The de facto place to buy Kindle books is, of course, Amazon. Given how tightly this allows Bezos & Co. to manage things we’re guessing this is how the company would like to keep it, but there may be direct-to-kindle competition brewing from an unlikely source: Scribd. The site, which started off as a place to dump and share random documents, has been following the YouTube path and is now and selling access to fully copyrighted works. Many of those works are downloadable as text, Word, or PDF documents, meaning Kindle users can already work some conversion magic and get them on their devices. But, according to Scribd CEO Trip Adler, straight to Kindle distribution is next. The question is: will they be for-pay titles, or only the billions of pages of free content the site offers? Places like Feedbooks and Gutenberg.org let you download free content direct to the Kindle already, but we’re not aware of anyone selling content straight-to-Kindle yet — other than Amazon, of course. Scribd positioning self to become Amazon competitor, sell books on Kindle? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Dec 2009 07:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Gizmodo | Email this | Comments
The recently released e-book reader from Barnes & Noble, the Nook , has been rooted by the community of enthusiasts at nookdevs.com . The complete instructions for hacking the device and obtaining root access are detailed on the site . The Nook went on sale in late November and aims to compete with the dominant Amazon Kindle, a device which has spurred its own community of hackers and modifiers. The Nook retails for $259, and is an Android-powered device with built in AT&T 3G service and WiFi, along with an e-ink screen that is found in most other readers. The instructions for rooting the device require that the device is opened up and that the SD card which stores the operating system be removed. The process seems a little too simple, almost as if the device was designed to be hacked. The storage is on a removable card, which can then be loaded in another machine where the process of acquiring root access to the operating system is carried out. This will likely lead to DRM controls being bypassed, and a slew of homebrew projects being created based on the hardware – which might ironically help Barnes & Noble in its bid to unseat both the Kindle and Sony e-Reader. Full detailed instructions and photographs are available on the site here. The entire process is straight forward and only takes around 30-45 minutes. I might actually order a Nook now. Tip via Nenad Nikolic ( @shonzilla ) Crunch Network : CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
Remember just a while back when we told you you could pre-order the ASUS UL30Vt over at Amazon if you so wished? Well, it’s actually, really available and shipping now. The Windows 7 Home Premium-boasting boasting 13-incher is part of ASUS ‘s thin and light line — with looks we’re quite fond of. It’s also packing switchable graphics, DDR3 memory, and a 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 CPU which can be overclocked. This baby is selling for $799 and it’s in stock now, so if you want one — well, you know where to find it. [Thanks, Leonel] ASUS UL30Vt now available at Amazon originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 20:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Amazon | Email this | Comments
Want to be the head of Barnesandnoble.com’s international business? Because they’re definitely hiring a whole team, and they’re starting at the top. Recruiting firm Russell Reynolds Associates is representing Barnes & Noble in a search for the “head of their international business,” according to a source who was contacted about the position. The job entails building the international business for BN.com from scratch, hiring the team and “building the infrastructure outside the U.S.” They prefer the executive live in New York, but Europe is ok, too. Global ecommerce experience is preferred. Barnes & Noble is no Amazon, but it is a billion dollar company and they have an upcoming ebook reader that kicks the Kindle’s butt (it’s so easy to love unlaunched products, isn’t it?). Crunch Network : CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
Well, we knew this was coming : Amazon’s trying to convince a federal judge to block the $125m settlement that’ll let Google Books make out-of-print works available online. According to Amazon’s newly-filed brief, allowing the settlement will essentially force copyright holders into allowing Google to scan in and sell their works whether they want to or not — a thorny area of the law Amazon’s gotten pretty familiar with as it builds out the Kindle library. Of course, since the actual settlement is between Google and those very same authors and publishers, it certainly seems like Amazon is crying crocodile tears here — according to our old friend Paul Aiken of the Authors Guild, “Amazon apparently fears Google could upend its plans” to make the Kindle the dominant ebook platform. Heady stuff — and with more briefs against the settlement due in the next few days from heavy hitters like Sony , Yahoo and Microsoft, things seem like they’re building to fever pitch. We’ll keep you updated. Read – USA Today Read – CNET Read – Amazon’s brief [Warning: PDF] Filed under: Misc. Gadgets Amazon formally protests Google Books settlement originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Sep 2009 12:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments
