17 more American states have joined the class action lawsuit against Apple and publishers for e-book pricing collusion according to amended court documents. That makes it a total of 31 states involved, plus the case from the Department of Justice which is running in parallel. The new docs also revealed an e-mail from the late Steve Jobs describing how he saw the situation to the parent company of one of the conspiring publishers.

As I see it, [Conspiring Publisher] has the following choices:

1. Throw in with Apple and see if we can all make a go of this to create a real mainstream ebooks market at $12.99 and $14.99.

2. Keep going with Amazon at $9.99. You will make a bit more money in the short term, but in the medium term Amazon will tell you they will be paying you 70% of $9.99. They have shareholders too.

3. Hold back your books from Amazon. Without a way for customers to buy your ebooks, they will steal them. This will be the start of piracy and once started, there will be no stopping it. Trust me, I’ve seen this happen with my own eyes.

Maybe I’m missing something, but I don’t see any other alternatives. Do you? Other evidence shows a back-and-forth between Apple's Eddy Cue and MacMillan CEO John Sargent where Apple shot down requests to lower the 30% standard cut. Still, there are signs of obvious collusion, particularly in one set of e-mails where the publishers in question referred to themselves as "The Club" when discussing staggered releases of print and digital editions.

iBooks isn't particularly huge right now, but Apple is clearly aggressive about it, and their approach to competing with Amazon will make or break their success in the world of e-books. In the worst case scenario, Apple and their publishing partners will have to pay some fines, and odds are their prices will have to go down, which, though potentially painful for the industry, is all gravy for end consumers.

Here are all of the ammended legal documents if you're interested in taking a look.

Source: PaidContent

iMore's authoritative guide to the very best, absolutely free ebook, comic book, and article reading apps for iPad

Looking for great free reading apps for your iPad? The App Store is home to over half a million apps and games, and a surprising number of them are available for free. Some of the most popular free apps are free reading apps. We're talking ebooks, comic books, web articles, and more. So start reading, and then start downloading!

iBooks

iBooks is Apple's free ebook and PDF reading app for iPad. It's a stylish way to read not only books purchased from the iBookstore, but all the free books from the massive Project Gutenberg library as well as any of your own ePub or PDF files.

• Download Now

Readability

Readability offers a gorgeous way to read articles from your favorite website without the distraction of ads and other fluff -- for free! You simply set up your free account and add articles with a bookmarklet . A lot of other apps, like Twitter, offer Readability support so that you can add articles directly from those apps.

• Download Now

Kindle

The free Kindle App for iPad is Amazon's ebook reader. Unlike Apple's iBooks, Kindle is cross-platform. If you already have a large Kindle book collection, free or otherwise, or you just want to keep your options open for the future, Kindle is a great choice.

Comics

Comics isn't only the best way to buy new Marvel, DC, Image, and other comic books, but it also includes 500 free comics and one of the best reading interfaces in the App Store!

• Download now

Pocket

Pocket -- the new name for Read it Later -- is a free iPad app that lets you save optimized version of articles and photos and just about anything you encounter on the web and social networks for offline viewing at your leisure and convenience. (You can save videos too, but still need to be online to watch them later.)

• Download Now

More free iPad apps

For dozens of additional free iPad apps, including free instant messenger and communications apps, education apps, entertainment apps, finance apps, fun and games apps, health and fitness apps, kids apps, music apps, navigation and location apps, news apps, photography apps, productivity apps, reading apps, shopping apps, sports apps, travel apps, and general utility apps, see here:

• Best free iPad apps

Leanna Lofte contributed significant sections and photographs to this article.

