Last year eBook and audiobook checkouts skyrocketed to an all-time high. The numbers continue to grow as more library customers become familiar with devices after receiving eBook readers and tablets as holiday gifts or purchasing one themselves. The market is booming with so many quality products available in multiple price ranges, and only OverDrive can offer compatibility with all major platforms.
Of course, with so many choices, library customers have done their homework on which will be the best fit for their lifestyles. Whether they choose the route of a tablet or hybrid — like the Kindle® Fire, iPad® or Kobo™ Vox eReader — or decide upon a dedicated eBook reader — such as the Barnes & Noble NOOK™, Aluratek LIBRE or Sony® Reader WiFi — they’ll be able to browse, check out and download with your library’s OverDrive-powered website!
We’re continuously testing the latest devices for compatibility, and as a result, keep the Device Resource Center up to date for you and your users. We are also working to add more devices and subsequent support resources to accompany the Sony Reader Wi-Fi in the OverDrive Test Drive program.
With the rush of the holiday season nearly at an end, it’s an excellent time to get familiar again with our eBook How-To Guide and, along with the the eBook devices cheat sheet, distribute it to staff and library customers. Both resources place quick and easy information on device compatibility directly into the hands of your staff and customers.
Heather Valentine-Gold is a library partner services account associate for OverDrive.
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No Playbook support. Epic fail.
Hi Greg, we are investigating options for the Playbook. Please check back for updates. -Brianne
but there is yet an eMedia aggregator that has a collection that is compatible with a single device, I lay the blame on the eMedia aggregators (especially OverDrive) since there are some great multimedia devices out there
What is your schedule for releasing an Overdrive application for Linux?
Susan
Hi Susan, at this time we do not have a timeline for releasing a Linux app. Please check back for updates. -Brianne
OverDrive uses iTunes to reformat audio books for IPODs. We are having some problems: 1) It is too slow-typically an hour or two for a five hour book (Windows XP Professional, SP3, on a 3.0 GHz Pentium IV PC with 2 GB ram). We have already adjusted iTunes to the recommended bit rate. 2) The book doesn’t always go to the Audiobook folder. It may land anywhere & be hard to find 3) Lately iTunes stops syncing before all parts are transferred. Help.
Floyd, I have sent your comment to our support team; they will reach out to you with a solution. Best, Brianne
Just got the email back from your support saying it is not possible to put an overdrive book directly onto a nook. Very disappointed.
Hi Molly – we are continuing to work on an app for the NOOK color, and hope to be able to announce something soon. In the meantime, it is possible to side load from a PC or Mac.
There are issues with the 7″ tablets formatting after the last update. The format cuts off the right edge and bottom of the page making it impossible to read ebooks. I have a tablet that uses the android app and Honeycomb. I hope supprt is already aware and looking into this.
Hi Tanisha- Thanks for bringing the Android formatting issue to our attention. Here are a few troubleshooting tips from OverDrive support:
There are a few things that might be causing this issue:
- While reading a title, under reader settings, verify the Default Layout (CSS) is checked. You may try unchecking this option to see what results are produced.
- Under ‘App Settings | eBook Options’ verify the ‘Full Screen Mode’ option is checked.
If problems persist, we suggest downloading and installing the Spare Parts app from the Android Market. After installing the app, follow the steps below to enable the ‘compatibility mode’ option.
1. Open the Spare Parts app and uncheck the ‘Compatibility Mode’ option.
2. Completely turn off and restart your device.
3. Open the Spare Parts app again and place a checkmark in the ‘Compatibility Mode’ option.
4. Completely turn off and restart your device.
5. Launch the OverDrive app, eBook titles should now display properly.
Hope this helps. ~Mike