By Claire McEntee - BusinessDay.co.nz
16/08/2010 - Stuff.co.nz
Reuters
Local publishers are gearing up to unleash digital versions of their books in the wake of Amazon's announcement it will sell its hugely popular Kindle e-reader to New Zealanders.
The Kindle will battle with Whitcoulls' Kobo e-reader for the mainstream e-reader market here, and threatens to outstrip the Kobo on price and functionality.
New Zealanders can order a US$139 Wifi-only version of the Kindle or a US$189 Wifi and 3G model from Amazon's website.
The devices will be available from next month and even with freight added – about NZ$28 – are likely to be cheaper than the $295 Kobo – which does not let people download books over Wifi or 3G mobile network connections.
E-books bought through Amazon's online store are also generally cheaper than Whitcoulls' e-books. Stieg Larsson's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo for the Kindle sells for US$9.15 (NZ$12.80), while Whitcoulls' is selling it for $14.95.
However, Whitcoulls appears to have a much larger range of e-books available; more than two million compared with the 700,00-plus available for Kindle owners in the Asia-Pacific region. James Webber, digital director at Whitcoulls' parent firm, Redgroup Retail, says it is constantly reviewing its pricing but has no immediate plans to change it.
One advantage the Kobo has over the Kindle is that it supports the EPub open format for e-books, meaning consumers can download EPub e-books from any provider to the device – whereas Amazon has its own proprietary format for the Kindle.
"That's been widely received by the customer, they don't want to be tied in to one provider," Mr Webber says.
The Kobo offers a lot more free e-books – including the 100 classic e-books pre-installed in the device – because it is not 3G or Wifi-enabled, but can also synch with BlackBerrys to download e-books over their internet connections, he says.
The Kobo sold out within three days of going on sale in New Zealand and Whitcoulls has only just managed to fully replenish its stores, Mr Webber says.
Whitcoulls e-books can also be read on smartphones, computers and tablet devices such as the iPad.
Martin Taylor, (left), director of the Digital Publishing Forum – which has been set up by Copyright Licensing to help publishers with the move to e-books, says it expects to launch a digital warehouse that would let publishers manage and distribute e-books in the next few months.
"We're working with about 40 local publishers who have put their hands up and I would guess hundreds, possibly a thousand, New Zealand books will be available [through the warehouse]."
Full piece at stuff.co.nz
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