The standing committee on infrastructure and communications in the Australian House of Representatives will be launching an investigation into why digital goods (such as iTunes music and iBooks) are priced so much more highly in Australia than elsewhere in the world. Traditionally, shipping costs drove prices up for physical goods, but for electronic files you're downloading, there's really no good reason for such a price disparity. Stephen Conroy, Australia's Minister of Communications, said in a recent letter:

There is evidence to suggest that the innovative use of technology is not always matched with innovative new business models in the case of products and services distributed online... I agree that Australian businesses and households should have access to IT software and hardware that is fairly priced relative to other jurisdictions … the global digital economy is likely to make it increasingly difficult to sustain business models that are based on a geographic carve-up of markets.

iOS apps in Australia don't really cost any more than they do over here, but there's a pretty big disparity in music prices. For example, Jack White's newest album, Blunderbuss, and Adele's, 21, cost $10.99 in the U.S., but $16.99 in Australia. I'm sure there are different taxes to be paid over there, but they can't be that huge. As for iBooks, there aren't many textbooks that have found their way to the Australian market since the big educational update. Pricing for iBooks can sometimes be even more expensive than a proper paperback, a situation which is exacerbated by a pricing model which is currently under scrutiny elsewhere, too.

Of course, Apple isn't the only one in the crosshairs. Adobe is charging $1400 more than the the U.S. version for one software package in Australia. Microsoft will also be called to explain its pricing model to the government over the course of the investigation, which will be launching sometime this year.

Australians, who have you found to charge the most inflated prices for digital downloads? Have the higher prices stopped you from buying software, music, or e-books?

Source: SMH

Apple Senior Vice President of Internet Services, Eddy Cue bluntly commented on the iBooks pricing model and its legal quagmire, saying "We can't treat newspapers or magazines any differently than we treat FarmVille." Apple has recently been charged with colluding with publishers over pricing, sticking to an agency model whereby the publisher gets to set the prices rather than the retailer. This is in contrast to Amazon, which has taken the reins of pricing so they can undercut everybody else, even if means taking a loss so long as they can be number one and recoup through other purchases. Apple claims they're aiming to bust up Amazon's monopoly on e-books, but the Department of Justice isn't so sure and is moving ahead with their investigation.

Cue's commentary on the situation is certainly apt; why up-end their established fee structure for electronic goods just because these ones happen to be books rather than apps? That doesn't necessarily mean that the publishers didn't have their own conversations, but at first glance it doesn't seem like Apple was doing anything particularly wrong here.

Of course, we'll see how the trial pans out and what new evidence comes to light. In the end, iBooks isn't hugely popular, and I can't imagine it will be a massive blow if Apple is forced to change their model around a little bit. How do you guys feel about iBooks pricing? Are you willing to pay close to what a real copy costs, or should electronic versions be cheaper?

Source: WSJ

Absent any actual federal action to glom onto, Canadian media decided to get in on the Apple iBook price-fixing headline game in a more creative, almost desperate way.

Like antitrust lawsuits launched by the Department of Justice in the U.S. and the European Union, the Quebec suit claims that Apple colluded with book publishers to artificially set electronic book prices higher than the $9.99 standard Amazon had set for most of its electronic books.

How is a U.S. government investigation anything like a local class-action lawsuit that doesn't even seem to have been granted class-action status yet? The former is a big deal. The latter is absolutely nothing. I'm pretty sure if we look hard enough we'll find dozens if not hundreds of dozens of people hoping to sue Apple for all sorts of reasons -- "I was psychologically damaged for life! I mean... the logo has a bite out of it! A BITE!"

If my home and native land decided to go after Apple the way the U.S. Department of Justice did, I could see the parallel. But one lawyer, in one province, who doesn't even have one lawsuit underway yet...? Not a story.

Call me when the Mounties are riding on Cupertino.

Now excuse me while I go pay almost $1.50 a liter for gas so I can get the movie theater and drop $12 for a ticket. (If only Apple were behind those prices, maybe they could get some attention...)

Source: The Montreal Gazette

Everything you need to know about re-downloading apps, games, iBooks, music, TV shows, and movies from the iTunes Store and iCloud

iTunes in the Cloud lets you access content you've bought from Apple's iTunes Store, App Store, and iBookstore, re-download it to your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, and to iTunes on your Mac or Windows PC, and stream your music, movies, and TV shows to your Apple TV.

