A new global standard for digital books, to be released as early as October, will be able to handle vertical Japanese text, a move expected to promote the standardization of e-book devices and digital books in the country.
The standard to be adopted by Sony and Rakuten is a content publication standard called EPUB3, which the International Digital Publishing Forum, a U.S. trade and standards organization for the digital publishing industry, plans to introduce in mid-October.
Content under the format is expected to hit the market by year-end or later. EPUB, used by Apple Inc.’s e-book service, has become the standard in Europe and the United States. The new version of the format will support Japanese vertical text layouts and furigana placed next to kanji to aid pronunciation. LEARN MORE