Bookfest@Singapore -Lack of Books Written by Singapore Authors

Singapore leading   Telco SingTel is offering  and selling ebook   with the launch of Skoob, Singapore’s first e-books retailer .

Singtel Skoob ebookstore

Being a ebook  reseller  does not mean  that  Skoob  is  a Publisher  as mentioned  by some  major newspaper  in  Singapore

It  was reported that  the service has launched with more than 39.000 books from six major publishers, namely Simon and Schuster , Random house , Penguin , HarperCollins , Hachette Book Group and Macmillan  with books   available  for android  and iOS  edition .  That  aside , SKoob  will also be offering   revision guides for primary –level maths and secondary-level English, chemistry and physics  and  maybe  hopefully  they  will consider to  provide Print of Demand  service  and  Singapore Post  One day in  the future

Picture by Asiaone on Skoob

 Presently  , their   range of books also  include    local  published books from  some leading  Singapore Publishers like   Popular , Marshall Cavendish, Cengage Learning, , Asiapac, Flame of the Forest, McGraw Hill, Sunbear, Monsoon, SAP and janus Education.

Picture taken from Bookfest@singapore

This   show  some  contribution  back to Singapore society   as it will at  least encourage  readers  to have  easy  access to  Local  authors  or Singapore published  books  . After visiting BookFest@Singapore,we noticed  there  were lack of books written by Singapore Authors ,and  I feel local works  will need our a better platform  like Skoob to help local authors showcase Singaporean's works to the World .

Presently in Asean region  , we have  seen  Malaysia  Universities , Thailand  and even Indonesia  venture  into  Print on Demand  service , where   the publisher   encourage   Local Authors  to  Publish their  books .

One such  Publishing company  in  Indonesia   is Nulisbuku ,who believe  to create a dream  for all people to product  their  work in a Free and Easy  way . Nulisbuku.com  also provides an  online  bookstore  that is used  as a platform  for  sharing  new author’s work  ( book ) .

Nulisbuku- Indonesia

As mentioned in their website ; “Our Dream is to make all people  ; be it that their occupation  be a chef, a blogger , a teacher , student ,photographers , professors  , everyone ( including  you! ) Could be a Writer  and publishes  Your Book Dream  .

ebook from ehongkong

We have seen  Singapore  encouraging  young writers to participate  through  the Singapore Writer festival  but  the theme  behind  the whole program is too commercialise ,and the   main keynote to such  program  without a Print of demand  facility  by a  Non  governmental Organisation  is  quite meaningless .

We  only  see  authors  with good media publicity  being enrolled for  such  program .With  Singapore high intellectual , basically  a simple  Governmental support to  a NGO  to  promote writing  through the National Library  board of Singapore  could easily implement   ;

“”Print on Demand service for all Singapore Potential Writer “

Where the Government of Singapore  can  easily install  the  most  efficient Print on Demand   machine  in one of  their  agencies to encourage  all  potential  writers to submit  their manuscript   for    publishing . So far ,  Singapore Book council has run  some course of  self  publishing  with  engaging   some speaker from Australia ,but without  the machine , it is just a  FAR  stone’s throw  away .

P.O.D machine

Such  investment, which is a low cost to Singapore  Governmental agencies  ,   will bring forth  Singaporean  Young and Old , to  take  up some of the interest  and venture into writing as hobby  or even as a career      and   courses of self publishing  can  be frequently organized  at different venues  throughout  Singapore  could  boost and enhanced   additional Added value  to future  organizing of  the  Singapore Writer Festival

Bookfest Singapore – Masterchefs Provide Wealth of Free Food Tasting

Book Festival  in Singapore  is no longer   tune  for Books reader , it  might  just  turn  out as a Gourmet tasting  occasion  when  the  organizer   who  wish  capitalize  on the popularity  of  some  Top  Chefs    took  this coming opportunity   to  introduce  new cook books for the coming events

Suntec  city -Photo from Flickr

Bookfest ads -Popular

Much  has  been  mentioned about  the new cook  book  ; The Hot  and Spicy  Way , but  yet  the organizers has pulled in   some of the better know celebrity  chefs  like Eric Teo  and  Daniel  Koh hoping  to attract more general visitors to the show ,or food for thought  visitors  , not books for thought

Banner  from Bookfest

I  am surprised  again  that  Bookfest@ organizer  is not focusing so much  on  ebooks  and  mobile  internet device and their  marketing  agenda turns  to  Teachers resources product   and  Chefs  who  can curry flavor  some foods for Thought .

 It  is not  very  much in line  with  the  Singapore University's interest  to promote  New Graduates   to   pickup  writing interest ,  which   was supported   with  a full house event  when  the Writers festival  was organized  in Singapore during this October.

Banner from Bookfest

With New Media technologies, Writers  are encouraged  to approach  this New Media for Thought  instead  of Good Food from Top Chef   for Thought . The  theme  for the show  has been  One Book One World ,  it would  has been  most encouraging   that  the theme be  ;

 "Youth  for Thought ,Try Writing  before It Wrinkle "

kindlefire

Bring  us the New Media  technology  and  encourage   writers to approach  such technology to breach into ebook writing and  bring forth  New product  to the World of Books   with  new  etheme  ;

 "" Popular Book ,Global Reach ""

Amazon reading apps

A  Good promotion  theme  by the organizer  will churns  out more potential writers and  being  the major event organizer in the region ,their encouragement  to  youth  to start  writing  will enhance people  from  all walks  of life  to appreciate  the better  things in life, and it shows their support and contribution to society  their   inspiration wish to  encourage new writers as a Market leader  for book reading industries .

Compliment aidubooks

Blogging for Youth 

We have recently  started   seeing some major bookstores  started  encouraging   writers to submit  their manuscript   for   their  review  with option for writers  to  consider publishing  their books online , and  this  set off new inspiration for Youth  who  need better purpose in life.

" Writing inspire Youth  With  New Purpose,Start  with Blogging "  

http://www.bookmarktechnology.com

Kindlefire Provide Value for Money - Price Against Features

The Kindle fire has finally been launched and the question is will  the Fire  Burn  up   the sales of china made  tablets such as  the product range from SmartDevices ,  Wits , Ainol  , Cube  or EKEN .

Smart G7 

Well, as  the Kindle Fire is not due to for  released  for  International market except  maybe  for UK  and Canada  by next year . Presently  the Unit is still on Pre-Order Basis  and may be available for Christmas in the  US this year  . There is off course  a workaround on the delivery in our  last article on Amazon’s   Kindlefire , which   explain the procedure  on how to  order the  Unit  via  concierge services , and  overseas  fans of kindle  can  still access  to it to  be  early birdie   rather then  late to be Angry Birds .

Certainly the Amazon Kindle Fire  seems to be  a “  Good  Buy  “although people are concerns over the privacy aspect of the Kindle Soft web browser. As the  Amazon’s  silk  browser   use  Amazon’s own databanks   and  it will know exactly where you’ve been and what you’ve done on the web.   But based on its Published price , It seems  the price  of the kindlefire  will most  likely   is will  blow a hole in the sales of  China  cheap tablet pcs such as the  Eken , Cube , Wits  , Ainol   etc ……..

 The  latest  casualty could  be the  Smartdevice 7 G   , which  recently  has it  new product  launch  which   was developed  to compete  with the Galaxy Tab .

Smart G7 

Comparison of Kindlefire with China  Import Tablet

Some of the  difference in comparison   are mentioned as follows ;

China Tablet

Screen: They both sport a multi touch colour screen. Both  resolution of the Kindle fire and G7  comes in at 1024 pixels

Processor: There no information on the power on the Kindle Fire processor other than it’s dual core. Rumour is that it is going to have a clock speed of 1GHz. The  Smart G7 with a clock speed of 800  Mhz

Memory: There no official release of the amount of RAM memory that will be available on the Kindle Fire while the  Smart G7  comes complete with 512MB of RAM.  Internal storage of the Kindle Fire is 8GB while the  Smart G7  comes in at half at  4GB. External storage through SD card is not available on the Kindle Fire but the Smart G7  has a micro SD card slot that can take up to 32GB cards.

China Tablet 

Connectivity: Both units use wifi as access to the internet and  has  USB  cport .

TV connection: Kindle fire lacks a HDMI connection to allow direct connection to a TV while the Smart G7  has a HDMI connection.

Camera: Both the Smart G7   and   Kindle Fire has no camera  

Operating system: Both units run the Android 2.3 OS while the Fire system has been heavily modified by Amazon the Smart G7  is android upgradeable  to latest version

 It still worth considering  buying a cheap Chinese import if you are looking for an affordable tablet PC. You’ll still get more features out  for the money even if Amazon has produced a great value tablet in the Kindle Fire.

But fairly based on Price / ratio on features, truly the Kindlefire is  definite  a Value for Money  Product , despite some  small short coming .

  

How to Order Kindle Fire for International Countries through Comgateway Services

One after another, some success, some failures, all leading computer developers are eager and have been seduced into entering the tablet market; in order to make a name and ensure their position as the most prominent technology product provider. Apple’s impressive results of 29 million sales of iPads since the last quarter of 2010 has made it irresistible and challenging for similar competitor, to  target the World for a share of the tablet market.

So far many  tablet manufacturers has ventured into this arena, HP has flopped it with Touchpad, ACER, RIM , Samsung  all could not meet up to par  compared to Apple’s iPad .

Will this cool off the  struggle between all the  Tablet manufacturers; whose interest is to  capture  a major share against Apple. Since  HP has just withdraw from the competition, or will New Player  come in to heat up the competition further .

Now comes another competitor, perhaps the best-placed challenger of all to face Apple. Analysts predict that this Major World Leading retailer may take up a major share from  Apple .

 A Big Bite on Apple by the Large AMAZON

Amazon ‘s Kindle Fire  , an  advanced  colour version of its Kindle e-reader that will compete  realistically  against  the iPad in terms of price and aim to steal away a couple of million unit sales by  Coming Christmas. The  competition between Amazon and Apple tablets will be a  a Race  between  two  major   qualified  players; one  of which created the first and popular e-reader – the Kindle, and the  other created the first and popular iPad tablet, both  of which  has experience   and   has lead  the digital media player  revolution in progress about how entertainment and other media  are being appreciated since the   launch of  Digital Media  technology

Both companies are  Mega  rich  companies   with both  racking up record revenues and seeing their stock-market valuations cruise to new peaks .Both  has  ample resources to  pitch struggles for consumer ‘s  attention  and wallets.

 SO how will this competition benefits us as Consumers?

Amazon ‘s  major objective to win back its share and to blend in ebook readers  with the users of Tablet  devices.  Making such an investment will threaten   Apple’s   leading position and might make Apple come back into the market at a lower price.

With a Lower Price,  that  will give  all consumers  an  Option of a cheaper  Alternative and  so that  Nobody  will monopolise the  tablets’  potential  market in the  near future.

This  heated competition  will  benefit  all consumers  when  iPad  starts considering  to slim  down  or   making  further improvement  with new features  at lower costs  which  brings more  gimmick goodies  for all.