• How to set up iTunes in the Cloud automatic downloads
• How to enable automatic iTunes in the Cloud downloads over 3G/4G on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad
• How to enable automatic Newsstand issue downloads on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad
• How to change the iTunes account associated with your iTunes in the Cloud device
• How to de-authorize an iTunes in the Cloud device

How to set up iTunes in the Cloud automatic downloads

iTunes in the Cloud let's you automatically download any App Store apps, iBookstore iBooks, and iTunes music you buy. For example, if you buy a game on your iPhone, it can automatically download onto your iPad. If you buy a song on iTunes on your Mac or Windows PC, it can automatically download onto your iPod touch.

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Tap Store near the bottom.
3. Toggle Music, Apps, and Books to On
4. Enter your iTunes password to authorize.

An iTunes account can only have 10 devices enabled for iTunes in the Cloud at the same time. Devices include iPhones, iPod touches, iPads, as well as Mac and Windows PCs, and Apple TVs. If you reach 10, you can't add an additional devices until you remove one first. (See below.)

How to enable automatic iTunes in the Cloud downloads over 3G/4G on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad

If you're not concerned about your cellular data cap or any potential overage charges, you can choose to have iTunes in the Cloud automatic downloads happen even when you're off Wi-Fi and on 3G or 4G.

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Tap Store near the bottom.
3. Toggle Use Cellular Data to On.

If you do choose to allow 3G/4G downloads, there's still a maximum file size limit of 50MB. Any content bigger than that can only be downloaded over Wi-Fi.

How to enable automatic Newsstand issue downloads on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad

If you subscribe to any magazines or newspapers in Newsstand, you can choose to have new issues download automatically to your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad when they become available.

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Tap Store near the bottom.
3. Toggle any magazine or newspaper apps listed at the bottom to On.

Newsstand content downloads will only happen while on Wi-Fi.

How to change the iTunes account associated with your iTunes in the Cloud device

If you have multiple iTunes accounts, for example a personal and a family account, or a family and a business account, or accounts in more than one regional iTunes store, you can change which account is associated with your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad.

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Tap Store near the bottom.
3. Tap the email address of the Apple ID currently logged into the App Store (at the bottom of the screen).
4. Tap Sign Out.
5. Tap Sign In.
6. Tap Use Existing Apple ID.
7. Enter the email address and password for the iTunes account you want to switch to.

To guard against unfair use or illegal distribution (for example, to stop friends from swapping accounts to get free access to each other's content), you can only change iTunes in the Cloud accounts once every 90 days.

How to de-authorize an iTunes in the Cloud device

If you reach your 10 device limit for iTunes in the Cloud and need to remove a device, or if you simply lose, sell, or upgrade a device and want it off you account, you can remove it via the iTunes desktop on Mac or Windows.

1. Launch iTunes on Mac or Windows.
2. Click your iTunes email address at the top right. (If you're not already logged in, click Log In.)
3. Enter your iTunes email address and/or iTunes password.
4. Click on Manage Devices, middle right.
5. Click on Remove for any iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad you no longer wish associated with iTunes on the Cloud on your account.

How to re-download apps and games with iCloud

For a long time now, The App Store has let you re-download paid apps and games without having to pay for them again. Now, however, this functionality is officially part of iCloud and iTunes in the Cloud. It means if you downloaded an app or game a long time ago, on a different device, or simply deleted it because you stopped using it for a while, you can go back and download it again, free of additional charge.

If you know the name of the app you want to re-download:

1. Launch the App Store app.
2. Tap the Search tab (iPhone and iPod touch only) or into the Search box (iPad).
3. Enter the name of the app you want to re-download.
4. Tap the Search button on the keyboard.
5. When the search results show up, find the app and tap the Install button.

