Financials

Interead, the british maker of COOL-ER readers (such as the COOL-ER 3G or COOL-ER Connect) has gone bankrupt. Even though they reportedly were the #2 seller in the UK, they didn't manage to stay in business.

COOL-ER classic

Via The Guardian

News Corp has acquired Skiff, the e-reader platform. They have also launched the "Digital Journalism Initiatives" - which will be responsible for News Corp's new business efforts in premium digital journalism, and invested in a startup called Journalism Online

iRex Technologies has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection amid a string of problems that's led to "financial difficulties." This is partly because of delays in the DR 800 e-reader FCC's approval. iRex's CEO says that in spite of it all, "expectations are still positive."

via Engadget

LibreDigital announced today that they closed an $8.1 million funding round. The new capital will be used by LibreDigital to expand e-book services for publishers. LibreDigital powers the delivery of content to other lot's of devices and marketplaces, including Apple's iPad, Barnes & Noble NOOK, Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader, Google Editions and many more.

LibreDigital enables publishers, distributors and device manufacturers to securely market and deliver content across an expanding number of digital channels, including e-readers, tablets, smart phones, social networks and online stores. The company offers solutions designed to deliver digital books, newspapers and magazines in the highest quality format possible.

mediaIDEAS has published a new research into the growth and value of the US market for e-readers paid content. According to the report, at the end of 2014, the US user base of e-readers will have grown aggressively to nearly 45 million, and the market for all categories of content sold for these devices will have increased to approximately $10.86 billion. And, by 2020, this e-reader content market will have risen to more than $33 billion.

In 2010, they say that the content market will be around $460 million - mostly e-books. Later on, the availability of large-format and high-quality color e-paper readers will promote the sale of digital magazines and newspapers.

Qisda corporation, the OEM that makes BenQ's e-readers say that they have sold 10,000 e-readers in 2Q, and they expect sales to rise to 400,000 annually. BenQ's e-reader is the K60 nReader, with a 6" E Ink display.

Via TaiwanNews

Engadget reports that Kakai is a "secret" startup that's working on a linux-based dual-screen e-reader for the educational market. We don't know anything beside that, but they got $10 million in funding and almost 50 employees.