TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home

Calibre how-to videos

By Robert Nagle

Those of you in Kindle-land or Cybook-land may be unaware of Calibre, a free ebook management software created by  Kovid Goyal for the Sony PRS-500 and PRS-505 platform. Calibre is a rename of the  libprs500 utility, and over time it has gained functionality (including the ability to fetch newsfeeds).

Here are two videos detailing Calibre in action.  The first details ebook management and the second details the process for adding and fetching news feed. The program is written in python, so it works across different platforms. Click the screenshot below for the newsfeed configuration dialog.

In addition to a extensive user manual, Calibre also has a support forum on Mobileread. I confess that I have not played with a recent version of Calibre, but I downloaded an older version of it quite a while ago.

As I see it, Mobipocket hasn’t provided a decent RSS-to-ebook generator, and Kindle charges a fee for downloading full RSS feeds. This free tool –if the feed part works as advertised may offer lots of value for people reading ebooks on the Sony ebook platform. The method for fetching feeds looks straightforward albeit a little geeky.

Goyal has been talking about epub support on Calibre in 1-4 months (more thoughts are here).  Calibre  already has commands to support lots of different conversions).  Calibre’s  Faq says that besides Sony Reader support, it can be used by “any ebook reader that exports itself as an USB disk”.

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Sony PRS505 Poll: Did your screen break?

By Robert Nagle

Polls Archive

Help us compare Kindle and Cybook Sony screen failure rates.

Note: Because PRS500 is an older device and may have been around longer, it may not be useful for data comparison. The Sony PRS505, Kindle and Cybook arrived at approximately the same time, so it makes for a better comparison.

Related: Cybook user poll and Amazon Kindle poll

We’ll post the conclusions and some further thoughts early next week.

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Myebook, LinkIn, the N.Y. Times and social networking: Shared comments ahead for Kindle fans, other e-bookers?

By Joe Wikert, a VP in the Professional/Trade division of John Wiley & Sons

Myebook and LinkedIn—what could these two operations have in common?

Actually, although you’re probably already familiar with LinkedIn, you ought to pay a quick visit to myebook.  It’s a service I recently discovered and it’s currently in a beta stage.

Recent announcements by both companies got me thinking more about implications for the book publishing world.  Both of them have to do with applying new social networking tricks to old businesses like content.  First up, LinkedIn…

Times deal boosts LinkedIn’s stickiness—amount of time spent on site

LinkedIn recently announced an intriguing partnership with The New York Times, and they could help LinkedIn’s stickiness.

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E Ink breakage issue: How Todd Jonz & wife protect their iLiads—and a reminder of our Cybook and Kindle polls

By David Rothman

Take our quick, easy Cybook or Kindle poll if one applies and you haven’t already—so we can compare screen breakage rates.

We’re eager to hear from owners with or without problems, so the polls are representative.

Prevention

But how can you prevent breakage in the first place, screen related or not? Suggestions welcomed! Here’s a start from Todd Jonz, a TeleBlog regular.

"My wife and I both own iRex iLiads, and my wife came up with a rather clever way to protect them during use.

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Typing test: iPhone vs. Treo

By David Rothman

The winner is the iPhone, if you go by the iSmashPhone test. iPod Touch owners, too, can rejoice.

Something to take comfort in, right—if you’re reading Crime and Punishment and are searching for the first mention of a character named Lebeziatnikov?

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U.K. news: Sony Reader about to go on sale at Waterstones—and apparently be ePub capable

By David Rothman

Old news. But as of tomorrow, people in the U.K. can preorder Sony Readers, and supposedly they’ll be fully available from September on. Here’s the start of Waterstones’ online listings for e-books, perhaps. No titles spotted there yet.

Amusing item on e-book page: “Free U.K. delivery to store and on orders over £15.” Electron by electron? Actually it’s just part of the Web template.

Update (reflected in headline): The readers will apparently be ePub capable–see report in The Bookseller—and that might be good news for U.S. buyers as well. (Thanks Alan.)

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Free e-books from TOR: Download ‘em now, before they vanish Sunday

By David Rothman

Tor is boosting sales of selected books by giving them away in E—a strategy that might be especially effective with series, even if it won’t necessarily work with all titles.

From John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War to Harry Turtledove’s The Disunited States of America, I’ll pass on the direct links to these nonDRMed editions. Notice? The ePub format has  starting to appear. Want the latest Tor news? Visit Tor.com and sign up. Also check out the Tor blog.

