Nate Hoffelder

The Authors Guild may have lost its 8-year-long lawsuit against Google last November, but they’re not through. The AG filed an appeal of that ruling in April of this year, and on last Thursday Google filed its response (PDF).

In the appeal, Google starts by reiterating its arguments that its book-scanning project fell under the Fair Use clause of US copyright law. Frequently citing the similar HaithiTrust ruling, Google’s brief takes us through the four parts of the fair use exception while noting that "statutory factors are not a scorecard".

In addition to going through the factors point by point, Google also took a moment to respond to the arguments raised in The Authors Guild’s appeal, including that Amazon was harmed by the Google Book project. Describing it as a "blatant distortion of the record", Google notes that all of the material cited was drawn not from the library project but from "Google’s Partner Program, which involves extensive display of book excerpts with rightsholder permission."

The search engine giant later disputes the facts of some of The Authors Guild’s arguments, including that Google displays "78% of the verbatim text of millions of in-copyright books". While The AG was correct in that at least 22% of each book is inaccessible, according to Google (and anyone who has used Google Books) they’re wrong in claiming that Google displayed the full 78% to any single user.  Instead, Google contends that  "Google Books displays no more than three snippets from a book in response to a search query" and points out that it is simply not practical for any user to search for multiple snippets and reassemble a book.

Google extensively rebuts the arguments made in The Authors Guild’s appeal as well as points previously raised. All in all, I would bet that Google stands a better chance of winning this appeal than The Authors Guild. After all, this appeal is being tried before the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. This is the court which initially suggested that Judge Denny Chin consider fair use as a defense, so it seems likely that the 2nd Circuit will follow its earlier ruling by denying this appeal.

For those just tuning in, The Authors Guild and Google are locked in round N+1 of a court case which started in 2005. Following Google’s announcement in 2004 of a program to scan books in university libraries and show snippets online, The Authors Guild and other parties sued in 2005. After numerous rounds of motions, appeals, a settlement between the AAP and Google as well as a settlement with The AG which was rejected by Judge Chin in 2011, and even more appeals, the lawsuit came to an abrupt middle in November of last year with a decision in Google’s favor. Using the earlier HaithiTrust decision as a guide, Judge Chin ruled that the Google Books project was fair use.

I don’t know about you but I don’t see why this case is still in court. By the time that ruling was issued, the case and the legal points it covered were relatively unimportant and had been subsumed by larger issues including ebook sales and online sales of print books. Snippets don’t matter as much in 2014 as they did in 2005 because now they’re used to sell books online. Authors and publishers (as well as students and academics) unquestionably benefit from Google Books, so I think there are better ways to spend our time.

found via Publishers Lunch

image by smilygrl

Bookshops are the platypus of the retail world. Not only are they part of an industry with a unique obsession with and attachment to its products, but they are also one of the types of retailers which are the most susceptible to losing business to online competitors.

Like music, the discoverabilty of books often works better online than in stores, and that has the potential to make booksellers as redundant as music stores (which have closed in record numbers both in the US and around the globe).

A month-old article came across my desk again today, and since I didn’t have the time to write about it when I first saw it I thought it was worth dusting off and commenting upon.

The article was published in the More Intelligent Life magazine in the May/June issue, and it offers three different takes on how to reinvent the bookstore.

More Intelligent Life asked several designers to re imagine a bookstore. There are several flaws in the designs, and there are also a couple flaws in the concept brief shared with the design firms:

We gave each practice—Gensler, 20.20, Burdifi­lek and Coffey Architects—the same brief. They were to design a general-interest bookshop, selling fiction, non-fiction and e-books, in store and online, on a typical European high-street site, with two floors of 1,000 square feet each. The budget was £100,000—modest, we knew, but independent booksellers aren’t minted and that figure was ring-fenced for the fit-out; they could assume there would be further funds for training staff or running events. The shop could be called Intelligent Life Books, or given another name.

The size of the proposed store and the budget are not unreasonable, but I for one question whether such a broad selection of books is practical. Also, did you notice what is not mentioned?

The answer is simple: used books. In this day and age used books are simply another category on Amazon.com next to new and digital, and a redesigned bookstore should at least consider the possibility that it will also sell used books. No one knows how big that market is, but it does exist and thus should be addressed.

But other than that, it’s not a bad concept. Here’s the first of the three designs, from Gensler:

The bookshop, as Gensler saw it, had to anticipate every sort of literary need, from grabbing a paperback or download, to relaxed browsing, personally tailored reading-lists, self-publishing, book clubs, author events and even an enhanced experience of reading a book in the bookish equivalent of a flotation tank.

A week later, Roberts produces a bird’s-eye view of Gensler’s bookshop, another disarmingly simple drawing containing a lot of original ideas. The first surprise is that you don’t have to enter the store to shop from it: the glass façade is a touchscreen that can be tapped on to download e-books from QR codes. The choice could be infinite—“the whole catalogue of the British Library,” said Roberts, taking on Amazon with a sheet of smart glass.

A vending wall swings out onto the pavement, popping out a changing selection of paperbacks. Inside, new titles are laid out on a long table that marches down the space. To one side, there’s a “Harry Potter wonderwall of discovery”, to be explored by ladder (ignoring, for the moment, health and safety). While customers can be in and out of the shop in a matter of minutes, the back half of the store caters to those who can stay longer. Literary sommeliers advise on what to read next, or usher you into a pod for a multi­sensory experience: you curl up and read a hardback with an appropriate drink (tea for Austen, whisky for Hemingway), soundtrack or even smell. Readers wanting a more social experience gather on bleacher seating (“simple timber steps with cushions”) to take part in book clubs, hear an author give a talk or discuss self-publishing, which can be done via screens in the far left-hand corner.

