News Byte

Amazon to Let Independent Bookstores Sell Kindles and Gives Them a Cut of E-Book Sales

Amazon, which has been blamed in part for the decline of independent bookstores, said it has a new program called Amazon Source to allow them and other retailers to resell Kindle devices and accessories, and also give them 10 percent on every e-book bought on them for two years. “With Amazon Source, customers don’t have to choose between e-books and their favorite neighborhood bookstore — they can have both,” said Amazon Kindle VP Russ Grandinetti in a statement.

The Incredible Shrinking Apple E-Book Remedy

Not quite the “modest” injunction Apple would like, but getting closer.
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Infinity Blade 2 Gets Giant Lift From Paid-to-Free Apple Promotion

+200 XP? Nah, +5.7 million players.

Apple Loses E-Book Antitrust Trial

Next step: A trial for damages.
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Apple, Amazon and the Disgruntled Publishers

“They had a relationship that was not positive. You heard a lot of negative things from them.”

— Apple media boss Eddy Cue, testifying during the DOJ antitrust trial Monday, describing the way book publishers viewed Amazon, circa 2009

Kindle Fire HD Is Better but It Isn’t the Best Color Tablet

Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD is slimmer, lighter and more stylish, but it doesn’t beat the iPad as a tablet.

Nook Out Below: Barnes & Noble Drops Tablet Prices as Mini-Market Gets More Crowded

The bookseller is taking some proactive measures to keep its e-readers competitive.

Make That E-Book a Venti

Got an email from a “fan” outraged that a novel I’ve been working on for two years, six days a week is $13 in ebook. Enjoy your $4 coffee.

— Author Brent Weeks, via Twitter

Feds to E-Book Settlement Critics: Haters Gonna Hate

The Department of Justice defends its deal with three big publishers it accused of price-fixing. And it previews its coming court fight with Apple.

E-books Are Booming, and Still Sort of Small

Sales of e-books doubled in 2011. But books are still an analog business, by a wide margin.