Amazon to add HTML5 support to Kindle content

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Amazon on Friday announced a new HTML5-based e-book format called Kindle Format 8 (KF8), that will allow publishers to create content with rich formatting and advanced design elements tailored to the company?s tablet and e-reader lines.



Kindle Format 8 vs Mobi 7



The company describes KF8 as a better alternative to the current Mobi 7 standard, allowing publishers to create ?great-looking books? in genres that require rich formatting, such as children?s picture books, comics and graphic novels.



KF8 will offer publishers access to over 150 formatting features including HTML5 and CSS3, however video and audio are not among the supported HTML tags and CSS elements listed on Amazon?s website. Though the company mentions a variety of elements that will help publishers ?create Kindle Books that readers will love,? including high-resolution color, sidebars, Scalable Vector Graphics, CSS selectors, text on background images and more.



Writers will initially be limited to publishing e-books in KF8 for Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet, with the support for the new format coming to the company's entire 2011 lineup of Kindle readers in the coming months. The new format will also be compatible with existing Kindle desktop and mobile applications including the Kindle app (iTunes link) for iPhone and iPad.



Upcoming and existing devices and apps will still be able to access content created using Mobi 7. To ensure backwards compatibility, Kindle Publisher Tools will let content creators automatically convert KF8 e-books into the legacy format.







KF8 will be available as an update to Kindle Publisher Tools, which also includes the updates to KindleGen 2 and Kindle Previewer 2, which will allow publishers to create and view HTML, XHTML and EPUB content.







Apple, HTML5, iBooks & Kindle



In contrast to the new KF8 format, Apple?s iBooks publishing system only supports EPUB content and PDF files. EPUB is a free, open e-book standard that has been criticized in the past for having limitations with e-books requiring complex page layout and rich formatting, features that HTML5 excels at.



The iOS Kindle app received a major update in late Jun. 2010 which brought video and audio support to iPhone and iPad Kindle e-books, features that were not available to Amazon Kindle devices at the time.



Apple encourages content providers to use the web standard when creating rich online content instead of proprietary formats. In a memorable open letter published in late Apr. 2010, the late Steve Jobs clarified why Apple?s mobile devices do not support Flash.



Although Apple has been a long-time supporter of HTML5, it has yet to add support to its iBooks publishing system.
«13

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 42
    tylerk36tylerk36 Posts: 1,037member
    iPad wanna be. You can try all you want to make an iPad clone. I would suspect that some day there will be a close success to the iPad. Its just a matter of time. Any way I love my iPad and have gotten so used to it that I have come to see it as a part of myself. I kinda tale it for granted. I have the iPad 1 and I like the feel of it better than the iPad2. The iPad 1 seems heavier and build more sturdy. I just regret it doesn't have the Camera.
  • Reply 2 of 42
    conradjoeconradjoe Posts: 1,887member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Amazon on Friday announced a new HTML5-based e-book format called Kindle Format 8 (KF8), that will allow publishers to create content with rich formatting and advanced design elements tailored to the company?s tablet and e-reader lines.




    I don't like proprietary formats. Not one bit.
  • Reply 3 of 42
    On the flip, when Apple bring out an electronic-ink device (which they inevitably will when screen technology progresses to their standards ), it will wipe the floor with amazon overnight.
  • Reply 4 of 42
    modemode Posts: 163member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tylerk36 View Post


    iPad wanna be. You can try all you want to make an iPad clone. I would suspect that some day there will be a close success to the iPad. Its just a matter of time. Any way I love my iPad and have gotten so used to it that I have come to see it as a part of myself. I kinda tale it for granted. I have the iPad 1 and I like the feel of it better than the iPad2. The iPad 1 seems heavier and build more sturdy. I just regret it doesn't have the Camera.



    The article is about an e-book format for Kindles with HTML5 support - not devices.



    Apple may currently have a slight edge with the iPad from a technical standpoint, but is losing on the support front with the publication industry.

    Content is king - not the device.

    This news just may be a game changer and force Apple to review it's business model.
  • Reply 5 of 42
    The upcoming epub 3 format will also include HTML 5. Link.
  • Reply 6 of 42
    ikolikol Posts: 369member
    Apple will never win the eBook war as long as you can't read an iBook in direct sun. Epic fail. I still love my iPad regardless, but will buy Steve Jobs ala Kindle.
  • Reply 7 of 42
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by monstrosity View Post


    On the flip, when Apple bring out an electronic-ink device (which they inevitably will when screen technology progresses to their standards ), it will wipe the floor with amazon overnight.



    Possibly. But I recall reading that Amazon is losing money on each of these devices. Whether that's true or not, I haven't verified. Much like (old) General Motors, Amazon seems hungry for market share, profits be damned. It is a fact that they have always been content to exist on thin margins. I like to think that Apple is more like Ferrari: only fight for share in the premium space. Leave the crumbs to those who think no higher than eating crumbs. One thing I really like about Cook, he may not be a true visionary like Jobs, but he's a wartime leader when it comes to supply chain strategy.
  • Reply 8 of 42
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by iKol View Post


    Apple will never win the eBook war as long as you can't read an iBook in direct sun. Epic fail. I still lOce my iPad regardless but will buy Steve Jobs ala Kindle.



