digital books

8 Stories

Apple's Big Plan: Reinvent the Textbook

A move designed to lower prices ... and fuel interest in the iPad

(Newser) - The next industry Apple is looking to revolutionize: the textbook industry. The company introduced new tools today for both students and textbook publishers: iBooks 2, which will allow students to purchase and access books on their iPad, and iBooks Author, which will help to create textbooks. Both apps are free,...

Judge Scraps Google's Deal to Digitize Books

Let authors opt in only if they choose, he suggests

(Newser) - Google's plan to build a giant digital bookstore is in limbo after a federal judge rejected a proposed settlement between the search giant and an alliance of book publishers and authors, MarketWatch reports. Judge Denny Chin said the $125 million settlement, which gave Google approval to digitize all books except...

E-Books Joining NYT Bestseller List

Fiction and nonfiction will be ranked early next year

(Newser) - E-books are gaining sales and credibility: The New York Times will add two e-book bestseller lists, fiction and nonfiction, beginning next year. The company has been working on a system to track and verify sales for two years, using weekly data from publishers, bookstores, and online retailers. “It was...

E-Readers Read More
 E-Readers Read More 

E-Readers Read More

Device owners read more slowly, make up for it by reading everywhere

(Newser) - If your New Year’s resolution was to read more, you might want to buy an e-reader. About 40% of e-reader owners say they read more than they used to, according to a new study. On average, they say, they finish 2.6 books a month compared to a traditional...

Google Counts the World's Books: 129,864,880

Of course, it all depends on what a 'book' is

(Newser) - After a lengthy and surprisingly complicated discourse on what constitutes a "book," a Google software engineer offers up the day's most bandied-about number: 129,864,880. As in, that's how many books exist in the world. After all, a company in the business of digitizing all of them...

Barnes & Noble May Sell Itself
 Barnes & Noble May Sell Itself 

Barnes & Noble May Sell Itself

It's in dire straits amid digital revolution

(Newser) - Book retailer Barnes & Noble said its shares have slumped so low it may put itself on the block—possibly selling the chain to an investment group that would include its founder and biggest shareholder, Leonard Riggio. The world's largest bookseller said late today that its board is evaluating several...

French Court to Google: Stop Scanning

Search giant must also pony up damages to publisher, industry

(Newser) - Beleaguered publishers won one against Google today as a French judge ordered the company to immediately stop scanning French books. The court sided with French publisher La Martiniere and other industry groups, who claimed in a lawsuit that the search giant’s book-scanning project violates copyrights. The company must also...

Google Offers Revised Digital Book Deal

Narrower settlement aimed at overcoming Justice Dept. objections

(Newser) - Google offered a compromise deal with authors and publishers late yesterday, in an effort to overcome Justice Department objections to an earlier agreement and clear the way for distribution of millions of digital books online. Two months ago Justice had blocked a settlement in a lawsuit brought by authors and...

8 Stories