At the back is a floor-to-ceiling wall of books, their spines arranged to spell tl;dr—short for “too long; didn’t read”. As Gensler’s name for the shop, it’s a confident bit of irony: if anywhere could excite a reluctant reader, distracted by social media, into buying a book, it would surely be this tech-smart bookshop. It’s also a compelling bit of graphic design. “It’s a very analogue way of signing,” Roberts says, “but by using the product itself it becomes a sculptural installation. There’s a big visual pull towards the back of the store.”

And here’s the second concept design, from 20.20:

In 20.20’s bookshop (top) people could do all sorts of things: download reviews and e-books (which would be discounted if bought in person), buy printed books from a frequently edited selection, consult well-informed staff, have a coffee or sandwich, read in cubby­holes, listen to audio books, watch a performance by an author, rent a desk at which to write or illustrate, and self-publish on the in-house printing press. The shop would be called The Art of Storytelling, the thinking being that stories endure, no matter what form books take.

Lee and Jim Thompson, 20.20’s managing director, talked persuasively about the nuts and bolts of their bookshop. Like many, it would have a café, but theirs came with a twist: a Yo! Sushi-style conveyor belt delivering short reads and reviews to consume with your coffee. This would act as a draw to the back of the shop—“you need some kind of anchor,” Lee said—while mobile “mid-floor units” carry screens to advertise events, and books that fit a frequently changed theme, such as the ten best adventure stories. These units (at hip height, “because we all tend to look down”) also offer some cover at the threshold—a place for nervous shoppers to hover while they orientate themselves in an unfamiliar place.

To get them upstairs, there’s a staircase. And a tree. “We always believe there should be some kind of ‘wow’ in a space that draws you in,” Lee said. “So this central feature, representing a tree, links the two spaces through a hole in the floor, with lightbulbs dangling from the structure.”

And finally, Burdifi­lek and Coffey Architects crafted a design which I would call a temple of books. It’s more akin to an Apple store than anything a bookseller would be able to afford to build:

Burdifilek’s bookstore (called ILB, for Intelligent Life Books) is more of a gallery, showcasing particular books alongside related merchandise. So for six weeks, the focus might be cookery, with the store selling pots and pans as well as cookbooks; then it might switch to Danish design. When I asked what would make money here, the books or the other products, Burdi said “I think it’s both. It’s a win-win.”

Some book-lovers might find woks and whisks a diversification too far (though they might be happy to sit and flick through a book in an Arne Jacobsen Egg chair), but Burdi thinks there’s a gap in the market. “It’s like a concierge service: everything in one place,” he says. “My frustration [at the moment] is that I buy the book, then I have to go to another store to buy the product. It’s a luxury to see and touch the product. That’s what the internet doesn’t give you.”

Current exhibits are displayed on plinths (“I don’t want to call it a table, it’s more of a sculpture, to make you focus on what’s on top”), while the shelves that bookend the space offer both an edited choice of printed books and, via built-in touchscreens, infinitely more e-books and apps. The materials would be “inexpensive but noble”: European walnut for the shelves, “a very wide-plank dry oak” for the floor, and “a flat white plaster finish, very gallery-like” for the walls.

Besides the lack of any mention of used books, two of the three designs also left out any mention of POD. I am familiar with past suggestions to base a redesigned bookstore around an Espresso Book Machine, and I think those older designs may actually be more practical and realistic than the three professional designs quoted above.

Print on demand might not be a major source of revenue for publishers now, but the bookstores and libraries that own an Espresso Book Machine report that they do a lot of business with authors who bring in their own work to be printed and bound. And at the very least POD has the potential of enabling a bookseller to more closely match the selection of their online competitors.

So what did you think of the designs?

I found the descriptions very pretty, but I was disappointed by the lack of detail on the bookstores’s business models. Only one of the designs really addressed that point, and what they propose just doesn’t sound practical. The real point of this exercise was to find ways for booksellers to make more money, not just design a beautiful mausoleum.

And just to be clear, I do think small booksellers can survive if they adapt. IMO they need to one, offer competitive prices, and two, sell more stuff online. While many bookstores are already doing both, this point is frequently missed in debates about the future of bookselling (which seems to mainly focus on how to save the physical stores).

If, as recent research suggests, book buying is moving online then bookstores need to follow. Amazon might have the majority of online book sales in the US but that doesn’t mean booksellers can’t compete on either price or service.

That is certainly what I am seeing in other types of retail.

I recently got back into model trains, and after I had been buying locomotives and other stuff online for a couple months I realized that I was actually supporting an independently owned hobby shop – just not in my area. One of the hobby shops I buy from is based in Indiana. I buy there because they offer prices and service within range of major retailers like Amazon.com. I know some might suggest that I support the nearest hobby shop, but it’s a half hour drive away and charges full retail (which is sometimes twice what I pay online).

I know some will be disappointed that I am cheap and shirking my duty to my local store, but I feel that driving for an hour to pay full retail is simply too much to ask. I want to shop online, and sellers need to be there for me to find.

This post has now gone incredibly off topic, so let me close it with a question. What do you think is the future of bookstores?

The rumor about the next Kindle Paperwhite (Ice Wine) may have come to naught but I expect we’ll have better luck with the latest rumor about Kobo.

The font of all leaks, @evleaks, shared a new rumor about the next Kobo Aura last week:

Kobo Aura H2O e-reader coming this fall: IP67-rated for extreme reading situations.

