ebook

Author Solutions dances into the DIY e-book market with Booktango

With the boom in e-readers, self-publishing has become big business, and Author Solutions, one of the largest self-publishers in the U.S., has entered the DIY e-book market in a big way with Booktango.

Whether Booktango should be called an "e-book generating app" or "self-publishing platform" is hard to say, but it basically provides a free and simple way to upload your manuscript, edit it for proper formatting, then automatically serve it up to various e-bookstores, including Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and iBooks.

On the surface, Booktango, which bears the "beta" tag, looks fairly slick … Read more

Four matchmaking services for e-book borrowing and lending

I've griped about e-book prices many times before, and I remain steadfast in my belief that publishers charge way too much for a product that requires no printing, consumables, shipping, storage (in the traditional sense), or other typical print-book expenses.

Fortunately, there's a way to squeeze a bit more value out of the e-books you do buy: lend them to someone else, then get other loaned books in return.

This is possible thanks to the publishers that allow e-book lending. Not all do, and the terms are pretty limited--each book can be loaned out only once, and for … Read more

Franzen vs. the Internet: Author says e-books damage society

Jonathan Franzen, the American author of bestselling novels "The Corrections" and "Freedom," came out swinging against e-books at a speaking engagement in Cartagena, Colombia.

The Telegraph reported Franzen saying physical paper books are the more superior technology because they'll still be around in 10 years. … Read more

The 404 974: Where we the (podcast)

We've put it off long enough, and today we'll finally spend time discussing Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), an incendiary bill written by Texas Congressman Lamar Smith that would effectively put an end to any Web site that would "steal America's innovative and creative products, attract more than 53 billion visits a year, and threaten more than 19 million American jobs."… Read more

How to make e-books show up under "Books" on the Kindle Fire

Do you have an e-book or a collection of e-books that you want to transfer (side load) to your new Kindle Fire? If you've already tried transferring them, you may have noticed that some or all of your e-books show up under the "Docs" heading, instead of "Books."

The benefit of having your e-books listed under "Books" is that you can sort them by author. Under "Docs," you can only sort by recent or title. If your collection is a modest one, this might not bother you a whole lot. If, … Read more

Best iPad apps for kids

It's the time of year where we spread some family cheer, and share some of our favorite kid-friendly iPad apps to keep your little ones entertained this holiday.

Editors' note: This post was updated on December 20, 2012 with new apps.

Among the iPad's catalog of hundreds of thousands of apps, there are a dizzying number of them geared toward children -- everything from interactive storybooks to learning apps to games. The question, as always, is finding the apps that are best for you (or, in this case, your kids).

That's where we come in. With the … Read more

Kindle app update brings some Kindle Fire features to iPads

For any iPad owner who's seen those spiffy-looking magazines and newspapers on Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet and thought, "Hey, why don't my magazines and newspapers look this spiffy?", here's good news: Amazon just rolled out a Kindle app update that adds rich magazine and newspaper viewing to the iPad, among other things.

Kindle 2.9 for iOS offers several appreciable changes, and not just for the iPad. For example, iPhone and iPod Touch users will also notice a new scrolling menu atop their library; it lets you sort your view between books, magazines, and documents.… Read more

How to turn on night-reading in iOS

The iBooks app was updated this week, and with it comes a new theme for reading at night.

When reading in bed or the darkened cabin of a red-eye flight, your iPad or iPhone can appear too bright even with the screen brightness at its lowest setting. With iBooks 1.5, the new Night theme reverses the colors on the screen: text turns white and the background turns black. If you are reading a book with images, you'll notice that their colors also get reversed, creating a photo-negative look. For reading text, however, the new Night theme is easier … Read more

Penguin halts libraries' e-book lending, citing security fears

Penguin Group is the latest company to balk at allowing libraries to lend digital copies of its books to patrons.

The book publisher, whose imprints include Viking, Riverhead Books, and Dutton, among others, has suspended authorization for libraries to distribute its books electronically, citing security concerns.

"Due to new concerns about the security of our digital editions, we find it necessary to delay the availability of our new titles in the digital format while we resolve these concerns with our business partners," Penguin spokeswoman Erica Glass said in a statement.

Glass didn't disclose Penguin's specific security … Read more

Nook Tablet shipping early

The Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet will be in customers' hands a few days earlier than expected.

Like the Kindle Fire and Kindle Touch--both of which shipped ahead of schedule earlier this week--the Nook Tablet is actually running ahead of schedule. According to a Barnes & Noble spokesperson, customers who preordered the Nook Tablet for in-store pickup can do so on Wednesday. Likewise, online preorders will begin showing up on doorsteps on Wednesday. The Nook Tablet is expected to be available for sale in Barnes & Noble stores the following day.

The device was originally scheduled to hit stores on Friday.

Whether you preordered or not, though, you don't have to wait: CNET's got an updated hands-on preview of the Nook Tablet, with video. … Read more