You can now check out a book from your “local” library onto your Kindle or Kindle app! Like the good old days of making a trip to your library around the corner, you can browse the electronic eReader list of available books from your modern online library – or access the same list at an actual library – and check out a title using your library card. Since this is all electronic, you can access the library’s selection 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Like the hardcover books that line endless rows of shelves, your electronic book on the Kindle will have an expiration date upon which the book is “returned” and no longer accessible. But don’t worry, just check it out again if you need. 
The process for Kindles is a two-step procedure which requires logging into your Amazon account after checking out the library book to Whispersync it to your selected device. Once that has been done, open your Kindle or your free Kindle app on your iPad or other supported device and voila, there is your book!
I love modern technology but the thought of my children never physically entering a library as I did once as a young student is a bit odd. Check that out! 
CLEVELAND, OH, September 21, 2011 – In a move highly anticipated since its initial announcement in April, public libraries and schools in the U.S. can now lend eBooks for the Amazon® Kindle. OverDrive (www.overdrive.com) announced today that it has begun adding Kindle compatibility to all of the U.S. public and school libraries in its network and expects to have all sites updated within days. This is a very significant step in a series of OverDrive WIN platform enhancements to streamline user experience and help libraries meet the increased demand for eBooks.
OverDrive, the leading multichannel digital distributor of eBooks, audiobooks and other digital content, supplies 15,000 public and school libraries worldwide and more than 11,000 in the U.S. To see if your local library is a member of the OverDrive network, visit OverDrive Search.
“Kindle compatibility will allow public and school libraries to serve millions of new readers and extend their valuable community role while providing an outstanding reading experience,” said Steve Potash, CEO of OverDrive. “This addition helps public libraries accelerate their drive to become the first online stop for eBooks, where visitors can browse, discover and sample new and popular titles and authors in virtually all subjects.”
The process for borrowing a public library or school eBook for Kindle is similar as for other devices. Most eBooks already in the library’s catalog supplied by OverDrive are compatible with Kindle, so users simply browse or search for “Kindle Book”, check out a title with a valid library card, and then click “Get for Kindle.” Access to the Kindle Book will occur at Amazon’s website after signing in and selecting delivery to the user’s Kindle device or any of the free Kindle reading apps. As with all eBooks and other digital content at OverDrive-powered libraries and schools, titles are available 24/7 and incur no late fees because they automatically expire at the end of the lending period. For more details on Kindle compatibility, including the availability of Amazon’s Whispersync technology, please visit OverDrive’s Digital Library Blog.
In addition to Kindle, OverDrive provides support for all major desktop and mobile devices, including Windows®, Mac®, iPod®, iPhone®, iPad®, Sony® Reader, NOOK™, Android™, BlackBerry® and Windows® Phone.
About OverDrive
OverDrive is a leading multichannel digital distributor of eBooks, audiobooks, music, and video. We deliver secure management, DRM protection, and download fulfillment services for hundreds of publishers and thousands of libraries, schools, and retailers, serving millions of end users. OverDrive has been named to the EContent 100 as a company that matters most in the digital content industry. Founded in 1986, OverDrive is based in Cleveland, OH.
SuperSync today announced availability of SuperSync 4.0, the industry leading iTunes sync utility that enables users to visually compare, access, sync, and merge iTunes libraries including music, audio files, podcasts, and video, across multiple Macintosh and Windows PCs, iPhones, iPads, and iPods.
“Users now have an ALL ACCESS PASS to their iTunes content,” explained SuperSync president Brad Lowe. “SuperSync 4.0 is your music collection’s central hub to retrieve, organize, explore, and merge all your iTunes content.”
SuperSync 4.0 is available for purchase online for as little as $29 for a 2-Pak, $39 for a 5-Pak, and $49 for 10-Pak. SuperSync 4.0 is a free upgrade for all current SuperSync owners. SuperSync 4.0 can be purchased at http://supersync.com/purchase.php.
“SuperSync simplifies managing music libraries on multiple computers and mobile devices,” says Lowe. “With SuperSync, you can easily compare any two libraries and merge the content at will.”
With SuperSync’s built-in client/server software, users can instantly retrieve a song left on your laptop, play a song on your home computer while using your office PC, or copy your entire iTunes library on to a new computer.
