For Amazon, the deal helps ensure that its Kindle e-reader has a supply of books only available on its device. During his company’s quarterly earnings call Thursday afternoon, Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos confidently announced that the company is now selling more Kindle books than hardcover books.  Though Kindle sales are growing substantially, several analysts pegged increased e-reader competition as one of the culprits responsible for an earnings shortfall.

Random House, one of the Wylie Agency’s print publishers, followed the Amazon-Wylie announcement with a statement declaring that it would no longer conduct any new English-language business with the Wylie Agency.

The retaliatory move shows how fraught the business of e-books has become, as authors, agents, publishers, device makers, and retailers maneuver for advantage and try to reshape the division of profits in the publishing industry.

During the past few months, with the launch of the iPad, Kindle sales growth and news that Google will launch an online book business, the traditional publishing industry business model has come under attack.   Authors are demanding a higher percentage of e-book sales while publishers are trying to justify their worth in digital distribution.

While authors usually receive 25 percent of royalties on e-book sales, they reason that, because of lower costs and lower prices on e-books, that number should be closer to 50 percent.

The Wylie Agency has set up a new company called Odyssey Editions to handle e-book distribution. Andrew Wylie, the company’s founder, had declared his upstart’s intention to sign e-book deals directly, without help from publishers, in an interview with Harvard Magazine.

Tags: Amazon Kindle, e-books, kindle

Companies: Amazon.com, Random House, The Wylie Agency

People: Andrew Wylie

In a statement, Apple confirms that developer Thuat Nguyen has been booted from the app store for “violating the developer Program License Agreement, including fraudulent purchase patterns,” reports Engadget.

The statement goes on to say that “developers do not receive any iTunes confidential customer data when an app is downloaded” — which should give some relief to users who mistakenly downloaded one of Nguyen’s apps. Apple doesn’t specifically say that users were hacked, but the statement does mention that users should talk to their financial institutions about canceling their credit card, and asking for a chargeback, if they notice strange charges on their statements. And as with any hacking attempt, Apple tells affected users to change their iTunes passwords as well.

There’s still no word on how precisely Nguyen managed to hack into iTunes accounts. He’s also not alone in offering fraudulent apps — TheNextWeb, the site that first broke the Nguyen story, has also uncovered other “App Farms” which are being used to scam users.

While Apple has offered a vague confirmation of the situation with its current statement, it may have to fess up to even more App Store shenanigans in the coming weeks.

Don’t miss MobileBeat 2010, VentureBeat’s conference on the future of mobile. The theme: “The year of the superphone and who will profit.” Now expanded to two days, MobileBeat 2010 will take place on July 12-13 at The Palace Hotel in San Francisco. Register now. Tickets are going quickly. For complete conference details, or to apply for the MobileBeat Startup Competition, click here.

Tags: App Store, apps, e-books, itunes

Companies: Apple

People: Thuat Nguyen

Even though most schools are now shut down for summer, that doesn’t mean that companies have given up trying to selling products to students. Amazon today announced that it has refreshed its Kindle DX. Now featuring an even better 9.7″ E Ink display that boasts a 50% increase in contrast ratio, the next-gen Kindle DX also received a price drop and now stands at an attractive $379. The only other major difference is that the Kindle DX is now graphite as opposed to white. The Kindle DX is available now for pre-order and is set to ship on July 7th.

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Book retailer Barnes & Noble hasn’t forgotten about its Nook e-book reader. The company announced today a cheaper, Wi-Fi only, version of the device for $149. The previous model, which includes both 3G mobile Internet and Wi-Fi support, is now $199 — $60 less than Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader.

The Wi-Fi model offers all of the features as the standard Nook, except of course for 3G connectivity. It has the nooks iconic dual-display setup, which consists of a 6-inch e-Ink display with a 3.5-inch color touchscreen below.

With its most recent software update (version 1.4), all Nooks will have free access to AT&T’s network of Wi-Fi hotspots — in addition to free Wi-Fi in all Barnes & Noble stores. So even though the Nook Wi-Fi lacks true mobile Internet, you’ll at least be able to find a Wi-Fi hotspot in most cities. The update also includes a “Go To page” feature which lets users jump to a specific page, as well as the usual performance improvements.

Both the new Wi-Fi model and the cheaper Nook 3G are available for order from Nook.com and Best Buy’s website, and will start shipping this week. Barnes & Noble expects the Wi-Fi model to hit a handful of its stores, along with some Best Buy stores, later this month. It will be widely available from both retailers later this summer.