The  Amazon Kindle  Fire  is an  offspring of  the  Kindle  and the Research in Motion ( RIM )  Playbook  which is  also  a 7 inch  Mobile internet device. Kindle Fire puts Amazon's incredible selection of digital content at customers' fingertips:

·         Amazon Appstore for Android - thousands of popular apps and games

·         18 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, and books

·         Ultra-fast web browsing - Amazon Silk

·         Free cloud storage for all your Amazon content

·         Vibrant color touchscreen with extra-wide viewing angle

·         Fast, powerful dual-core processor

Its screen will be a smaller 7 inches, compared  to the ipad’s 10 inches. The  Kindle Fire   will operate by touch screen, and is powered by  a Texas instrument s dual core  processor  and Android’s  Gingerbread operating system. It has an IPS screen  with a wide viewing angle, it comes  with  8GB internal storage  and  has a micro USB connector. Also incorporated come with Wifi connection adapter which enables consumer to  access to Amazon’s  WhisperNet Service.

Apple will for the first time meet  a  competitor  whom has similar marketing strategy  who  sells movies, music and ebooks in order to sell devices .  

The Amazon tablet might be underpowered when set against the Apple ‘s iPad,  but with a price tag  at  USD 199, it  undercuts  its  Android  rivals  and also the iPad , for  the  price  is by far  at  the most competitive position  against both  iOS  and  Android User  and  with Amazon online store behind the  Kindle Fire, Android tables user of all makes  will have more compelling reasons  to switch  to  Amazon.

By concentrating on direct sales from its own website, Amazon does not have to share margins with another store. It is estimated initial sales of as many as Six  million devices has  been  forecasted before February  2012 for those who want a tablet solely for entertainment and not for professional uses.

As that is about two thirds of tablet users , Apple’s product and marketing  strategists will finally have to take a competitor seriously. Not  Only is Apple Not the only  Vulnerable competitor.

But others  like  Barnes & Noble’s successful Nook Color e-reader ,  and  also the Kobo reader  and Sony Ereader  will  face the same Fate.

Amazon will need  to  innovate  further, otherwise , it will end up like its one-time competitor borders, now vanquished.

This Kindle  Fire Device  may  sell like Hot  Cakes in the Western World  but some  Asian and international  cities and  its consumer may not  be able  to  enjoy  this unit  like all the Apple’s Product  unless  consumers  organize  a shipping workaround from the  US  . Apple presently still  hold a good  retailing  position for  rest of the world  and  has  managed  to  uphold it sales turnover in the rest of the World  region .

For consumers in  Internationally   who are not able to order the Kindle Fire directly  but  are interested    to purchase the   Amazon Kindle Fire  may  take some bit of work as Amazon  will  not ship to all addresses  in some of these countries. Even countries like Singapore and Malaysia ,  will have to find a way to work around it as follows;

Guide to  order Amazon  Product for  International Country

The Workaround is to ship the Amazon  Kindle  Fire  to a United States  Address  first using the services of online concierges services like Borderlinx , ComGateway  or vPost   who act as third party forwarder to ship your items to  your international address  .  

To  start you will need to have an account with any of these online services which will provide  you with a US address . For  example , you  might  get an  address in Beligum  with Borderlinx . To get a  Kindle Fire  , Visit Amazon.com  and place your order  ;

Lets  say  you r  registered and open an account at Comgateway

Type in  the US address  supplied by the concierge service  ( instead  of your  Home  address )

Complete  the payment with your credit card .

The  concierge   will provide  you  an  input  box to place  the link , of   the product  which you intend to order .

Buyer will identify and confirmed   the product link and purchase price  and   place order accordingly and  item ordered will  also reflect  at the concierge’s  website. An acknowledgement  confirmation is provided by the  service of which  they  will send  you an email to confirmed and informed  when the good  will arrive at your specified address .

A duration of few days  will allowed for the concierge  services to wait for the receiving of the  goods that  you have ordered from Amazon . Once in receipt , the concierge  will  informed to your email  its  arrival at the  US  address   and ask for further  instruction  to your email    where  buyer will input  the  international delivery address  for which the goods will be  sent  by respective mail  by the  concierge service .http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051VVOB2?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwseowealt04-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B0051VVOB2

IS Gold Wealth Coming to be a Bubble

With the year bringing  havoc to bonds  and a bear market in stocks , accompanied by  Chaos and trouble   in some of the countries in  the  Middle  east region , like  Syria  & Libya .

