Notes: E-Chess Between Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Amazon has bought Lexcycle, the year-old company whose Stanza e-book reader is one of the most popular apps on the iPhone and offers some 100,000 books and periodicals.
Noting that Stanza uses the ePub format, the open e-book format that the Kindle does not support, the New York Times said, "The move indicates Amazon wants to consolidate its position on mobile devices, particularly within Apple's ecosystem, which may include a tablet computer later this year. The Lexcycle team should also help Amazon stake out ground on Google's Android phones, the Palm Pre and Windows Mobile devices--and perhaps eventually turn to more open e-reading formats."
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Expanding its e-presence, Barnes & Noble.com has launched an Audiobook MP3 Store, which offers audiobook MP3s for iPods, iPhones, MP3 players and other portable devices that play MP3 titles. The store opens with more than 10,000 titles in stock; the average price per download is $10-$20.
To promote the service, B&N.com is offering nine titles for free "for a limited time." In addition, customers can receive a 50% discount on any one title in the Audiobook MP3 Store with an online coupon available on Barnes & Noble.com through May 3.
In a statement, Tom Burke, executive v-p, e-commerce, at Barnes & Noble, called the new store "a natural progression in our commitment to book lovers and audiobook fans."
Audiobook sales have shifted increasingly from CDs to downloads, an area that is a specialty of Amazon.com's Audible unit.
Urban Think!, Orlando, Fla., has opened a second store, Urban Think! Kids, which is in the College Park area and is "devoted to children, teenagers and parents," the Orlando Sentinel said.
Owners Bruce and Medea Harris said they hesitated to open the 1,000-sq.-ft. space "but when the space became available nearby Local Color Art Studio, a popular kids' spot, they decided to take advantage of the opportunity."
"Anything to do with children is close to my heart," Medea Harris told the Sentinel.
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West Point's bookstore has cancelled event scheduled for today featuring Lily Burana, whose memoir, I Love a Man in Uniform (Weinstein Books), is the story of "a former punk-rock stripper and her unlikely marriage to an officer in the U.S. Army," the Chronicle of Higher Education reported.
Burana's husband is stationed at West Point, and the book is being sold in the store, but bookstore manager Agatha Gerardi said her supervisor canceled the book signing.
Burana, whose book tour includes military bases in Colorado and Washington State, told the Chronicle that she was "very sad" and "shocked" that the event was stripped from her schedule.
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Effective May 29, Frank McGuire is retiring as Southeastern sales rep for Pelican Publishing Company, where he has worked for 18 years. Before joining Pelican, he managed Siler's Bookstore in New Orleans, La., and was the Southeastern rep for Crown Publishing Group. He also managed Oxford Books in Atlanta, Ga., his own McGuire's Bookshop and created the prototype store for Chapter 11 bookstore chain.
One of McGuire's first retirement projects will be building a library to house his extensive book collection at his home in Gainesville, Ga. He may be reached at 770-535-6845 or mcguiref@charter.net.