Mobile

Benefits of Mobile Reading on the iPhone 7
February 1, 2017 at 1:52 pm

I upgraded to the Apple iPhone 7 for Christmas and have already doubled my reading time. And most of that doubling is because my reading is now truly mobile. Let me offer some personal examples. My wife likes to shop. A lot. I do not. While she was shopping at Goodwill last week, I read…

Another Way Digital Could Complement Print Books: Print-to-Digital Highlights
January 25, 2017 at 3:49 pm

As I’ve said before, the publishing industry needs to get beyond the current “print or digital” mindset and instead explore ways for one to complement the other. Plenty of industry stats show that most readers are comfortable with either format and many prefer the convenience of switching between the two (e.g., reading the news digital…

Hachette Livre Acquires Majority Stake in Mobile App Company Brainbow
December 20, 2016 at 12:29 pm

Hachette Livre has acquired a majority stake in a London-based mobile app company, Brainbow Ltd. Brainbow, founded in 2012, created the brain-training app Peak, a mobile digital subscription service that has accrued 15m downloads around the world. It was named Apple's "Best App" in 2014, while Google Play chose it as its "Best Self Improvement App" in 2015 and 2016. Peak is also a Future Fifty…

Turning Up the Volume on Audiobooks in Canada
December 19, 2016 at 11:56 am

Positive reports from The FutureBook Conference indicate that audiobook use is on the rise, especially in the US, the UK, and Sweden. In Canada, audiobook use has been the focus of an in-depth survey. At the end of last month, BookNet Canada released Are You Still Listening? Audiobook Use in Canada 2016, a survey of audiobook…

B&N Readies $49.99 Nook Tablet
November 16, 2016 at 11:00 pm

As it tries to improve sales of digital content, Barnes & Noble has introduced its cheapest Nook yet, the Nook Tablet 7”, priced at $49.99.

Amazon Rapids And the Dumbing-Down of Reading
November 7, 2016 at 11:46 am

At first I thought it was an SNL parody about ebooks for kids. We’re so addicted to info snacking, seemingly less able (and interested) in focusing on long form reading, so let’s create a new platform that helps foster even shorter attention spans for our kids. Amazon Rapids is nothing more than a series of…

Why Publishers Must Go Mobile
September 26, 2016 at 1:19 pm

In its annual summary of ISBNs registered for self-published works, Bowker reported that nearly 730,000 were issued in 2015, up from 153,000 in 2010. The numbers cover ISBNs issued for both print and digital formats. The ISBN is a useful way to monitor sales across the supply chain, but works published on a single platform…

Video: Making the Most of the Mobile Opportunity
September 14, 2016 at 8:00 am

It’s clear that mobile platforms offer publishers a significant opportunity to reach more readers on a regular basis. According to a recent eMarketer study, U.S. adults spent an average of three hours on their mobile devices in 2016. “That gives us an amazing opportunity,” said Peter Houston, editor-at-large at TheMediaBriefing.com during a recent Publishing Executive webinar. “We have to try to reach these people because all of that time can be translated into potential revenue.”