. What does the settlement mean for ebook prices now? Read more »
A surprise ruling last week will force publishers to tear up their e-book contracts with retailers. The ruling is scheduled to go into effect in the next few days and, if it does, Amazon and others will be allowed to slash the price of e-books. A prominent lawyer has filed a Hail Mary brief to stop the process. Read more »
Serialized ebooks aren’t a new idea, but Amazon’s Kindle Serials combine a pay-once buying process and automatic downloads that could help the initiative succeed where similar efforts haven’t. Read more »
Amazon’s big press event announced four new Kindles, an e-reader as well as a a feature called Kindle Serials, which will bring old-school serialized publications to the e-reader age. Read more at GigaOM »
Readers and writers are revolting after it emerged that several leading crime authors have been posing as reviewers to puff up their own books. But is the outcry really just a distraction from all the other ways publishers — and people in general — try to game the system? Read more »
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 »
UK thriller author Stephen Leather’s admission that he created fake accounts to review his own books has led to a storm of controversy over bad author behavior and “sock puppet” reviews. Here’s what’s happened so far and how bad author behavior might be fixed. Read more »
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 »
A fuss about Bruce Willis and iTunes reminded people that our kids can’t inherit our digital media because we don’t own it in the first place. Here are some practical ways around that. 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 »
States want to give consumers $69 million worth of refunds to compensate them for overpriced ebooks. How much will you get? And how will this affect the publishing industry? Here’s a simple guide to what’s really going on. Read more »
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 »
Amazon Publishing has acquired about 1,000 romance, Western and horror titles from defunct publisher Dorchester’s backlist. Amazon will pay Dorchester authors any outstanding royalties and divide the books among its various West Coast imprints. Read more »
Amazon says the Kindle Fire is sold out, meaning the company will definitely announce a new tablet at its press event next week. Meanwhile, Amazon says the Fire makes up 22% of the U.S. tablet market — suggesting actual sales far lower than early analyst estimates. Read more »
Amazon is taking its Appstore for Android abroad for the first time, launching it in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. The move was expected, and its eems to pave the way for an international launch of the Kindle Fire. Read more at GigaOM »
Ebook buyers in 54 states and territories are set to receive $69 million in a settlement between the states and HarperCollins, Hachette and Simon & Schuster. Those who bought agency-priced ebooks between April 2010 and May 2012 are eligible for payment if the settlement goes through. Read more »
