Sony unveils 7-inch wireless reader with touch screen

Sony's Daily Edition digital book reader boasts a 7-inch screen and wireless downloading. Credit: Sony

Sony this morning unveiled its answer to the Kindle 2 -- a wireless electronic book reader with a 7-inch touch screen that's 17% larger than Amazon's device.

Up until now, Kindle has claimed an edge over Sony's Readers by having built-in wireless connectivity, which lets users browse, buy and download books from Amazon's online store without having to plug into a computer. The Kindle also obviates the need for an Internet connection by using Sprint's wireless broadband EVDO network. 

Sony hopes its new wireless device, dubbed the Daily Edition, will trump Kindle 2 in one key respect, namely the ability for users to turn pages, scribble notes and navigate through menus by way of a touch screen. The device's 7-inch black-and-white display is larger than the Kindle 2's 6-inch screen but smaller than the Kindle DX, whose screen is 9.7 inches.

The Daily Edition, priced at $399, is slated to ship in December, in time to take advantage of the holiday gift-giving season.

The Japanese consumer electronics company also announced a "pocket-sized" reader ...

Microsoft, Yahoo and Amazon band together to oppose Google Books settlement

Google's settlement with authors and publishers is gaining opposition. Credit: basictheory via Flickr.

Three powerful technology companies have banded together to oppose Google's proposed settlement with the Authors Guild and the Assn. of American Publishers over the Mountain View, Calif., search giant's book scanning project.

Microsoft, Yahoo and Amazon have signed on to a coalition being assembled by the Internet Archive and Gary Reback, a Silicon Valley antitrust lawyer, said Peter Brantley, director of the Internet Archive, a San Francisco nonprofit that works to build a free digital library of Internet content.

Though the coalition has not been formally announced, several participants have already agreed to take part, including the New York Library Assn., the Special Libraries Assn. and the American Society of Journalists and Authors. The group is expected to issue a joint statement next week.

The coalition's members include players who normally would be sitting at opposite sides of the table. Reback, for example, is known for instigating the antitrust efforts against Microsoft. That they have agreed to join forces suggests the magnitude of concern raised by Google's book-scanning efforts, Brantley said.

"By having a set of organizations speaking together, we can demonstrate the seriousness which we all confront by the issues raised by the proposal," Brantley said in an interview. "We are all united in our understanding of the core issues, such as its impact on competitiveness and the threat to reader privacy."

The settlement, reached last October, would allow Google to continue to digitize millions of out-of-print books, with the help of several of the nation's largest libraries. The agreement sets up a way for authors and publishers to get 70% of the sale of those books, with Google keeping 30%. It also lets Google sell ads around book searches that involve out-of-print books that are still under copyright protection.

With a Sept. 4 deadline for comments on the settlement fast approaching, a growing number of parties have voiced their opposition in recent weeks, including William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, which represents hundreds of writers, the National Writers Union and a group of professors from the University of California.

Much of the concern stems from fear that Google would have the power to raise prices to prohibitive levels or that Google would not guarantee the privacy of its readers.

The agreement is also the subject of a Justice Department antitrust inquiry.

-- Alex Pham

Follow my random thoughts on games, gear and technology on Twitter @AlexPham.

Scribd gets social with new interface

Scribd founders Jared Friedman, left, and Trip Adler. Credit: Scribd.

Scribd, the self-publishing website for authors, plans to relaunch on Monday with a new interface designed to turn it into "the world's largest book club."

The site's home page will feature live updates from other subscribers in the network, a virtual bookshelf showing what people are reading and a five-star rating system for reviews. Similar to Twitter, readers will be able to subscribe to other members' status feeds or search for other authors with similar literary interests.

Founded by Jared Friedman and Trip Adler, Scribd says it gets 40 million unique visitors a month. But lately, the site's traffic has taken a nosedive, wrote TechCrunch. Adler claims the 45% dip is related to a summer lull.

