Upbeat outlook Despite all the RED(group) ink, the firm’s communications manager Malcolm Neil said the company was “relatively happy with the result in a tough market”. “We took $30m in writedowns, and a large part of that was CD and DVD inventory,” he said. REDgroup's balance sheet also suffered under the weight of a $24m interest payment on borrowing. They also announced a refinancing deal, as Bookseller + Publisher is reporting... Backed by its long-term bank BOS International and new financier Fortress Investment Group that will ‘refinance REDgroup's senior debt to December 2012' and redeem its NZX listed Retail Notes (valued at NZ$35...

Kobo with BBM from Kobo on Vimeo....

Kobo and Amazon will be on the new Blackberry tablet. Kobo, from the Kobo blog: Kobo will be the first eReading service integrating BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) into its app – making eReading social, and real-time! This will also make eReading with Kobo a ton of fun! Below is a video of our app, which will be generally available early next year. Shop with a friend, read with a group, exchange passages, and discuss the book in real-time. From the Amazon press release: Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced that it will launch a Kindle app for the new BlackBerry PlayBook tablet computer. ...

mocoNews reports on more rumors and speculation surrounding RIM’s BlackBerry “BlackPad” tablet (which we’ve mentioned before here). If the speculation is right, the device could be unveiled as early as next week at a RIM developer conference. Rumor places the device at 7” in size, smaller than the current iPad but the same size as the Galaxy Tab (and the rumored 7” iPad Apple is supposedly developing). The device would have Bluetooth connectivity, but would require a BlackBerry smartphone to connect to 3G Internet. It would run an operating system from QNX, which is better known for making...

A number of sources, including Ars Technica and Bloomberg, report that Research In Motion is rumored to be turning to embedded software company QNX to provide the operating system for its new tablet, allegedly to be called the “BlackPad”. RIM actually bought QNX Software Systems from Harman International Industries in April for $200 million. QNX embedded software is used in a variety of devices, ranging from BMW and Porsche car audio systems to medical devices to nuclear power plants to the Crusher robot tank. It has also been released as a downloadable bootable floppy disk distribution, and has...

We reported in May on rumors of a possible Blackberry tablet device flying around. Lately, those rumors seem to have solidified. Our sister blog Gadgetell reports that Research In Motion, makers of the Blackberry, has acquired the domain name “blackpad.com” from the previous owner, who had owned it since 2002. CNet ties together some other reports, including a post from Bloomberg in which anonymous sources claim the device is going to be Blackberry’s crack at killing the iPad, having similar specs and pricing to the wifi-only version, and will launch by November. The tablet...

If refurbished $109 Kindles aren’t your thing, perhaps you might be interested in a penny Blackberry. TechDealDigger reports that Amazon is offering the normally-$200 Blackberry Bold 9000 for one cent when you sell your soul to activate a new service plan with AT&T. Though the Blackberry has largely become an “also-ran” to the iPhone, I gather that there are still a number of e-book apps available for it (including Kindle, eReader, and the official MobiPocket reader that is still missing from the iPhone). Of course, compared to the amount you would be shelling out over the life of...

In observance of the announced-for-summer Kindle Reader for Android, CNet’s Josh Lowensohn takes a look at the existing Kindle Reader versions for other platforms and compares how well they come off. My own review only compared the PC, iPhone, and iPad versions; it is interesting to learn more about the Blackberry and Macintosh versions. Gizmodo has spotted the Kindle in a slightly unusual place—being used by the evil lizard-aliens on the V revival. Amusingly, the Kindle in question is very blatantly displaying an “empty battery” screen. Gizmodo makes much of the fact that a Kindle, not...

Barnes & Noble is offering a new free e-book every week for the next few weeks, with a twist: to redeem the e-book download, you have to come into a Barnes & Noble store and show them your Nook or your general-purpose device (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Blackberry, HTC HD2, PC, or Mac) running Barnes & Noble’s eReader. (Or just bring the device and the staff will help you put eReader on it.) You then receive a voucher you can redeem at B&N’s website to download your e-book. On the one hand, this seems to negate one of...

Our sister blog Gadgetell summarizes a Crackberry.com post about rumors of a Blackberry tablet that have been flying around. There really isn’t a lot of solid information, just speculation. It isn’t even clear whether such a device would run the same OS as Blackberry handhelds, or Android. As Gadgetell points out, RIM (Research In Motion, the makers of the Blackberry) started out with a business focus and has been aimed primarily at the enterprise ever since. Apple, on the other hand, has had to retrofit all the enterprise features that users have asked for—and even then they won’t...

If you are a Blackberry owner you may want to take a look at this review by Jason Reese of Geardiary. Jason liked the app and found that reading on the Blackberry was just fine. What I Like: Free. Easy to use and navigate. I consider the Kindle app for Blackberry to be a “Gateway” app. It makes it convenient to purchase and read eBooks on the go, in between appointments, during those times you find yourself waiting in line or commuting (if you’re not driving ), but it won’t replace a fully dedicated eBook...

BlackBerry is coming up in the world. OverDrive has just announced the release of a public beta of an audiobook app that can download audiobooks from libraries and major online retailers such as Barnes & Noble. The app can be downloaded here. Previously OverDrive released audiobook apps for Windows Mobile and Android, and they say that an iPhone app is planned for the near future....