Is Apple planning an e-book reader? (Probably not, but they will probably make ebooks much easier to read on their future devices, and they might begin selling books in the iTunes store.)

Also, Symtio is an ebook content and commerce platform. There's a good interview with the vice president of the company here. Right now, the company is dealing almost exclusively with Christian books, but there's talk about partnering with independent bookstores who will then sell cards with codes to download digital copies of books.

I've talked with several authors who say that the thing that would save independent bookstores was if, when you bought a hard copy of a book, you also received a digital copy. The Symtio VP seems to have a good idea of making accessibility the main thing:

There seems to be too much focus on formats and niches right now, and that’s fostering the ability for some retailers to take control of markets and pricing. I believe the focus needs to center on how we can make digital books and digital media as convenient, accessible, and interesting for consumers as possible.

Digital consumers want their files to work on their devices of choice. It’s likely that DRM and closed systems stymie the ease-of-use factor and diminish the overall consumer experience. Moving toward an open system is what’s going to improve adoption and really deliver on the most important factor, which is convenience.

The person who really figures this out will make a lot of money. (Well, a lot of money for the publishing industry.)