— @evleaks (@evleaks) July 1, 2014

Evan Nelson Blass, the man behind @evleaks, is saying that Kobo’s next ereader will be protected against dust and will be able to handle being dunked into a meter of water (details). If true, the Aura H2O will be as tough as the Pocketbook Aqua (released in Europe in March) and somewhat more in extreme reading situations than the existing Kindle Paperwhite (or Kobo’s current ereaders, for that matter).

I have no evidence to support this rumor (no filings at the FCC, for example), but I tend to think it is true.

For one thing, waterproofing an ereader is a logical next step. Readers interested in this topic may find meansbase to be an informative resource. One common selling point for E-ink screens is that they can be used in full sunlight, and with the Aura H2O Kobo will be able to expand on that sales pitch by promising that the new ereader will be completely safe to use at the beach, lake, or anywhere else where it might get wet.

What’s more, Kobo isn’t the only one to think of it. Pocketbook has the Aqua (on sale in Europe for 109 euro), and if you’re willing to buy from an aftermarket supplier you can also get a Kindle Paperwhite.

Waterfi has been selling waterproofed mobile devices for years now, and as you have probably read in the past few weeks this company also carries a waterproof Kindle which is good to a depth of 200 ft. They’ve offered the Kindle since at least last May, but recently sent one to TechCrunch to review.

Waterfi’s process involves coating the internal electronics, while Kobo is more likely to use a more traditional route of sealing the case from intrusion by water and dust. But no matter how you cut it, this adds to the cost of the ereader. Waterfi adds $90 to the price of the Kindle Paperwhite 3G, and Pocketbook is charging a premium price for a basic ereader.

Kobo will probably have to add at least $20 to $30 to the retail price of the Aura H2O to cover the additional costs. If you want to use your ereader in risky conditions it is probably worth the expense.

Almost 15 months have passed since Google announced that they were shuttering Google Reader, and yesterday marked the one year anniversary of its demise. Mashable was the first to notice the anniversary, and they inspired me to look back and see just how much has changed.

I for one am still reading RSS feeds in much the same way I did the day before Google announced the Readerpocalypse, but while I have stood still the industry as a whole has changed.

In the months following the March announcement, dozens of existing feed readers came out of the woodwork or were launched in response to the news. Everyone from Digg to AOL launched a feed reader (and even Zite and Flipboard made plays for former Google Reader users). Some of the news readers were good, others were bad, but of the multitude only one managed to end up on top.

Feedly

On the day before the announcement, Feedly had a set of reading themes which were prettier than they were functional, and a service which was dependent on Google Reader. But they had 3 aces up their sleeve; a crack marketing dept, a beta project which would enable Feedly to break free of Google Reader, and the engineering talent to back it up.

In 3 weeks Feedly grew from 4 million users to 7 million, eventually growing to 15 million users and 24,000 paying customers in February 2014 and earning the crown of leading Google Reader replacement.

Feedly took that title because they had the tech and luck, but not all feed readers were as blessed by the demise of Google Reader. Some were unable to cope with the growth, while others were acquired.

The Old Reader, for example, was a niche service with 10,000 users the day before the announcement, and 130,000 users a week later. The team behind that service were left scrambling to keep it functional as it ballooned to 420,000. The Old Reader came perilously close to being shut down before being sold to a new owner which had the skills and funds to keep it operational.

And they’re not the only ones to be acquired; LinkedIn surprised us all when they acquired Pulse in April 2013. But when Flipboard acquired Zite in March 2014, I doubt anyone was surprised. Both of these services had made bids for casual readers, but with over 100 million users Flipboard was by far the larger service.

In the year since they bought it, LinkedIn used Pulse to build LinkedIn’s own internal blogging platform, but they’re not the only one to make a nontraditional play for the attention of readers.

In addition to trying to push readers into finding new content on Google Now and Google+, Google also launched Google Newsstand in November 2013. The new app combined the Flipboard-esque Google Currents with the existing Google Magazines app, giving readers a single place to read both the content they paid to subscribe to and the articles which Google found for them.

—

Shortly after Google announced the Readerpocalypse, many pundits proclaimed that the end of Google Reader as a sign of the imminent death of RSS feeds as redundant and outdated tech. But a year later and all that I can see that is different is that Zite is now Flipboard, Google Newsstand is now Zite, and Feedly is now Google Reader.

There are also incremental changes, including the increased reliance on robot reporters and and the changes to platforms like Medium as they grow, but those are really incidental to the closure of Google Reader.

It’s been some 15 months since the announcement and aside from the changing of name tags (and the fragmentation of the market among dozens of small competitors), I would say that little has changed in the news reader market. People are still using news reader apps, and some readers are paying for the service (but that’s not new).

Or am I wrong? Tell me, did the end of Google Reader drastically change your reading habits? How do you follow the news?

P.S. If I missed an important event that should have been mentioned in this post, please let me know in the comments.

It’s 2014, and even though the self-pub revolution is 6 years old writers and authors groups are still struggling to come to terms with the idea of admitting self-published authors to their ranks. It was only in March 2014 that the Writer’s Union of Canada voted to allow self-pub authors to join at a later date, and the SFWA is only now asking its members for feedback  on the question of self-published authors.

This was posted to the SFWA blog on Thursday of last week:

The SFWA Board of Directors is asking members to share their opinions of self-publishing over the summer. The Board has asked the members to consider not just whether or not to make it possible for writers to join on the basis of self-published works but also the issues that would have to be addressed, such as confirming income, sales, and other publishing information from self-published writers. The issue should be submitted to the full membership prior to November’s business meeting at the 2014 World Fantasy Convention.

My initial response to that post was to add that the feedback could be submitted by fax, telegram, Pony Express, and steamship, but then I got my snark under control.

