Content and Digital Asset Management

Aptara Announces New Platform for Rapid, Low-Cost E-Book Production
November 19, 2009

This week, Aptara announced the release of eGen − ePub conversion software that can generate large volumes of content that is e-book compatible, less costly than other available conversion solutions and ready for distribution to multiple e-book readers.

Plastic Logic and Barnes & Noble to Debut First E-reader for Business Professionals
October 30, 2009

Plastic Logic and Barnes & Noble have announced a distribution agreement involving the 2010 debut of Plastic Logic's e-book reading device, the QUE proReader. The device is touted by Plastic Logic as "the first e-reader designed to support the lifestyle of modern business professionals." It also is unique for its shatterproof, plastic display with the largest touchscreen available.

E-books: Reading Like It’s 1999
October 1, 2009

In a classic, 19th-century short story, Washington Irving’s character Rip Van Winkle wakes up after being asleep for 20 years to find that the world has changed all around him. People he loved, including his wife, are no longer alive, and the country itself has—in the intervening two decades—gone through the massive trauma and upheaval of the Civil War. For Rip Van Winkle, it seems like only a few peaceful hours have passed; all he did was close his eyes. But in what seemed to him a short amount of time, everything around him had irrevocably changed.

E-Reader Evolution—Should We Think Beyond Ink?
October 1, 2009

Common in the history of technology products is the pattern that devices with multiple functions generally take market share from earlier, single-purpose devices. A classic example can be found in word processing: Dedicated word processors, such as those from Wang and IBM, gave way to PCs that could be used for a wide range of applications, among them word processing. Dedicated, wired, e-mail-only devices likewise gave way to the general-purpose PC.

Behind IREX's Partnership With Barnes & Noble: IREX's Kevin Hamilton on how the bookseller is helping his company go head-to-head with Amazon in the e-reader market.
September 18, 2009

With a partnership with Barnes & Noble anchoring the late-2009 debut of its eReader, Netherlands-based IREX Technologies hopes to propel its new e-reading device to the top of the marketplace, according to North American CEO Kevin Hamilton. In addition to the more than 750,000 e-book titles eReader users may purchase through Barnes & Noble's eBookstore—many of which are priced at $9.99—IREX's new device also will allow users to download outside content, such as from Google—a feature that distinguishes it from Amazon's Kindle.

DRM: The Battle Observed
September 1, 2009

Digital rights management (DRM) is the most contentious topic in the world of digital media. The battle over DRM shows no signs of abating, and its outcome will shape the digital media landscape for decades to come.