Note: If you see a price button (e.g. $0.99) instead of an Install button, it means you'll be charged for the download. Make sure you're on the proper iTunes account, and that you've really bought the app previously before re-downloading.

If you don't know the name of the app and need to find it:

1. Launch the App Store app.
2. Tap on the Purchased tab tab (iPad), or Updates tab and then tap Purchased (iPhone and iPod touch).
3. Tap Not on the iPad/iPhone to see a list of apps not currently on your device.
4. Scroll through the list to find the app you're looking for.
5. Tap the iCloud download button to re-download the app to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
6. Enter your iTunes password, if requested, to confirm.

Your app will now download to the Home screen of your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.

How to re-download iBooks with iCloud

Just like App Store apps, you can easily re-download iBookstore iBooks to your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.

1. Launch the iBooks app.
2. Tap on the Store button in the top left corner.
3. Tap on the Purchased tab along the bottom navigation menu.
4. Scroll through the list to find the book you're looking for.
5. Tap on the iCloud download button to re-download the book to your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad.
6. Enter your iTunes password, if requested, to confirm.

Your book will download to your iBooks bookshelf.

How to re-download iTunes music, movies, & TV shows with iCloud

Re-downloading music, movies, and TV shows is a little more complicated than re-downloading apps simply because licensing restrictions don't allow it in all areas (yet). Music is currently available in many regions. TV shows are only available in Australia, Canada, the U.K., and the U.S. Movie re-downloads are only available in the U.S.

Here's a current listing of which types of content are available for re-downloading and in which area.

• iTunes in the Cloud availability by country

If iTunes re-downloads are available in you region, you can safely restore your content to your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, or iTunes on your Mac or Windows PC without being charged again.

1. Launch the iTunes app.
2. Tap on the Purchased tab along the bottom of the navigation menu.
3. Tap the View button at the top left to choose between movies, music, or TV shows (options vary by region, not all may be present).
4. Tap Not on this iPhone/iPod/iPad.
5. Scroll through the list to find the content you're looking for.
6. Tap on the iCloud download button to re-download the content to your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad.
7. Enter your iTunes password, if requested, to confirm.

Your content will download to your Music or Video app.

How to get more help with iCloud

If you still need help with re-downloading apps, games, iBooks, music, TV shows, or music to your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, or any other iCloud feature, head on over to our iCloud Forum and ask away!

• How to set up, back up, restore, and update using iCloud
• How to set up and use iCloud mail, contacts, and calendars
• How to set up and use iTunes Match
• How to set up and use Photo Stream
• How to set up and use Documents in the Cloud
• How to set up and use Find my iPhone
• How to set up and use Find my Friends

Ally Kazmucha, Chris Oldroyd, and Gary Mazo contributed major sections of this guide.

Apple has officially responded to Department of Justice (DOJ) charges, which alleges Apple conspired with publishers to force an agency pricing model that ultimately makes e-books more expensive for consumers. AllThingsD quotes Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr:

The DOJ’s accusation of collusion against Apple is simply not true. The launch of the iBookstore in 2010 fostered innovation and competition, breaking Amazon’s monopolistic grip on the publishing industry. Since then customers have benefited from eBooks that are more interactive and engaging. Just as we’ve allowed developers to set prices on the App Store, publishers set prices on the iBookstore.

It's not the agency model itself which is in question, it's the charge that publishers secretly met and colluded to fix the pricing under the agency model. If the idea had just happened to simultaneously and independently occur to them, the DOJ might not have a case. Either way, it will be tougher to make a case against Apple, who absolutely benefits from the 30% cut and most favored nation (MFN) clauses in their agency model, and may have encouraged it, but who may not have been in on the same meeting at the same time decisions were made. That remains to be seen -- or proven.

On the other side, Amazon benefits from the dissolution of the agency model because they can go back to leveraging their (now pseudo-, thanks to Apple) monopoly position to drive down costs and force competitors out of the market.