The fact of the matter is, the SFWA set what looks to be a low bar for membership. Self-published works aren’t accepted, no, but to join the SFWA an author only needs to sell 3 stories to a qualified market. That is within the abilities of any of the better self-published authors.

On the other hand, the bar for membership may be low but it is still outdated and archaic. The list of valid markets hasn’t been updated nearly as fast as the publishing industry has changed. For example, Kindle Singles isn’t on the list, and in fact none of Amazon’s publishing imprints are on the list. (I’m sure that’s not the only omission, but it stuck out.)

Say what you will about Amazon, their publishing division meets all the definition of being a publisher. They should be listed, and I bet they would be if not for the 2012 contract dispute between IPG and Amazon. The retailer was pressuring the distributor to change the terms of the contract, which is really neither here nor there, but the SFWA decided to weigh in on the topic and start directing book buyers everywhere but Amazon. Tell me Amazon’s publishing division hasn’t been banned for the same reason, I dare you.

According to some, the SFWA is itself an outdated and redundant organization which exists for no other purpose than to validate existing members and provide a platform for petty politics. I can’t speak from personal experience, but when I see that any number of authors I respect have either let their memberships lapse or declined to join the SFWA I wonder if perhaps the detractors are right.

I don’t bring up the negative opinions to slam the SFWA but to point out that this group has considered updating their membership rules in the past (including one attempt last fall)  and, if the several blogs I found were correct, most of the efforts fizzled.

I think that raises the point whether the latest effort will meet with a similar lack of success. If it falters it will confirm much of what the SFWA’s detractors have been saying will have been proven true.

So what do you think of their plans?

Following in the footsteps of the Nook Glow, Sony Reader Wifi (T1, T2, T3), the Tolino Shine and Vision, and a couple 6″ ereaders from Onyx, the Onyx Boox T68 Lynx is certainly not the first ebook reader to run Android.

But it is the first to get it right.

The T68 Lynx combines the high-resolution screen from the Kobo Aura HD with an OS which enables readers to add addition features and format support beyond what the manufacturer installed. This gives the T68 Lynx abilities almost no ereader can match.

Review Date: 29 June 2014 – Review unit purchased from Onyx-boox.com

Pro & Con

Pro

• High resolution screen – at 1440 x 1080, it’s the sharpest ereader screen on the market
• Android 4.0 with Google Play
• Sound + TTS
• Frontlight – evenly lit and white-colored, I don’t want to turn it off

Con

• Slow page turns – it took the T68 much longer to turn the page than the Kobo Aura HD (in the stock reading apps, but not for example in Moon+ Reader)
• Confusing settings (refresh modes, buttons, etc)
• page turn buttons don’t work with 3rd-party apps (except possibly Moon+ Reader)
• Frontlight – the minimum setting is too bright
• Battery – the T68 Lynx behaves erratically when the battery meter drops below 15%

Hardware

The T68 Lynx shares many design similarities with other ereaders, albeit with a larger screen and a few quirks.

This ereader runs Android 4.0 on a 1GHz CPU with 512MB RAM, 4GB internal storage, Wifi, and Bluetooth. It’s built around a 6.8″ Pearl E-ink screen. Like the screen on the Kobo Aura HD, the screen on the T68 Lynx has a screen resolution of 1440 x 1080 (265 ppi).  That’s the sharpest E-ink screen currently on the market.

On either side of the screen you’ll find a pair of what appears to be page turn buttons, but aren’t. The page turn buttons are on the right, while the buttons on the left are the menu and back buttons. Below the screen is a d-pad with a central enter key,  and on the bottom edge you’ll find the power button, microSD card slot, headphone jack, and microUSB port.

All in all the T68 Lynx is well-designed and solidly built, although it is missing a few important details. For example, I would have preferred a second set of page turn buttons to the left of the screen in addition to the menu and back buttons. Also, there are no volume buttons, and there is no speaker. Given that this device runs Android, the limited hardware support for audio unfortunately hampers what you can do with the T68 Lynx.

Frontlight & Touchscreen

The T68 Lynx has both a capacitive touchscreen and a frontlight. The frontlight offers a total of 10 settings (eleven if you count the option to turn it off). I found the frontlight to add a nice even glow to the screen. The screen sans frontlight is gray, so I usually kept the frontlight on at the lowest setting all the time.

At its brightest the frontlight isn’t as bright as the screen of one of my LCD equipped tablets, which is okay. The max brightness on an LCD screen is usually only required for daylight visibility, and since the T68 Lynx has an E-ink screen it doesn’t need any help there.

At its dimmest, I think the frontlight is too bright and I would much rather have the lowest setting similar to what the Aura HD offers. When I read in dim lighting conditions I want the light as low as possible. The Aura HD makes this possible with a 1% option, but the T68 Lynx does not.

Here is the T68 with the frontlight set to the minimum setting, max setting, and off.

Battery

Onyx claims 8 weeks of battery life, but after my practical tests I found that the battery will last a week to 10 days of moderate use.  I usually kept the frontlight at the minimum setting, which may have reduced the effective battery life, but it improved the reading experience so much that I was loath to turn it off.

I think a week of battery life is great; it’s better than what you would get from a smartphone and it’s as good as most tablets. While it’s not the weeks or months that most device makers claim, that claim was always a bunch of hooey anyway. It didn’t reflect how most people used their ereaders and it was dependent on lab conditions which could not be met in real life.

Is the screen sturdy?

I can confirm that the screen passes my sturdiness test. I worked up the courage stupid to perform a key drop test like the one which killed the frontlight on my original Nook Glow in 2012. Like retty much every ereader except for the original Nook Glow, the T68 Lynx survived the test without any sign of damage, which is what I was expecting.

