ebooks

Bookviser – A Metro style FREE eBook Reader

January 26, 2012 | By bookviser

My name is Alex Gontcharov. I’d like to draw your attention to my new app Bookviser – FREE eBook Reader for WP7. While building it I focused on usability, smooth effects, comfort of reading and Metro UI guidelines. In Bookviser I’ve implemented 3 ways of getting books for your phone:

The reader is connected to Bookviser cloud service allowing you to upload your own files in EPUB, FB2 and TXT formats
You can search and download books from digital libraries (only Feedbooks is connected at the moment, but more are coming)
There is a built-in web browser which you can use to download books publicly available on the web

Features:

Supported formats: EPUB, FB2 and TXT
Customize fonts and colors
Search through book
Browse contents
Pin book tile to home screen

Coming in next version:

Dropbox and SkyDrive support
Landscape mode
Localization

Pricing: Free! (No Ads)

Where to get it:Download Bookviser from Marketplace here

You can also scan the following QR code to the right.

More info at www.bookviser.com

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More animated illustrated children’s books now in Marketplace

July 8, 2011 | By Surur

XIMAD has continued to release their animated children’s books in Marketplace. The apps, which feature illustrations that respond to your hand-gestures and come to life as you flip the pages and objects that move and get animated when you tilt the device and tap on its screen are a perfect way to get your children interested in reading and keep them entertained whenever you are busy.

The book in the video above, The little Engine that could, has 10 pages, costs $0.99 with a free trial, and can be found in Marketplace here. Other books include Three little pigs, The little princess and the children’s bible.

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Google Books e-book reader now available for Windows Phone 7

June 26, 2011 | By Surur

GBReader_2

Google has not exactly fallen over itself to make its collection of apps and services available on the Windows Phone 7 platform. This has fortunately however not stopped 3rd party developers from making clients to access these services.

GoReader is a Google Books client for Windows Phone 7 that allows users to access the thousands of free e-books available on www.books.google.com.

The app looks great, is $0.99 with a free trial, and can be found in Marketplace here.

Via Mobileblog.in

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300 interactive children’s ebooks coming to Windows Phone 7

June 21, 2011 | By Surur

We have complained numerous times about ebook spam, but an influx of 300 ebooks from Touchybooks is exactly what Marketplace needs.

According to the company, which makes interactive ebooks for children, Microsoft has asked the company to port their apps to Windows Phone 7, with 150 already in Marketplace, and 20 being added every day. TouchyBooks averages two new titles per week in four languages: English, Spanish, French and German. Italian language editions are planned for June 2011.

“The interactive books for kids by Touchybooks are amazing experiences that really add value to Windows Phone Marketplace. Microsoft and Windows Phone really back these types of projects”, said Isabel Gómez Miragaya, Applications and Games Manager for Windows Phone.

TouchyBooks stories are beautiful interactive eBooks for kids ages 2-7, featuring adapted text and language for beginning readers, with text narration offering ‘Read by Myself’ and ‘Read to Me’ options for most of the stories. Each title includes colorful and child friendly illustrations. TouchyBooks’ eBookstore has served over over 500,000 downloads in 90 countries .

Priced from $0.99 – $3.99, with free demo versions, TouchyBooks also features drag and drop articles, hot spots, sound effects, background music, and multi-animation touch – i.e. if you touch it again, it does something new.

Windows Phone 7 now has Overdrive free ebook and audio-book app

June 13, 2011 | By Surur

od3

Windows Phone 7 still does not have Audible support yet, so it is welcome news to hear that OverDrive Media Console has come to the platform.

OverDrive Media Console will allow users to download eBooks and audiobooks from your local municipal library directly to your Windows Phone.

Books are downloaded in EPUB format or MP3 and have to be checked out for a limited period just like real books.

Over 15,000 libraries worldwide offer the service, but you need a valid library card to participate. See the list of libraries supporting the service here.

If your library offers the OverDrive service get the app from Marketplace here.

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Library eBooks coming to Windows Phone 7 via Amazon’s Kindle

April 20, 2011 | By Surur

Amazon today announced Kindle Library Lending, a new feature launching later this year that will allow Kindle customers to borrow Kindle books from over 11,000 libraries in the United States. Kindle Library Lending will be available for all generations of Kindle devices and free Kindle reading apps.

Customers will be able to check out a Kindle book from their local library and start reading on any Kindle device or free Kindle app for Android, iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, PC, Mac, BlackBerry, or Windows Phone. If a Kindle book is checked out again or that book is purchased from Amazon, all of a customer’s annotations and bookmarks will be preserved.

"We’re doing a little something extra here," said Jay Marine, Director, Amazon Kindle. "Normally, making margin notes in library books is a big no-no. But we’re extending our Whispersync technology so that you can highlight and add margin notes to Kindle books you check out from your local library. Your notes will not show up when the next patron checks out the book. But if you check out the book again, or subsequently buy it, your notes will be there just as you left them, perfectly Whispersynced."

