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From the FuturEbook blog:

Brazil is not a world example when it comes to digital books. The estimate is that we are three years behind big markets like North America. However, 2012 promises to be the year that things will really happen, so we present here an overview about the technology – both formats and devices – used in Brazil.

Formats

So far, the most widely used format for eBooks in Brazil is the PDF, which is a shame. As everyone knows, PDF is not a document format suitable for digital books, since you cannot resize the text, change the layout or the background color.

However, the ePub is growing exponentially in online bookstores. There are also some shops and publishers that offer other formats like Mobi and even the old PRC. Publishers are adhering to ePub and, after a while, they begin to realize this is the most suitable format.

The app-books, usually developed for iPad, are far an exception in the market. Additionally, tablet sales are not at its peak in Brazil. The cost to produce an interactive book, locally, is still very high. With prices for development ranging from R$ 14,000 to R$ 30,000 (between US$ 8,000 and US$ 17,000), only large publishers are venturing on this path. This applies to Editora Globo, with Reinações de Narizinho (Adventures of Little Nose) by Monteiro Lobato and Editora Melhoramentos with O menino da terra (The boy from the land) de Ziraldo. But these interactive collections should grow in 2012.

More in the article.

1 COMMENT

  1. It’s a shame to hear the same inaccurate information about PDFs: “You cannot resize the text.”

    Yes, you can resize AND reflow PDF text… as long as that PDF was properly tagged when it was created. The biggest handicap PDF has is that most people who use it don’t know how to properly tag it for accessibility (the ISO 19005-1 compliant, or PDF/A, setting), so most PDFs cannot be resized or reflowed as needed. (The second-biggest handicap is that many PDF emulation applications can’t resize or reflow text–always get an Adobe PDF reader for that.)

    And of course, its greatest asset is that more devices can read PDF files than any other ebook format, making it the most widespread ebook format.

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