FutureBook

Kobo's new Touch device was a welcome surprise on my desk when I got back to the office from Frankfurt was Monday. Its partnership with WH Smith brings a welcome new player into the increasingly crowded UK e-reader market. Kobo's simple to use devices coupled with WH Smith's retail power positions it as the likeliest challenger to Amazon's Kindle supremacy, assuming Waterstone's don't surprise us and bring forward the release of its eagerly awaited e-reader. Read more »

Google is preparing an “imminent” UK launch of its e-books platform for selling digital titles, with members of Gardners Hive network able to sell the e-books from their websites.

The digital company held a closed meeting with more than 100 independents at the Booksellers Association’s Independent Booksellers Forum at the University of Warwick in Coventry on Sunday (25th September), which outlined how the system could work. Sources told us that the service would be launched within the next four weeks, with an announcement date at the Frankfurt book fair mooted. Read more »

I know what you are thinking - a third Futurebook blog on Kindle Fire? Really? But bear with me. Despite editing The Bookseller magazine's news section yesterday, I found myself sidetracked as more and more information crept out about the Kindle Fire. I found it terribly exciting: when it (eventually/hopefully) hits the UK, what we are looking at is a quality tablet for under £200. Surprisingly though one of the biggest losers from the Fire's announcement could be books, in spite of a new generation of Real Kindles. Read more »

How popular are videogame tie-in novels? The reason I ask is because of Orion's announcement this morning that it has signed up Andy McNab to write a tie-in novel to the forthcoming videogame Battlefield 3 - The Russian. Read more »

After Touch Press' astonishing Solar System app, I've been keen to see what the agency has been up to since. I was belatedly catching up with the latest issue of Wired this morning on the tube and it turns out the company is working with cover star Bjork.

I've always been a fan of Iceland's greatest export since she was lead singer of the Sugarcubes. She's an incredibly inventive musician and a great visual artist. Her videos, particularly those directed by longtime collaborator Michel Gondry, are memorable and beautiful - Bachelorette is my particular favourite. Read more »

Thousands of out of print science-fiction titles will be made available digitally, after Gollancz launched the world's largest science-fiction and fantasy library, the SF Gateway. The gateway will launch in September with more than 1,000 titles available by almost 100 authors.

Launch authors include the likes of Marion Zimmer Bradley, Philip K Dick, Frank Herbert and Arthur C Clarke. Gollancz will build the list to 3,000 titles by the end of 2012 and 5,000 or more by 2014. The books will be available through all major e-retailers but pricing has yet to be determined. Read more »

Extraordinary story happening in Europe right now. According to various reports a number of European publishers have had their offices raided by inspectors from the European Commission investigating alleged price-fixing of digital books. In some cases laptops and smartphones of senior executives have been seized. Read more »

There was other big HMV Group news this week but it was probably drowned out by the apocalyptic noises from the business press about the entertainment retailer's future. Read more »

This time next week, we will know what the iPad 2 looks like. Apple began sending invites today for the launch event in San Francisco on 2nd March. There is a clue to what the event is about in the image (shown here) that makes up the invite. Read more »

I am currently in Taiwan, visiting the 19th Taiwan International Book Exhibition. The guest of honour is Bhutan and at the centrepiece of its stand is a incredible 12th century text of transcedental wisdom detailed across a mere 8,000 verses. The verses are written onto woodblocks in liquid gold. As Ma Jing-Yeou, president of Taiwan, noted during the opening ceremony, the text shows how important physical objects continue to be. Read more »