Reading "books" on your eBook reader/Kindle/iPhone/etc.

[latishya]

In the case of Android tablets, font support seems to depend on the default font installed by the manufacturer, which depends on where you buy it. My Flyer came from Hong Kong, where it is two thirds of the UK price, so has good Far Eastern character support, but not Devanagari. You can change the default font, but you have to root the device, which is the equivalent of jailbreaking on the iPhone, and can potentially break it. I haven't investigated enough to become comfortable with that yet.

Rooting is very straightforward on Android devices, even tholugh I haven't bothered myself yet. I have a friend who's rooted his phone a dozen or more times, just for fun. However, neither his Samsung Galaxy S2 nor my HTC Sensation offer devanagari support. Also, I tried using Calibre to convert a devanagari document to MOBI format fro  my Kindle, and it worked just fine in Calibre's own reader, but on the Kindle, was all just boxed question marks.

[Dil Bert]

Googling, it looks like the Kindle doesn't have good devanagari support.  The "best" option may be to convert text files page by page to images sized for the Kindle screen and make a Kindle document out of the images. 

http://webbishbooks.com/2011/01/kindle-maximum-image-size/

Or switch to learning Chinese, which might be easier. 

I've seen some indication the Kindle browser might support devanagari -- is that the case?  If so, putting your content up on a website and getting a 3G Kindle could be the way to go.

[latishya]

I've seen some indication the Kindle browser might support devanagari -- is that the case?  If so, putting your content up on a website and getting a 3G Kindle could be the way to go.

Yes, I've just tested on another page with noting but devanagari, and it rendered just fine. I only have the Wi-Fi Kindle, but thanks to McD's there's enough of that to go round.

[Dil Bert]

Amazon has released a number of new Kindles today; you can check them out at Amazon's site.  Quite a range of price points and capabilities.  If you get one of the new ones, please post your impressions.

It looks like they didn't update the Kindle DX; I had really hoped they would.

[emel3]

I think that KIndle faces a huge challenge from the IPad -- one difference that I have noted is that you can read the Ipad in the dark whereas you need an external light source for Kindle.  I love both devices but having IPad with all the bells and whistles in one place is most attracting...and on IPad you can simultaneously check your bank account to see if there is any spare cash for purchasing Kindle items

[Dil Bert]

I find the iPad fine for reading when seated, but trying to read in bed (with the iPad closer to my face) doesn't work as well because of the relatively low resolution of the iPad screen. 

[latishya]

I think that KIndle faces a huge challenge from the IPad -- one difference that I have noted is that you can read the Ipad in the dark whereas you need an external light source for Kindle.

There are lots of people who like me who prefer the Kindle for exactly that reason - that it's NOT backlit and is just a reader, doing one thing, and doing it well. The new range of Kindles is bound to guarantee the continued success of the range, too. $79US for a great basic reader versus many hundreds for an iPad is going to be a simple equation for many, even if they decide to pay another $30-$50 for one of the lighted covers that let you read in the dark if you feel the need. And of course, the noln-backlit e-ink displays work much better in bright light than do the backlit LCD/OLEDs.

[tanya]

There are lots of people who like me who prefer the Kindle for exactly that reason - that it's NOT backlit and is just a reader, doing one thing, and doing it well.

I'm very tempted by the new kindles but I can't decide which one to buy. At first I wasn't even considering the Fire since it is considerably more expensive than the B&W kindles, but the more I read about it, the better it sounds. Does it use the same sort of eInk display like the B&W versions? I've been impressed by the resolution of the B&W kindles my friends own and I want something that rivals the printed page the way those do. Color would be nice of course, but admittedly I read a lot of unillustrated, B&W articles/books so it's not necessary. I'm tempted by the streaming movies and other features of the Fire, but primarily I want it to be an excellent gadget for reading.

I am an Amazon Prime member but I haven't watched any of their streaming movies yet. How's the Bollywood selection there? (Do we have a separate thread on that already?)

[James]

Kobo enters tablet market

With the release of a cheap new tablet device, Kobo Inc. is bringing its Vox to the populi.