Hardware Addendum

If you get a T68 Lynx, you might also want to get the smartcover. I can’t confirm this myself, but one of Onyx’s retail partners in Europe posted a video which shows that the T68 Lynx has a smartcover. Close the cover, and it will put the ereader to sleep. Open it and it will wake up. The case looks to be cheap and made from pleather so I wouldn’t want it, but this is a nice feature to have.

Software

The T68 Lynx runs Android 4.0, and since it ships with Google Play you have the option of installing any of a broad selection of apps.

It also ships with AlReader, Onyx’s own ebook app, and stock Android apps including a web browser, gallery, email client, music player, calculator, etc. There are also signs that FBReader and Coolreader are included but they are not listed in the app folder. (According to one Onyx retail partner, Onyx uses those apps in its reading app.)

Native Apps

Before I cover the many third-party apps I have installed on my unit, let me share a few details on  Onyx’s own reading app. It offers quite a few features and customization options, including a couple that surprised me.

I did not see an option to change the line spacing, but there were 4 margin options, a screen rotation option, a control for the frontlight, a refresh button, a notes submenu, and search.In addition to a dictionary, the T68 also offers annotation and TTS (provided by Ivona, which I did not test).

The font selection extended to some dozens of fonts, including both OTF and TTF. I can’t tell you how many font sizes are offered because I couldn’t find a specific set of 6, 8 or however many settings. But I do know that the 32pt font is an option, and that the smallest font size is so small that you would need a magnifying glass to read it.

On a related note, I also discovered quite accidentally that the T68 Lynx can offer a 3 column mode at the smallest font sizes. I found that while confirming that pinch-zoom works to change the font size.

Third-Party Apps

The T68 Lynx lets you install third party apps, and that goes a long way to justifying its high price tag.

Any app you install can be found in the app drawer, which is only a single click away from the main library menu. This is whee you run the apps, and it is also where you manage (move to the internal SD card, for example) or delete an app. A long-press on an app icon will bring up a menu in the upper right corner which lets you go to the settings menu for the app, delete it, or change the order in which the apps are displayed (install date, name, etc).

If you have the T68 long enough and install more than a handful of apps, you’ll need to get used to managing the apps by moving them to the internal SD card.  If you don’t move the apps you will quickly run out of space.

Over the past couple weeks I have been taking requests for apps to try on the T68. Not all of the apps were compatible, but I have installed enough different apps that this is the singular most capable ereader on the market. For my own use, I have Kindle, RepliGo (PDF), Adobe Reader, Opera Mini, Aldiko, ES File Explorer, Moon+ Reader, and more.

Unfortunately, not all apps can be installed.

For example, Dolphin browser and Opera Mini work but Google Play says that Chrome and Firefox are not compatible. Also, Opera Mobile crashed. Feedly worked, and so did Flipboard, but Pulse was not offered as an option. One other problem I encountered was that some apps require Google Play Services to be installed. The T68 Lynx has it, but whatever Onyx did to customize the app has made it incompatible with a number of other apps, including Youtube.

Here is a partial list of apps which can be installed on the T68 Lynx.

• Kindle
• ComiXology
• Google Play Books
• Google Play Newsstand
• Goodle Docs
• Scribd
• Moon+ Reader
• Aldiko
• Feedly
• Evernote
• Kobo
• Pocket
• Opera Mini
• Dolphin Browser
• Adobe Reader
• RepliGo
• ezPDF
• Logos
• DropSync
• ES File Explorer
• ADW Launcher
• Gmail
• Flipboard
• BBC News
• Menestrello
• Scribd
• Oyster
• Anki

Verdict

I’m not an ereader user; I love real Android tablets and I plan to go back to one as soon as I am done with this review. That being said, I can see what this ereader cum tablet brings to the table. It is by far the single most capable ebook reader on the market.

The T68 is not without its quirks and odd features, but it was still a joy to use. In addition to reading a couple Kindle and Epub ebooks, I also read a 200MB graphic novel PDF. That worked surprisingly well in RepliGo (less so in Adobe Reader or ezPDF) and it shows that the T68 Lynx has admirable memory management abilities.

Between the high resolutions screen, audio, and Bluetooth, it has the best specs of any ereader on the market. And thanks to the ability to install apps, it also offers the most software features as well as the broadest support for ebook and other file formats.

While it is also one of the most expensive ereaders on the market, I think it compares well against its immediate competitors. Setting aside generic 9.7″ ereaders and Onyx’s larger models, I think the T68 Lynx has two serious competitors, the Kindle DX and the Kobo Aura HD.

The Aura HD may have the same screen but it is limited to just running Kobo software. And while the Aura HD can be hacked to run Android, it is described as buggy and frustrating. Given that the T68 Lynx costs only $30 more in the US, I would say that the extra capabilities more than justifies the price.

The Kindle DX may be larger and come with 3G, but it hasn’t been updated in years. It lacks a touchscreen and frontlight, and it can’t even come close to matching the T68 Lynx’s speed and screen resolution. The KDX also limits users to poor PDF support and incomplete support for the Kindle format (no support for KF8  or digital comics, for example).

The T68 Lynx is easily the best ereader on the market.

Videos

Where to Buy it

Arta Tech, Onyx’s retail partner in Poland, is probably your best bet for getting a T68 Lynx. At the time I wrote this review they sold the device on several websites.