    It's a trade-off, really. I love the fact that I can read at night while my wife sleeps without turning on a lamp or using an annoying book light.
  • Reply 9 of 42
    tylerk36tylerk36 Posts: 1,037member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mode View Post


    The article is about an e-book format for Kindles with HTML5 support - not devices.



    Apple may currently have a slight edge with the iPad from a technical standpoint, but is losing on the support front with the publication industry.

    Content is king - not the device.

    This news just may be a game changer and force Apple to review it's business model.



    Correct it may be about the kindle. But.... I am insane and love my iPad. My quote was to prove that no matter how much any company tries to compete on any level with Apple the amount of effort will always be first loser, second place.
  • Reply 10 of 42
    ikolikol Posts: 369member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tonton View Post


    It's a trade-off, really. I love the fact that I can read at night while my wife sleeps without turning on a lamp or using an annoying book light.



    True- but you still can't read in broad daylight outside.
  • Reply 11 of 42
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Where are the chowderheads claiming Amazon should use Adobe Flash because just as power efficient — if not more so — than HTML5 in every single way?
  • Reply 12 of 42
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    Where are the chowderheads claiming Adobe should use Flash because just as power efficient ? if not more so ? than HTML5 in every single way?



    I think you mean Amazon, not Adobe, in that post.
  • Reply 13 of 42
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by iKol View Post


    True- but you still can't read in broad daylight outside.



    Nope. Because I'll be swimming.



    Seriously, out of 100 people who read, how many read at night? How many read in broad daylight, outside, out of the shade? "Epic fail?" More like epic hyperbole.
  • Reply 14 of 42
    allblueallblue Posts: 393member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tonton View Post




    Seriously, out of 100 people who read...



    I know if you spend time on the internet it may seem that way, but I think there are still more than a hundred people that can read. The number is dwindling fast though...
  • Reply 15 of 42
    ikolikol Posts: 369member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tonton View Post


    Nope. Because I'll be swimming.



    Seriously, out of 100 people who read, how many read at night? How many read in broad daylight, outside, out of the shade? "Epic fail?" More like epic hyperbole.



    YOu must not live near a beach or pool where everyone is reading Kindles.

    Not because they're better, but because you can.
  • Reply 16 of 42
    i admit that direct sunlight makes IPad reading a bit hard, but I still use it. While my Kindle sits at home, but will be used again I am sure. The Kindle is a great reader, Amazon is just trying to play in the wrong pool with their tablet.
  • Reply 17 of 42
    They should make a waterproof kindle for people who read in the pool or in the bath.
  • Reply 18 of 42
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand it would be silly to design a whole new book file format from scratch. From that perspective basing it on an existing standard such as HTML5 makes sense.



    But on the other hand, the web looks like shit compared to traditional books. I don't really want humanity taking a step backwards in book-beauty as part of the transition from paper to digital.
  • Reply 19 of 42
    rainrain Posts: 538member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ascii View Post


    I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand it would be silly to design a whole new book file format from scratch. From that perspective basing it on an existing standard such as HTML5 makes sense.



    But on the other hand, the web looks like shit compared to traditional books. I don't really want humanity taking a step backwards in book-beauty as part of the transition from paper to digital.



    Paper books will never go away. Never.

    They will just become more of a commodity over time and more valuable as the digital trend continues.



    What's more valuable - a baseball card or a digital picture of a baseball card? People will always prefer and add value to physical things.



    The one app that nobody will be able to make is 'personability'.

    People need physical contact and interactions. This 'social media' fad and all the devices that support it are a fad.



    The iPad is nothing more then a glorified pair of MC Hammer pants... with the collective knowledge of the world woven into it's seams.



    Tech gluttony will become a lifestyle for the poor and stupid.
  • Reply 20 of 42
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rain View Post


    Paper books will never go away. Never.

    They will just become more of a commodity over time and more valuable as the digital trend continues.



    What's more valuable - a baseball card or a digital picture of a baseball card? People will always prefer and add value to physical things.



    The one app that nobody will be able to make is 'personability'.

    People need physical contact and interactions. This 'social media' fad and all the devices that support it are a fad.



    The iPad is nothing more then a glorified pair of MC Hammer pants... with the collective knowledge of the world woven into it's seams.



    Tech gluttony will become a lifestyle for the poor and stupid.



    I agree with the sentiment. Physical objects are superior to digital versions in many ways. But I don't agree with your prediction of a stratified world of digital for the ignorant masses and physical for the few.



    I think that as nano-scale manufacturing develops (which will be sooner than anything thinks) the digital book you download from iBooks will actually be a blueprint for your 3d printer/prototyper which will create a physical object for you. Computers as we know them will retreat from some of the physical domains and become purely about information processing.



    That is why HTML5 as a book file format is short-sighted. The file format needs to encode information about physical page size, paper texture and other physical attributes which Amazon will regret later if they don't include now.
Sign In or Register to comment.