All   this recent happening    and  together  with investor   concern over the European Sovereign-debt crisis and fears of renewed global recession  caused  gold strong rally this  recent months

Another   Rush  came in from  the  Chinese and Indian buyers of gold as they are  concerned about the prevailing high inflation in their countries and are seeking a safety  Haven  , and  also possibly  the  Big rise  in  Wealth in those two countries creates additional demand as owning gold can be seen as a Wealth Of Fortune . 

If the above is true , surely it means that  gold may be   going to extend further  its gain this year  as long  as  inflation in China and India still    elevate  higher   even  with  their Government  trying to  slow  down   the inflation  crisis 

Without forgetting  the   present  Debt  crisis  in both Europe and Big America  , Gold Might possibly  still edge up  again  as recently   the world’s largest gold ETF, the SPDR Gold Trust,  has reported   the net tonnes its holds decline this year, showing that, overall, there isn’t much demand-from portfolio managers and retail investors in developed countries.       

 The fund  witness  some  peak  when   it climbed as high as 1,309 tonnes on Aug  but slipped  back to below stock value  at  1,232 tonnes just recently  but  Overall , it has been largely steady in the  1,200 –to 1.300-tonne range over the year. This figure  reflect  there is No  evidence of a  flight to the safety of gold in either Comex futures either 

 For now, as long as Chinese and Indian consumers  are  still caught up  with their   worry about inflation, and the global economy remains under threat, there are no real reasons to expect gold prices to decline.

 India and China are also the key drivers of these two categories , With Indian’s demand jumping 38 per cent in the second quarter of this year   and their demand   for bars  and bullion  has leapt  by almost 80  percent   which  show  their Government is try  to stock  up   in  such  time  especially  to   counter against    inflation ,  and  yet  they  still could not   reduce the worsening effect  as inflation stood at 9 % until today .

China did  manage  to bring  down  their inflation with similar counter measure ,but  the worsening threat  from Europe  and with  recession spell being   felt  in major  economy like the United States  ,  there are no real reasons to expect gold prices to decline.

With  that being  said  ,  somehow  the recent  price of gold  has  plummeted promptly  from  all time  high  of US $ 1,170  by about US$120 an ounce , the volatile trading is again is spreading  claims that gold is in a possible  bubble  

It is clear that GOLD  price increase  came  from  people who  are buying gold as either a hedge against inflation or economic calamity , or solely because they treat it  as  investment  after  consideration   that globally  the increase  in political  uncertainty  ,doubtful economic future and financial problems  today exceeded that  of any other time , as Investment  Guru  Mr  Soros  mentioned recently    of possible   second  Depression Era   is coming

Gold benefits for this worry .

 Even after the downturn in prices for this episode , it is not clear if gold has hit its peak, is gold still being driven by fundamentals or is it a speculator’s delight? Because of this uncertainty , regulators have acted, as  carefully as they can   as they did in the former  case of the internet  crash and housing bubbles.

   

If you want to leverage and increase your wealth by converting it into gold bullion, you will have to buy Gold mining stocks.

 Those who did will have made a lot of money because these stocks appreciated rapidly , to between and  five  times their purchase price, However, They went up so fast that bullion could not keep pace. I would not suggest buying more highly capitalised blue chip stocks until bullion catches up.

 It is a corrections that merely  consolidated the upswing that climaxed  but  as the correction unfolded, the fundamentals for gold stocks continued to improve. This divergence may have set the stage for  some Updown Swinging action soon.

Could  it be that  the purchasing power of gold  reflect a vicious bear market that will embroil all the world’s paper currencies.

Gold always offer a store of value but investors will have a look beyond and  buy  gold mining stocks that can increase production, make successful explorations and can turn around setbacks.  

The  only  way  you can make good profit from Gold mining  stock is to diversify . investing  is like planting  a garden , there will always be some weeds, while  some plants  over grow , others may not survive.

