Google One Pass gives back what Apple's iPad subscription plan takes away

By Joe Wilcox, Betanews Well, that didn't take long. One day after Apple dropped its subscription plan bomb on suspicious publishers, Google officially countered with One Pass. Google strips out the onerous restrictions Apple imposes. It's a brilliant marketing response, and aptly timed with new Android tablets like the HTC Flyer, Motorola XOOM and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 going on sale within weeks. More significantly, the program isn't restricted to mobile devices. Can you say Internet?Apple's subscription plan places many restrictions on publishers. Apple takes a 30-percent commission on all sales, requiring publishers to offer prices the same or lower in-app as elsewhere; that hugely limits promotions, for example. Apple's plan would prevent publishers from making in-app subscriptions free as a benefit to existing subscribers elsewhere (e.g., consumers pay more because of Apple policies). Publishers will likely loose access to vital customer data, since Apple is requiring an option that lets subscribers opt-in to this disclosure.By comparison, One Pass gives publishers "control over how users can pay to access content and set their own prices," according to Google. "They can sell subscriptions of any length with auto-renewal, day passes (or other durations), individual articles or multiple-issue packages. Google One Pass also enables metered models, where a publisher can provide some content or a certain number of visits for free, but can charge frequent visitors or... Continue reading at 'Betanews'

[ Betanews | 2011-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Justice Department preparing Apple iBooks antitrust lawsuit

The Justice Department is reportedly preparing to go after Apple, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, Penguin, Macmillan and HarperCollins following its investigation into alleged ebook price-rigging. The case centers around a deal to switch to agency pricing, where the vendor takes a 30 percent cut... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2012-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #justice department #reportedly preparing #simon schuster #agency pricing #sell ebooks #federal suit


Jonathan Franzen – this time taking on Twitter – heaps more scorn on social media

 'Freedom' author Jonathan Franzen, who has previously disparaged Facebook and ebooks, says Twitter 'stands for everything I oppose' Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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McDermid backs value of publishers

Little, Brown author Val McDermid has backed the role of publishers, as children's laureate... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Read Fast Company Magazine On Your iPad

Fast Company is now available to read on your iPad.Starting with the March 2012 issue, Fast Company is offering a digital version of each month's print issue on the iTunes App Store and Newsstand. This is first and foremost a way to read the complete magazine on your iPad, but it also includes... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2012-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #single issues #one-year subscription #account information #gain access #itunes store #kindle edition #kindle store #nook store


Google pulls books into entertainment hub

The Google eBooks store has been merged into the company's wider entertainment portal with... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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French government to digitize out-of-print 20th century works, plans ebook initiative

It's a case of having one's cake and eating it, too. Or, in this instance, digitizing the works of others and reselling them online for a 40 percent cut. According to Le Temps, a controversial new law recently passed by the French government will see out-of-print books from the 20th century... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2012-03-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #french government #ebook format #image credit


Apple, Amazon rivalry could grow

With iPad 3 rumored to be on the way—possibly boasting a sharper screen and talking personal assistant Siri—Apple CEO Tim Cook may drop the price of the iPad 2 so he can go after the cheaper tablet market now dominated by Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook. Analysts figure a $200 to... Continue reading at Crains New York

[ Crains New York | 2012-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #barnes noble #dedicated e-readers #ebook sales #book publishers


Printed books fall £2.8m as kids go back to school

Printed book sales slumped 11% last week as children returned to school and adults to work... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Drag; Drop; Read: Apple's New iBooks Author Format

In early January, Apple released iBooks Author, a groundbreaking drag-and-drop ebook authoring environment that promises to democratize the production of complex, structured books, notably including textbooks. But iBooks Author could also presage something else: the eclipse of open ebook standards. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-02-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple Acquires App Search Engine Chomp

 Apple confirmed yesterday that they have acquired the San Francisco-based software company Chomp Inc. Chomp’s feature product is their application search engine that sifts through hundreds of thousands of apps and narrows it down to just a few options for its users. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2012-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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WBD hopes to double token take-up

The director of World Book Day has said she hopes to double the number of tokens redeemed this... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-02-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Taking E-books To the Next Level

Despite technological petting zoos, QR codes on shelf-talkers linked to bookstores’ Web sites, and in-store displays of physical books with signage reminding readers that they can also buy e-editions, only a handful of independents are making more than about $100 or so on ebook sales a month. To... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-02-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon takes a company's ebooks out of stores after disagreement

When the Independent Publishers Group couldn't come to terms with Amazon, the bookselling giant took 5,000 IPG titles out of their Kindle ebook store. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-02-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Vogue iPad app to go monthly in September

Vogue's iPad app is to go monthly in September as part of a raft of digital developments, including a focus on mobile optimisation, at upscale magazine publisher Condé Nast. Continue reading at Media Week

[ Media Week | 2012-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A view from the top: Magazine leaders give their take on the ABCs

The latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations for the last six months of 2011once again highlight the challenges facing traditional publishers in the digital era. The business - in the UK at least - is not for the faint hearted, but it remains full of opportunities. Continue reading at Media Week

[ Media Week | 2012-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Top Cow Looks Back to Go Forward

Top Cow Productions, having survived for two decades as a comics publisher, is mixing it up, experimenting with genres and crossover series, as well as rebranding. And of course, digital delivery is a big part of it. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bringing Synergy Back

The word synergy, in the world of book publishing, feels like a term that died in the ’90s. Back then, almost every publisher housed within a media conglomerate was touting the ways it would use its TV-making or movie-making sister companies to sell books. Fox would boost HarperCollins.... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New indie presses plan bold bespoke lists

A central and eastern European specialist, an illustrated publishing-led list and a house... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Watermark plans UK expansion

Watermark Bookstore has revealed plans to expand in the UK, following the opening of the company... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon's Kindle Ice Queen Is Back, Now With a Couple of Kids

After seeing Samsung's spirited swing at Apple users, Amazon's continuing anti-Apple pandering just feels weak. The new ad for the Kindle Fire pits a dorky, single iPad user against a Kindle-reading mom in a bikini—the same ice queen from the 2010 spot, though now she's warmed up a bit and seems... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2012-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #apple users #losing money #publishing industry