LATimes reports that five publishers - Conde Nast Publications, Hearst Corp., Meredith Corp., News Corp. and Time Inc. are going to form a joint online storefront to fight Amazon’s power in the market in digital content. We have already  listened unpleasant comments so many times from New Corp’s Rupert Murdoch regarding Amazon’s ebook business model. Some magazine publishers also raised their voices against Amazon’s revenue sharing model. Accoring to LaTimes:

The five publishers envision a Web store that would sell full-color, interactive digital versions of their newspapers and magazines that would be readable on next-generation touch-screen reading devices, said John Squires, the group’s interim managing director. He estimated that the store would open for business late next year, but that applications for smart phones, such as Apple Inc.’s iPhone, could be available sooner. For readers, the venture promises the ability to buy content once and then be able to read it on multiple devices. Currently, newspapers purchased on the Amazon Kindle reading device cannot be read on Sony Corp.’s Reader, for example. “Once purchased, this content will be ‘unlocked’ for consumers to enjoy anywhere, any time, on any platform,” Squires said.

It seems the publishers are not going to release any dedicated devices like kindle or nook, rather want to make content available across all platforms. Good news is that once purchased the content will not be locked to any specific device. Wall Street Journal also reports that two major publishers - Simon & Schuster and Hachette Book Group - plan to delay “by four months the electronic-book editions of about 35 leading titles coming out early next year, taking a dramatic stand against the cut-rate $9.99 pricing of e-book best sellers.” Definitely such decision will affect the ebook industry in the short-run, Regarding long-run it’s really very uncertain situation as the ebook industry yet to take a definite shape. If most of the big publishers only sell ebooks through some joint online storefront as LATimes reports and boycott Amazon then the story can be different; but how far the publishers can go that is still an issue of concern. B&N, though is selling nook, is much safer position as the publishers need to sell their physical books on it’s stores throughout USA. However, ebooks sell will be affected in any way.

Kindle Wireless Reading Device (6” Display, Global Wireless, Latest Generation)Kindle DX Wireless Reading Device (9.7” Display, U.S. Wireless, Latest Generation)Sony Digital Reader Touch Edition - Red ( PRS600RC)

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