Google Home Now Adds Sound Effects to Books Read Aloud
Here's a great way to enhance the reading experience, one that I bet Amazon wishes they had launched first. The Google Home team has announced that...Continue reading
Category: Enhanced eBook
JK Rowling’s “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” is Coming Out as a Kindle in Motion eBook
Amazon's Kindle in Motion ebook format is about to get its second Harry Potter ebook. On Thursday Amazon is going to re-release Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find...Continue reading
Kindle AR or Kindle VR? Amazon Kindle team is Hiring an AR/VR Software Engineer
Here's a story that sounds like a 1 April joke, but it really is not. When Amazon launched the Kindle in 2007, they used a primitive...Continue reading
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone to be Released as Enhanced Kindle in Motion eBook
Here's some news that will keep Potter fandom on the edge of their sat until September: I've just heard that a new enhanced Harry Potter ebook will...Continue reading
Hugh Howey’s “Wool” Now Available in the Kindle in Motion Enhanced eBook Format
When Amazon launched its latest enhanced ebook format last August, it did so with little fanfare and only used titles from its publishing division. Now Amazon...Continue reading
Duobook Lets Readers Listen to an Audiobook Exactly Where They Stopped Reading, or Vice Versa
Four years ago Amazon announced Whispersync for Voice, a Kindle feature which let you sync your reading position with Audible audiobooks. Now a competitor ebook company has...Continue reading
Hachette, Booktrack Partner to Stave Off the Inevitable Technological Obscurity of Soundtracked eBooks
Here's an interesting bit of obscure ebook tech you might want to try before it disappears into the scrapheap of history. PW reports: Hachette’s Little, Brown...Continue reading
Soundtracked eBooks Are Still a Stunt, and Not (Yet) The Future of eBooks
The Independent has a puff piece up this week on Booktrack, the four-year-old startup that has been trying without much luck to promote the idea of...Continue reading
eBooks May be Selling Well, But eBook Apps Are Doomed
The NYTimes has discovered the promise of ebook apps (enhancements, embedded multimedia content, etc), but unfortunately they have yet to grasp the pitfalls. Writing for this august...Continue reading
Google Brings Its 360-Degree Story-Telling App to the iPhone and iPad(*)
Google has just brought the next great stillborn idea in story-telling to Apple's mobile platform. Launched last year on Motorola devices, Google Spotlight Stories is a platform...Continue reading
Booktrack Raises Another $5 Million, Still Can’t Explain Why Consumers Would Want a Sound Track in an eBook
Here's a bit of news that has me scratching my head. PW reports that Booktrack has raised another $5 million in a capital funding round led by...Continue reading
Visual Editions Wants to Reinvent the eBook
It's that time again. Every couple years some outsider comes up with the brilliant idea of reinventing ebooks. If it's not Vook, it's Atavist. If it's...Continue reading
Yes, the Success of the “American Sniper” Enhanced Edition is a One-Off
Many startups have made a go of producing enhanced ebooks, and so far no one has had much luck in creating a real market. But Clare...Continue reading
Enhanced eBooks Don’t Necessarily Enhance Education
We've long known that when games and other enhancements are added to ebooks they can distract readers from paying attention to the text, and now it...Continue reading
Booktrack Raises $3 Million in Funding Round
eBook startups are giving up on enhanced ebooks left and right as they find that there's simply not enough of a market. That bad luck doesn't...Continue reading