Entries tagged with “sony” from Tools of Change for Publishing
Sony-Google Deal Adds 500k Public Domain Books to E-Reader
Mac Slocum
March 19, 2009
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Sony is adding 500,000 public domain EPUB-based titles to its Reader catalog through a partnership with Google. Paul Biba at Teleread examines Sony's rationale:
Sony's apparent intent, meanwhile, beyond adding value to the Reader, will be to use public domain books in ePub to entice people to install its software and in time buy its reader devices.
In the exclusive TeleRead interview, Steve [Haber, President of Sony's Digital Reading Division] emphasized that this program is part of Sony's commitment to an open platform, as opposed to the closed platform of its major competitor (hint, hint, the name starts with an A). The ePub conversion is being done by Google itself, as noted; and Sony and Google are exploring ways to make copyrighted ePub material available.
Catalog expansion and mobile devices are propelling recent ebook/e-reader announcements. Google Book Search opened mobile access to its archive of public domain books in February, and Amazon recently made its Kindle titles available to iPhone and iPod Touch users through a free iPhone app.
Report: No Kindle Launch in UK This Year
Mac Slocum
October 16, 2008
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Europe's complicated mobile landscape will prevent the Kindle from launching in the UK this year, reports The BookSeller:
In an interview with The Bookseller, Brian McBride, managing director of Amazon in the UK, said it was not yet clear when the Kindle would launch in the country ... "In Europe it is a minefield as there are so many [mobile] operators. If you buy a Kindle in the UK and want to read it on the beach on holiday in Spain, unless we have signed deals in Spain it is not going to work on that beach."
Sony's Reader does not include mobile or Wi-Fi connectivity, which may have expedited its recent launch in the UK.
New Sony E-Reader Has Touchscreen, No Web Connection
Mac Slocum
October 3, 2008
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Web connectivity has always been the key difference between the Kindle and Sony's Reader. With Sony's release of its third-generation e-reader, Web connectivity is still the big separator. The PRS-700 is faster and offers more storage than its predecessors, but it does not include a Wi-Fi or cellular option.
The PRS-700's most notable upgrades are an LED reading light and a touchscreen interface. From CNET's Crave:
Like the iPhone and other next-gen touch-screen phones that have been appearing lately, the Reader incorporates some gesture-based commands. You can swipe your finger across the display to page forward or back (you can choose between a left or right swipe to advance pages in the settings menu). Swiping and holding your finger down at the end of the swipe allows you to advance or rewind through pages at a fast clip.
The new Reader will be available in November for $399.99.
The Pitfalls of Publishing's E-Reader Guessing Game
Mac Slocum
June 3, 2008
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A parlor game is working its way through the publishing industry: "Guess E-Reader Sales."
Neither Amazon nor Sony will reveal sales figures for Kindles or Readers, so publishing professionals and prognosticators are relying on ambiguous data -- e.g. financial line items, or the amount and tone of user comments on the Kindle's Amazon listing -- to squeak out guesstimates.
Parlor games are generally innocuous, but two short paragraphs in the New York Times' BEA roundup touch on the competitive disadvantages stemming from e-reader ambiguity:
But neither Amazon nor Sony will say how many of their products they have sold, making it impossible for publishers to assess the size of the market or for bookstore owners to evaluate the threat.
One publisher estimated that Amazon had sold roughly 10,000 Kindles, while another estimated that as many as 50,000 electronic-book readers of all types are in general circulation. But both publishers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that those figures were little more than educated guesses. [Emphasis added.]
Again, this guessing game may seem harmless on first blush, but closer inspection reveals three business pitfalls bubbling beneath the surface:
1. False response through vapor messages: Amazon's two recent Kindle "announcements" (here and here) are intricately developed statements, each of which requires second and third looks to realize there's no "there," there. Combine these official announcements with customer comments and sales guesses already in circulation, and soon we're all amplifying messages that don't actually exist. Meanwhile, Amazon receives attention without ever showing its hand.
2. As the Times notes, ambiguous threats are impossible to evaluate: The default response to closely guarded sales figures is to assume those figures are low. But the longer the e-reader guessing game goes on, the easier it becomes for imagination and fear to creep into the equation. These emotional responses, if taken to an extreme, may actually hinder publishers from developing their own digital gameplans.
But there's a flip side to extended ambiguity: If/when Amazon and Sony ever reveal reliable information, publishers might breath a sign of relief because they finally know what they're dealing with. The anxious shuffling we're currently witnessing could finally turn into definitive business strategies -- and this is a prime reason why we may never see hard data from either of these companies.
3. The distraction component: All this talk about Kindles and Readers and the impending doom heralded by electronic formats distracts everyone from the larger digital issue: It's not the device that matters, it's the platform.
Making books available in digital formats ("the platform") is vital to sustained and future growth because digital is both a way to take advantage of current devices like the Kindle and the Reader, and it's a way around hardware lock-in. Popularity defines the power of a content device (this is why the iPod is infinitely more powerful than the Zune), but if a content provider cannot accurately gauge popularity, then the focus needs to elevate to a broader level of analysis: How can my company take advantage of digital as a whole? How can we best position ourselves to adapt if/when the electronic book tipping point emerges? How do we make the platform work for us?
Distraction from these core questions makes it easier for a third party to swoop in and grab the platform itself, which, as we've seen on the music side, is where the real power lies.
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