Absent DOJ intervention, there are arguments to be made either way for letting the market decide. If ebook prices are too high, people will stop buying them and Apple's agency model will fail and prices will have to come down to account for the lower demand and higher supply. (Unlike the App Store, there are far fewer players involved so a race-to-the-bottom is extremely unlikely.) If ebook prices are too low, publishers will go out of business and Amazon's retail model will fail and prices will have to go up to account for the higher demand and smaller supply.

Personally, I don't mind paying slightly more if it ensures a better market and ultimately better content. I'd prefer paying $5 to $10 for better iOS apps to ensure even more, better iOS apps in the future. Just like entertainment companies refusing to release timely content at fair prices is bad for -- not entitled -- consumers (why can't I buy Game of Thrones Season 2 on iTunes yet?), consumers refusing to pay a fair price for timely content is bad for the industry (why can't an awesome iOS game fetch the same price as a Happy Meal that's gone in 5 minutes?). In a perfect world, both would be in balance and everyone would benefit.

My opinions -- and yours -- aside, it doesn't look like Apple is going to be settling this one any time soon.

Source: AllThingsD

Apple,  Penguin, and Macmillan haven't shown any signs of settling with the Department of Justice over charges of e-book pricing collusion issued yesterday, sources say. However, the other publishers in the suit, HarperCollins, Hachette, and Simon & Schuster, are likely to settle before the investigation goes any further.  Those who settle would basically be letting Amazon take back its throne as the god-king of e-books, since publishers were "forced" to raise their prices there due to the contract with Apple that forbade them to offer the books for cheaper anywhere else (known as "the most favored nation" clause). Apple obviously isn't interested in allowing Amazon to undercut them if the iBookstore is going to have any hope of success.

On the upshot, any settlement means that consumers will be able to enjoy cheaper e-books on iOS devices, no matter which store you go with. Amazon seems willing to take a loss on pricing so long as it drives rivals out of the market. That said, is it unfair that Amazon is using its existing position of leverage to lock out competition, or should Apple be doing what's best for consumers rather than what makes publishers the most money?

Source: WSJ

The U.S. Justice Department has just slapped Apple and their various publishing partners, like HarperCollins, Macmillan, and Penguin, with charges of e-book pricing collusion. Sources say that HarperCollins is in a hurry to get the issue settled as soon as today, but Penguin was ready to put up a fight in court. Apparently Apple's contract demands that publishers sell their e-books on iOS for the lowest price that's currently being offered by competitors. This supports the agency model, whereby publishers are the ones setting the price, while the Justice Department wants things to stick with the wholesale model, where retailers set the price. We had heard last month that publishers were willing to concede to the Justice Department over the issue, but apparently settlement talks haven't been as productive as expected.

The idea here is that by having all of the publishers agreeing on the same pricing structure, it stagnates competition. Amazon still has a big lead in the e-book world, and under its current model, Apple won't be able to put up much of a fight if their prices aren't competitive. On the one hand, consumers should be getting the best prices possible, but on the other, publishers and their authors will have a rough time staying in business with smaller margins.

How often do you use Apple's iBooks? Do you prefer Amazon Kindle, or Kobo? Regardless of who you use, how much are you willing to pay for an e-book?

UPDATE 1: John Sargent from Macmillan has published an open letter on the matter:

But the terms the DOJ demanded were too onerous. After careful consideration, we came to the conclusion that the terms could have allowed Amazon to recover the monopoly position it had been building before our switch to the agency model. We also felt the settlement the DOJ wanted to impose would have a very negative and long term impact on those who sell books for a living, from the largest chain stores to the smallest independents.

Go read the whole thing via the TOR link below.

UPDATE 2: Nilay Patel of The Verge got his hands on the DOJ's paperwork, including references to the involvement of the late Steve Jobs, and Apple's head of internet services, Eddy Cue.

the government alleges that the publishing industry openly colluded to raise ebook prices and end Amazon's dominance, and that Apple was a willing participant in the scheme. What's more, the alleged conspiracy sounds like it was actually quite a conspiracy, with secret CEO meetings in private New York dining rooms and promises made to bosses up and down the chain.

