ePub

Germany's Txtr says that they are providing all e-reading content on Acer's LumiRead store. This store is used by Acer's Iconia Tab A500 tablet - and will be used in further devices by Acer. Txtr is in charge of operating the e-book store. Txtr's boom catalog has over 400,000 commercial books (in 'western' languages) and supports e-pub and PDF file formats. 

txtr abandoned e-reader prototype

Just a few days ago we reported that 3M invested in txtr. txtr also developed an e-reader device but abandoned that project towards the end of 2010.

Sharp's Galapagos tablet/e-readers are already shipping in Japan, and now it seems that the company have planes to release them in the US in 2010. The US models will come with 3G (in Japan they only have Wi-Fi) and ePub support (in Japan it's XMDF).

via DeviceMag

Barnes & Noble has launched their PubIt! self-publishing portal. PubIt! allows independent writers to produce ePub-based e-books, that can be used on many e-readers (not just the Nook). B&N gets 35% of the list price (for books less then $9.99, and 60% for more expensive books).

via Engadget

Google say they'll launch an e-book shop (called Google Editions) by July 2010. The shop will enable search across many third-party sites, and they promise that resellers will collect the "majority" of the revenue. Books bought in the store will work on many devices (the format isn't known, but it'll probably be ePub).

via Electronista

Bookeen's Opus e-reader is a small e-reader with a 5" (800x600) E Ink display with an integrated accelerometer. Bookeen has released a new version today, called the Opus Color. It comes in 7 different colors, has a new reading software (called Boo), and it's faster to run (they say it turns on instantly). Like the original Opus, the Color supports ePUB and PDF file formats, has 1GB memory and a microSD card slot.

Bookeen also lowered the price from 215$ to $199.

Scribd (an online document-hosting service) announced a new feature: send-to-device. This allows you to send a document to your mobile-phone or e-reader. Currently hey support the Amazon Kindle, Nook, EZReader, COOL-ER and iREX readers. They also plan to make PDF documents available in ePub format, which will allow even more devices.

Via Mashable

Bookeen are a France-based e-reader maker, that currently offer two models (the Cybook Gen3, available now for 350$, and the Opus, available now for 215$) and are set to release a new one, the Orizon. Michael Dahan, Bookeen's co-founder and CEO has agreed to answer a few questions. 

Q: Michael - First of all, thank you for this interview. Currently you are offering two e-readers, the Cybook Gen3 and the Cybook Opus. Can you tell us how are the sales of these models?

The sales are very good. We are sold mainly throughout Europe and have started more actively in the US. We evaluate our market share in Europe to be 25-30%. We are sold in large retail networks like FNAC or Mediamarket and have a strong presence in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. UK remains a stronghold for us, but we plan to crack it.

The Cybook Gen3 has started its carrier in October 2007, two weeks before Kindle. Since this date, It has known several enhancements through different versions. It has been released in its last version (Gold Edition) last September. It’s a 6" E ink screen with 8-levels grayscale 170dpi/1GB/Audio/SD card slot/3 weeks battery lifetime with native support of Adobe EPUB/PDF. In this version it is delivered with a protective cover, USB charger and earphones.

The Cybook Opus is its little brother and has been launched in August 2009. It’s a 5" E ink screen with an amazing 200dpi resolution, 1GB of storage memory with possibility of extension with microSD. It has an accelerometer which enables you to switch from portrait to landscape with a flip. It is delivered with an acclaimed protective sleeve.