Whatever the reason, Scribd thinks it has a remedy to get visitors to come more often and stay longer, said Tammy Nam, the San Francisco start-up's vice president of content. Right now, most are spending just a few minutes at the site, either to upload their work or to look for a specific document, then moving on.

"We want people not only to share what they've written, but also to hang out and discover new content," Nam said. "We want to create the world's largest book club."

With mammoth players such as Facebook and MySpace becoming overcrowded (or bombarded by hackers), smaller social networks have sprouted like spring clover, carpeting the Web with specialty networks dedicated to ethnic groups or hobbies. Scribd says it will offer visitors to its site ways to slice and dice their topics even more thinly by genre.

What do social networks have to do with books? The traditional model for book writing is to lock yourself up alone in a room and emerge when you have a transcript ready. Maybe an editor or friend reads it and gives you feedback. With the Web, however, the work can become "alive," Nam said.

"The written word is no longer static," she said. "People want others to participate in the process of creating their works. We have authors who tell us that readers give them feedback about grammar or plotlines. So their works constantly change."

-- Alex Pham

Follow my random thoughts on games, gear and technology on Twitter @AlexPham.

Sony adds $199 Reader, drops eBook prices

Sony's $199 e-reader. Credit: Sony.

Feeling the heat of competition, Sony came out this afternoon with a pocket-size electronic book reader for less than $200, which the electronics giant touts as the "most affordable dedicated reading device on the market."

Dubbed the Sony Reader Pocket Edition, the new device has enough internal memory to hold about 350 books, comes in three colors -- blue, rose and silver -- and has a 5-inch E Ink screen. What it does not have is an expansion slot for a memory card to increase the number of books it can carry.

For that, Sony is introducing a touch-screen device with a 6-inch display for $299 and slots for Sony's Memory Sticks or SD cards.

Sony also dropped the price of bestselling and new-release titles sold at its website, to $9.99 from $11.99, matching the price of digital books sold on Amazon.com.

Digital book readers are hot sellers, even in the frigid economy. Amazon, which released its Kindle 2 device this year, followed by a large-screen Kindle DX, has kept a lid on how many Kindles it's sold, but analysts estimate that ...

Highlights from the '1984' lawsuit against Amazon

"Kindling."  Credit: oskay / Flickr

Justin Gawronski and Antoine J. Bruguier are suing Amazon for having deleted their copies of George Orwell books from their Kindle readers, sans permission.  The potential class-action lawsuit claims harm inflicted on the parties for rendering their notes "useless" -- causing some commentators to call it the "Kindle ate my homework" case.

Here are a few highlighted quotes from the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court in Seattle.

-- "[Plaintiffs] bring this class action complaint against defendants Amazon.com, Inc. and Amazon
Digital Services, Inc., ... for their wrongful practice of remotely deleting digital content from their customers’ Amazon Kindle electronic book (“e-book”) reading devices and Kindle for iPhone applications."

-- "Amazon not only deleted the e-books,but also rendered useless any electronic notes and annotations that consumers had made within these e-books because the notes were no longer tied to the referenced or highlighted text. Amazon then refunded the purchase price to these consumers."

-- "Amazon never disclosed ... that it possessed the technological ability or right to remotely delete digital content purchased through the Kindle Store from Kindles or iPhones."

-- "As part of his studies of '1984,' Mr. Gawronski had made copious notes in the
book. After Amazon remotely deleted '1984,' those notes were rendered useless...

European Union to scrutinize Google Books settlement; Congress may hold hearing

Google Books settlement attracts scrutiny of regulators. Credit: somegeekintn via Flickr.

The European Union said today that it would scrutinize Google's settlement with authors and publishers and hold a hearing Sept. 7 to determine whether there would be any adverse impact on the European book market.

"What’s currently planned is a fact-finding exercise by the [European] Commission -- not an investigation -- and we're looking forward to taking part," said Jennie Johnson, a Google spokeswoman.

Under scrutiny will be Google's agreement, reached last year with the Authors Guild and the American Association of Publishers, to make out-of-print books searchable online. Among other things, the agreement also would create a digital library of books to which libraries and research institutions can have full access for a recurring fee.