Again, hit the source link for a lot of great info.

Source: Bloomberg, TOR, The Verge

Under the traditional book-selling model, retailers like B&N, Amazon, and others could get 50% or more of the revenue from the sale of a book. Under Apple's "agency model", they get 30%. The traditional model is retailer-centric. Apple's model is publisher-centric.

This upsets the US Justice Department. Under the old model, the retailer set the price and so could sell the book at any price they wanted, even at a loss. Under Apple's model, the publisher sets the price, so there's no retailer discount. What's more, part of Apple's deal is a "most favored nations" clause that means publishers can't sell to competitors for less than they could sell to Apple, thus making deep discounts for consumers pretty much impossible.

According to Reuters, however, this may be about to change.

The Justice Department could reach a settlement in the next few weeks with Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and some of the major publishers suspected of colluding to push up electronic book prices, according to two people close to the negotiations.

While negotiations are still fluid, the settlement is expected to eliminate Apple's so-called "most favored nation" status, which had prevented the publishers from selling lower-priced e-books through rival retailers such as Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) or Barnes & Noble Inc (BKS.N), the people said.

Publishers like Apple's model because they made more money but more importantly, they felt deep discounts devalued their books. Just like the App Store has lowered the price of software, they fear eBooks will lower the price of books. (TV executives fear low priced digital access will lower the value of video as well.) Once prices go down, it's very hard if not impossible to bring them back up.

Typically, however, the market decides the value of content. If it gets too low, creators go out of business (or switch businesses), quality suffers, customers stop buying, and the market crashes. Then supply diminishes, and prices rise again (often with new players involved, and/or new models).

Right now Apple uses the 30/70 model for the App Store, iBookstore, and subscriptions in Newstand. (I'm not sure if they use it for iTunes music, movies, or TV shows.) If the iBookstore changes, it will be interesting to see if and how Apple's ecosystem as a whole changes with it.

Harry Potter fans everywhere can now enjoy their favorite wizards and witches right on their iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch exclusively through the Pottermore shop. All seven of the Harry Potter books are now available for download. The first three books in the series are available for $7.99 each while the last four books are available for $9.99. If you'd prefer to purchase all of them, you can save yourself a little bit of money by buying all of them together for $57.54.

While it's great to be able to read the Harry Potter books in eBook format on many platforms, I'd have to say I'm a bit irritated with the process users will have to go through in order to get them on their devices.

Since they're only available via the Pottermore shop, you'll have to download them to your computer and either transfer them to iBooks via iTunes or open them natively from your device (for example, from a Dropbox or Box.net directory) and choose to open them in iBooks. It's not the most convenient way to download a book and definitely a bit more aggravating than just opening the iBooks store and making a purchase with your iTunes account.

The Harry Potter series is also available for many other eBook readers as well. If you prefer using the Kindle app for iOS, you can choose to download them into your Kindle account and access them normally from there. I'd almost prefer using this method as I'd always be able to sign into my Amazon account on a new or freshly reformatted device and be able to access them without going through the iBooks process all over again.

I have a feeling a lot of hardcore Harry Potter fans will probably overlook the minor annoyance of getting the content onto their devices and will just be glad to finally have Harry Potter available in digital format. I'll personally be using the Kindle app as it seems to be the most convenient as of now. Any of you plan on picking up HP in digital format?

Note: The website only seems to work for people in the U.S. and the U.K. right now -- anyone else isn't able to purchase. Anyone know a good avada kedavra curse for prehistoric licensing and commerce models?

Source: Pottermore

Now that you've got your new iPad and you've set it up perfectly, you'll definitely want to check out how awesome it is to read books on the gorgeous new retina display. Text looks better than ever and reading on an iPad has never been more enjoyable. Whether you want to use Apple's own iBooks service, Amazon's Kindle powerhouse, or something different, we've got you covered.

iBooks

Apple's own iBooks and iBookstore are a great way to purchase and read books as well as save PDF documents from the web. Many free and paid books are available directly on your iPad through the iBookstore.

