China’s Readmoo has created the first consumer-ready e-reader with a folding E Ink display - mooInk V. The e-reader is a flip device but can also be opened flat for reading or used at a 90-degree angle, similar to reading a print book, but it remains to be seen how comfortable the ergonomics of holding it that way will be. It has an 8-inch touchscreen based on E Ink’s Gallery 3 display technology. The company says it can survive over 200,000 bends. Although E Ink has demonstrated prototypes of folding e-readers in the past, its display technology is much thicker than OLED panels, making it more difficult to design a reliable hinge and a screen that can survive the rigors of daily use. With a body made from lightweight and strong aluminum-magnesium alloy, mooInk V weights around 225g, which is just a few grams heavier than Kindle Colorsoft.

Spotify has flung open the audiobook floodgates across several German-speaking countries with all the exuberance of a caffeinated opera singer. Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the ever-plucky Liechtenstein now find themselves on the receiving end of 350,000 audiobooks in German, French and Italian, presumably narrated by people with voices so smooth they could butter toast. Germany, having long embraced the fine art of “Hörspiele” (a word which roughly translates to “why read when you can be dramatically read to?”), seems particularly well-prepared for this auditory onslaught. Eligible Premium listeners are granted 12 hours of literary immersion per month, with bonus packs of 10 hours available for €9.99—because nothing says modern enlightenment like metered access to Dostoevsky. As for the non-Premium plebeians, fret not: you too can pay à la carte, because democracy in the audio age apparently means paying extra for chapter four.

Readmoo has launched a new e-reader – mooInk Nana “Moon White” edition. It comes with a 7-inch Kaleido 3 color e-paper display and has an Oasis-like asymmetric build where one of the edges is considerably thicker than the rest. The thicker edge is also where the physical page turn buttons are located. The presence of dual-tone reading lights ensure an optimum reading experience irrespective of the ambient lighting condition. Power comes from a 2,300 mAh battery and can be charged via USB-C port. It runs Android 11 which unfortunately is quite dated considering that many e-readers announced recently come with either Android 14 or the latest Android 15 versions. Nonetheless, you can install the e-book reading app of your choice to suit your distinct reading style. The mooInk Nana is priced at $281.

Amazon has introduced a new “Recaps” feature for Kindle users. This marvelous innovation allows forgetful bibliophiles to refresh their memory on crucial plot points and character arcs before diving into the next book in a series—because who has time for rereading when there’s so much more to forget? Currently available to Kindle users in the United States, the feature delivers bite-sized summaries for thousands of best-selling English-language series, ensuring that you no longer have to pretend you remember who that one guy was and why he had a mysterious tattoo. Plans are underway to bring this groundbreaking service to Kindle app for iOS, just as soon as Amazon is sure that iOS users also have memory issues. To access these handy recaps, one must be running the latest Kindle software, locate the elusive “View Recaps” button in their Kindle Library, and—before being granted the sacred knowledge—bravely acknowledge that, yes, spoilers lie ahead. Once past this solemn warning, enlightenment is but a click away.

Amazon debuted the next generation of the e-note/e-reader Kindle Scribe. It's the largest in the brand's lineup and the only model that comes with a pen and the ability to write. It has the same size as the previous generation but features a redesigned screen with even borders surrounding the screen. Also it allows you to annotate within the margins of books. While the new display has a nice feel, it suffers from a ghosting issue. The back end of the premium pen works as an eraser, so you can flip it over when you want to erase some notes. The processor has not been updated so Kindle Scribe remains the slowest e-reader in the line-up. It often lags when starting to wake up or switching between journals and books.

Library organizer software Calibre has released a new version 8.0.1 which boasts improved support for Kobo e-readers. Calibre can now natively edit, view and convert Kobo’s proprietary KEPUB file format to regular EPUB files for reading on non-Kobo devices and apps (like Calibre itself). Additionally, users of Kobo devices can now use Calibre to convert EPUB to KEPUB automatically when sending books across, saving time and hassle of first converting and then sending. Besides, Calibre can now connect to folders and treat them as USB mass storage devices. That might sound odd, but according to Calibre, this is especially useful if you're running Calibre on a Chromebook. That's because Chrome OS treats external USB drives as folders.

Amazon has decided to give its beloved Send to Kindle system a rather stern talking-to. From now on, only fully-dressed, respectable email addresses (like “kindlecustomer@xyz.com”) will be allowed through the door, while scruffy, half-baked addresses (such as “@xyz.com”) will be left shivering outside in the cold digital rain. This, they assure us, is to ensure only pre-approved, non-nefarious and presumably very polite senders can lob documents at your Kindle. Anything from an uninvited sender will vanish into the electronic abyss, accompanied by a sorrowful "send failure" email, which is the internet’s equivalent of a sad trombone noise. Ordinary users, blissfully unaware of the drama, will continue merrily forwarding PDFs to their Kindle Scribes and e-books to their e-readers, none the wiser.

Voice AI company ElevenLabs is now letting authors publish AI-generated audiobooks on its own Reader app. Also recently the company partnered with Spotify for AI-narrated audiobooks. ElevenLabs started inviting authors to try out their publishing program through their app on a trial basis last year. That program is newly open to all authors. Currently, it pays roughly $1.10 to authors when listeners engage with an audiobook for 11 minutes or more. The platform itself aims to compete with Audible, which ElevenLabs believes offers lower royalty rates for authors. Under its model, ElevenLabs’ audiobooks will be offered within its own Reader app and the company will pay authors when users engage with their content.

Ukrainian developers from Alfa.NetSoft have released the new version of their popular home library program Alfa Ebooks Manager 9. It's built on the enhanced engine that allows it to work faster and more reliable. They have also implemented the new internal reader with search, notes and progress bar. It also enables basic knowledge management - when reading a book you can highlight and save text blocks or quotes and then access them in a book card, click on them and open the appropriate page in a book. You can also add your comments to these knowledge blocks. Besides the program interface has become more polished and suitable. You can customize the design according to your taste and select between multiple bookshelf templates. The web-reader and the whole web interface also received a beautiful facelift. Among other new features - better audio-book import and management.

A new AI platform called Lumi is here to take your half-baked ideas and turn them into fully-fledged comics, graphic novels or manga—whether you’re ready or not. Armed with tools of unspeakable efficiency, Lumi will conjure up characters, generate dialogue that hopefully makes sense and illustrate everything in a way that suggests it actually knows what it’s doing. Once the befuddled creator has recovered from the shock of seeing their vague notion turned into a full-blown masterpiece, they can publish it in digital or print, possibly before they’ve even finished their coffee. Lumi will even assist in selling these works to eager readers, making it less of an AI and more of an overly enthusiastic literary agent that never sleeps. And as if that weren’t enough, it will also churn out merchandise, ensuring that your accidental bestseller comes with action figures, T-shirts and possibly a range of highly collectible tea cozies.