Random House to give e-authors 50% of revenues

What might be the big story of the week comes from (who else) Microsoft. On November 12th in Las Vegas, Bill Gates plans to demonstrate Microsoft's prototype Tablet PC device at Comdex. Similar to a notebook computer without the keyboard, could make an ideal eBook reader and may eventually be marketed to consumers by Microsoft's manufacturing partners. The tablet, larger than a Pocket PC but smaller than a laptop, will be wirelessly connected to the Internet at all times. It has been suggested that this device might serve a similar purpose to that of a stand alone e-book device and may allow PDF, Open E-book Format, as well as Microsoft Reader files to be read on the same device.

On the subject of e-book readers, Franklin Bookman plans to showcase the eBookMan at the upcoming Comdex/Fall meeting in Las Vegas, November 13-17. The anticipation for this device has been accelerated by the industry's disappointment with the high price tag on the much heralded GemStar Rocket Readers. The e-Bookman will have relatively low prices, as Franklin has set for the eBookMan's three models - The entry model, EBM-900, with a suggested retail price of $129.95, includes a microphone, speaker, headphone jack, multimedia memory card slot for memory expansion, a USB port and 8 MB of built-in memory. The EBM-901, with a suggested retail price of $179.95, adds a backlit, enhanced polarised display and free content offerings. The flagship model, the EBM-911, suggested to retail for $229.95, offers 16MB of memory and additional free content. Compare that to the $299 and $699 price points announced for the REB1100 and REB1200. Another advantage is the availability of content for the e-BookMan. While the Rockets only allow one format (the e-rocket format), the e-BookMan offers an "open but secure" platform and is encouraging outside parties to develop both content and applications for the devices. Franklin promises an upgrade in the near future to these devices to accept Microsoft Reader formats too. These devices are expected to hit the shelves in the brick and mortar and Internet stores next week. Only glitch is that a shortage of supply for Christmas is already being predicted.

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