Recently, on a discussion forum, the question was asked: “Would you trust a paid book review?” Most commenters declared an unambiguous “no,” but I’m not sure the answer is so easy or should be so emphatically given. We start, of course, with what constitutes payment for a review. In the forum, the answers began with as little as receipt of a free review copy and moved on from there. What was never really addressed, although I did try to raise the issue, was the reviewer’s credentials. The consensus in the forum was that the most trustworthy...

Here’s a neat idea about how handheld tech could help regular librarians. ReadWriteWeb reports that a study group at Miami University has come up with an augmented reality Android app that could allow librarians to tell at a glance when books on library shelves are out of order, by using a built-in camera to read tags attached to the spine of shelved books and superimposing indications of which books are out of place. It will also generate inventory reports. It wouldn’t work for very thin books, such as those found in children’s sections, but could be very helpful for...

From the press release: WingedChariot is the latest digital partner for Walker as part of an ongoing digital development strategy. WingedChariot, already known for its pioneering work in the digital picture book publishing arena, will work with Walker to produce interactive apps based on Walker's award-winning, best-selling children’s book properties. Both Walker and WingedChariot share a commitment to quality storytelling, multi-lingual narrative and the importance of combining language and play. This innovative partnership will allow both partners to work together to create the very best in picture book apps. Neal Hoskins, digital publisher at...

Is the sale or bankruptcy of bookstore chains becoming a trend? The Bookseller reports that HMV, the corporate owner of UK bookstore chain Waterstone’s, is “pursuing strategic options,” which is to say, trying to sell the chain off. HMV has not been having a very good year financially, and seems to want to lighten the load. Waterstones founder Tim Waterstone is trying to get financing together to buy the chain, wanting to return it “to its roots as a stock-holding book chain with knowledgeable staff.” It isn’t clear from the article whether this means he also plans to move...

For those of you who are willing to take a plunge, the ViewSonic Android tablet is now on sale at Amazon for $398.  It's list price is $599. The tablet runs Andriod 2.2 and has bluetooth, Wifi and unlocked 3G. It also has deal webcams and comes with the Aldiko ebook reader. Personally, I wouldn't buy an Android 2.x tablet, I'd wait until Android 3.0, which is meant for tablets, is released.  Even Google has said that Android 2.x is not the ideal tablet OS....

I remember when I was much younger my mother told me that one of her favorite authors was Catherine Cookson. I tried reading one of her books, but I couldn’t really get into it. Perhaps I should try again. Certainly, I’ll have the opportunity to do so, as The Bookseller reports that the late Cookson’s estate has signed a deal to release 100 of her novels as e-books directly through Amazon, bypassing her print publishers. Amusingly, the trust’s literary agent Sonia Land didn’t even bother to consult those publishers. She told the newspaper: "I...

From the press release: Amazon.com today announced that 91 titles from Dame Catherine Cookson are now available as e-books for the first time, exclusively in the Kindle Store (www.amazon.com/kindlestore).  The collection of titles, including some which are out of print, represents the majority of the full-length novels from one of the UK’s most-read novelists.   These books, which are published by The Catherine Cookson Charitable Trust in conjunction with Peach Publishing, are available from $1.50-$5.99 and can be downloaded exclusively by Kindle and Kindle app customers. All 91 titles are available exclusively to U.S. and international customers on Amazon.com, and to U.K....

From the press release: Ingram Content Group Inc. today announced Melbourne as the location for its forthcoming Lightning Source print-on-demand book manufacturing operation in Australia. The Lightning Source operation in Australia will be Ingram Content Group’s fifth networked book manufacturing facility. The location was selected for its proximity to a large concentration of major publishers and book distributors and to key metropolitan regions in the country. Ingram’s Lightning Source will occupy a building at the Scoresby industrial park in the southeastern suburb of Melbourne. “The addition of a new manufacturing facility will...

This review has been a long time coming, because it was actually several months ago that Sharper Image sent me the first Literati unit to review. It’s been a long time in coming partly because I got too busy with my day job and other writing to get around to it, and partly due to various technical issues. I suppose the review is largely academic at this point, given that the Literati actually is no longer available at full price at Best Buy, Bed Bath and Beyond—even the Sharper Image website itself no longer carries it. Boscov’s has...

I hadn’t been paying much attention to the court ruling issued in the case of white rapper Eminem suing his record labels for more money. But then I saw this piece in Techdirt about it, and had to reconsider. It may not have direct implications for e-books specifically, but it definitely has larger implications for digital media as a whole. Eminem’s producers sued the Universal subsidiary that was handling his music for a greater share of royalties. The rationale was that music sales generate a much lower rate of royalties than music licenses (for use in TV shows, commercials,...

Mediabistro’s Ebooknewser reports that publisher John Wiley & Sons will be converting 660 titles from its popular “For Dummies” series to EPUB, using Easypress’s EasyEPUB process that is made to work with large volumes of files. The article quotes Steve Arany, Wiley’s automation manager, as being optimistic about the quality provided by the conversion. “EasyEPUB solves many problems for us by using its software to deliver the conversions directly from our layout files, while maintaining the ‘Dummies’ branding.” I’m more than a little curious how well that is going to work. If they’re actually using the...

Barnes & Noble has announced a big update for the Nook Color e-reader coming in April which will include a number of new functions such as applications and email, essentially bringing the LCD e-reader closer to being a full-fledged Android tablet. It has been understood for a while that the Nook Color can be jailbroken and rooted to give it full tablet functionality, and the rooted tablet compares favorably to the Galaxy Tab—a bit slower, but a lot cheaper. But it’s been attracting a lot more attention lately: NPR’s All Things Considered did a story on the practice...