SuperSync 4.0 updates include:
- A brand new GUI that features larger toolbar icons and graphics throughout the application that vastly improves navigation and ability to display two libraries at once.
- A complete rewrite of the SuperSync core to improve performance an extensibility
- Compare and import tracks from another user¹s iTunes Library on the same computer with read only privileges.
- Easy duplicate elimination
- One-key Internet search on any track to find out more about any artist, movie, or song on popular web sites including on iTunes Store, YouTube, Google, Amazon, last.fm, LyricsFly and other sites.
- Improved support for connecting Apple Mobile Devices for quicker access between Macs or PCs and iPods, iPhones, and iPads.
“We’ve rebuilt SuperSync 4.0 from the ground up to make it much faster and easier to use,” says Lowe. “SuperSync 4.0 now features even faster access to multiple iTunes libraries and devices.”
By placing a copy of SuperSync 4.0 on each Mac or PC, users can easily compare and merge two iTunes libraries to see what tracks are missing, select them, and click “Synchronize” to begin merging the two libraries. SuperSync 4.0 includes a basic audio player so you can organize, sync-up, and play all of your songs directly from SuperSync, with no external player required for MP3/M4A music files.
Additionally, SuperSync 4.0 now enables users to sync music libraries from other user accounts (with at least Read Only privileges) by connecting the music libraries to eliminate duplicates; perfect for families with multiple iTunes libraries.
SuperSync lets you transfer specific tracks or all of your iTunes/iPod content to any other Mac or PC running SuperSync. SuperSync helps families reduce the likelihood of purchasing the same music or videos from the Apple Store more than once. M4B files (protected by Apple’s DRM technology) can be transferred by SuperSync but need to be played on an authorized iTunes or iPod as SuperSync DOES NOT alter or remove any iTunes Music Store DRM copyright protection.)
SuperSync 4.0 includes a web browser interface that lets you browse and view your music collection over a web server‹within a local network, or from anywhere on the Internet. Now you can play your MP3 and MP4 files from any modern web browser‹including Safari on an iPhone.
SuperSync 4.0 offers complete back-up functionality that lets users quickly and easily create a ³master library² with other computers in the house or office having a subset or mirror image. SuperSync can also recover the contents from most Apple iPods, iPhones, and iPads that are paired with an unavailable computer.
SuperSync¹s lets you back up your playlists, ratings, played counts; Plus movies, TV shows, podcasts, other audio files, and other iTunes content.
The Sonos Controller for iPad features:
· Landscape and portrait modes
o No matter how you turn it, the iPad’s large screen makes controlling your music easier than ever.
· Multi-pane view
o See your music menu, what’s playing in every room, and what’s in your queue, complete with vivid album art—all at once.
· Fun and easy for everyone
o Quickly search for your favorite artists by typing on the virtual keyboard and browse through albums by pointing and flicking. Then simply drag and drop to add to your queue.
Watch the demo at http://www.sonos.com/demo/ipad/demo.aspx
MacGourmet Deluxe brings recipe collection and organization into the digital age. Users are able to create, edit and share recipes; make wine and cooking notes, and easily import recipes found on the Web and expand their collection. Recipes can be published to a .mac account or to a personal Web site. MacGourmet Deluxe can also create a shopping list that can be printed or exported to a PDA.
Even more exciting in the introduction of MacGourmet Deluxe is an industry first feature – the Cookbook Builder. Using a recipe collection, the user can build, print and share their own cookbook. The Cookbook Builder allows the easy addition of images, chapters and text pages. Saving it as a high resolution PDF, the cookbook can be printed out on a desktop printer or through a print-on-demand source.
Also in this release of MacGourmet Deluxe:
A Mealplan feature to create a weekly meal plan with iCal integration.
Access to the USDA Nutritional database.
The ability to view the nutritional value of recipes.
All-new shopping list editor, with simple pantry/favorites and column ordering/hiding functionality added.
The addition of a number of award winning recipes.
Pricing and Availability:
MacGourmet Deluxe is now available on the Mariner Software Web site at www.marinersoftware.com. The shipping version will initially be offered in English and sell for $49.95USD ($44.95 download). Support for more languages is expected in the near future. MacGourmet Deluxe requires Mac OS 10.4 or higher. The standard version of MacGourmet will continue to be available on the Advenio Web site. Registered MacGourmet customers may upgrade to MacGourmet Deluxe for a special price in the Mariner Software eStore.
