harper collins

E-book junkie? Amazon may have some money for you

If you've been a regular buyer of Kindle e-books for the last couple of years, Amazon has what might turn out to be a little good news for you.

The company has posted an FAQ about a credit that may become due to certain e-book buyers as a result of antitrust settlements reached in April between the Justice Department and the publishers Hachette, Harper Collins, and Simon & Schuster. (Amazon was not a party to the lawsuit in question, which involved allegations of price fixing between these publishers, two others, and Apple.)

If the settlement deals are approved by … Read more

Publishers' worst nightmare: Amazon again on discount warpath

Last week, HarperCollins, Hachette, and Simon & Schuster cut a deal with the government to settle allegations that the book publishers had colluded with Apple to fix the price of e-books. If you believe the government's charges, the book publishers were trying to prevent Amazon from discounting them to death.

Now it's back to the future. Earlier today came word that Amazon had returned to form, discounting HarperCollins e-books titles.

"We are happy to again be lowering prices on a broad assortment of HarperCollins titles," Amazon spokeswoman Sarah Gelman said in an e-mailed comment to CNET.… Read more

Publishers to pay $69 million over e-book price-fixing allegations

Three major U.S. e-book publishers have agreed to a deal that will see them pay a significant sum for alleged e-book price-fixing.

Connecticut State Attorney General George Jepsen yesterday announced that he, "along with 54 attorneys general in other states, districts, and U.S. territories," have signed a $69 million deal with Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, and Simon & Schuster (which is owned by CBS, the same company that publishes CNET) to settle antitrust claims over an alleged conspiracy to artificially inflate e-book prices.

"While publishers are entitled to their profits, consumers are equally entitled … Read more

Feds want publishers in e-book case to rat on Apple

It's time to drop dime, says the U.S. government.

The U.S. Department of Justice want three of the five book-publishing houses accused of participating in a price-fixing scheme with Apple to start turning over evidence against their alleged co-conspirators, court documents show.

In April, the U.S. Department of Justice accused five of the country's six largest book publishers of conspiring with Apple to raise prices on e-books. The government alleges that the co-conspirators forced e-book retailers, such as Amazon, to adopt a new business model, one that would enable the publishers to snatch control of … Read more

The final frontier is yours to explore on your iPad

Wonders of the Universe -- based on the BBC series of the same name from HarperCollins -- is an elegant and visually gorgeous app that lets you explore our known universe on your iPad. The app comes with more than 2.5 hours of HD video, dazzling 3D graphics of everything from subatomic particles to galaxies, and tons of information to read as you explore, and it offers an excellent use of the iPad's touch-screen interface to browse all the content.

We got a sneak peak at the app, but Wonders of the Universe will not be available until tomorrow in the iTunes App Store. HarperCollins says the app will be at the discounted price of $6.99 initially, but will go up to $9.99 sometime after the launch.

The app starts you off by explaining the touch-screen interface and how to navigate through all of the content.… Read more

Buzz Out Loud Podcast 1147: Mint-fried Quicken (SarcMark!)

Though Apple has officially announced an announcement, we don't know what it is, so we speculate anyway. Sue us. Will you pay $2 for a new character that indicates sarcasm? Most of us won't, either. We also discuss the meaning of privacy in search engines and Quicken hides it's online service behind Mint, which, oddly, makes Natali hungry.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1147

Apple officially announces January 27 event http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10436586-37.html

Expect to see iPhone 4, Tablet, and new iLife … Read more

WSJ: Apple in tablet talks with HarperCollins

We had heard that Apple was pitching its yet to be launched (or even confirmed) tablet device to publishers, but a Wall Street Journal story posted Monday offers a few potential specifics.

The story, citing unnamed sources familiar with the situation, says HarperCollins Publishers is negotiating a deal with Apple that would make electronic books available for the tablet. HarperCollins is expected to set the prices of the e-books and Apple would take a percentage of sales, according to the story. Whether Apple will sell titles via iTunes or a new e-book store "couldn't be learned," according … Read more

HarperCollins offering excerpts for iPhone

Publisher HarperCollins released digital excerpts from 14 books on Wednesday that can be read from an Apple iPhone.

The digital excerpts are accessible from a special HarperCollins mobile Web site that can be accessed from the iPhone's Safari Web browser.

HarperCollins refers to the program as an extension of its Browse Inside program for perusing digital books from a computer.

The publisher had previously conducted a pilot project to test out the technology via a Web site run by Libre Digital.

Among the titles included in the roll-out are Soul Catcher by Michael C. White, Winning by Jack Welch … Read more