Kurzweil's Blio

Technologist Ray Kurzweil's soon-to-be-released Blio eReader software comes free. The software will drop at the same time the bookstore opens. The bookstore has been developed in partnership with Baker & Taylor. Blio runs on - literally - anything: hand-held devices, PCs, tablets, whatever. It can handle color and supports multimedia. Unlike standard dedicated reader software, it preserves a publisher's original formatting (important with many textbooks, cookbooks, how-to books, childrens books, etc.) Kurzweil says Blio is "the new touchstone for the presentation of electronic books, magazines, and digital content." There is also a read-aloud feature. Supports XPS, PDF, ePub. Beta testers have reportedly been impressed. But ... a very late entry into the marketplace, and formidable (to say the least) competition.

Quark's New Digital Publishing 2.0 Ideal for Color/Interactive Content

From eBooknewser's Diana Dilworth:

Quark has a new digital publishing platform out today called Quark Digital Publishing 2.0. The company unveiled the platform at The Big Money's Untethered conference--partnering with K-NFB Reading Technology, creator of the Blio e-reader application and distributor Baker & Taylor. The three companies are collaborating to offer Digital Publishing 2.0.

Taking advantage of the popularity of color screens on iPads and other tablets, Quark's new platform allows publishers to publish in color and create interactive design-heavy content. Designers don't have to know how to program code, they just have to input their designs into the platform to create interactive content.

QuarkXPress's built-in interactive features include the ability to add slide shows, embed video and create other interactive elements. The published content can be formatted for viewing on various devices. ...

Baker & Taylor, LibreDigital Form Ebook Distribution Partnership

From eContent:

Baker & Taylor and LibreDigital, Inc. announced an expanded agreement to partner for the delivery of ebooks. The two companies are introducing a new digital services platform that includes books, newspapers, and magazines, and such digital devices as the Baker & Taylor-powered Blio e-reader software and Apple's iPad.

As part of the agreement, Baker & Taylor will offer its more than 30,000 publishing partners a full range of LibreDigital digital services, including LibreMarket and LibrePublish.