Amazon is working with OverDrive, the leading provider of digital content solutions for over 11,000 public and educational libraries in the United States, to bring a seamless library borrowing experience to Kindle customers.

"We are excited to be working with Amazon to offer Kindle Library Lending to the millions of customers who read on Kindle and Kindle apps," said Steve Potash, CEO, OverDrive. "We hear librarians and patrons rave about Kindle, so we are thrilled that we can be part of bringing library books to the unparalleled experience of reading on Kindle."

The service is US only.

Kindle Library Lending will be available later this year for Kindle and free Kindle app users.

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For Developers: Windows Phone 7 Game Development manual now available

January 12, 2011 | By Surur

wp7gamedev_cover Adam Dawes, who needs no introduction to the gaming development crowd, has released his first book on Windows Phone 7 gaming development.

The book will provide a complete guide through all of the stages required to develop your own games for the Windows Phone 7 platform using the C# programming language and Visual Studio 2010.

Windows Phone 7 Game Development is aimed at those with an existing background in programming and knowledge of one of the two main .NET programming languages (C# or VB). The book will guide the reader through the steps required to become proficient in Silverlight and XNA and programming games in general so no prior knowledge of programming for Windows Phone 7 is required.

The book also guides developers in getting their apps certified and listed on the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace.

The text covers:

How to setup your development environment for Windows Phone 7 game programming
Immerse yourself in the Silverlight and XNA technologies for mobile development, supported by Windows Phone 7.
Techniques for building rich interactive games in 2D and 3D.
How to create your own 3D models and graphics.
Gain insight that will allow you to take full advantage of the Windows Phone 7′s gaming capabilities.
How to distribute Windows Phone 7 games to your end users.

The book is around $29 and is available to buy now from Apress, amazon.com, amazon.co.uk and Computer Manuals, and as an e-book from the Apress web site.

Read more on the book at Adam’s site here.

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Newspaper app coming to Windows Phone 7

January 8, 2011 | By Surur

tribune

Press Release: Tribune Company will debut its beta version of a new mobile news aggregation application at this week’s 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Called “Mosaic,” the app offers a visually stunning, multi-touch screen designed to enable consumers to personalize and read all of their news via one reader and offer advertisers an innovative digital advertising model to target audiences.

TRIBUNE is one of the country’s leading multimedia companies, operating businesses in publishing, interactive and broadcasting. In publishing, Tribune’s leading daily newspapers include the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun, Sun Sentinel (South Florida), Orlando Sentinel, Hartford Courant, The Morning Call and Daily Press. The company’s broadcasting group operates 23 television stations, WGN America on national cable and Chicago’s WGN-AM. Popular news and information websites complement Tribune’s print and broadcast properties and extend the company’s nationwide audience.

Mosaic provides quick and easy access to the news, information and entertainment content produced by Tribune’s media outlets, initially including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, Orlando Sentinel, Sun Sentinel (South Florida) Hartford Courant, The Morning Call (Allentown, PA) and Daily Press (Newport News, VA) and followed shortly thereafter by the company’s broadcast entities. Mosaic also offers users the ability to add news feeds and premium publication subscriptions from across the Web.

The free application will initially be available for use with Microsoft’s Windows 7 Mobile-based tablets and will be offered to consumers beginning Jan. 31. A companion Windows Phone 7 app will follow, and Tribune continues developing similar mobile news solutions for use with other devices such as the iPad and Android phones.

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Amazon Kindle for Windows Phone 7 hands-on video

January 5, 2011 | By Surur

Matthew Miller from the ZDNet blog have published this hands-on video of the Amazon Kindle app in action on an HTC HD7.

The app appears pretty responsive, and interestingly includes a brightness control, a hardware control I did not know was available to developers.

KIndle can be downloaded from Marketplace here.

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For Developers: Microsoft and O’Reilly announce multiple Windows Phone 7 books for the holiday season

November 25, 2010 | By Surur

Press Release: Smartphone application developers appear to be exceptionally interested in the new Windows® Phone 7, according to recent media reports. Just in time for the holidays, Microsoft Press announces a new slate of books and ebooks for Windows Phone 7. Tapping the expertise of Microsoft engineers and software designers, as well as top industry consultants and trainers, "We have the resources for Windows Phone 7 developers," says Steve Weiss, associate publisher for Microsoft Press. "Application developers and programmers are going to have a treasure trove of resources to get productive very quickly on this new platform."

wpps For smartphone consumers, Weiss adds that Microsoft Press offers the ideal introduction to Windows Phone 7 with the full-color Windows Phone 7 Plain & Simple ( ISBN: 9780735643420, $29.99 USD ), now available for holiday shoppers. This easy, colorful, "see-how" guide to the new phone was written by Michael Stroh, a technology writer at Microsoft® who spent the last year working alongside the designers and engineers who created Windows Phone 7.