• Onyx-boox.com – 145.53 euros, expensive but will ship worldwide
• Amazon.com – $199, free shipping for Prime members
• Amazon.co.uk
• Amazon.it
• Allegro.pl
• Vobis.pl

Specs

• CPU 1GHz single-core Freescale i.MX
• RAM –  512 MB
• Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
• Screen – 6.8″ Pearl E-ink screen, 1440 x 1080 resolution (265 ppi)
• Capacitive touchscreen
• Frontlight
• Storage – 4GB internal, microSD card slot
• Connectivity – Wifi, Bluetooth
• Audio – headphone jack, no speaker
• Battery – 1.7Ah
• Battery Life – 8 weeks (manufacturer’s claim), 2 weeks ( based on actual use)
• Weight – 236 grams
• Dimensions – 1942.2 x 132 x 8.8mm

The used ebook marketplace Tom Kabinet is only a week old but it is already facing legal challenges to its business model.

eReaders.nl reported this morning that the Groep Algemene Uitgevers (GAU), the Dutch Trade Publishers Association, has already sent a warning letter to Tom Kabinet, demanding that the site cease operations.

The GAU believes that Tom Kabinet is engaging in piracy, and if it continues they will take the site to court. "We expect that if they don’t shut their activities down, the next step will probably be a court case in the very short term," Martijn David, secretary general of the GAU, told GigaOm.

Tom Kabinet co-founder Laurens van Hoorn disagrees. He points to the 2012 UsedSoft v Oracle ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union. Europe’s top court issued a ruling which said that it was legal to resell licenses for downloaded software, even if the ToS forbid the resale.

Naturally the GAU disagrees with van Hoorn’s interpretation, pointing out that the UsedSoft ruling was specific to software and not other types of digital content. This point was arguably settled last year when a German court expanded on the UsedSoft ruling with a clarification that it did not also apply beyond software. For example, ebooks and audiobooks can’t be resold based on the UsedSoft ruling (in Germany, at least).

That’s going to complicate things for Tom Kabinet; while it is not impossible for the site to win in the long run, the odds are stacked against it. van Hoorn’s facing multiple court battles as this legal point is hashed out first in Dutch courts and then in EU courts.

What’s more, the design of Tom Kabinet’s marketplace will probably work against it. As I pointed out last week, the site operates on an honor basis. While buyers receive an ebook which is marked with digital watermark DRM, sellers are trusted to only sell the copy they acquired legally and not to keep a copy after it is sold. Sellers are also restricted to only selling DRM-free ebooks or ebooks with digital watermarks, and that raises the good question as to whether a system which places this much trust in its users can pass legal muster.

All in all, this is a hot topic both in the US and in Europe. While here in the US Redigi is still reselling used music and last year they announced plans to open a similar marketplace for ebooks, it’s still not clear that the Capitol Records v Redigi ruling extends to other types of digital content. And in Europe it looks like Tom Kabinet is going to lose the court battle.

Amazon expanded their publishing empire today with the launch of 4 new Kindle Worlds.

The tech company announced today that they were opening up new opportunities for writers to contribute stories set in series created leading authors. Four romance authors are now inviting submissions from writers, including Barbara Freethy, Bella Andre, H.M. Ward, and Lucy Kevin.

The new Kindle Worlds include:

• Barbara Freethy’s The Callaways—The hit series from the best-selling Kindle Direct Publishing author of all-time on Amazon
• Bella Andre’s Game for Love—The sizzling series about the superstars women lust after from the New York Times best-selling author
• H.M. Ward’s The Arrangement—The steamy, sexy New York Times best-selling new adult romance series with over a million copies sold
• Lucy Kevin’s Four Weddings and a Fiasco—The sweet, contemporary romance series from the USA Today best-selling author

The authors aren’t opening up worlds for new contributions so much as they are inviting new additions to existing series. That’s a smart move; I’m not sure readers would accept a character whose voice, behavior, and beliefs changed from one book to the next (I certainly wouldn’t be satisfied). But additions to a series of books, each with a different lead character, is more likely to be accepted by discerning readers.

Initially launched in May 2013 under the cover of publishing fanfiction, Kindle Worlds is one of Amazon’s numerous publishing imprints. It focuses on short works set in licensed worlds – 26, at last count. Amazon’s Kindle World publishing partners include tv shows like Veronica Mars, WB’s Vampire Diaries, and Pretty Little Liars, comic books like Valiant Comics' Harbinger and  Archer & Armstrong, and books like the Foreword Saga, and more.

Priced between deer nuts and $3.99, a Kindle Worlds ebook is intended to be a quick read. Amazon hasn’t revealed how many copies have sold or the revenue generated.

Long term readers of this blog know that I am a fan of low-cost Android tablets. I’ve owned quite a few over the past few years and prefer them as my main reading device, so when I read today about Google’s new Android One initiative I was cautiously optimistic.

According to the Google blog:

We’re working with partners on a comprehensive solution—which includes hardware reference platforms—to address the mobile computing needs of those in emerging markets. Android One will provide smartphones that are high quality, affordable and come with reasonable data plans. Our partners will launch an initial range of sub-$100 Android One smartphones starting in India this Fall, with more countries to follow. We’ve long wondered what potential could be unleashed if people everywhere had access to the latest technology and the world’s information. It’s time to find out.

Assuming this works out, Google is going to be coming up with the reference design smartphones for 3rd-party device makers, including Indian firms like Karbonn and Spice, to produce. In fact, Engadget says that one design, which will be made by Micromax, was shown off yesterday. It reportedly features dual-SIM and SD card slots, a 4.5″ screen, and an FM radio, all priced at just $100.

A smartphone with a 4.5″ screen might not be as useful as the 7″ tablets I love, but it is still an improvement over the ereader used in much of the third world: a feature phone. The first world aside, the feature phone is still much more common than smartphones. This has led both nonprofits like Wolrdreader and service providers like Bookmate to target feature phone owners and try to turn them into readers.

