e book white paper shivaji sengupta may 2010

Created by Shivaji Sengupta from content compiled from various sources on the internet. May 2010. www.shivaji.info

White Paper on eBook Trends, Formats, Devices and Workflow

Created By

Shivaji Sengupta [email protected] www.shivaji.info

May 24th 2010


Table of Contents What is an eBook? ............................................................................................................................................... 3 eBook Trend ........................................................................................................................................................ 3 Upcoming and Popular eBook Devices ............................................................................................................... 4

Apple iPad.................................................................................................................................................... 5 Notion Ink "Adam" ...................................................................................................................................... 5 Freescale Semiconductor tablet ................................................................................................................... 5 Entourage eDGe ........................................................................................................................................... 5 Dell Mini 5 ................................................................................................................................................... 6 Lenovo IdeaPad U1 ..................................................................................................................................... 6 Fusion Garage JooJoo .................................................................................................................................. 6 Amazon Kindle tablet .................................................................................................................................. 6

Popular eBook Formats ....................................................................................................................................... 7 EPUB (.epub) ............................................................................................................................................... 7 Portable Document Format (.pdf) ................................................................................................................ 7 Mobipocket (.prc, .mobi) ............................................................................................................................. 8 Kindle (.azw) ............................................................................................................................................... 8 eReader (.pdb) .............................................................................................................................................. 9 Broadband eBook (.lrf, .lrx) ......................................................................................................................... 9 Microsoft Reader (.lit) ................................................................................................................................. 9 Flash Lite (.swf) ........................................................................................................................................... 9 DjVu (.djvu) ............................................................................................................................................... 10 FictionBook (.fb2) ..................................................................................................................................... 10 Tome Raider (.tr2, .tr3) .............................................................................................................................. 11

ePub Reader Software ........................................................................................................................................ 12 Bookworm (Online Service) ...................................................................................................................... 12 EPUB Reader Firefox Add-On (Windows/Linux/Mac) ............................................................................ 13 Stanza (Mac/Windows).............................................................................................................................. 14 MobiPocket Reader (Windows)................................................................................................................. 15

Typical Process Diagram ................................................................................................................................... 16


What is an eBook? eBooks are electronic versions of published and printed books. Usually one can download an eBook from a website like Amazon (www.Amazon.com/Books) or one can purchase a CD / DVD copy of the eBook. The ebook can then be read off a computer screen, a laptop, eBook readers, mobile phones and organizers. Some computers offer programs to make reading eBooks more like reading a book. They feature the ability to “turn pages,” as one would with a regular book.

In general, contemporary popular novels or popular works of non‐fiction need to be purchased, and are widely available from companies like Amazon.com. One may gain access to reading them, but must still use citation methods if quoting them, or may need to ask the author if the book can be cited or reproduced.

Sometimes an eBook is written specifically for the Internet, and may contain helpful features like word or subject searches, and hyperlinks to other sites, or other sections of the eBook. In fact some authors have found the eBook to be the perfect way to self‐publish.

There are eBook publishers who market to beginning writers and do take a share of the writer’s profits. Such publishers may seriously enhance the amount of available content, or they may ask for upfront fees from the writer.

Occasionally, a well‐adapted eBook from a print source may also include search features, or may include hyperlinks. As well, some authors may publish their work without charging for downloads. When this is the case it is highly advisable that authors copyright their work prior to offering it, since theft of original work remains a problem on the Internet.

Over the last few years a number of devices have emerged that specifically cater to the eBook market. The most popular / successful among them have been the Amazon Kindle and the Sony eBook reader. Besides eBook reader devices other popular eBook software on computers has grown ebook adoptions significantly. Some of them will be described in this document. However one of the projected key drivers for higher eBook adoption is the upcoming boom of hand held computing devices like the Apple iPad. Also outlined in this document are the variety of upcoming handheld computing devices along with the various formats that are popular today.

eBook Trend Based on the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) numbers, January ‘10 eBook sales almost quadruple those of January ’09.

January 2010 e‐book sales posted a nearly 370% jump over the same month in 2009, according to the International Digital Publishing Forum and the Association of American Publishers. The numbers are $31,900,000 for January ‘10 compared to $8,800,000 for January ‘09. January was also the biggest e‐sales month ever, and it wasn’t even close. The biggest month to date was December ‘09 at $19,100,000.


