MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
January 29 – February 6, 2009 Edition
Amazon to Cut
Microsoft, Adobe
E-Book Formats
SEATTLE, WA. (Authorlink News, January 26, 2009)-Amazon will no longer offer e-books in Microsoft Reader and Adobe e-book formats. Soon, the online retail giant will offer e-books only in the Kindle and Mobipocket formats, both of which are owned by Amazon. The Kindle format provides wireless download to Amazon’s Kindle readers, and Mobipocket allows consumers to read e-books on a number of handheld mobile devices.
The move could send agents, authors, and publishers on a mad scramble to make sense of their evolving e-book contracts.
Amazon alerted publishers and authors in a memo this week, but did not say how long it will continue to offer Adobe PDF and Microsoft formats on its site. The company already offers bout 200,000 titles for Kindle readers, and will encourage more customers to buy e-books through Mobipocket.