"It’s important to discuss how we can use the Internet to bring back to life millions of books around the world that will otherwise be lost," Johnson said. "This is at the heart of what we have accomplished in our agreement with authors and publishers. It's also why we are working in partnership with libraries around the world to digitize their books so they can live forever online."

The settlement has recently become a magnet for controversy and scrutiny. Earlier this month, the U.S. Justice Department, working with several state attorneys general, launched a formal investigation into the potential antitrust implications of the settlement. Consumer groups, libraries and nonprofit organizations such as the Internet Archive have also voiced concerns that the settlement would give Google too much influence over the burgeoning digital books market.

Google yesterday confirmed that Congress has also expressed an interest that could result in hearings in Washington, D.C.

"We've been in touch with members of Congress and understand that there's interest in exploring the settlement," Johnson said.

Though the agreement is confined to the U.S. market, it does have the potential to affect foreign authors whose out-of-print works would be included in the settlement if they were published here. Those authors have until Sept. 4 to remove their works from Google's database of scanned books. They can also opt to keep their works in the Google Books project and receive royalties from the proceeds of selling access to the database.

"Because this agreement is the result of a U.S. lawsuit, it only affects Google Books users in the U.S.," Johnson said. "In other words, people [outside of the U.S.] will be able to search for books and may see snippets of in-copyright books, but they won't be able to purchase access to books online, and the subscription won't be offered to institutions outside the United States."

-- Alex Pham

Follow my random thoughts on games, gear and technology on Twitter @AlexPham.

Digital books: Free is a very good price

Chris Anderson Credit: Hyperion Books.

Musicians want to be heard. Actors need to be watched. Writers like to be read. And what better way to get an audience than to make these works free? But artists also need to eat. How to reconcile?

Chris Anderson, author of "The Long Tail" and Wired magazine's editor in chief, says the two are not mutually exclusive. He's also putting his money where his mouth is. The 47-year-old Berkeley writer is giving away his latest book, titled "Free: The Future of a Radical Price" and published by Hyperion Books.

More precisely, he's letting people read the entire book free till Aug. 10 on Scribd, a site that lets authors set their own price for digital copies of their works. The book's title aside, the giveaway is not as radical as it seems. In fact, it's perfectly rational, Anderson said in an interview.

"The book is about making money from free," he said. "I felt it was important to walk the talk."

For one thing, his book is free for only a month, after which readers will have to buy it (the hardback version retails for $17.99 on Amazon.com). Secondly, it can't be downloaded on Scribd; readers have to read the free version online. This fits with the "freemium" model -- give away the basic version to build your initial audience, then sell them premium features, such as the ability to download the book or having a physical copy.

A host of well known online services follow this model, including ...

Justice Department launches formal investigation into Google's book settlement [UPDATED]

The U.S. Department of Justice said today that it has launched a formal investigation into the proposed agreement between Google and book publishers and authors.

"The United States has reviewed public comments expressing concern that aspects of the settlement agreement may violate the Sherman Act," wrote William F. Cavanaugh, the Justice Department's deputy assistant attorney general, in a letter to Federal District Court Judge Denny Chin, the judge overseeing Google's settlement.

The letter goes on to say that although the department has "no conclusions as to the merit of those concerns," it did see issues that "warranted further inquiry."

Google emphasized that it is cooperating with the Justice Department investigation and maintains that the settlement would be good for consumers.

"The Department of Justice and several state attorneys general have contacted us to learn more about the impact of the settlement, and we are happy to answer their questions," said Google Spokesman Gabriel Stricker. "It’s important to note that this agreement is non-exclusive and if approved by the court, stands to expand access to millions of books in the U.S."

The settlement reached last fall between Google and the Authors Guild and the Assn. of American Publishers stemmed from the search giant's project to scan millions of books and create a searchable digital library of works that would potentially become the basis of a digital book market.

Paul Aiken, executive director of The Authors Guild, downplayed the significance of today's move by the Department of Justice. "It appears to be just an official acknowledgement to the court of an investigation that we have known about for weeks," Aiken said. "It’s no indication that anything has changed."