Reading Chinese Language ebooks is ergonomic on iPad with Aidubooks Apps

With million of  Apple iDevices  like iPads, iPhone  being sold  throughout   the world ,apps developer  who  are eager  for a share of the  wealth pie has been aggressively creative  and   developing  several application  which works  with the devices that  enhances   better  lifestyle  and  also to maximize on latest media technology which includes  GPRS function , games download , photo sharing , movies  and music download , etc

www.aidubooks.com

Among  most of the application  , Ebooks Apps  has been  catching  fast  especially  with the  “Go Green – Save Gaia” theme  where  every  reader   who  support the program  buy  their  digital ebook online  contribute to saving   trees  and  our living environment.

With  such apps , it provide  readers the convenience and freedom to download  and read  all type of digital document  like newspaper  , brochure , ebooks , digital magazine , digital directories  and even play  digital audiobooks

Sony Reader Apps

Such popularity  of ebooks Apps  therefore  inspire online ebookstore   to  provide even  ebook reading apps for smartphones and  iPad tablets, and they're usually  free! .Some of  these  ebooks  apps provider  include ; 

FBReader, laputa Reader , Aldiko Book Reader, Reader ( Sony ) ,eReader Android , Kindle , Nookbook , Kobo reader etc….the list   goes  on , and most  of such ebookstore  has typically cater mostly  to  English  books  but does carry  a smaller stocklist of Chinese ebook  and  other multiple language  books .

Aidubook's logo

With  such advancement  in  the  Apps technology , publishers  in the Asian  region  also  felt  and appreciate  the interest  of  the savvies generation whom are  becoming the new  gadget yuppies who  usually will   own a mobile internet  devices  which  let  them  easily browse the  world  wide web and getting connected through Social  media  platforms . These potential group of  User  are  usually  young professional and who  are eager to access to latest  digital technology  and  will be  prone  to access and purchase   such apps  without  much hesitation .

Chinese ebooks App  located at the  bottom of the picture 

 With  a  big potential  Chinese  market in China , ebook publisher  has  also develop New Chinese ebooks  Apps  to cater  to gadget yuppies who  are mostly young readers  and most of the  apps are mostly bilingual .

They  feel the  new technology represent  a remarkable achievement  on using digital media technology to fully leverage Chinese – Language content  to reach out  to the rapidly emerging pool of  savvies   readers who are  getting  accustomed to using  mobile internet devices .

Blogging By Million 

Most  of the Chinese  ebooks apps  works  similar  to the major players like Alidiko  , and  usually  the  apps  can be downloadable for  free .

With   the Free Apps , readers can easily access to apple itunes  store and download  their  selected books directly from the Apps webstore , which usually  carry  a wide range of digital ebooks , magazine etc ..

Apps Download 

Some of  the most  recent  popular   chinese  ebooks apps  being  promoted aggressively  in  Hongkong and  Taiwan include  aidubooks ,  GBbookmall , ehongkong.com , shu-book, JMbookstore , qqstore   .

Most of the Apps support Chinese ebook download and is able to convert between Simplified and Traditional Chinese switch between  horizontal and vertical layout styles . they  are usually compatible  with iBook format  and  relatively  all  target to  Apple’s  customer who  uses iPad   &  iPhone

Blogging by Million - Chinese  edition

 A recent  success case  in 2010  was when Aidubooks   which  last  exhibited  their    cutting edge  technologies   in  publishing electronic books  during  the BookFest@ Hongkong  exhibition in 2010  has   managed top grossing  sales under iTune Appstore under “ General category “with  First Top Paid (  all Hongkong  downloads ) since  its launch of  one of its published book  by a famous  celebrity in Hongkong .The  result  was achieved  within  a short  duration of  4 days , as iphone  and ipod users  were prompt and  eager to  access  the  product  using  the New Ebooks Apps to access  to a platform of thousand of ebooks and emagazines .