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Students were shown a picture of a QR code and then asked questions like: Can you identify what this is? Do you know how to use it? How likely are you to engage with these in the future?

Here are just a few of our findings:

·         81% of students owned a smartphone

·         80% of students had previously seen a QR code

·         21% of students successfully scanned our QR code example.

·         75% of students said they are “Not Likely” to scan a QR code in the future.

Read this in full.

MarketingVOX (@marketingvox) reports that a study by Ypulse (@ypulse) finds that fewer than 1 in 5 students have ever used QR codes, nearly 2/3 of students have no idea what that are, and 6% have seen them but can't figure out how to use them.

According to comScore (@comScore), "the people more likely to scan a QR code are male (61% of code scanning audience), skew toward ages 18-34 (53%), and have a household income of $100,000 or above (36%). They also are more likely to scan codes found in newspapers/magazines and on product packaging - and do so while at home or in a store."

Above Infographic by Schools.com (@schoolsEDU)

Also see our previous blogpost, “College Students Use eReaders More, But Still Like Print.”

The latest in the Publishers Weekly (@PublishersWkly) / Digital Book World (@digibookworld) free Webcast series, "Digital Textbooks: Innovations From the Academic Business Model" (#dbw) featured panelists Matt MacInnis, CEO, Inkling (@inkling), Eric Frank, co-founder, Flat World Knowledge (@flat_world), and Brett Sandusky, director of product innovation for Kaplan Publishing (@ReadKaplan).

The panelists all agreed that with expansion of digital capabilities, publishing has become an ongoing venture with continuous opportunities for improvement, thanks to the 2-way communication with readers. MacInnis said the iPad is the vehicle that’s reinventing the textbook from the bottom up. Inkling doesn’t try to emulate a book; e.g., it doesn’t paginate. He said Inkling’s vision for publishing is moving “from pages to objects, from serial to hierarchical, from monolithic to modular, from static to dynamic, from passive to interactive.”

Read this in full.

The discussion's archive is available until August 16 and can be found here.

Even though students have yet to energetically catch on to the digital book revolution, Mashable (@mashable) highlights 6 publishers targeting the digital textbook niche:

1.    CourseSmart

2.    CafeScribe

3.    VitalSource

4.    enTourage Systems

5.    Inkling

6.    Nook Study

Read this in full.

How are you preparing for the changes in the textbook publishing market? Let Somersault help.

According to a study conducted in March by OnCampus Research (@CampusResearch), the research division of the National Association of College Stores, college students continue to increase their usage of e-readers, but most still prefer print textbooks. The survey of 655 students finds a 6% increase in ebook purchases in March compared to a study conducted in October, and more students are reading materials on dedicated reading devices while fewer are using laptops or netbooks. While only 15% of students say they own an e-reader, 39% report they use one, up from 19% in the October study. The number of students owning a dedicated reader in October was 8%.

Of those now owning a digital e-reader, the Amazon Kindle was the most popular, with 52% of college students owning one, compared to 32% five months ago. Other top e-reader devices included Barnes & Noble’s Nook (21%), Apple iPhone (17%), and Apple iPad (10%).

Students interested in purchasing a new e-reader are most interested in the iPad and Kindle (both 27%), followed by the Nook.

Print textbooks continue as the preferred media option among this demographic. Fully 75% of the college students in the March 2011 survey said that, if the choice was entirely theirs, they would select a print textbook. This is similar to the findings of the October 2010 e-reader survey, as well as one done in the fall of 2008.

Read the news release.

Sony is creating a flexible screen that’s thin and sturdy enough to be rolled while still showing video images. Samsung also has created a flexible OLED screen display:

Another application of a lithe monitor is the Rolltop notebook computer:

Acer has launched the Iconia-6120 Dual-Screen Touchbook, which USA TODAY says offers two touch-enabled 14-inch high-definition widescreen LED backlit LCDs:

And the two-screen Kno tablet is yet to come, as reported by Digital Trends:

Update (8/10/11): Kno is now software, not its own tablet. See "Kno Rolls Out New Features for Textbook App." 

What will flexible screens and dual monitors mean for publishing innovation? And how will you start preparing for it today? Write your comments below.