While Amazon continues to rule the ebook world with its Kindle Paperwhite and Fire HD, local retailer JB Hi-Fi has decided to try and crash the ebook party with the launch of its new Now Books service.
The new online store allows customers to purchase and read digital copies of books on their PC or Mac, iOS or Android device, or selected ereaders that support Adobe DRM (which doesn't include the market-leading Kindle).
JB Hi-Fi has released dedicated apps for both iOS and Android to support the service, which lets you browse both locally stored and purchased books direct from your device.
Unfortunately you need to register to use the service from a PC before the apps will work though, and you'll need an Adobe ID to work around the DRM restrictions as well.
Priced to clear?
Given JB Hi-Fi's traditional approach of selling goods at a discounted rate, the pricing of ebooks on the Now Books store seems a little standard.
Picking up a copy of George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones, for example, will cost AUD$9.99 through JB Hi-Fi. It costs $US9.99 through Kobo Books and $US10.39 from Amazon's Kindle store.
So far so good, but picking up Gerard Whately's biography on Black Caviar costs AUD$17.99 on JB, $US17.99 on Kobo Books and $US19.11 from Amazon's Kindle store.
While there's bound to be some discrepancies across the entire catalogue, it appears that the new JB Hi-Fi portal is on par with the other leading ebook stores on the market.