Barnes & Noble continues British invasion, forges pacts with Argos, Blackwell’s and Foyles

Barnes & Noble

Barnes & Noble has continued its quest to stock the shelves of United Kingdom bookstores with Nooks, by adding Argos, Blackwell's and Foyles to the list of where you can get one. Those retailers will join John Lewis in carrying the Nook Simple Touch and its Glow Light-toting cousin, giving UK'ers nearly a thousand bricks and mortar sites to get one -- including bookstores at 55 colleges and universities. Those locations will join Barnes & Nobles recently launched online website in selling the e-readers -- but if you like to Touch before buying, the PR is after the break.

Continue reading Barnes & Noble continues British invasion, forges pacts with Argos, Blackwell's and Foyles

Barnes & Noble continues British invasion, forges pacts with Argos, Blackwell's and Foyles originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 08:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amazon Publishing inks deal with Ingram, opens e-book distribution to rivals

Amazon Publishing inks deal with Ingram, opens ebook distribution to rivals

Amazon Publishing is continuing to broaden its distribution channels, as the New York-based imprint has formed a partnership with Ingram Content Group that will make the company's e-books available to competitors such as Apple, Barnes & Noble and Kobo. As you may be aware, there's some uneasy tension between the rivals, as Barnes & Noble has previously removed Amazon's print editions from its retail shelves in response to the company's former e-book exclusivity in the Kindle Store. It remains unknown whether any of the competitors will indeed choose to sell Amazon's content in electronic form. It's also worth pointing out that because deal applies only to Amazon Publishing's New York-based imprint, the company's west coast division is excluded from the distribution deal. Regardless of how things shake out, it's encouraging to see Amazon extend the olive branch -- now let's hope the competition reciprocates.

Amazon Publishing inks deal with Ingram, opens e-book distribution to rivals originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Aug 2012 20:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amazon Q2 2012 earnings: net income down 96 percent to $7 million, net sales up 29 percent to $12.83 billion

DNP Amazon Q2 2012 earnings TKTKTK

When internet mega retailer Amazon kicked off its fiscal year this past spring with $13.8 billion in net sales, the prognosis for the quarter ahead was dour, to say the least. At the time, the company projected its Q2 2012 performance would see an operating loss of $40 million to $260 million versus Q2 2011, as well as a slight down tick in revenue at $11.9 billion to $13.3 billion quarter to quarter. Well, the numbers are in and it looks like the forecast was right on the money. The Seattle-based outfit posted $7 million in net income for the quarter, a year over year loss amounting to a whopping 96 percent decrease. As for net sales, that picture's a bit rosier given the 29 percent increase over Q2 2011 that saw the Bezos-backed co. pull in $12.83 billion -- a figure that would have risen to 32 percent were it not for a $272 million hit due to "changes in foreign exchange rates[.]" Operating cash flow for Q2 2012 was down by nearly half at $107MM compared to the same segment last year.

Unsurprisingly, the company's budget Kindle Fire tab -- which has enjoyed relatively weak competition up to now -- is still the number one item across Amazon's site, with titles in its Lending Library growing to over 170,000. Bezos also made note of Prime's growth, pegging that subscription offering's catalog of items at 15 million and highlighting the addition of 18,000 movies and TV shows to its streaming service.

As for the future, the company expects Q3 net sales to grow by at least 19 percent year-over-year, landing somewhere between $12.9 billion and $14.3 billion, with a projected operating loss of $50 million to $350 million. Hit up the PR after the break for the full load of financial highs and lows.

Continue reading Amazon Q2 2012 earnings: net income down 96 percent to $7 million, net sales up 29 percent to $12.83 billion

Amazon Q2 2012 earnings: net income down 96 percent to $7 million, net sales up 29 percent to $12.83 billion originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jul 2012 16:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amazon puts 50MB limit on 3G Kindle’s ‘free’ experimental browser

Amazon puts 50MB limit on 3G Kindle's 'free' experimental browser

Sad news for global freeloaders travellers looking to keep up with Gmail and Twitter on their Amazon e-reader. The online book seller has started closing in on excessive free web browsing, policing a 50MB data limit on its keyboard Kindle iterations. According to users on MobileRead, you'll still be able to browse Amazon's Kindle store and Wikipedia, but anything beyond that gets locked down. After some further investigation, it looks like Amazon added a provision outlining the data limits on its site, dated around July 1st. It stipulating that users "may be limited to 50MB of browsing over 3G per month." The data cap only applies to older Kindle versions, including the Kindle Keyboard and Kindle DX. If you've got Amazon's latest e-reader hardware, then you're not missing anything -- the free web browsing option was sidestepped on the likes of the Kindle Touch.

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Amazon puts 50MB limit on 3G Kindle's 'free' experimental browser originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jul 2012 10:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 app lands on Nook Tablet, turns eBook fans’ gazes skyward

Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 app lands on Nook Tablet, turns eBook fans' gazes skyward

eBook enthusiasts love some good quadricopter action as much as anyone, and now those with a Nook Tablet can get in on flying the Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 that launched this May. Today Barnes & Noble announced that the AR.FreeFlight 2.0 app is available for a free download in its Nook Store. The program lets owners of the RC copter control the device over WiFi. Users can capture photos and videos with the Drone 2.0's embedded cameras and share them via the app or YouTube and Picassa, and double-tapping the button of the right side of the Nook makes the Drone 2.0 perform flips. The $299 AR.Drone 2.0 is available through B&N's site -- get more info in the PR below.