With the Nook dropping in price, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Amazon follow suit with cheaper Kindles this summer as well. It’s less certain that Amazon would attempt a Wi-Fi only unit. Ubiquitous mobile web connectivity was always one of the big selling points for the Kindle. But since the Kindle lacks a color touchscreen (for now), Amazon may be able to bring out a Wi-Fi only model for even less than $149.

Tags: e-books, e-reader, kindle, Nook

Companies: Barnes And Noble

With e-books and eReaders on the rise, this decade may go down in tech history as the coming of age of the digital book platform. Barnes and Noble advanced this cause by announcing a new book publishing platform that targets the independent publisher and self-publishing writer. No longer required to sell your story to the major publishers, the Pubit! system will allow you to distribute your books via Barnes and Noble using the ePub format and B&N’s digital rights management technology. Published books will be distributed through B&N’s growing e-Book store and authors will be paid according to B&N’s yet-to-be disclosed royalty model and compensation process. With Amazon already entrenched in the independent publishing business and B&N now on its way, prospective writers should start penning typing their next novella as the world right now is your oyster.

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Target announced that the nationwide retail giant will be carrying the Amazon Kindle. No longer an Amazon online exclusive, the Kindle will debut on April 25th and will be available both online and in Target’s brick and mortar stores. The in-store launch will initially be limited to Target’s flagship store in Minneapolis and its 102 stores scattered throughout South Florida. Roll out of the Kindle will be gradual with additional stores receiving the popular e-reader later this year. This in-store presence  is expected to boost sales of the Kindle as it will provide an opportunity for interested customers to touch and use the device before buying. Current pricing on the Kindle will remain the same with Target offering the device for a reasonable $259. Full press release after the break.

Target Stores to Sell Kindle, Amazon’s Revolutionary Wireless Reading Device

Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT – News) today announced that Target is bringing Kindle, Amazon’s most wished for, most gifted and #1 bestselling product, to Target guests. As the first brick-and-mortar retailer to carry Amazon’s Kindle, Target will make Kindle available at its flagship downtown Minneapolis store and 102 south Florida stores beginning April 25, rolling out to more Target stores later this year.

Kindle is Amazon’s purpose-built reading device that wirelessly downloads books, magazines, newspapers, blogs, and personal documents to a crisp, high resolution electronic paper display that looks and reads like real paper. Kindle fits comfortably in one hand for hours, has an e-ink display that is easy on the eyes even in bright daylight, two weeks of battery life, and 3G wireless with no monthly fees. Customers can read and sync their Kindle books on iPhones, iPod touches, PCs, BlackBerrys, Macs, and iPads. These features, paired with the massive selection of over 500,000 books available in the Kindle Store, have made Kindle the bestselling product across the millions of items available at Amazon.com.

Kindle, which will retail for $259, has been available for purchase on Amazon.com exclusively, but now Target guests can see and touch the e-reader before they buy. Giving Target guests the opportunity to experience a Kindle before they buy is in keeping with Target’s commitment to providing quality products and a best-in-class shopping experience.

“We’re excited to be working with Amazon to help even more readers discover Kindle, in-store only at Target,” said Mark Schindele, senior vice president, Target. “We strive to enhance our product offerings to include surprising products and services at great values so we’re proud to be the first brick-and-mortar retailer to sell Kindle, allowing our guests to feel how lightweight and easy on the eyes Kindle is.”

“Target’s reputation for excellence and value makes it the perfect fit for Kindle,” said Steve Kessel, senior vice president, Amazon Kindle. “We’re excited to work with them to bring readers around the country a new way to discover and buy Kindle, and with it, wireless access to a massive selection of over 500,000 books.”

“It’s really recasting the site as a community not just for publishers, but for readers too,” he said.

There was plenty of reading going on before — the San Francisco startup already attracts 50 million unique visitors every month to read its content. But for the most part, the publishers were the only ones who bothered to stick around, create profiles, and interact with one another. Now, by turning each document into a “social object,” Adler wants Scribd to become a site where users can share what they’re reading and how they feel about it.

Specifically, Scribd is adding a feature called Readcast, which will appear as a widget next to Scribd documents. Users select the widget to post a link of whatever they’re reading to their friends on Facebook, Twitter, or Scribd itself. Once someone starts using Readcast, they can adjust the settings so the process is automatic — whenever they visit a new document, Readcast will braodcast that. Scribd is also adding two of the social plugins that Facebook just announced. There’s the “Like” button, which not only shares links on Facebook but makes your likes a permanent part of your profile, and the activity stream, which shows you what your Facebook friends have been doing on the site.

