- Is Pottermore a game-changer? Pottermore, an "online reading experience built around the world of Harry Potter", launched in beta yesterday after some delays. As well as becoming a destination where fans of the book series can interact with the brand, Pottermore also includes a digital book store where all seven Harry Potter novels are sold exclusively in digital form - crucially bypassing traditional publisher and online retailers alike.
- Google announces new payment and access control system for digital publishers Not to be outdone by Apple’s new subscription service introduced yesterday, Google have today announced One Pass - a system for digital publishers that controls “user authentication, payment processing, and administration” of digital content.
- Apple App Store introduces long-awaited subscription service Apple have today announced the introduction of a long-awaited in-app subscription service available to content-based apps in the App Store. With the new service Apple receives a 30% share of new app subscriptions, but interestingly, when a publisher brings an existing or new subscriber to the app, the publisher retains 100% of earnings.