Category Archives: apple

Apple Sends Out Invites to Rumored iPad-Mini Event

Craig Morgan Teicher -- October 16th, 2012
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If you’ve been following recent tech rumors, then you’ve heard Apple has a roughly 7″ version of its iPad tablet in the works. Rumors say the company is planning to unveil the device, which will compete with smaller tablets like the Kindle Fire and Google Nexus 7, on October 23rd.  Today, Apple sent out invites to the tech media featuring the graphic above (via Engadget) for an event to be held next Tuesday, the 23rd.  Most likely, Apple will be making a strong push into the textbook market with this new device and hoping to lure new iPad users with a lower-priced device.  We’ll keep you posted as we know more.

Gnashing of Teeth: Publishers vs Readers

Peter Brantley -- March 11th, 2012
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Seldom has news of litigation against publishers demonstrated such differences in opinions. But as the Department of Justice signals that it may file suit in a case alleging that the largest U.S. publishers and Apple combined to set high prices for books, the shrill cries from publishers suggesting that “the end of retail competition for books is nigh” remain largely deaf to the myriad benefits for customers. If agency pricing is struck down, readers may once again see reasonable book prices from online retailers that years ago acknowledged that digital music and videos have a very different value than their traditional analogues. Continue reading →

Fast Devices, Walled Gardens

Peter Brantley -- November 5th, 2011
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Something about Amazon’s release of the Prime Lending Library for Kindle owners finally made me realize that both e-book retailers and publishers confront vital new struggles. The conflict is immediate for e-book retailers, yet more fundamental for publishers; neither has much to do with publishing, but far more to do with the Internet and technology.

From my perspective, the lesson of Amazon’s lending service is not that publishers might not be getting a fair compensation model. Rather, the problem is that Amazon’s new tablet, the Kindle Fire, combined with the Amazon Prime program, provides access to “18 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, and books.” And in that, it is not the free books that are a problem for book retailers and publishers: it is the movies and the music. Continue reading →

‘Penguin’s Family’ iOS App Giveaway

Craig Morgan Teicher -- July 28th, 2011
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It’s time for another iOS app giveaway.  PW has been trying to bring some attention to app developers we think are doing cool things and also giving away a few free copies of the apps to lucky readers who race over to our Facebook page and claim a promo code before they’re all gone.

This week, we’ve got codes for Penguin’s Family, developed by OceanHouse Media, which has been bringing out very nice app versions of classic Dr. Seuss, Bernstein Bears and other books. The apps are great for kids, with read-aloud feature and smart touch screen enhancements that let kids explore language and pictures at the same time, while still offering a pretty traditional book-like experience.

Penguin’s Family is part of OceanHouse’s series of Smithsonian apps–the other is about the mighty T-Rex.  Penguin’s Family, written by Kathleen M. Hollenbeck and Illustrated by Daniel J. Stegos, follows the story of a family of Humboldt penguins as they teach their newborn how to survive in the world.

We’ve got 10 codes to give away, and we’ll post five today and five tomorrow in a note on our Facebook page.  They’re first-come-first-serve, so head over there now and grab one!

The PW Morning Report: Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Craig Morgan Teicher -- June 21st, 2011
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Today’s links!

Ellsworth Remembered: The NYT obit for the first publisher of the New York Review of Books.

B&N Profit: ZDNet wonders whether the Nook will alter the profit equation when Barnes & Noble reports its earnings today.

Make Borders Stores like Apple Stores: That’s one idea a private equity firm has for the bookseller. From AnnArbor.com.

Whitcoulls Absorbs Borders New Zealand: All Borders in New Zealand will become Whitcoulls stores. From the National Business Review.

European E-Growth: The Bookseller reports good digital growth in Europe despite the threat of encroaching US E-book companies.

Haiku for Keanu: Salon rounds up some hilarious haiku supposedly written by, but also sort of written against, Keanu Reeves (who, it turns out, is a budding author in several genres).

