Readium: Digital Publishing meets Open Web

• Readium Custom Chromium binary for Mac OS X Available

  A initial release of Readium Custom Chromium binary for Mac OS X that adds Japanese typography support is available. This is the first custom Chromium binary release of the Readium Project made to improve the WebKit engine for EPUB rendering. More details: https://github.com/readium/Readium-Chromium.

  Direct download link: github.readium.org/releases/custom_chromium/Chromium-1025-2012-05-17.zip.

• Readium Supports EPUB 3 Fixed Layout Metadata

  The Google Chrome browser extension has been updated to version 0.21, which includes basic support for standard EPUB 3 fixed layout metadata, as per samples available here.  The initial implementation has several limitations, including that the fixed layout decision is made on a per book basis rather than per spine item, so it only works if fixed layout is specified globally via the rendition:layout metadata property.

• Readium 0.19 update adds MathML support

  The Readium Chrome extension has been updated with a 0.19 release that includes MathML support via MathJAX, with help from MathJAX lead developer David Cervone. Read about it on the new Readium dev blog. 

• Hachette Livre Group joins Readium Project

  March 15, 2012 Hachette Livre (including Hachette Book Group and Hachette UK) today announced that it is joining the Readium Project, a new initiative by the International Digital Publishing Forum.. More details: idpf.org/news/hachette-livre-group-joins-readium-project

• More on Readium goals and status
  We've been thrilled by the generally positive reception to the announcement of Readium Project. One thing that surprised us was the large number of folks who atttempted "in earnest" use of the initial proof-of-concept prototype Chrome Extension, some of whom were disappointed when it didn't handle everything thrown at it, didn't have snappy performance, or exhibited other infelicities. In many respects this is good news: demonstrating latent demand, and generating bug reports that we can now address. But, in hindsight we probably should have communicated more explicitly about the project's status. To SW folks "proof of concept prototype" - especially in context of an open source project just kicking off - clearly implies "not yet ready for prime time". But that apparently wasn't clear to everyone, and was further obscured by the easy one-click install and somewhat polished looking UI. But make no mistake: this project started up just 5 weeks ago, and whether any of the code or UI developed during that time will be a part of the utlimate Readium codebase (which will definitely NOT be limited to JavaScript components) is entirely TBD. The reason for exposing it yesterday was to create a rally point: demonstrating just how useful built-in EPUB handling in a browser coudld be, and whetting folks' appetites for more. Now, the real work begins to advance the project goals and prioritize and address sub-projects.
• Readium Extension for Google Chrome Available

  A initial beta release of an extension that adds EPUB support to Google Chrome is available. This is the first results of the Readium Project to develop a comprehensive open source implementation of EPUB 3 via WebKit. Install here or using the "+ ADD TO CHROME" link on the readium.org home page. Note: auto-updating is standard for Chrome Extensions so the extension will be automatically updated as features are added (initial version: 0.1.7).

• Readium Open Source Initiative Launched to Accelerate Adoption of EPUB 3: ACCESS, Adobe, Barnes & Noble, Copia, Google, Kobo/Rakuten, O’Reilly, Samsung, Sony, others support project to advance universal digital publishing format
  New York, NY, February 13, 2012 -The International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) today announced the Readium Project, a new open source initiative to develop a comprehensive reference implementation of the IDPF EPUB® 3 standard. This vision will be achieved by building on WebKit, the widely adopted open source HTML5 rendering engine. A quote sheet with quotes from the following is available at idpf.org/readium-support : ACCESS, Adobe, Anobii, Apex CoVantage, Assoc. American Publishers (AAP), Barnes & Noble, Bluefire Productions, BISG, Copia, DAISY, EAST, EDItEUR, Evident Point, Google, Incube Tech, Kobo/Rakuten, Monotype, O’Reilly, Rakuten, Safari Books Online, Samsung, Sony, VitalSource, Voyager Japan. For more information about the project, including how to participate and links to downloads and source code, visit readium.org .

Apex CoVantage