Reports surfaced in late April that Justice Department regulators had questioned Google and several advocacy groups that have spoken out against the settlement. Weeks later, publishers and The Authors Guild also confirmed receiving civil subpeonas from Justice seeking more information on the settlement. But until today, the Justice Department has not said whether those inquiries constituted a formal antitrust investigation.

In recent months, a number of parties have objected to the agreement, including a group of libraries, a consumer rights group and the Internet Archive, a nonprofit organization that seeks to digitize public domain books and make them freely available online to all readers. Many of the objections involve concerns that Google would create a monopoly for millions of "orphan" books whose rights holders cannot be located.

The Justice Department did not immediately return calls for comment.

Updated 4:25 p.m.: This post has been updated to include comments from Google and the Author's Guild.

-- Alex Pham and David Sarno

Authors Guild defends Google Books settlement

Authors Guild President Roy Blount Jr. speaks out in favor of the Google books settlement. Credit: Valerie Shaff.

The Authors Guild, which hasn't said much since last fall after it settled its lawsuit with Google over the search company's book scanning project, today issued a statement defending the settlement against recent criticism.

Specifically, the letter by author and Guild President Roy Blount Jr. addresses the topic of orphan books, which are works that are out-of-print and unclaimed by any copyright holders. You can read the entire letter here.

The concern is that Google, having digitized millions of such books, would have a monopoly on them should the settlement be approved by a federal judge later this year. That's because the settlement lets Google use orphan works without first getting approval from their authors. The Justice Department has reportedly started an inquiry into these antitrust concerns but has not said whether it has launched a formal investigation.

The number of orphans is tough to nail down. Some estimate it's 50% to 70% of all books published after 1923. Paul Aiken, executive director of the Guild, said that's hogwash.

"Our experience is that we can find upwards of 80% of rights holders once an effort is made," Aiken said in an interview.

In his letter, Blount argues that the number of orphan books, whatever it may be, will diminish over time as rights holders come forward to claim the money that Google will be obligated to set aside for authors for a period of five years and held in escrow by a newly created entity called the Book Rights Registry.

"As the registry starts sending out royalty checks, books will exit the orphanage in a rush," Blount wrote. "Nothing gets an author's attention like a royalty check. It's not an orphan-books problem that this settlement presents. It's an orphan-books solution."

-- Alex Pham

A Cool-ER electronic reader?

The Cool-ER electronic reader in the color "blue sky." Credit: Interead

Intrepid techies and avid readers who want to have hundreds of books with them wherever they go have had very little choice on electronic readers. It's either Amazon's Kindle ($359) or Sony's Reader ($270 to $350).

Now, there's a new kid on the block -- the Cool-ER, made by Interead.com, a British startup called that appeared just five months ago. (Right now it's available only on the company's Coolreaders website, but Chief Executive Neil Jones said he's in talks with major U.S. retailers.) At $249, it's the lowest-priced reader thus far. It has the same screen size as its rivals and uses the same E-Ink display, but is lighter and smaller.

That's because the Cool-ER doesn't have a lot of the bells and whistles the Kindle and Reader do -- no accelerometer, no wireless Internet adapter, no Bluetooth, no 3G connection and no keyboard. That's led some reviewers to give it a thumbs-down.

"The device in and of itself doesn't really break any new ground," said Sarah Rotman Epps, an analyst at Forrester Research. "What's interesting about them is that they went from nothing to putting out a product in less than six months. It shows that the bar for entering this market is very low, and that we can expect to see a lot more competition in this space in the coming months."

That spells good news for electronic bookworms, who can look forward to lower prices, more innovation and a wider selection of devices, said Rotman Epps, who estimated that prices could drift below $200 by the end of next year.

"From the consumer perspective, pricing is really important," she said.

So is style. With a choice of eight colors, Cool-ER is hoping to tap into a segment of consumers who consider personalization and fashion a factor in their gadget purchase.

Vivid violet, anyone?

-- Alex Pham