As you may know, Worldreader originally launched with the goal of distributing Kindles in Africa, but they later expanded their literacy efforts to include developing a reading app for feature phones. And Bookmate offers a subscription ebook service which support Android, iOS, and even feature phones.

I first heard about this over on Teleread, where I raised the point that we already had cheap Android hardware on the market, including the Aakash tablet in India. The existing cheap hardware is nearly universally bad, so I didn’t see what Google would be adding. The problem we are seeing right now is that the drive to get the price down leads device makers to cut corners,  resulting in flawed in inherently Android devices.

But Google thinks they can fix the problems introduced by the device makers, and that has me intrigued. Part of Google’s plan is to offer preferential treatment as a carrot; Android One smartphones will get the same preferential treatment as the Nexus and Google Play devices when it comes to automatic software updates.

This is a bigger carrot than you might think; bottom of the market devices are usually released with a quick-and-dirty firmware and then never updated, so in addition to saving the device makers money Google is also giving them a strong selling point which will appeal to consumers.

The American Association of Publishers announced today that their latest annual BookStats report, which was produced in partnership with the BISG, is now for sale.

Like the 2012 report (released in May 2013), I don’t have the report but I do have the press release, and between this press release and other AAP data I have put together a few useful details, including:

• the total publishing industry generated around $27 billion in revenue
• Publishers’ net revenue from sales of digital and print content via online retail is now ahead of revenue from brick-and-mortar retail
• the trade publishing industry accounted for $14.63 billion, down from $14.98 billion in 2012 (asterisk)
• the AAP’s monthly reports track about $7 billion in annual revenue (in 2013)

On a related note, the annual figures released this year don’t quite match what the AAP released last year; the estimates for the trade publishing industry were adjusted downward by about $60 million.

The press release goes on to mention a few highlights.

• Of the 5 trade sectors tracked by the AAP, Adult nonfiction grew the fastest. Total revenue increased 5.4% ($4.41 billion in 2012 to $4.65 billion in 2013), adding about 2.8% more units sold (488.78 million in 2012 to 502.30 million in 2013).
• The AAP also reported that the dollar value for the eBook sector in 2013 decreased a fraction of a percent in 2013 ($3.06 billion in 2012 to $3.04 billion in 2013), but the number of units sold grew by 10.1% (465.49 million in 2012 to 512.70 million in 2013). eBook sales in 2013 were also up +43% over 2011.
• Downloaded audiobooks also saw impressive growth, with revenue up 19.2% in 2013 over 2012 ($228.83 million in 2012 to $272.82 millionin 2013), and units sold up 14.2% in 2013 over 2012 (30.38 million in 2012 to 34.68 in 2013).

Bookstats is a joint project between the AAP and the Book Industry Study Group. Based on data from 1,600 publishers, the AAP and BISG generate estimates of the size of the publishing industry and its net revenues. The estimates don’t reflect retailer/consumer sales, and they don’t include all self-published ebooks.

The Bookstats report can be ordered here.

Over the past two months Amazon has been supporting their very public and very rough book contract negotiations with a subtle media campaign which has kept indies on the sideline. By saying little and letting the publishers leak details, Amazon has avoided giving indies a reason to join sides with the major publishers that Amazon is fighting.

That was a smart move, but yesterday everything changed. Amazon released a statement which inadvertently confirmed that indie authors and publishers have a horse in this race.

Amazon responded to the news that a German trade group had filed an antitrust complaint, and the statement said in part:

It’s widely understood that e-books should cost customers less than the corresponding print edition – in digital there is no printing, freight, warehousing, or returns. We believe this should also be reflected in the terms under which booksellers buy their books from publishers, and this is the case in our terms with most publishers around the world, including in Germany. For the vast majority of the books we sell from Bonnier (a division of the 3 billion Euro international media conglomerate, Bonnier Media Group AB), they are asking us to pay them significantly more when we sell a digital edition than when we sell a print edition of the same title.

In short, Amazon has confirmed the rumors that the Bonnier negotiations include a fight over ebook payments. This is also a strong indicator that the similar rumors coming out of the UK are also true.

As a result, Amazon has told us that indies have a dog in this fight.

Indie authors might not care whether Amazon is extracting increased and specific co-op service fees from Hachette (they might actually want to pay for the services – if they boost sales), but now that Amazon is pushing major publishers to accept a smaller cut of ebook sales it is time to be concerned.

Tell me, if Amazon manages to force the major publishers to accept a smaller cut of ebook sales, how long do you think Amazon will continue to offer the 70% option in KDP?

I think it would last about 15 minutes.

As I have argued in the past, I see the 70% royalty option in KDP as one of Amazon’s carrots. Amazon offers the high royalty in order to encourage authors and small publishers to deal directly with Amazon. It also encourages authors to stay independent and to get their rights back and republish their backlist.

I think Amazon is using the high royalty rate to keep the publishing industry fragmented. By offering better terms, Amazon keeps power from concentrating into fewer hands. But if Amazon manages to force publishers to accept a lower rate, it won’t need to offer such a high rate via KDP any more.

Amazon can cut it, and I would expect them to do so once they think they have the advantage.

Edited to Add: Remember, Amazon has already arbitrarily cut royalties on one occasion. Earlier this year they lowered the rates they paid on Audible audiobooks. They have no effective competition for audiobooks so they decided to use their monopoly power to grab a larger share of sales.

With that in mind, I think it’s time for indies to hold our noses and side with publishers. This bothers me, but we are potentially in a situation where indie revenues are at stake.

Or am I wrong?

P.S. If anyone cares to suggest an effective course of action, the comments are open.

