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We asked some of our favorite thinkers in the publishing world: "What trends will shape the industry in 2014?" Here's what they had to say.

Barnes & Noble's Nook Media division is releasing a new Nook GlowLight with new lighting technology, increased storage, a higher res screen and “enhanced” discovery and recommendation features.

Apple unveiled new and upgraded versions of the full sized 9.7-inch iPad (now called iPad Air), and the 7.9-inch iPad Mini. Both devices have new price points--the new iPad Air will sell for $500, while the iPad Mini will sell $400--and will ship in November.

Scribd, a digital distribution, document storage and book discovery platform, is launchng a subscription e-book service that will give users access to an unlimited number of books for $8.99 a month.

Amazon announced an upgraded suite of tablet devices that will include the new Kindle Fire HDX, an upgraded version of the Kindle HD tablet that offers an even higher resolution screen in two sizes (7-inch for $229 16GB; 8.9-inch for $379 16GB) and a new version of the 7-inch Kindle HD for $139 (8GB).

Kobo, the Canadian e-reader maker, has launched the addition to its line-up today: the Kobo Aura. It is the latest attempt by the company to compete against Amazon's Kindle range in the e-reader market.

One of the device's chief points of difference is battery life, which at more than two months is longer than any other competitor.

Another is storage capacity. The Kobo Aura holds more books than other rivals with 4GB of storage, according to the company, and can expand up to 32GB with a microSD card.

Tablet sales showed their first sequential decline ever in the second quarter of this year, according to research firm IDC. Apple sold fewer iPads than expected in its most recent quarter. Barnes & Noble's Nook e-reader sales fell 20% in the fiscal first quarter ended August 20, two months after the company announced it will no longer make color versions of Nook, only black and white ones. And analysts are worrying about whether smartphone profit margins can hold up as buyer fatigue sets in.

E-book retailer Kobo is teaming with the National Book Store, a 150 store chain in the Philippines, to introduce its suite of digital reading devices and its e-book retailing and self-publishing platforms.

By now, we've all gotten pretty used to not owning stuff-at least in the traditional, hold-it-in-your-hands sense. If you're anything like me, your DVD collection stopped growing a few years back once Netflix and Hulu bolstered their offerings. And that CD storage stand (hell, even your iTunes account) has probably gathered dust thanks to Spotify and Rdio. But books? Turns out, we're still content to pay $10 for a paperless novel that we're not even certain we'll like or finish.

Amazon announced plans to release an upgraded Kindle Paperwhite digital e-reader featuring the first integration of Goodreads, the popular book recommendation site Amazon acquired, into the Amazon digital reading platform.