Pocketbook has released the new 7-inch Era Lite e-reader with a black-and-white screen. It shares the same design as the original Era and Era Color, with physical page-turning buttons on the handle-side of the screen (as well as power and menu buttons). It has a lower water resistance rating (IPX4 instead of IPX8) and less storage (16 GB instead of 32 GB), but most other features are the same. It features a USB-C port, adjustable color temperature backlighting, a rotation sensor, a lid-open sensor, 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a 1700 mAh battery. The price is more affordable than the base models at $199.

Last month, Amazon announced it would be ending support for the Kindle desktop app on June 30, 2026. After that date, the app will no longer function and users will be unable to read their ebooks or other digital content. However, it turns out the company has decided to simply replace Kindle for Windows, likely to eliminate the ability to export books from it. The new Kindle app for Windows 11 is now available for download from the Microsoft Store. It allows you to read not only ebooks but also comics and manga (it is fully compatible with Comixology's Guided View system). Users can also upload their own books to the app and read them. All your progress will be saved in Kindle app for Android, iOS and Kindle e-readers. It is also compatible with audiobooks purchased from Audible or Amazon.

Audible has introduced Audible Rewards, a feature that rewards users for their listening habits, offering exclusive privileges, discounts and game challenges. Rewards are given for days during which users listen for at least five minutes, for listening to a certain number of books over four months or for listening to a challenge (such as the Harry Potter series). Program members also get rewards for inviting friends. Audible Rewards will initially be available to users in the US on iOS, Android, the Audible website and Amazon.com, with plans to expand to other marketplaces in 2027 and beyond.

Kobo is expanding its Kobo Plus subscription service to the Czech Republic, Greece, Luxembourg, Poland and Romania. Readers in these six markets can now enjoy unlimited access to a vast catalog of digital content—from classics to contemporary bestsellers and a wide range of independent authors. Readers can choose from three flexible plans starting at 10 EUR/month, optimized for reading text books, audiobooks or both. In total, Kobo is now available in 26 European countries, including Germany, where Kobo is a hardware partner of local book giant Tolino.

Barnes & Noble CEO James Daunt stated that the bookstore will not impose a total ban on AI-generated books. He said the store does filter out most AI-generated books and requires publishers to label any books created with AI. However, B&N will not "ban" AI-generated books that are in demand, especially if they are reputable titles from reputable publishers. "Banning books poses a clear and present danger, so we proceed cautiously when faced with requests to remove titles. We are also vigilant to ensure we do not offer AI-generated books that pose as books written by real people," he noted.

Kobo has partnered with StoryGraph, the popular independent reading platform known for its personalized recommendations and reader-focused community, to add the integration to Kobo e-readers. By linking their accounts with StoryGraph, Kobo users can leverage its sophisticated analytics to better understand their reading habits and get personalized recommendations based on unique tastes. Besides, this integration can unite Kobo readers into a vibrant global community (similar to Amazon'e Goodreads). This will let Kobo users stay motivated with reading series, participate in community-driven challenges and join book clubs, becuase their reading activity on Kobo will directly impact their engagement on StoryGraph.

Spotify has unveiled a new AI-powered tool (powered by ElevenLabs) for self-publishing audiobooks on the "Spotify for Authors" platform. Authors will currently only be able to create audiobook versions of their works in English. AI-powered audiobook creation does not bind authors to an exclusive contract, meaning they are free to publish their audiobooks anywhere. Additionally, Spotify will expand its Audiobook+ plans this year with increased listening limits and will add new features for students and families in the future. Thanks to these initiatives, the company claims to increase listening hours by 60% year-over-year. In recent years, Spotify has significantly increased its focus on audiobooks and has managed to expand its catalog to 700,000 titles. Spotify currently has over a million Audiobook+ subscribers and the platform plans to generate $100 million in annual revenue.

Paperpile, a web app for managing bibliographic references, now lets you send PDF articles to ChatGPT, NotebookLM or any other supported AI assistant. The new feature called Ask AI helps you quickly find a key citation or data point that will lead to the next step in your research. You can add one or more (up to 10) PDFs from your library to Ask AI, select a prompt and initiate a conversation with your preferred AI assistant (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or Copilot). Paperpile will send your full-text PDF and the selected prompt to the AI ​​assistant. You can then ask follow-up questions, add additional articles or view citations in the full-text source PDF.

Amazon has released firmware update 5.19.4, which adds a dark mode for Kindle Colorsoft and Kindle Scribe Colorsoft. This is the first time when a color e-reader has a system-wide dark mode, which inverts colors from a gray screen with white text to a dark background with white text. The update also brings Smart Shapes feature - you can draw a shape with one stroke, then hold the pen down at the end to automatically straighten it. You can also handwrite notes on images - use the pen to ink on images in eBooks with improved layout and Word documents sent to your Kindle. Some performance improvements, bug fixes and other general enhancements are also included in the update.

Boox has released Bluetooth remote Tappy - wireless device that allows users to turn e-book pages, scroll through articles and control audiobooks. The remote has three modes: Reading Mode (for reading page by page; most e-reading apps allow for easy page turning), Browse Mode (allows you to scroll content up and down vertically, ideal for browsing news or long articles), Multimedia Mode (for audiobooks - functions as a remote control for skipping to the previous or next track). On Boox e-readers with firmware version 4.2 or higher, you can customize the button functions to suit your preferences. Thus, a double-tap or a long hold can perform different actions. Tappy retails for $25.99.