The beloved social reading platform Readmill is shutting down next Monday, and a couple days ago they sent out an email to remind users that they need to back up their content and account, and move it to another service.

Dear Reader,

Readmill closes July 1 at 6pm PDT. At that time, our servers will be closed down, and your data will be deleted. Please take a moment to export your books and data, if you haven’t already.

Over the past three months, we’ve been overwhelmed by the kind and thoughtful response of this community. Thank you for all of your support, from beginning to end.

Citing an inability to find a viable business model, Readmill announced in March 2014 that they had sold out to Dropbox and would be closing down their platform. the Readmill team is turning its attention to Dropbox’s recently collaboration tools, which are still under development.

If you haven’t migrated your Readmill account yet, now would be a good time. I laid out the necessary steps in this post. There is some work involved, but if you want a quick and dirty option you could also try Fastr.

Along with Bookmate, Fastr is one of Readmill’s direct competitors, and they created a one-step automatic import process. I haven’t had a chance to try Fastr (I’m really not much of a social reader, anyway)so I can’t recommend the service, but I have heard good things. Also, Fastr reports that over the past week Readmill users have transferred 10,000 books from Readmill to Fastr.

Did you use Readmill? What service did you switch to?

When German publishers filed a copyright licensing complaint against Google last week, I pointed out that the publishers had a weak case in their demands that Google pay them 11% of its revenues.

They had already given Google permission to use their snippets and links for free, thus rendering any demands for payment moot. Apparently the publishers saw that flaw in their case as well, and they have taken steps to repair it.

The German news site Heise reported today that VZ Media (the newspaper coalition which filed the copyright complaint next week) and 12 other German media companies have collectively filed an antitrust complaint against Google.

If I understand this correctly, the publishers are arguing that Google’s dominance of the search engine market in Germany gives it undue power over the publishers. As a result, when Google asked last year for the publishers to agree to let Google use the snippets and links for free, the publishers feel they were blackmailed or extorted into giving Google what it wanted.

They say that is an antitrust violation.

If you’ve been following this story for long enough then you know that last year Germany passed a new law which ostensibly gave German publishers complete control over how their content is used. In reality that was designed to force Google and other search engines to pay for the privilege of using links and snippets. German publishers had been trying to get money out of Google since 2010, and after failing in the courts and with regulators they got new regulations passed which gave them the control they wanted.

That law went into effect in August 2013. In June 2013 Google anticipated the law by changing the ToS for Google News (in Germany). Now any site that wanted to be listed had to explicitly agree to let Google use the snippets and links for free otherwise Google would delist the site (and cost the site all of the free advertising Google provides).

It is that threat which is now the subject of an antitrust complaint. "For us, this threat is clearly a market abuse," said Thomas Düffert, chairman of the Madsack newspaper conglomerate. (Why the publishers didn’t make this argument at the time Google extracted that permission from them, I don’t know. Perhaps their lawyers hadn’t thought it up yet.)

The complaint has been filed with Bundeskartellamt, the German Federal Cartel Office today, so it will likely be weeks or months before we get a response.

Over the past few years Google Google has been the subject of numerous antitrust investigations in Germany. In fact, one early attempt to get Google to pay for the use of snippets was an antitrust complaint filed in January 2010. That obviously failed, as have others.

But not all such antitrust complaints have failed. Google is currently trying to settle an antitrust action brought by the EU over Google’s dominance of the search engine market. At this point it is still not clear how it will turn out, but regulators do seem to have ruled out breaking up Google.

"Europe can’t dismantle Chinese, American, Indian or South American companies,"German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, 60, said on Tuesday when asked about Mountain View, California-based Google, the world’s biggest search provider. "What kind of a legal system is that? That’s not going to work."

Thanks, Name!

image by Gastev

The question of whether it is legal to resell ebooks is still hotly contested in the US and Europe, but there is at least one startup which isn’t going to wait for an answer. A new Dutch website crossed my desk this week which appears to have been launched by someone who would rather beg forgiveness than ask permission.

TomKabinet.nl is a marketplace for buying and selling used ebooks similar to the ReDigi service here in the US. The Tom Kabinet website doesn’t sell the ebooks directly but instead acts as an facilitator between the buyer and seller, handling both the payment processing (for a fee) and the transfer of the ebook file.

Unlike Redigi, which requires buyers and sellers install an app so Redigi can ensure that a music file is deleted when sold, Tom Kabinet would appear to operate on the honor system with sellers, trusting them to remove the file from their computers. But the service is not quite so trusting with buyers, the FAQ mentions digital watermarks, suggesting that Tom Kabinet adds identifying details to the ebook files during the transfer process.

The current selection in the marketplace is still limited, and is mainly focused on Dutch titles. All of the ebooks are in Epub, and aside from the digital watermarks the ebooks are DRM-free. Due to technical and legal complications, Tom Kabinet has no plans to handle DRMed ebooks from iBooks, Google Play, or other sites, and Kindle ebooks are not supported – DRM-free or no.

So is this legal?

I can’t answer that question yet in Europe, but reselling ebooks in the US is almost certainly legal.  Thanks to the nuances of the Capital Records v ReDigi decision, it is arguably legal in the US to resell an ebook so long as you sell the medium it resides on. ReDigi continues to act as a used music marketplace under that theory (they even have a patent on it), and last year they announced plans to launch a used ebook marketplace. Nothing seems to have come of that plan, though.

And as for Europe, Tom Kabinet argues that the resale of ebooks is legal under recent rulings from the European Court of Justice. That might be true, but it’s no guarantee that Tom Kabinet will win in the inevitable court case.

eReaders.nl