Outsource List of e-readers

e-books or e-book readers are not a recent entrant in the market. They have been around for many years now, but have not gained such widespread approval until recently. Similarly, e-book readers have been around for many years but it is the latest versions have grown in popularity and are capturing a significant share of the market.

There are many different readers available for reading e-books. Some are PC-based readers, some tablet software and some stand-alone e-reader devices. The mobile phone which has become an all-purpose device is also being used to read e-books.

Here are some popular e-readers -

Desktop Applications

• Adobe Digital Editions is a very widely used desktop application that can be used to read e-books that are in the ePUB format. This free program is the reference ePUB reader with the best support for this format. Adobe Digital Editions is still the only reader that fully supports the ePUB table of contents.

Tablets

• Apple's highly successful iPad has many takers who love its multi-purpose possibilities. The native Apple iBooks app that can be downloaded for free from the Apple App store allows ePUB books to be read on the device. There are also Kindle and Kobo apps for the iPad giving users access to the Amazon Kindle store and the Kobo e-book store.
• The Samsung Galaxy comes with the Kindle app preinstalled and the Nook and Kobo apps can also be downloaded onto the tablet.
• The HP Tablet has a Kindle app giving readers access to the millions of low-priced books in the Kindle store.

Stand-alone e-readers

• Kindle - Amazon's highly successful e-reader, allows wireless or 3G access to the Amazon Kindle store and downloads directly to the device or a computer.
  The e-ink screen causes less strain on the eye and prolongs battery life. Proprietary formats .mobi and .prc files, .pdf and .txt documents can be read on this device.
• The Sony Reader - One of the first major hardware eBook readers, the Sony Reader is now a very mature device with wide support and distribution. E-books in the ePUB and PDF formats can be accessed using this reader. The e-Ink reading experience coupled with the touchscreen ensures a very real reading experience for users.
• Barnes & Noble Nook - The first Android powered e-reader, the Barnes & Noble Nook is available in two versions – the Nook and Nook Color. The E-ink technology (with an LCD screen) is easy on the eyes, and the 3G and Wireless access makes it easy to download books from the Barnes & Noble Store. It can be used to read ePUB books, and currently doesn't support Word or PDF files.
• Kobo e-reader - The Kobo e-reader can access the online Kobo store and download titles. e-books from the Kobo store are available in ePUB format and can be read on a number of devices. There is a Kobo app for the iPad and for many mobile phones including the iPhone, BlackBerry, Android and Palm Prē and a desktop application.
• Mobile e-readers - The Apple iPhone can display ePUB e-books with the free Stanza reader software available from the Apple App Store that can be accessed in iTunes. The Kindle app for iPhones supports the .prc file and .mobi (Kindle) formats.
• Android - phone users can use the Aldiko e-reader to read books in the ePUB format. Aldiko is also compatible with non-DRM format of ePUB, pdf, text and other formats. Android phone users can use Calibre, a free software converter to convert all these formats into ePUB.
• Windows - Mobile phones have the option of using eReader Pro, Microsoft Reader, Kobo and many other applications that can be downloaded to read e-books.

With mobile phones becoming the gadget of choice for various uses, mobile e-readers have been growing in popularity and many new e-readers for mobile phones are being developed.

Internet-based e-book readers

• Bookworm - is an online open source reader that supports the ePUB table of contents. It allows good HTML and CSS display but requires an active Internet connection.

Want to outsource e-book conversions? Contact us and let us know your requirements.