Continue reading Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 app lands on Nook Tablet, turns eBook fans' gazes skyward

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Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 app lands on Nook Tablet, turns eBook fans' gazes skyward originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jul 2012 05:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Boogie Board Jot eWriting pad hands-on (video)

BoogieBoard Jot eWriting pad hands-on (video)

It's been quite some time since we've heard from Improv Electronics, maker of writing tablets such as the Boogie Board Rip. The company was on hand at CEA today to tease its latest device, the Boogie Board Jot, which like the Rip sports a reflex LCD display that doesn't require power to record your scribbles. In fact, the device only uses energy when you hit the eraser button, which means the battery should get you through some 50,000 erases.

Unlike the Rip, this model has no on-board storage, which explains the cheaper $40 price. Another new feature is the redesigned stylus, which acts as a stand for the device when docked in the onboard slot. Improv Electronics will launch the Jot in September, but you can catch some of those back-to-school vibes in our hands-on video below the break.

Continue reading Boogie Board Jot eWriting pad hands-on (video)

Boogie Board Jot eWriting pad hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 18:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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E-book price fixing trial set for 2013: Apple, Macmillan and Penguin prepare for courtroom brawl

E-book price fixing trial set for 2013: Apple, Macmillan and Penguin prepare for courtroom brawl

The Justice Department meant business when it accused Apple and five other publishers of price-rigging e-books, and are officially taking Cupertino and two publishers to court. In a hearing on Friday, Judge Denise Cote set a bench trial for June 3, 2012, putting Apple, Macmillan and Penguin Group on the defense. The government's allegations focus largely on agency pricing, which sees booksellers taking a 30 percent cut of each sale in lieu of buying the books at wholesale and setting their own prices. Apple and Macmillan have already denied the Justice Department's claims, of course -- but that wasn't on the stand, was it?

E-book price fixing trial set for 2013: Apple, Macmillan and Penguin prepare for courtroom brawl originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jun 2012 21:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Distro Issue 42 lands with the Engadget Summer Gear Guide, a handsome new look and more!

Distro Issue 42 lands with the Engadget Summer Gear Guide, a handsome new look and more!

Get ready, folks. We've got quite the treat for you this week. Not only do we have a brand spanking new issue of our weekly for your peepers to consume this weekend, but we've redesigned said e-publication as well. Of course, the real star this week is the Summer Gear Guide. That's right, our editors have painstakingly selected their top choices in all of the major categories to keep you blazin' the balmy trail with the best gadget arsenal possible. To go along with the refined digs, we introduce some new pages this week, too. Time Machines will test your geek cred by removing the easily identifiable logos from a classic device for your trivia pleasure. We'll also go eyes-on each week with some quite dapper offerings to satisfy the design nerd inside us all. Speaking of recent additions, we break down our recent hands-on impressions while Reaction Time offers some thoughts on next-gen gaming and upcoming releases. Switched On chats about what's next for Facebook, the Stat tallies the rise of mobile apps in the last year, Fusion-io CEO and Chairman David Flynn admits his love of Flowbee in the Q&A and Sean Pryor returns for The Strip. So, what are you waiting for? Hit the download link below that you fancy the most and you'll have a copy of this week's e-magazine before you know it.

Distro Issue 42 PDF
Distro in the iTunes App Store
Distro in the Google Play Store
Distro APK (For sideloading)
Like Distro on Facebook
Follow Distro on Twitter

Distro Issue 42 lands with the Engadget Summer Gear Guide, a handsome new look and more! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 May 2012 09:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Harry Potter e-book loaners coming to your Kindle, if you’re Primed

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Amazon will never run out of copies of Harry Potter e-books from its Lending Library. Thanks to a new agreement with Pottermore, on June 19th the entire seven-book collection will be among the 140,000 plus you can grab, provided, of course, that you're an Amazon Prime member. If you've forked over the $79 yearly membership fee, you'll have no due date or waiting, and all your highlights and bookmarks will be saved if you need to re-borrow. Unlike your local library, you can only take out one at a time, but at least you won't have to line up behind all the Muggles to get it.

Continue reading Harry Potter e-book loaners coming to your Kindle, if you're Primed

Harry Potter e-book loaners coming to your Kindle, if you're Primed originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 May 2012 14:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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3M launches its Cloud Library e-book lending service, hardware and apps in tow

3M launches its Cloud Library e-book lending service, hardware and apps in tow

Almost a year after it was first announced 3M's Cloud Library e-book lending service is getting a proper rollout. Introduced today at a beta site in St. Paul, the system is now ready for its kiosks, e-readers and apps to hit the hands and eyes of library patrons. The touch-based Discovery Terminals allow catalog browsing for visitors and selections can be checked out -- along with 3M's eReaders -- like other library materials. Already have a mobile device? E-books will play nicely with your iPad, Nook or Android device via the Cloud Library app. If you find yourself needing to read a bit on your computer, checked out items are compatible with both PCs and Macs as well. "With this technology, we are able to offer cutting-edge technology to all our patrons, whether they own their own e-reader or not," said Kit Hadley, director of the Saint Paul Public Library. A handful of other library systems across the US have also implemented the service. The list of those sites and all details on the introductory period await your click in the PR below.

Continue reading 3M launches its Cloud Library e-book lending service, hardware and apps in tow

3M launches its Cloud Library e-book lending service, hardware and apps in tow originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Apr 2012 19:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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