IDPF reminds us that:

* This data represents United States revenues only * This data represents only trade e‐book sales via wholesale channels. Retail numbers may be as much as double the above figures due to industry wholesale discounts. * This data represents only data submitted from approx. 12 to 15 trade publishers * This data does not include library, educational or professional electronic sales * The numbers reflect the wholesale revenues of publishers * The definition used for reporting electronic book sales is “All books delivered electronically over the Internet or to hand‐held reading devices”

Upcoming and Popular eBook Devices Apple started taking orders for its iPad tablet March 12, and some reports indicate first‐day pre‐orders of 120,000, a strong initial showing for the device due out April 3. The first version of the iPad is Wi‐Fi only; another that also has 3G connectivity through AT&T. There are many other companies jumping into the tablet arena. Among them: HP, Dell and Samsung. Google and HTC are reportedly working on a slate, and Sony may be interested, too. No one really knows yet whether consumers will gravitate to tablets, and Apple’s “is not the first media tablet,” says ABI Research senior analyst Jeff Orr. “But it does help define this new device category,” and is definitely the 1.5‐ pound gorilla in the room.


Apple iPad

The iPad is a tablet computer designed and marketed by Apple for Internet browsing, media consumption, gaming, and light content creation. Released in April 2010, it established a new class of devices between smart phones and laptops. As of May 3, 2010, Apple had sold 1 million iPads.

Similar to the older (and smaller) iPod Touch and iPhone, the iPad runs a modified version of the iPhone OS and is controlled by a multi‐touch LCD sensitive to fingertips, not a stylus. It runs iPad‐specific applications as well as those written for the iPhone and iPod touch, including e‐book readers. The iPad uses WiFi or its 3G data connection to browse the Internet, load and stream media, and install software. A USB cable is required to sync the iPad with iTunes on a personal computer.

More information: http://www.apple.com/ipad

Notion Ink "Adam" The “Adam,” with a 10‐inch screen (like many tablets) isn’t going to be like most tablets, its Indian creators say. Indeed, the intriguing Android‐based prototype, shown at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, featured the energy saving Pixel Qi 3qi screen which can display in both black and white or color, as well as NVIDIA’s lower‐power, but lightning fast Tegra 2 chipset. No word on pricing yet, but Rohan Shravan, CEO of Notion Ink Design Labs, says it will be “very competitive with other products.” Look for the “Adam” to be released in the United States the third quarter of this year, he said. Technology consultant Rob Enderle wrote recently that the Adam’s “transflective Pixel Qi screen should give it both iPad‐like media features (color and motion) and Kindle‐like text capabilities (outdoor readability), plus potentially better battery life.” (The iPad’s is estimated at 10 hours.) More information: http://www.notionink.com Freescale Semiconductor tablet Freescale plans a 7‐inch touch‐screen tablet that will also have a separate keyboard. The company is aiming for a price of less than $200. The form factor will be about “one‐third the size and volume of today’s typical netbook,” Freescale says, and have “all‐day” battery life. The Freescale tablet will have Wi‐Fi and Bluetooth wireless connectivity, as well as a 3G modem. Adobe Flash, for video — something the iPad will not use — will be part of the Web browser, and programs will include image viewers, an RSS reader, office suite and various “widgets” for social networking programs like Facebook and Twitter, as well as one for Flickr’s photo‐sharing site. No word yet on when the tablet will be available. More information: http://www.freescale.com Entourage eDGe Entourage Systems, Inc. calls the eDGe a “Dualbook” — it’s an e‐reader on one side, and a tablet on another, and uses the Android operating system for both. The tablet has a 10.1‐inch touchscreen display; the e‐reader display is 9.7 inches and handles ePub files (the same format the iPad will accept), as well as PDFs. The 3‐pound eDGe, which uses Wi‐Fi, runs on a lithium ion battery that Entourage says should last for up to 16 hours of reading. The eDGe includes a microphone and a video camera that also can take still images. Cost is $499 and it recently became available for shipping from Entourage.