The Toronto-based maker of the electronic book readers is entering the increasingly-crowded market for cheap tablet computers, releasing a touch-screen, colour device that runs on Google Inc.’s Android operating system. The device allows for e-reading of books, magazines and newspapers, and also allows users to watch movies, listen to music and play video games such as Angry Birds, like they do on other tablets.

Its price point is low – $200 – in a competition with Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc., which has so far dominated the tablet market with its highly popular, but higher-priced, iPad. Amazon unveiled its own lower-price table, the Kindle Fire, in late September. It, too, runs on Android and sells for $200 (U.S.).

“There are a lot of different needs in the market,” said Kobo chief executive officer Michael Serbinis. “We’re going after a customer that’s a reader first, and wants to consume all kinds of media.”

Several observers had declared the e-reader all but dead at the beginning of this year. At the tech industry's annual showcase event in January, the Consumer Electronics Show, all the talk was about tablets, and almost everyone expected the new multimedia devices to erode e-reader sales.

But that was before e-reader manufacturers began turning the tables by adding more functionality to their devices and slashing prices dramatically.

Now heading into holiday season, those manufacturers are getting into the tablet game. So far, no other tablets or e-readers have proven to be much competition for Apple's iPad. The lone exception was an anomaly – when HP sold off its TouchPad tablet in a fire sale after it discontinued the product, and consumers responded positively because of the low price.

“They’re going to sell a fair number of these things at Christmas time,” Kaan Yigit, president of Toronto-based Solutions Group, said of the Kobo Vox.

“Two years for now, nobody will be selling one-trick pony e-readers … [Kobo has] a substantial portion of the e-reader market in Canada, but they have zero in the tablet market. That’s the one that’s growing.”

That growth is making room for a new class of tablet devices, similar to the role that Windows-powered personal computers filled in the 1990s. While Apple had a well-designed, lauded product, it was expensive. The Windows operating system offered a computer that was relatively easy to use and, crucially, less expensive than Apple’s.

The popularity of the Android platform in powering smart phone devices and its open design also means that developers are willing to work with its system. There are already tens of thousands of applications for Google’s Android store. Other iPad-chasers such as Amazon’s and the Sony Tablet, also use Android. On Wednesday, Netflix Inc. announced it was updating its Android app to work on the newest operating system – used by Kobo’s Vox – and to make it available for the first time to users in Canada and Latin America.

Apple's stranglehold on the tablet market is even stronger in the corporate sector, where businesses will likely stick to the iPad for the near future, said Duncan Stewart, the director of Deloitte Canada Research, who specializes in technology, media and telecommunications. On the consumer side, however, he said Amazon's new, low-cost tablet might quickly make a dent in the market.

“It appears unclear what percentage of the total market it'll make up,” he said, “but the Kindle Fire may rapidly become second most popular.”

The WiFi-enabled Kobo Vox is also chasing that market. The device opened for pre-orders on Wednesday and will be available in stores starting Oct. 28.

“This is a dynamic, exciting and evolving market,” said Heather Reisman, chief executive officer of Indigo Books & Music Inc., Kobo’s majority shareholder. (Ms. Reisman is also the chair of Kobo Inc.) “This is a multi-purpose device but designed from the reader point of view … There is a desire to have it at a lower price.”

Kobo currently sells its e-readers in 100 countries, meaning that it has built brand awareness in markets that will help it push out its new device, Mr. Yigit said.

“Is there room in the market [for a new tablet]? For players with reasonable brand awareness, yes,” he said. “The tablet market is like the colour TV market in its second year or something. You knew eventually everyone would have one but at the time, everyone was huddled around just a few devices. … [A cheaper tablet] has tremendous potential. The timing is terrific.”

[Dil Bert]

Kobo bought by Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten

By Rachel King | November 8, 2011, 2:54pm PST

Summary: Kobo quits going it alone as it gets bought out by a major Japanese e-commerce company.

Although it was always independent, the fate of Kobo became increasingly uncertain after Borders declared bankruptcy and shuttered, leaving its e-book reader partner rather alone.