The new features should keep users on Scribd for a longer time, as well as attract traffic from Facebook and Twitter. They also help the publishers selling books through Scribd. Now that Scribd e-books have social features, they can spread virally, where someone buys and likes a book, then their friends see that and check the book out too.

Scribd has raised a total of $12.8 million from investors including Redpoint Ventures and Charles River Ventures.

Introducing Scribd Readcast

Tags: e-books, e-readers, f8, Readcast

Companies: Charles River Ventures, Facebook, Redpoint Ventures, Scribd

People: Trip Adler

Neverend Media has ambitious plans for e-books. Its “neverend books” are constantly updated, subscription-based, e-books that include a wealth of multimedia and social features.

Neverend books are free of digital rights management (DRM) software, meaning the technology doesn’t stop you from copying the files to other devices, and can include images, audio, video, and links. Social features include the ability to chat with the author, your friends, or other readers, on every page of the book via comments, as well as the ability to share notes, links, and highlights. The company hasn’t announced any specific devices that it will support, but it tells us that it wants users to access the books on “whatever device you have with you.”

The subscription-based model for Neverend books is something new for the e-book industry, and it’ll be interesting to see the specifics of how that model will work. Because it’s offering something very different from the likes of Amazon and Barnes and Noble, Neverend doesn’t consider them direct competitors.

The Chapel Hill, NC-based Neverend Media is funded by its founder Chris Kubica.

Tags: DemoBeat, DEMOSpring10, e-books, Neverend books

Companies: Neverend Media

Now the publisher is making news with e-books once again — this time with its own software platform, DynamicBooks. The software allows instructors to take advantage of the impermanent nature of digital textbooks by letting them edit the contents of an e-book without approval from the original publisher or author. Professors can add and delete text, rearrange chapters, and include media of their own in the e-books by simply logging into an online authoring tool.

Macmillan plans to sell the e-books via dynamicbooks.com, CourseSmart (a joint project by several textbook publishers), and college book stores. The DynamicBooks editions can be downloaded or viewed online, and read on computers and the iPhone. The e-books will also be significantly cheaper than print editions. The NYT points to the textbook “Psychology”, which lists for $134.29, and sells for $119.20 on Barnes and Noble’s website; the DynamicBooks version of the textbook will sell for just $48.76.

The company is negotiating an iPad agreement with Apple, and I would expect Android support in the near future as well. Macmillan plans to launch the service in August with 100 available titles.

DynamicBooks looks like it could be a boon to college instructors who are particularly picky about the material their courses cover, and students will surely appreciate the lower cost.

More so than just remixing individual textbooks, an editable e-book platform like this could allow professors to combine material across multiple textbooks and academic sources. It could finally bring an end to the dreaded course packet — which for the longest time has either involved photocopying pages of multiple textbooks, or keeping track of multiple PDFs. If Macmillan is smart, it’s likely already looking into these further remixing opportunities.

[Screenshot via The New York Times]

Tags: DynamicBooks, e-books, textbooks

Companies: amazon, Macmillan

Days after Macmillan books disappeared from Amazon’s inventory due to a feud over pricing, Amazon has confirmed that it has caved to Macmillan’s demands and will be raising the prices of Macmillan e-books from $9.99 to $12.99-$14.99 for hardcover and bestselling editions. The online retail giant expressed its strong disagreement with this pricing but decided to still offer the books to customers who can decide with their wallets whether they want to purchase Macmillan e-books at at what it calls “needlessly high prices”. A domino effect is beginning to be seen with News Corp-owned HarperCollins now jumping on the “We want higher pricing” bandwagon. In its earning conference call on Tuesday, News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch clearly and concisely summarized the situation by stating:

We don’t like the Amazon model of selling everything at $9.99. They don’t pay us that. They pay us the full wholesale price of $14 or whatever we charge. We think it really devalues books and it hurts all the retailers of the hard cover books. We are not against [inaudible] books. On the contrary we like them very much indeed. It is low cost to us and so on. But we want some room to maneuver in it. Amazon, sorry Apple in its agreement with us which has not been disclosed in detail does allow for a variety of slightly higher prices. There will be prices very much less than the printed copies of books but still will not be fixed in a way that Amazon has been doing it. It appears that Amazon is now ready to sit down with us again and renegotiate pricing.

With the single decision to capitulate to Macmillan, Amazon has opened the floodgates on higher e-book pricing and we can expect that other major book publishers will seek similar increases. Any Kindle owners out there care to chime in on these price increases and the potential effect on your book buying habits?

Read (Macmillan)

Read (HarperCollins)