e-books

Nook chases after Kindle with browser-based service

After a long wait, Barnes & Noble has finally unveiled a browser-based platform, allowing users to explore and read the company's e-books from a Mac or PC.

Dubbed Nook for Web, the platform requires no sign-in, software download, or Nook account for users to start reading. According to Barnes & Noble, the service allows users to search for books and sample them, as well as read entire titles after purchase. Barnes & Noble says that Nook for Web comes with the same "Nook-like reading environment" found in the company's applications and e-readers.

Barnes & Noble took … Read more

Edgar Allan Poe's deliciously creepy storybook app

Forget Stephen King; if you like the macabre, you gotta go Poe.

iPoe for iOS brings to creepy, illustrated life four of Edgar Allan Poe's works.

As with Alice for iPad and other famous literary works given the app treatment, iPoe transforms the author's text into lavishly illustrated pages enhanced with music, animation, and interactive touches.

The app comes with four tales: "Annabel Lee," "The Masque of the Red Death," "The Oval Portrait," and "The Tell-Tale Heart." You also get a brief biography of the author.… Read more

Spider-Man swings into two new apps

App developers know how to plan ahead. Just in time for "The Amazing Spider-Man," which swings into theaters July 3, Disney Publishing and Gameloft have released two very different, but equally great, movie tie-ins.

The Amazing Spider-Man (Android | iOS, $6.99) delivers an action-packed gaming experience, while the Spider-Man AR Book HD for iOS ($4.99) -- unappealing name notwithstanding -- gives kids an interactive storybook to read, hear, and play with.

Let's start with the game, which plays exactly like a Spider-Man adventure should, giving you an open city around which to crawl, swing, and battle.… Read more

Nintendo goes big on 3D with 3DS XL

It's time to live large, change your fate and flip out:

Nintendo just ordered up a supersized version of the 3DS. Going on sale on August 19 for $200, the 3DS XL is 90% larger than the original 3DS. Nintendo could have taken this product in a new direction for gamers by using the extra space to add a second analog stick. But no, the XL has the same design as the 3DS. It's also a bit odd that Nintendo didn't announce this two weeks ago at E3.

So who would want the 3DS XL? Larger screens … Read more

Can you borrow e-books at the library? Most don't know

Do you know if your local library lends e-books? If not, you're in good company.

A full 62 percent of people recently polled by Pew Internet admitted they had no idea whether they could borrow electronic books from their library system. Even among active library card holders, 58 percent expressed the same confusion.

Only 22 percent of those polled said they know their library carries e-books, while 14 percent said they know their library has no such program.

Even those who would take advantage of e-book lending are unsure of their library's policy.

More than half (55 percent) … Read more

All 7 'Harry Potter' books come to Kindle Owners' Lending Library

As promised, all seven "Harry Potter" books are now available in Amazon's Kindle Owners' Lending Library.

Amazon announced last month that it had inked an exclusive licensing deal with J.K. Rowling's Pottermore to make all seven "Harry Potter" books available through its lending library. The books are available to Kindle owners who also subscribe to Amazon Prime. Amazon promises an unlimited supply of the books, so users won't find a book checked out.

"Nowhere else can customers borrow any of the seven Harry Potter books for free, with an unlimited supply … Read more

Nick Bilton gave me a case of the (e-book) blues

The fog has lifted making for a gorgeous day in San Francisco. Thank you Nick Bilton for screwing it all up for me.

Actually, Bilton wrote a terrific piece today in The New York Times today, recounting his state of mind after frequenting a clutch of bookstores during a trip to Manhattan. It also left me feeling low as I nodded in agreement as he recounted the bittersweet price Kindle (and other digital) converts are paying perhaps without realizing the cost.

So I went inside, pushing open the large wooden door, which creaked like a prop borrowed from a horror-movie … Read more

The 404 1,076: Where you don't know you're beautiful (podcast)

Hope you're sitting down for this: Jeff actually has positive words about a movie he saw this weekend! Without giving away the surprise, suffice it to say that Jeff's complaints about the lack of creativity in film and his disgust with the movie-going experience disappeared for two hours on Friday.

In advance of Microsoft's mysterious press event today, we'll speculate what's in store for the software giant and how it could fit into the 56-page road map document that leaked over the weekend.… Read more

Find free Kindle e-books at Hundred Zeros

Think publishers charge too much for e-books? Maybe so, but there's one price you can't beat: free.

Amazon routinely offers Kindle e-books at no charge, either permanently or temporarily. The tricky part is finding them, especially if you want to browse the freebies by category.

There are, of course, ways to score free books for your Kindle (or Nook), as well as matchmaking sites for e-book borrowing and lending.

Now there's another resource: Hundred Zeros catalogs many of the free Kindle e-books currently available through Amazon, updating its listings every hour so you're always seeing the … Read more