More information: http://entourageedge.com Dell Mini 5 Dell hasn't said a lot yet about its tablet with a 5‐inch screen, which has the "Mini 5" moniker for now. No word on whether it will remain. It will reportedly have a 5‐megapixel camera — something the iPad does not include, and will run on the Android operating system. Another difference: the Mini 5 screen will display video at a 16:9, or widescreen, ratio, instead of the 4:3, or standard screen, ratio on the iPad. There's no word on pricing or availability. But Dell has indicated the Mini 5 will be just the first in a line of tablets that will likely come in different screen sizes. Lenovo IdeaPad U1 The IdeaPad U1 is dubbed a "hybrid" — it's both a notebook and a tablet, with an 11.6‐ inch display that can be used for slate purposes. As a tablet, it's a full‐fledged, self‐contained unit. The U1 is also a hybrid because it has two different operating systems. The tablet, with 16 gigabytes of flash memory, uses Lenovo's new Skylight operating system (based on Linux); the notebook, with a 128‐gigabyte solid‐state drive, runs on Windows 7. The U1 notebook weighs 3.8‐pounds; the tablet, 1.6 pounds, and Lenovo says the notebook and tablet modes “each support more than five hours of 3G Web browsing and 60 hours of 3G stand‐by.”There’s also synchronicity with the U1: “Users can surf the Web in laptop mode and then continue from the same point without interruption if they detach to tablet mode,” Lenovo says. The IdeaPad U1 is due out in June, and is expected to cost around $1,000. More information: Check Lenovo's ”New Product Showcase” site. Fusion Garage JooJoo The early version of the JooJoo tablet, which will have a 12.1‐inch capacitive touchscreen. The JooJoo started its life as the “CrunchPad,” envisioned by TechCrunch Web site founder Michael Arrington as a simple and relatively low‐cost device, between $300 and $400. A rift between the men may lead to the courtroom, but in the meantime, Fusion Garage is proceeding ahead with the JooJoo, which will cost $499. Pre‐orders are being taken for it. Rathakrishnan says the JooJoo will have a 4‐gigabyte solid‐state drive and about 5 hours of battery life. He says the device will be able to start up and connect to the Internet in 9 seconds. More information: http://www.JooJoo.com Amazon Kindle tablet Amazon's Kindle, which came out in late 2007, has been a hit, dominating the ereader field with its easy‐to‐read 6.5‐inch screen and portability. Not quite so much its larger Kindle released last year, the DX, with a 9.7‐inch screen The DX’s keyboard is harder to use than the one on its smaller sibling. To make the larger Kindle more competitive with the iPad, which will also serve as an e‐reader, Amazon may be working on a model that has a color screen and is also a touchscreen, like the iPad.


Popular eBook Formats Below are the most popular eBook formats. EPUB (.epub)

Description

The .ePub is an open format defined by the Open eBook Forum of the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF). ".epub" is the file extension of an XML format for reflowable digital books and publications. ".epub" is composed of three open standards, the Open Publication Structure (OPS), Open Packaging Format (OPF) and Open Container Format (OCF), produced by the IDPF. "EPUB" allows publishers to produce and send a single digital publication file through distribution and offers consumers interoperability between software/hardware for unencrypted reflowable digital books and other publications. The Open eBook Publication Structure or "OEB", originally produced in 1999, is the precursor to OPS. It is based on XHTML and XML along with optional style sheets.

Reader Device Support

• Apple iPad

• Sony Reader

• Barnes & Noble Nook

• Azbooka WISEreader

• Bookeen Cybook Gen3, Opus

• COOL‐ER Classic

• Hanlin e‐Reader V3

• Hanvon WISEreader

• iRex iLiad

• Iriver Story

• Nokia N900

• NUUTbook 2

• OLPC XO, Sugar

• Onyx Boox 60

• Pocketbook 301 Plus, 302, 360°

• Viewsonic VEB612

Portable Document Format (.pdf)

Description

PDF stands for Portable Document Format and was created in 1993 by Adobe Systems for the interchange of documents. Being able to rearrange the text is called re‐flowing the document and permits a PDF designed for a full sized piece of paper to be easily read on a small devices such as a PDA or eBook Reader.


• Amazon Kindle 2, DX

• Sony Reader

• Apple iPad






• Hanvon WISEreader

• iRex iLiad

• Iriver Story

• Nokia N900

• NUUTbook 2

• OLPC XO, Sugar

• Onyx Boox 60



Mobipocket (.prc, .mobi)

Description

MOBI is the format used by the the MobiPocket Reader. It may have a .mobi extension or it may have a .prc extension. The .prc extension is used because the PalmOS doesn't support any file extensions except .prc or .pdb. Mobipocket prohibits their DRM format to be used on dedicated eBook readers that support other DRM formats.



• Apple iPad





• iRex iLiad

• Nokia N900

• Onyx Boox 60



Kindle (.azw)

Description

AZW, probably standing for Amazon Whispernet, is an eBook format used exclusively on the Amazon Kindle and compatible Kindle software on PC's or iPhones. It is basically the MOBI format using the high compression option. The AZW extension is used on both eBook files that are protected with DRM and files that are not protected.




• Apple iPad

• Apple iPhone

eReader (.pdb)

Description

Palm database files will generally have a .pdb extension but in some cases they may have a .prc extension (see PRC). The extension doesn't really matter on the Palm device so long as it is one of these two.