Back in the day when I needed a better way to track my 1,000 plus compact discs (those shinny things that look like DVDs that play music), I used a great program called CATraxx. I haven’t used it since version 5 since I let iTunes take care of keeping track of my digital library now, but if you’re still in to CDs or have a massive amount of unprotected audio files (such as MP3s), this is without a doubt one of the best quality programs available. With an excellent search engine, pure database back-end, and a logical layout, I couldn’t recommend any other software program for Windows than CATraxx. Take a look at it today and download the trial to give it a try.
Here’s what’s new for 8.10.
CDFinder, the leading disc cataloging application for the Apple Macintosh, receives a massive update with new features and more speed. Also, as a world premiere, it offers a GPS based photo search that quickly locates any photos taken within a distance of a geographical position.
“We are impressed by the unique new GPS search feature, as it offers a brand new way of browsing and searching large photo libraries with CDFinder,” said Norbert M. Doerner, chief developer of the CDFinder team. In addition, the team added FileCheck, a checksum feature designed to ensure the data integrity of all cataloged files, important for photographers who want to be sure their precious digital negatives are still fully readable and intact. More speed was another goal, and with the quicker updating of existing catalogs, faster creation of photo thumbnails, and much faster parsing of ZIP archives, that goal was obviously reached.
CDFinder for Macintosh is a Universal Binary and works with PowerPC and Intel-Macs. A Windows version is available as well, which is compatible to Windows 2000, XP, 2003 Server and Vista. CDFinder is shareware. The demo version is unlimited in time, but restricted to 25 catalogues. A single license is 29 Euro / 39 USD. Multiple licenses for business or network use are priced depending on the number of clients and features required.
About CDFinder Read the rest of this entry »
Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the release of Adobe(R) Digital Editions 1.0, a new software application built from the ground up for acquiring, managing and reading eBooks, digital newspapers, and other digital publications. Available as a free download for Microsoft(R) Windows(R) and Macintosh systems, Adobe Digital Editions software transforms the digital reading experience and offers new creative possibilities for publishers.
Leading publishers, online retailers and channel partners have announced their support for Adobe Digital Editions today. By using a new export feature built into Adobe InDesign(R) CS3, publishers can easily create new Adobe Digital Editions-ready content, helping to significantly reduce cost and conversion time. In addition, with versions for mobile platforms and reading devices also planned, Sony has committed to embed Adobe Digital Editions technology into its portable reader product line.
“Adobe Digital Editions will revolutionize how publishers deliver eBooks and other digital content and how consumers experience it,” said Rob Tarkoff, senior vice president, Corporate Development at Adobe. “The combination of Adobe Digital Editions, InDesign CS3 and a new generation of hardware from innovators like Sony shows that digital publishing is front and center for content owners — and millions of readers who are looking forward to innovations in the delivery of their favorite works.”
“We’re excited to work with Adobe to pioneer new applications for eBooks and other digital documents,” said Ron Hawkins, vice president of portable reader systems marketing at Sony Electronics, Inc. “This collaboration will give us the opportunity to expand our offerings to a larger audience and new markets, allowing individual consumers, businesses, and other customers to take advantage of the portability and ease of use of Sony’s Reader products with a wider spectrum of content.”
With native support for Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) and XML-based publications, Adobe Digital Editions already works seamlessly with more than 150,000 commercially published titles. Using Adobe Digital Editions 1.0 readers will find that content automatically re-flows, adapting to different screen sizes and support for Adobe Flash(R) software promises to enhance digital publications through the integration of rich audio and video.
Features and Enhancements
The public beta of Adobe Digital Editions generated more than 300,000 downloads in less than six months and user feedback influenced the feature set. Adobe Digital Editions now enables users to annotate content through bookmarks, highlights and text notes. The library view offers advanced organization with multiple bookshelves. A slick new user interface enhances zooming and the overall reading experience, while support for the new IDPF Open Publication Standard (OPS) for XHTML-based re-flowable eBooks, guarantees a seamless viewing experience.
The Adobe Digital Editions 1.0 download is less than 3MB and leverages Adobe Flash Player technology to enable quick installation as part of the content download. The integration with Adobe Acrobat(R) 8 and Adobe Reader(R) 8 applications allows users to install and launch Adobe Digital Editions automatically within these industry standard products. Read the rest of this entry »