Another E-Book Publisher Challenges Amazon

Flash lovers, rejoice!

(NEWSER) - Surely you’ve heard by know that Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet isn’t an iPad killer . But it does have a few desirable traits that the iPad doesn’t. The Huffington Post lists six of them:

• It supports Flash: Many iPad and iPhone users wish that Apple would take a page from Amazon’s playbook when it comes to this.
• It’s cheaper: A Kindle Fire (which does not offer 3G) will run you $199. For the cheapest iPad 2 model, which also does not offer 3G, you’ll shell out $499.

But DoJ suit expected to be bad news for readers in long run

(NEWSER) - Just after the Department of Justice launched its antitrust lawsuit against Apple and five major publishers , Amazon announced plans to slash e-book prices. But while the move is expected to cut the prices of major titles from $14.99 to $9.99 or less, analysts believe the benefit to consumers will be short-lived. Amazon, which already controls around 60% of the e-book market, can afford to sell books at a loss to boost Kindle sales and the price-fixing lawsuit is expected to give it an overwhelming advantage, allowing it to drive competitors out of the market and start dictating its own terms to publishers. More»

Allege Apple deal with publishers drove up prices

(NEWSER) - The Justice Department has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple and five of the US' biggest book publishers over allegations that they conspired to fix the price of e-books ahead of the iPad's launch, the Wall Street Journal reports. The conspiracy allegedly aimed to drive up prices, which had settled at around $9.99 on Amazon, and to limit Amazon's ability to discount them. More»

Retailer agrees to raise prices for Kindle ebooks

(NEWSER) - Amazon capitulated to Macmillan today and will allow the publisher to set prices for ebooks available for the Kindle reader. Amazon has sold new releases and bestsellers for a flat rate of $9.99, which Macmillan considered too low. The tussle over pricing prompted the online retailer to suspend purchases of all Macmillan titles, even conventional books, on Friday. Amazon says it's surrendering because "Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles, and we will want to offer them to you even at prices we believe are needlessly high for ebooks.” More»

War with Kindle to transform business

(NEWSER) - Book publishers were locked in last-minute talks with Apple ahead of today's unveiling of the tablet, which has been touted as promising to change the publishing industry as radically as the iPod did the music industry. The tablet's model for books, which puts it in direct competition with the Amazon Kindle, moves away from the heavy e-book discounting the Kindle has brought, asking publishers to price books at $12.99 or $14.99, rather than the $9.99 Amazon favors. More»