by Allen Weiner | June 19, 2012 | 1 Comment
Microsoft has announced a new entry into the tablet parade, dubbed Surface, which is hardly a major revelation given the rumor Red Carpet that now precedes any such tech announcement. It’s a purty-lookin device with the sorts of lines and angles reserved for roadsters and remodeled Craftsman homes. The slick cover-cum-keyboard is yet another tool [...]
Category: Uncategorized Tags: Adobe, Amazon, Apple, B&N, Barnes and Noble, Microsoft, Nokia, Publishing, Surface, tablet
by Allen Weiner | April 30, 2012 | Comments Off
The story is rather simple: Microsoft is investing in the formation of a strategic partnership in a new Barnes & Noble subsidiary referred to as “Newco,” which will bring together the Redmond, WA company with the consumer and College businesses of Barnes & Noble. Microsoft will make a $300 million investment in Newco at a [...]
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Category: Amazon Apple Tags: Amazon, Apple, Barrnes & Noble, ebooks, Microsoft, Nokia
by Allen Weiner | January 24, 2012 | 2 Comments
Yahoo’s brand spankin’ new CEO Scott Thompson had his coming out party at what turned out to be a rather curious Q4 earnings call. The numbers are the numbers: up here, down there; news on the Microsoft Search Alliance and the usual “we’re going to try harder and do better” sort of rah-rah chatter. What [...]
Category: Yahoo Tags: Apple, Scott Thompson, Yahoo
by Allen Weiner | July 26, 2011 | 1 Comment
For a somewhat experienced market research analyst, it’s always a danger to build an opinion based on a small sample size. When that small sample size includes yourself and a few family members, now you are talking risky. That said, when Netflix announced a price change that separates its streaming and DVD-by-mail service, my visceral [...]
Category: Uncategorized Tags: Amazon, Apple, Booth at the End, Netflix, samsung, Sony, Vizio, Vuguru, Walmart
by Allen Weiner | May 5, 2011 | 2 Comments
Just when you thought it was safe to go into your big box retailers and buy an “e-reader” after parsing the maze of options, two new choices loom: a new tablet from Amazon and a new something from Barnes and Noble. Barnes and Noble’s new device is fact; Amazon’s is speculation built on the usual [...]
Category: Amazon Apple Tags: Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble, books, e-books, e-readers, iPad, Microsoft, Mirasol, Qualcomm, Sony
by Allen Weiner | April 25, 2011 | 12 Comments
Barnes and Noble has made good on its promise of upgrading the firmware on its Nook Color, launched in October 2010, by announcing that Froyo, aka Android 2.2, will now be available to Nook Color owners. The upgrade for the $249 device can be done immediately through “sideloading” (download from web and install) or via [...]
Category: Uncategorized Tags: Amazon, Android, Apple, Barnes and Noble, e-books, e-readers, Froyo, iPad, Nook
by Allen Weiner | December 6, 2010 | 3 Comments
Google’s entry into the digital publishing space with the launch of its eBookstore, partner program and device neutral distribution scheme is a big deal. On first look, there is the significant impact on rivals in the distribution space (Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple and Amazon) as they face new competition. However, as the first “media [...]
Category: Amazon Apple Cloud Google Tags: Amazon, Android, Apple, ebooks, Google, Google ebooks, iBookstore
by Allen Weiner | May 11, 2010 | Comments Off
Google has dropped a few hints about the upcoming release of Google Editions, its megasized e-book marketplace that aims to take on other e-book platform providers. What makes that scenario a bit complicated is that some e-book distribution platforms are operated by device companies (i.e. Barnes and Noble, Amazon and Sony, with whom Google wants [...]
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Category: e-books magazines Microsoft Publishing Tags: Amazon, Apple, Chrome, E Ink, e-books, e-readers, Google, Google Editions, iPad, LCD, Sony
by Allen Weiner | March 2, 2010 | Comments Off
A trio of news stories adds further credibility to a research thread Gartner has been writing about for more than a year which states that magazines will have a tough ride to become multiplatform digital distributors. (“Magazines Fall Behind in the Quest for Digital Publishing Riches,” Dec. 2009—behind gartner.com pay wall). The Wall Street Journal [...]
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Category: Publishing Tags: Apple, Conde Nast, Hearst, iPad, iPhone, magazines, Time
by Allen Weiner | February 11, 2010 | 4 Comments
Let’s try and untangle the congested freeway of e-book news that had led to the enhanced content myth. No matter what business model evolves as the de fact online retail model (wholesale to retail or agency model), publishers are struck, for the most part, with existing market pricing for best-sellers. With $9.99 being the norm, [...]
Category: Publishing Tags: Adobe, Apple, e-books, e-readers, iPad, Kindle, Nook