• Apple iPad


Broadband eBook (.lrf, .lrx)

Description

BBeB (for Broad Band eBook) is a proprietary eBook file format developed by Sony and Canon. It is also supported by Sony e‐book readers. BBeB files have the extensions of LRS, LRF or LRX. LRS files are XML files. LRF (unencrypted) and LRX (encrypted for DRM purposes) files are compiled/compressed versions of LRS files that are actually used by eBook readers.


• Sony Reader

Microsoft Reader (.lit)

Description

LIT is intended to be an abbreviation for Literature and is the extension used to identify eBooks in a format that works with the Microsoft Reader software. This format is based on Microsoft Compressed HTML Help format.


• PocketPC

• Windows Mobile

• Hanlin eBook

Flash Lite (.swf)

Description

Flash technology has become a popular method for creating eBooks with interaction and animation; several software products, systems, and devices are able to create or display Flash SWF content. Flash Player is a light weight installer and gets installed faster than other plug‐ins. eBook is framed around Flash and using the Flash Player to display the SWF files.


• Nokia Phones

• Sony Ericsson’s Phones


• Samsung Phone

• LG Phone

DjVu (.djvu)

Description

DjVu is a computer file format designed primarily to store scanned documents, especially those containing a combination of text, line drawings, and photographs. It uses technologies such as image layer separation of text and background/images, progressive loading, arithmetic coding, and lossy compression for bitonal (monochrome) images. DjVu has been promoted as an alternative to PDF, as it gives smaller files than PDF for most scanned documents. DjVu viewers are available for web browsers, the desktop, and PDA devices.


• Apple iPad


• iRex iLiad

• Iriver Story

• Nokia N900

• OLPC XO, Sugar

• Onyx Boox 60


FictionBook (.fb2)

Description

FictionBook is an open XML‐based e‐book format, which originated and gained popularity in Russia. The FictionBook files have the .fb2 filename extension. The FictionBook format does not specify the appearance of a document; instead, it describes its structure.


• Apple iPad





• Nokia N900

• Onyx Boox 60



Tome Raider (.tr2, .tr3)

Description

TomeRaider is an ebook reader and cross‐platform reference viewer for handheld devices and Microsoft Windows PC. TomeRaider is created by Yadabyte, a UK software and web development company. TR is the extension used to identify Tome Raider files. The file format is highly compressed and most suitable for large reference documents. Most files are encrypted and require a DRM key.


• Apple iPad

• Android

• Windows Mobile

• Pocket PC

• Palm OS

• Psion

• Symbian


ePub Reader Software

ePub seems to be the most popular and widely distributed format today. ePub stands for Electronic Publishing and is a standard e‐book format which is used by all popular e‐book readers out there, including Barnes & Noble Nook, Sony Reader, iPhone/iPod Touch(using various e‐book apps), and more. ePub files have .epub extension. There are various online as well as desktop tools which allow users to read .epub formats. Some of the popular readers are:

Bookworm (Online Service)

Bookworm is an online service that aims to be become a leading free platform for reading ePub books online. It is part of O’Reilly Media. It takes only three steps, create an account, upload an ePub book or magazine, and start reading.

The benefit of this service is that you can read the e‐book online no matter where you are located and which device you are using.


EPUB Reader Firefox Add‐On (Windows/Linux/Mac)

EPUBReader is a handy add‐on for Firefox that can directly open any ePub format quickly. It is indeed faster and quicker than desktop software and shows the graphics far better than bookworm service.

This add‐on opens the ePub file just like you can open PDF file in Firefox browser. Just hit the download link of any ePub book and select Open. If you have already downloaded the ePub book, then you can open it with Firefox.

The interface is customizable, which means you can change the background colors, etc to your own liking. The navigations buttons are given at the bottom along with the option to change the fonts.


Stanza (Mac/Windows)

Stanza is a desktop ePub reader and converter that is fast, light‐weight, and simple. It can be used to save bookmarks and quick conversions. You can convert .epub format into tens of different other document formats including doc and pdf formats. If you want to read the ePub file in Amazon Kindle, there is an option for that as well.

The only downside is formatting and navigation, the two most important aspects. For formatting it can be compared with Bookworm service but is not as great as EpubReader add‐on for Firefox.


MobiPocket Reader (Windows)

MobiPocket Reader is not only an advanced ePub books reader but is also a great professional books organizer. You can import books in PDF, ePub, or Office formats and organize them quickly. Just double‐click a book and start reading.

The formatting of MobiPocket is better than the above mentioned tools and has an option to zoom into the book, useful for those who want to read the tiny text on the book. Also there is an advanced search box given on the top‐right side which can drastically help in saving time.

Typical Process Diagram