Freebies available through Sunday

Better act ASAP on the downloads. Patrick Nielsen Hayden writes: "At any rate, now that the life of our doughty little holding page is drawing to a close (shed a tear), we thought we’d make everything we gave away there–all the novels, all of the desktop wallpaper–…through Sunday, July 27. We’ve even gone back and added formats that weren’t available at first, so all of you who mourned (for instance) the lack of a Mobipocket version of Mistborn can now find happiness. Anyway, get ‘em while they’re here. Act now, act without thinking! Full list, with links, below the fold."

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
PDF || HTML^new! || HTML zip^new! || Mobi^new!

Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
PDF || HTML || HTML zip || Mobi

Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
PDF || HTML || HTML zip || Mobi

Farthing by Jo Walton
PDF || HTML || HTML zip || Mobi

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How your photo—or avatar—can show up with your comments for TeleRead or some other blogs

By David Rothman

The TeleBlog is a little more Facebook-like these days, with photos or avatars appearing with some comments. It’s easy for your image to be among them. Just sign up at Gravatar.com and upload what you want used.

Images will remain optional. For those who don’t choose their own, randomly chosen patterns like the one below will show up and make it easier to follow discussions in the comments area. Here’s the related WordPress plug-in.

The obvious: Yes, photos and avatars will inevitably show up in interactive e-books.

And speaking of our comments area: We have an RSS feed picking up all TeleBlog comments. You can also get feeds associated with individual topics or even be notified by e-mail when comments on them appear. Look in the comments area.

Related: Video of Chris Pirillo explaining Gravatars—just one possibility. You can also register with other services.

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N.Y. Times to customize news via LinkedIn profiles

By David Rothman

Funny. I was just thinking how newspapers were failing partly because they couldn’t keep up with in-depth news of professional interest. Now the New York Times will use LinkedIn profiles to help serve up news useful to specific readers who request the service. This could be A Good Thing if LinkedIn and the Times respect privacy.

Related: News release.

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Poll> Did your Kindle screen break? Answer either way

By David Rothman

Polls Archive

Help us compare Kindle and Cybook screen failure rates.

Perspective: Keep in mind that the Cybook is a slimmer device than the Kindle. So there may be a trade-off.

Related: Info on our Cybook poll, which we urge you to take if you own one and haven’t already. Be fair to Bookeen. Participate whether or not you’ve had a problem.

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RUMOR: Apple tablet coming in by October? Able to run eReader, Mobi and other App Store programs?

By David Rothman

Oh, those fun rumors. Supposedly a tablet called Newton 2.0 MacBook Touch will be able to run App Store programs, including, presumably, eReader and the forthcoming Mobipocket for the iPhone. Not to mention such promising newcomers such as Stanza and BookShelf? Yep, that’s the original Newton of yore. Wouldn’t it be great if an e-book-friendly update materialized after all these years?

BoingBoing Gadgets, however, depicts the MacDaily News item as most likely balderdash, and I myself am skeptical, but for what it’s worth, here’s the supposed lowdown:

"Think MacBook screen, possibly a bit smaller, in glass with iPhone-like, but fuller-featured Multi-Touch. Gesture library. Full Mac OS X. This is why they bought P.A. Semi. Possibly with Immersion’s haptic tech. Slot-loading SuperDrive. Accelerometer. GPS. Pretty expensive to produce initially, but sold at ‘low’ price that will reduce margins. Apple wants to move these babies. And move they will. This is some sick shit. App Store-compatible, able to run Mac apps, too. By October at the latest."

Related: Mike Cane’s arguments for Apple doing e-books.

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Reminder: Take our Cybook screen poll—whether or not you’ve had problems, so we can get at the truth

By David Rothman

Own a Cybook? Whether or not you’ve had screen woes with it, please take our poll so we can see if display problems are common. You can fill out the form in just a second. Be fair to Bookeen. I don’t want just disgruntled owners participating. Make comments here.

Update, 1:31 a.m. today: So far the results from 87 respondents are: 86 percent no problems, 5 percent “I was definitely at fault,” 1 percent “may have been at fault,” and 8 percent “I’m certainly NOT to blame.” The bottom line is that 14 percent have had breakage problems, and most of those blame the Cybook. Are we drawing more than an usual percentage of disgruntled owners? Or is this typical?

Update, 3:55 p.m. yesterday: The word from NAEB, which sells Cybooks, is to treat ‘em very carefully.

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