ProgWinPhone7 (1) December finds two titles by Windows programming legend Charles Petzold, author of the classic and critically praised Programming Windows, now in its fifth edition, and Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software, used in schools worldwide. Microsoft® Silverlight®: Programming Windows® Phone 7 ( ISBN:9780735656673, $39.99 USD ) and Microsoft® XNA Framework Edition: Programming Windows® Phone 7 ( ISBN:9780735656697, $34.99 USD ) are the printed, tool-specific breakout editions of Programming Windows Phone 7, an ebook edited and vetted by Microsoft product team members while Windows Phone 7 was being developed.

"It’s been quite the phenomenon to watch, with the developer community following Charles’ every move," Weiss says. "His initial drafts were released alongside the first announcement of the new phone in spring of 2010 and updated as new builds of the software were developed, making it one of the first and most comprehensive books on Windows Phone 7 programming." The full book was released as a free eBook from Microsoft this fall, and has been split into two print books—one covering Silverlight and the other XNA—for retail sales availability.

Written by in-house developer-community evangelists from the Microsoft Patterns and Practices Group, Developing Windows Phone 7 Applications ( ISBN: 9780735656093, $29.99 USD ), kicks off the New Year by leading the reader from front-end to cloud using a series of real-life scenarios to coax each unique app to life. "This book is all about the core issues and advanced concepts experienced developers need to know as they explore development on the Windows Phone 7 platform," Weiss says. "It’s the perfect complement to the Petzold books."

Microsoft Press will have more to come after that, with the following titles scheduled for release in 2011:

Microsoft XNA Game Studio 4.0: Learn Programming Now! ( Jan. 2011 ): A leading classroom resource for students learning Microsoft programming, now in its fourth edition and with complete coverage of the Windows Phone 7 platform.
Windows Phone 7 Silverlight Development Step by Step ( Spring 2011 )
Building Multi-Platform Cloud-Connected Solutions with Microsoft Silverlight, Windows Phone 7, Windows Communication Foundation, and the Windows Azure™ Platform ( Spring 2011 )
Guide to Windows Phone 7 Development for iPhone and Android Developers ( Spring 2011 )

For review copies or more information please email gretchen@oreilly.com. Please include your delivery address and contact information.

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HTC planning e-book, app store

November 8, 2010 | By Surur

eCover1 HTC is apparently hiring staff to create an e-book and application store for its smartphones, according to the Financial Times.

According to their sources HTC has been hiring content editors for a planned online HTC store for its phones, including for e-books and magazines as well as for applications. The team is understood initially to include a small number of staff based in Taiwan, with plans to expand to 100 people in different locations around the world.

When asked to comment HTC said it is “growing very fast and we are hiring for a variety of positions including marketers, developers, technical writers and many others. We are always exploring new areas we can add value to our customers but we can’t comment on our future plans.”

It is not clear if this move will impact HTC’s Windows Phone 7 offering in any way. While Microsoft forbids alternate application stores in Windows Phone 7, OEMs are allowed their own segment in Marketplace, an area which LG is currently using to very good effect and which does provide HTC with a distribution route on that platform.

Audible app coming to Windows Phone 7

November 5, 2010 | By Surur

audibleUK At present, unlike on the ZuneHD, Audible files are not supported on Windows phone 7.

Paul Thurrott asked the company when support would be coming, and received this relatively encouraging answer.

I understand that you are interesting in using the Windows Phone 7 with your Audible Content. I do apologize for the inconvenience but the Windows Phone 7 is currently not supported by Audible so the Audible files will not play on this device. There is no work around to transfer Audible files onto this device and no announced plans about when the device will be supported.

To make a device compatible with the .aa format means supporting our encryption, this protects the publisher’s copyrights as well as implementing key usability features, such as section navigation and resume playback. Although previous devices were supported by Audible, their has been alterations to the Windows 7 that does not allow the old Audible Air application to be updated easily and translated for the new OS.

Since this is the case, we are currently designing a new App for this phone and hope it will be available sooner than later.

While native support would have been ideal (especially in terms of enabling background playback) an application can actually be better in some ways, with the ability for example to purchase directly from the device, unlike on the iPhone for example.

Audible support would be another key service which would reduce to cost of switching to a Windows phone 7 device and make it an increasingly viable solution for other smartphone users.

Via WindowsPhoneSecrets.

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Samsung promising eBook hub for Omnia 7 in Q1 2011

October 23, 2010 | By Surur

ereaderhub

34763001_m_f Eagle-eyed reader Duncan has spotted that on the official UK Samsung Omnia 7 features page that Samsung will be offering an Ebook hub for their new Windows Phone 7 device.

The update however promises more that simply books, noting it will be the place to go for newspapers and periodicals also, and will be available to download in Q1 2011.

Samsung already offers a stand-alone e-reader in UK being sold via large UK book retailer WMSmith which supports text to speech and annotation, and we will hopefully see these features and the store that supports it carry over to this software solution.

With Marketplace still small having a supported reader platform for your device may be another reason to chose the Samsung Omnia 7 over the many other contenders.

Thanks Duncan for the tip.

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