NEW DELHI, INDIA: Aptara, a provider in digital publishing solutions, today announced the release of eGen – a new eBook production platform.

eGen is a web-based technology for converting high-volumes of content into the ePub format for distribution to multiple eBook readers. eGen produces eBook-ready content faster and at a far lower cost than other available methods, said a press release.

The new product will be unveiled at the Online Information 2009 conference in London, England, next month.

“Publishers the world over are struggling with the technical complexities and content conversion challenges presented by the myriad of eReader devices now flooding the market,” said Bill Trippe, vice president and Lead Analyst at the Gilbane Group.

He added that new technologies such as eGen are greatly simplifying the equation. The Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader, Apple iPhone and other established devices are being joined by a variety of new devices, including the Barnes & Noble Nook. This rapidly developing market needs innovations to address the growing demand for high-quality, flexible conversion solutions that make publishers’ content more accessible.

eGen creates new value from XML content for all formats, whether books, journals, documents, or Web content, by transforming it to the ePub format -- the eBook industry’s open standard developed by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF), and the most pervasive of eBook formats.

“What sets eGen apart from other conversion methods is its ability to transform complex books that include illustrations, pictures, formulas, graphs and sophisticated style sheets − eliminating most of the manual intervention typically required to assure high-quality output,” said Dev Ganesan, president and CEO of Aptara.

He added, “With faster time-to-market and consistent quality output, eGen makes eBook market entry more accessible and affordable than ever before for publishers with large and diverse content portfolios.”