Now, Kobo Inc. has been bought out by Rakuten, one of the world’s top three e-commerce companies based on revenue. The Japanese firm picked up Kobo to fit in line with its plan to expand “borderless e-commerce business” globally and add a market for downloading digital media — starting with e-books, evidently. [...]

[emel3]

Dil Bert -- question is: What does this mean for a. owners of Kobo and b. owners of other devices? will purchasing across devices become easier or harder?

[Dil Bert]

Dil Bert -- question is: What does this mean for a. owners of Kobo and b. owners of other devices? will purchasing across devices become easier or harder?

http://moconews.net/article/419-kobo-acquired-by-japanese-e-commerce-firm-rakuten/
Rakuten’s acquisition of Kobo marks a new move into content.  “It’s obvious that combining content with e-commerce has become extremely crucial,” said the company’s CEO, Hiroshi Mikitani, in the call. “We will enhance our e-book business in Asia through Kobo and go global as fast as we can.”

The Japanese e-book market is a couple of years behind that in the U.S., Mikitani told me. Many consumers read manga on their mobile phones, but dedicated e-readers “aren’t so popular yet. But it’s coming.” The obvious question is when Kobo plans to introduce a Japanese-language Kobo e-reader. Mikitani said that Rakuten is waiting for Japanese publishers to abandon the proprietary XMDF file format in favor of EPUB3, which supports top-to-bottom reading on screens. Publishing Perspectives notes today that “the official release of EPUB3 was reported by one Japanese newspaper as the ‘landing of global standards in making e-books’ that will bring foreign rivals to the publishing industry.” Mikitani thinks change could come soon: Assuming that EPUB3 gets the fine-tuning it needs to better support Japanese characters in coming months, “we would like to launch [a device] sometime early next year.”

http://www.retailwire.com/discussion/15626/japans-amazon-buys-kobos-e-reader-biz
Now, however, Kobo is back in the news with the announcement that Japan's answer to Amazon, Rakuten, has agreed to purchase Kobo for $315 million in cash. Rakuten, according to a press release to announce the deal, is one of the top three e-commerce sites on the planet.

[...] Rakuten offers Kobo unparalleled opportunities to extend its reach through some of the world's largest regional e-commerce companies, including Buy.com in the US, Tradoria in Germany, Rakuten Brazil, Rakuten Taiwan, Lekutian in China, TARAD in Thailand, and Rakuten Belanja Online in Indonesia, and of course, Rakuten Ichiba in Japan."

Kobo CEO Michael Serbinis told The Wall Street Journal, "This is not a one-country game. Two-thirds of the book market is outside North America. We're going into countries where we will be number one."



My guess would be the focus would be on new devices which better support Japanese/Chinese/Thai/etc (though I doubt Indian languages will be a priority, it might happen).  So current devices might go without significant software upgrades for a while.  If they're really in a rush, they might just update the software on existing models and push those, but I bet they will want to localize the hardware design.  Long term, there's a chance Kobo can become prominent outside the US/Canada and (remain?) a strong 'alternative' ereader in those countries.

[latishya]

I just had a nasty readjustment of my view of Amazon's customer service for the Kindle. I share this as a warning for other non-US Kindle buyers:

 I had one of the non-lighted covers and eventually experienced the known problem of the hooks that connect it to the Kindle causing the device to go into a sort of coma. All the websites I read said that Amazon was good about refunding the purchase price when this happened, so I contacted them last month, and got this reply:

"I have checked the details in your account and can confirm that $29.99 promotional credit has already been applied to your account, which you can use the next time you order an item shipped and sold by Amazon.com. Note: the promotional certificate doesn't apply to items offered by other sellers on our website.

