OverDrive, an e-publishing and distribution services provider, is partnering with IPM-Net, the Internet services unit of Italian telecommunications firm IPM-Group, to offer OverDrive's suite of e-publishing technologies to the Italian market. OverDrive is also calling attention to a new, multiuse handheld reading device, called My Friend, that IPM-Net is about to release in Europe.
Steve Potash, CEO of OverDrive, told PW that IPM-Net will "customize and extend" OverDrive's text conversion, e-commerce and DRM technologies for the Italian e-publishing market. Among OverDrive's services are Content Reserve, an e-distribution network; MIDAS, a customized e-commerce service; and ReaderWorks, which can convert online files into Microsoft Reader format.
OverDrive's Jamaican e-book center will convert both English-language and Italian works. Potash said that the first e-book retail and service site built under the agreement has already launched. He noted that Content Reserve has grown to a network of 350 active retail accounts with an inventory of 25,000 e-books (30% foreign language). The service, said Potash, is also working to "put another 100 retailers online."
Potash was also enthusiastic about My Friend, a handheld Windows CE device that comes with Microsoft Reader installed. The device has a high-resolution color screen, can play audiobooks and even send e-mail. Potash told PW the device "is being released in retail channels in Europe and IPM is in discussions with U.S. retailers."
