Japan’s Rakuten Set to Challenge Amazon With Help From Kobo

Who is Amazon’s biggest competitor? It may be a Japanese-based company you’ve never heard of.
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No More Pencils, No More Books? (Comic)

Here is the latest comic from our Joy of Tech friends at Geek Culture, Nitrozac and Snaggy. Joy of Tech appears three times a week in the Voices section of this site.
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Online Commerce Trend: More Spending, Smaller Purchases

The average checkout size is shrinking, even though more people spent more money online. Why? Here are three reasons.
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E-Book Readers Face Sticker Shock

Cheap new e-readers are expected to be one of the hottest gifts this holiday season. But new owners of Kindles and Nooks may be in for sticker shock on Christmas morning: The price gap between the print and e-versions of some top sellers has now narrowed to within a few dollars — and in some cases, e-books are more expensive than their printed equivalents.

Justice Department Confirms E-Book Probe

The U.S. Justice Department confirmed Wednesday that it is conducting an antitrust investigation into the pricing of electronic books, the latest antitrust watchdog to probe whether there was improper collusion by publishers and Apple Inc. to prevent discounting.

Openmargin Hopes to Be More Than Social E-Reading (Video)

Notes in the margins of e-books could be the next platform for social interaction. At least that’s what Amsterdam-based start-up Openmargin is hoping.
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Amazon, Now a Book Lender

As the e-reader and tablet wars heat up, Amazon.com Inc. is launching a digital-book lending library that will be available only to owners of its Kindle and Kindle Fire devices who are also subscribers to its Amazon Prime program.

Check Out What You Can Check Out at a Wisconsin Library: An Apple iPad

While many libraries are now checking out e-books and digital audiobooks in addition to physical media, the Eau Claire library is taking things a step further by lending out iPads.
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Apple, Starbucks Expanding iTunes Giveaways to Include Apps, Books and TV Shows

The program, which traditionally has given coffee-shop customers a free song, has expanded in recent weeks to include apps and book samples; TV shows are expected soon.
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E-Book Prices Prop Up Print Siblings

Even as readers grow more comfortable with digital books, some continue to question why so many of the most popular new e-books are priced so high.