Thursday, April 29, 2010

On May 7, Cybook OPUS comes in 7 new colours with upgraded features, for the ultimate in eBook democratization!

Bookeen is happy to announce that the Opus in 7 new colours will be available in stores starting May 7.



It’s the same Opus so many of you know and love, but better. You can still carry up to 1000 books in a mere 150 grams, or up to 8000 more by adding an optional microSD card; enough to carry your entire library in the palm of your hand. The accelerometer means it’s equally comfortable in your left hand or your right hand, and lets you switch between portrait and landscape displays automatically. You still have the choice of 12 different font sizes, to suit everyone’s eyes and preferences. And it’s still compatible with most major online booksellers so you can easily load it up with any of the millions of classics available or recent best-sellers in a couple of clicks.

Now, improved battery life means up to 15 days or 8500 pages on a single charge. Go from “zero” to “reading” in 1 second thanks to the new sleep mode, and start reading instantly whenever you have a few minutes available; no more waiting 15 seconds to get back to your book. And of course, a bouquet of beautiful new colours to choose from. In addition to the classic white, on May 7, the new-look, enriched-feature Cybook Opus will come in 7 colours: black, silver, blue, red, pink, green and orange.

What’s your favourite colour?

Happy reading!
The Bookeen Team

The discussion continues on facebook and twitter.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Roses and books

This article was first posted on MobileRead.com forums, it is re-posted here, slightly edited, with permission.

Today is World Book Day. This international event organised by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) got its start in Spain in 1923, where the commemoration of Miguel de Cervantes' death by local booksellers combined with the celebration of St. George's Day to create a new traditional exchange of flowers and... books.

The intent of World Book Day according to the UNESCO:
By celebrating this Day throughout the world, UNESCO seeks to promote reading, publishing and the protection of intellectual property through copyright.

According to the official site:

23 April: a symbolic date for world literature for on this date and in the same year of 1616, Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. It is also the date of birth or death of other prominent authors such as Maurice Druon, K.Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejía Vallejo. It was a natural choice for UNESCO's General Conference to pay a world-wide tribute to books and authors on this date, encouraging everyone, and in particular young people, to discover the pleasure of reading and gain a renewed respect for the irreplaceable contributions of those who have furthered the social and cultural progress of humanity.

The idea for this celebration originated in Catalonia where on 23 April, Saint George's Day, a rose is traditionally given as a gift for each book sold. The success of the World Book and CopyrightDay will depend primarily on the support received from all parties concerned (authors, publishers, teachers, librarians, public and private institutions, humanitarian NGOs and the mass media), who have been mobilized in each country by UNESCO National Commissions, UNESCO Clubs, Centres and Associations, Associated Schools and Libraries, and by all those who feel motivated to work together in this world celebration of books and authors.


Last year a member of the MobileRead forum proposed we try to think of ways to make ebooks part of the celebration: for example, going back to the original Catalan tradition of booksellers offering a rose for every book purchased, and florists giving a small book with every rose purchased, and men offering roses to women who reply with a book, he proposes that we might give virtual roses for ebook purchases, or perhaps we could send e-roses to authors we appreciate (provided their work is available as an ebook, obviously!). Sounds like a nice idea to me!

Here is one way of making a virtual rose that you can send in an email or on twitter:
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Feel free to share in the comments if you have any other suggestions.

How will you and your Cybook celebrate World Book Day? Who would you like to send a rose to? Tell us all about it in the comments.

Continue the discussion on facebook. Send roses on twitter with the #WorldBookDay hashtag.

Happy reading!
The Bookeen Team


For more information:

World Book Day on the UNESCO site

World Book Day on Wikipedia

Friday, April 16, 2010

Join the discussion with Bookeen!

Dear Readers,

To be closer to the Bookeen community, Bookeen is opening the dialog on new fronts. We are very happy to invite you to join us on facebook. Become a fan of the ebook-reader pioneers and join the discussion! Tell us where and how you like to read on your Cybook, what features are most important for you, stay up to date on the latest news, and exchange thoughts with your fellow “Bookeeners”!

In addition, “a little birdie” is tweeting the latest news from Bookeen on Twitter. Follow us to hear about what’s going on with Bookeen, in 140 characters maximum.

The pocket-sized Opus is so light that you can carry it absolutely everywhere with you. What’s your favorite place to read?

To celebrate, we’ve created a photo album just for you: the “Cybook Parade”! Share your photos of your Cybook out and about. The photos will be displayed in our facebook album; you can upload them directly, or email them to us at community@bookeen.com. Please mention “Cybook Parade” in the subject line.

Best regards,

Bookeen Team