Mobipocket was founded in March 2000 in Paris, France, by Thierry
Brethes and Nathalie Ting, as a company specializing in ebooks for
PDAs, with some funding from Vivendi. The Mobipocket format (PRC, based
on the OeB format) and the Mobipocket Reader were "universal" and could
be used on any PDA, and then on any computer from April 2002. They
quickly became global standards for ebooks on mobile devices. In spring
2003, the Mobipocket Reader was available in several languages (French,
English, German, Spanish, Italian) and could also be used on the
smartphones of Nokia and Sony Ericsson. 6,000 titles in several
languages were available on Mobipocket's website and in partner online
bookstores. Bought by Amazon in April 2005, Mobipocket presently
operates within the Amazon brand, with a multilingual catalog of 70,000
books in 2008.
April 2000 > The Pocket PC, a PDA launched by Microsoft with the
Microsoft Reader
Microsoft launched its own PDA, the Pocket PC, in April 2000, as well
as the Microsoft Reader (free), for people to read books in LIT (from
"literature") format on the Pocket PC. In August 2000, the Microsoft
Reader was also available for computers, and then for any Windows
platform, including for the Tablets PC launched in November 2002.
Microsoft was billing publishers and distributors for the use of its
DRM technology through the Microsoft DAS Server, with a commission on
each sale. Microsoft also partnered with major online bookstores -
Barnes & Noble.com in January 2000 and Amazon.com in August 2000 - for
them to offer ebooks for the Microsoft Reader in their eBookstores soon
to be launched. Barnes & Noble.com opened its eBookstore in August
2000, followed by Amazon in November 2000.