Amazon partly resolved the differences with the publisher Macmillan, and is now in the main online store of America again, you can buy printed books of this publishing house for the usual prices ($ 15-20 a bestseller).

Digital books are still there, and in this regard could not agree: Macmillan do not like dumping policy Amazon, on which the books are sold in one and a half times cheaper than the competitors (mostly iPad). Now Amazon asks buyers to about $ 9.99 for a digital version of popular publications, Apple – in the region of $ 13-15. Naturally, the option for Apple Macmillan vastly preferable to that and it became a bone of contention.

Although Macmillan digital books at Amazon.com No, the buyer can click on the link "Tell the publisher that I want to have this book on Kindle».

Via Reuters

Recently, the publishing house Macmillan actually prompted Amazon to raise prices on digital versions of their books, and now media mogul Rupert Murdoch (Rupert Murdoch), owner of the publishing house HarperCollins, also announced his intention to raise the price.

According to AppleInsider, Murdoch does not like the price of $ 9.99, because it "devalues the book, and harm the sellers publications. On the other hand, the conditions for my Apple iPad offer publishers a more flexible pricing policy. In his words, Amazon is "ready to sit down and discuss all the issues.

The presentation iPad reported that digital books for the device will cost about $ 13-15. Steve Jobs himself has said that publishers will go to the Kindle or revise prices upwards, which, as we see what happens.

Via AppleInsider

Amazon said the publishers of digital publications, using the platform Digital Text Platform, which now they can if they wish to disable system of digital rights DRM. Strictly speaking, it was possible to disable it before, but it was very difficult. Now this is just a tick.

This news still does not give reason to say that Amazon has decided to completely abandon DRM, but there is a softening of position. While all the books for the Kindle comes with DRM, which Amazon is considering as a way to achieve competitive advantage: Digital Rights Kindle does not allow users to buy digital publications with other publishers, and owners of the publications for Kindle – devices from other manufacturers.

Many manufacturers, including Barnes & Noble, Plastic Logic and Sony, have gone the other way: their devices support universal standards such as EPUB.

Via Electronista

On Wednesday, U.S. Department of Justice has ordered three U.S. universities to turn a pilot program to replace conventional textbooks on Amazon Kindle. This decision is motivated by the fact that Kindle and other similar devices are useless for blind students. Universities "Pace", "Casey Western Reserve" and "Reed" would have to either turn the experiment, or to find ways to integrate blind students into the program.

The decision of the Justice Ministry was the result of a lawsuit filed by human rights groups. They argued that such university programs discriminate against the blind students. In the Kindle is a function of a voice reading the text, but the navigation menu does not voiced, that makes it unsuitable for the blind and weak-sighted users.

The decision of the authorities will come into force only at the end of the spring semester, so Amazon still has time to do something, if she is interested in continuing the experiment.

Via Electronista

For the past week Amazon is not without pride summarized Advent sales. First, the "reader» Kindle was among the visitors online store's most popular gift, surpassing even the iPod touch. Secondly, the first time, readers have bought more books in electronic format Kindle, than conventional paper books. Exact statistics Amazon has not.

This achievement can be considered a milestone in the Amazon and the market of electronic books in general. It shows that in the books much faster than the consumer switches to a purely digital, downloadable formats than in the movies and music, where the bulk of sales are still traditional optical discs (although their share gradually started to decline).

Sales of other electronic books, in particular Nook from Barnes & Noble, is also high. According to unofficial sources, as early as next month on the market should see a new player – the Apple Tablet PC, capable of performing the functions of electronic books.

Via Electronista