The Paris Review Goes Digital

Craig Morgan Teicher -- June 16th, 2011
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Today the Paris Review announced it is now offering a digital subscription through the Zinio platform.  Digital subs start with this summer’s issue and cost $30 for a year, meaning four issues.  Zinio offers an easily accessible PDF iteration of the magazine viewable on iOS devices and on the Web.

The Paris Review is among the elder statesman of lit mags, so it’s significant of a new era that it, too, should go digital under the new editorship of Lorin Stein. So, if you are looking for something to read…

The PW Morning Report: Thursday, June 16, 2011

Craig Morgan Teicher -- June 16th, 2011
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Today’s links!

Borders to Save More Stores: PaidContent reports on a deal between Borders and its lenders that could save more stores.

Apple Vs. Amazon: CNN wonders whether Amazon will comply with Apple’s new in-app purchase rules, and, if not, whether Apple will book the Kindle app from the App Store.

Brooklyn Book Fest: Here’s a list of confirmed authors appearing at this year’s Brooklyn Book Fest. From the Brooklyn Paper.

Saving a Bookstore from Hockey Fans: A Vancouver resident defends his local bookstore from rioting hockey fans. From the Globe and Mail.

More Potter: JK Rowling has unveiled a mysterious Web site at www.pottermore.com. From Digital Spy.

Publishers Remember 9/11: AP looks at publishers’ low-key plans for 9/11 remembrance this year.

Timothy Leary’s Papers: the New York Public Library has bought them. From the NYT.

The PW Morning Report: Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Craig Morgan Teicher -- June 15th, 2011
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Today’s links!

Go the F**k to The Top of the Bestseller List: Meet Adam Mansbach, the dad behind Go the F**k to Sleep. From Salon.

Bizarre Minister: Australian booksellers call their Small Business Minister’s remark about the upcoming death of bookstores “irresponsible” and “bizarre.” From Smart Company.

Apple Bypass: How publishers can get around Apple’s App store with HTML5 Web apps. From Mediashift.

Book Flogger: The Philadelphia Inquirer looks at how an author must flog her book daily to promote it.

Che Diary: An unreleased Che Guevara diary has been released in Cuba. From the Guardian.

Barnes & Slowble: A survey finds that B&N has some of the slowest customer service among e-tailers.

The ‘Waste Land’ Model: Salon looks at how the new T.S. Eliot app is the best example yet of a book app.

Amazon Tries to Lure Would-Be iPad Consumers with Kindle Cover Colors

Craig Morgan Teicher -- June 13th, 2011
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Is Amazon trying to trick would-be iPad buyers into buying a Kindle instead?

You’ll recognize the almost-iconic top image of Apple’s iPad 2 Smart Covers fanned out in all their colors.  But what do you think of bottom one, found on Amazon’s home page beside a Father’s Day Kindle promo?  Is Amazon trying to subliminally lure would-be iPad consumers over to the E-Ink side of the e-reader fence?

T.S. Eliot’s ‘The Waste Land’ Is iPad App of the Week

Craig Morgan Teicher -- June 10th, 2011
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What would T.S. Eliot say if he saw the image above?  Perhaps “Summer surprised us,” as he does on the first page of his famous poem “The Waste Land.”  This budding summer is indeed a surprising one for Eliot’s most famous poem, which was recently turned into an interactive iOS app by the developers at Touch Press.

This week, it is not only Apple’s iPad App of the Week, but, according to eBookNewser, is among this week’s top grossing apps.

For $13.99, you get a good deal more than the text of the poem (which is a great value on its own at any price): you also get a video of a theatrical reading of the poem by Fiona Shaw, as well as recordings of Eliot, Ted Hughes and Viggo Mortensen.  Plus there are interactive drafts and other cool enhancements so readers can see how the poem was composed.

It’s a strange, and perhaps exciting, fate for one of the 20th Century’s grimmest, and most important, pieces of literature.  Eliot himself was an editor at Faber, so you can bet he would have been hopeful, in this publishing economy, about new revenue sources for books.

And if that’s not enough poetry news for one week, John Ashbery’s on the cover of the NYTBR for a review his new translation of Rambaud’s Illuminations.