A Dow Jones news service story is full of upbeat quotes on the Android cellphone platform‘s chances. If the ballyhoo pans out, that could be good news for FBReader, the open source app which can read ePub among other formats and has an Android version of the way.
Yes, reading software for ePub exists besides Adobe Digital Editions, and I hope that the global publishing industry will get behind these alternatives and encourage improvements in them—rather than relying simply on one vendor. Nothing against Adobe here. But how can ePub catch on quickly as a standard without decent choices of reading and creation tools? Cellphones, moreover, are of interest since their displays will be getting much better for e-reading, with rollout E Ink becoming common in time.
Related: Quick, IDPF! Do that ePub logo! Bookseller.com items show need for action before Amazon and Sony steal you mindshare—forever, our recent post that mentions the software question, not just the logo one. Also see Joseph Gray’s post headlined ePub readers: Adobe Digital Editions, FBReader and OpenBerg Lector—reviewed with a little tough love.
Housekeeping: This will be my last post today until at least the afternoon, although it’s possible that other contributors may show up here.