You'll see your available promotional balance at checkout--this amount will be applied to your next qualifying order automatically without entering a claim code. Your promotional balance doesn't appear in Your Account but will always display when you place an order. For more information about using your promotional certificate, including the terms and conditions for using the certificate, visit our Help pages:"

Great! I thought. Then today I decided to purchase Usha Jain's Introductory Hindi Grammar to take advantage of the credit. When  I saw that no credit was being applied, I rang Amazon, and was told that the phrase "the promotional certificate doesn't apply to items offered by other sellers on our website." applies to "Amazon Export Sales Inc.," who I was technically buying through as a non-US resident customer. In other words, the credit is only available if I purchase from "Amazon.com", that is, physically within the US, and that was what the customer service rep I just spoke to actually, literally said I should  do - "come back to the US" to take advantage of the $30 credit!  I've never been, have no desire to go, and everything about my account, especially billing and shipping address and purchase history, makes it plain that I'm not in the US, so I was disgusted that I was not told that there would be no refund available for me.

[Dil Bert]

In other words, the credit is only available if I purchase from "Amazon.com", that is, physically within the US, and that was what the customer service rep I just spoke to actually, literally said I should  do - "come back to the US" to take advantage of the $30 credit!  I've never been, have no desire to go, and everything about my account, especially billing and shipping address and purchase history, makes it plain that I'm not in the US, so I was disgusted that I was not told that there would be no refund available for me.

You should be able to get the credit by making enough noise.  You might want to wait a few days until after the Thanksgiving/Black Friday US High Holidays are over.  Try contacting Amazon again and pointing out that online sales outside the US are going to be more important than in the US in a few years, and getting a bad reputation now will hurt them down the line.  If you don't get satisfaction from Amazon, try sites such as http://consumerist.com/ and the like to complain about Amazon's behavior.


Also on the Amazon Kindle front:
Amazon Puts Your $1000 Kindle Library 'On Hold,' Apologizes, Shrugs
http://consumerist.com/2011/11/amazon-puts-your-1000-kindle-library-on-hold-apologizes-shrugs.html

[latishya]

You should be able to get the credit by making enough noise.  You might want to wait a few days until after the Thanksgiving/Black Friday US High Holidays are over.  Try contacting Amazon again and pointing out that online sales outside the US are going to be more important than in the US in a few years, and getting a bad reputation now will hurt them down the line.  If you don't get satisfaction from Amazon, try sites such as http://consumerist.com/ and the like to complain about Amazon's behavior.


Also on the Amazon Kindle front:
Amazon Puts Your $1000 Kindle Library 'On Hold,' Apologizes, Shrugs
http://consumerist.com/2011/11/amazon-puts-your-1000-kindle-library-on-hold-apologizes-shrugs.html

Thanks for that link - puts my problem into perspective. I'm very glad I use Calibre, and that of the hundreds of books on my Kindle no more than a dozen or so are Amazon-purchased.

[latishya]

You should be able to get the credit by making enough noise. 

You were right about this, too.  Getting polysyllabically angry wtih them in several emails seems to have paid off. They have refunded the entire cost of the purchase, including the shipping, so I've ended up getting a US $55 refund instead of a US $30 credit.

[Prem Rogue]

I bought a book for the Kindle app on my iPhone because it was only available in that form. I don't know if I could read on my phone for as long as I could read a book, but it is convenient to read while eating or while I have down time here and there.

[Dil Bert]

I bought a book for the Kindle app on my iPhone because it was only available in that form.

If you have a Windows or OS X computer, you should also be able to read it there.  One nice/creepy thing about Kindle software is how it periodically sends your location in a book back to the server, so when you open that book on another device you will be prompted to jump to the last location.  They must have some interesting data on how fast different people read.

I don't know if I could read on my phone for as long as I could read a book, but it is convenient to read while eating or while I have down time here and there.

When I first got an iPod Touch I read parts of some books on it.  These days I mainly read on my iPhone in short bursts, and usually not books but email, Twitter, news articles, etc.

There's supposed to be a new iPad released in the next few months which will have a high-res screen.  That should make it much better than the current one for reading when the screen is close to one's face.

[Dil Bert]

Is anyone ordering a Kindle Paperwhite?  I'd like to know how well it can handle technical PDFs, like a college textbook, or something with diagrams.