From the latest novels to the best non-fiction to high school textbooks to cartoons like Bloom County and comics from Marvel, you'll think you're looking at digital paper.

iBooks is a free download from the App Store.

Free - Download Now

Once you've got iBooks installed, it's simple to download books.

1. Open iBooks and tap Store in the upper left hand corner. The bookshelf will turn around to show you the iBooks bookstore. You can browse for books from here just as you'd browse for apps or any other type of media in iTunes or the App Store.

2. If you find a book you think you may be interested in, you can download a preview before buying if you'd like via the Get Sample button.
3. Once you've decided to buy, just tap on the price and it'll ask you to tap it again to confirm the purchase.
4. Enter in your iTunes password and your book will begin downloading.
5. When you go into the iBooks app, you'll now see your new book on the book shelf. Just tap into it to start reading.

Kindle for iPad

iBooks isn't the only way you can read eBooks from your iPad. The Kindle app for iPad is a free download from the App Store and if you've already got a Kindle collection built, you'll probably want access to those books. Simply download the app and sign into your Amazon account to access all your purchased books. Best of all, it's just been updated for Retina on iPad.

Free - Download now

Additional resources:

• How to read eBooks as white on black
• How to re-download previously purchased apps, songs, and books in iTunes
• Books, magazines, and comics help and discussion forum
• Everything you need to know about the new iPad

Marvel comics has just pushed out a large set of their collected editions to Apple's iBookstore. The contents is what you're typically find in their softcover trade paperback editions, and mostly more recent fare, but there's some great stuff included.

Pricing is decent, between $6.99 for shorter volumes and $16.99 for classic Masterworks. No sign of larger collections (for example, Joss Whedon's phenomenal X-Men run is offered only as Vol 1. of 4 right now, not the entire 25 issue set that was in hardcover), nor the amazing Omnibuses. But one step at a time, right?

80 volumes are available at launch, and Marvel says there are more to come, so we have a lot to look forward to. If you're not sold on the digital format, you can even test drive a free copy of Brian Michael Bendis' New Avengers Vol. 1 -- for a limited time -- to see how you like it.

If you're into Marvel and use iBooks, I heartily recommend Astonishing X-Men by Whedon, Eternals and 1602 by Gaiman, Planet Hulk, Iron Man: Extremis by Ellis, Thor by JMS, Runaways, and Wolverine Enemy of the State and Old Man Logan by Millar. If you have any favorites, add them in the comments below.

Variable - Marvel iBooks Catalog

Full press release below.

Today, Marvel has entered a bold new era in digital comics. For the first time ever, classic stories—from the first appearance of the Avengers to the “death” of Captain America—will now be available for purchase on Apple’s iBookstore.

With an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, Marvel fans across the world can now purchase over 80 graphic novels with fan-favorite characters like Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Wolverine, Spider-Man and more by launching the iBooks app or going to www.itunes.com/marvelgraphicnovels.

Marvel Graphic Novels on Apple's iBookstore

The following is a complete list of available graphic novels at launch:

• Amazing Spider-Man Masterworks Vol. 1
• Astonishing X-Men Vol.1: Gifted
• Avengers Assemble Vol. 1
• Avengers Forever
• Avengers Masterworks Vol.1
• Avengers: Disassembled
• Avengers: Kree /Skrull War
• Avengers: Under Siege
• Avengers/X-Men: Utopia
• Captain America: The Death of Captain America Vol.1 - Death of the Dream
• Captain America: Winter Soldier Vol.1
• Captain America: Winter Soldier Vol.2
• Castle: Richard Castle's Deadly Storm
• Civil War
• Dark Avengers Vol.1: Assemble
• Dark Tower: Gunslinger Born
• Deadpool Vol.1: Secret Invasion
• Earth X
• Emma
• Ender's Game: Battle School
• Ender's Game: Command School
• Ender's Shadow: Battle School
• Ender's Shadow: Command School
• Eternals by Neil Gaiman
• Fallen Son: Death of Captain America
• Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman Vol.1
• Ghost Rider Vol. 1: Vicious Cycle
• House of M
• Hulk Vol. 1: Red Hulk
• Hulk: Planet Hulk
• Infinity Gauntlet
• Invincible Iron Man Vol. 1: Five Nightmares
• Iron Man: Extremis
• John Carter: A Princess of Mars
• John Carter: World of Mars
• Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman
• Marvel Zombies
• Mighty Avengers Vol.1: The Ultron Initiative
• New Avengers Vol. 1: Breakout
• New Avengers Vol. 2: The Sentry
• New Avengers Vol. 3: Secrets and Lies
• New Avengers Vol. 4: The Collective
• New Avengers Vol. 5: Civil War
• Pride and Prejudice
• Runaways Vol. 1: Pride and Joy
• Secret Invasion
• Secret War
• Secret Wars
• Siege
• Spider-Man: Big Time
• Spider-Man: Blue
• Spider-Man: Brand New Day Vol.1
• Spider-Man: Brand New Day Vol.2
• Spider-Man: Brand New Day Vol.3
• Spider-Man: Crime and Punisher
• Spider-Man: Kraven's First Hunt
• Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage
• Spider-Man: New Ways to Die
• Thor by J. Michael Straczynski Vol. 1
• Ultimate Spider-Man Vol.1: Power and Responsibility
• Ultimate Spider-Man Vol.2: Learning Curve
• Ultimate Spider-Man Vol.3: Double Trouble
• Ultimate Spider-Man Vol.4: Legacy
• Ultimate Spider-Man Vol.5: Public Scrutiny
• Ultimate Spider-Man Vol.6: Venom
• Ultimate Spider-Man Vol.7: Irresponsible
• Ultimate Spider-Man Vol.8: Cats and Kings
• Ultimate X-Men Vol. 1: The Tomorrow People
• Ultimates Vol.1: Super-Human
• Ultimates Vol.2: Homeland Security
• Venom vs. Carnage
• Wolverine: Enemy of the State
• Wolverine: Old Man Logan
• Wolverine: Weapon X Vol.1: Adamantium Men
• Wonderful Wizard of Oz
• World War Hulk
• X-Force Vol. 1: Angels and Demons
• X-Men: Messiah Complex
• X-Men: Phoenix Endsong
• X-Men: Second Coming
• X-Necrosha

And that’s just for starters. Each week, more graphic novels will be added to the expanding Marvel IBookstore library, bringing to your iPad, IPhone, or iPod Touch a truly unique digital comic book reading experience that customers will never forget. But don’t take our word for it. For a limited time, customers can read the first full issue of New Avengers Vol. 1: Breakout at the iBookstore…free of charge. For experienced comic book readers or casual fans alike, there’s something for everyone: action (X-Men: Messiah Complex), suspense (Secret Invasion), mysteries (Castle: Richard Castle’s Deadly Storm), literary adaptations (Pride & Prejudice), children’s tales (Wonderful Wizard of Oz) and more!

It appears as though Apple's FairPlay Digital Rights Management (DRM) for iBooks has been cracked, allowing iBooks to work on non-iOS ePub readers. MobileRead Forums reports:

It is now possible to remove the DRM from epub ebooks bought in Apple's iBooks store. "Brahms", has recently released a new version, 3.3, of his Requiem software, which has been able to remove DRM from music and videos bought in the iTunes Music Store for a long time. This new version can also remove the DRM from Apple's epub format ebooks.

DRM cracking has been a long standing problem for Apple and other platform owners, originally with iTunes music and video content, later with App Store apps. While Apple dropped FairPlay DRM from iTunes music in 2009, it's remained in place for everything else.

DRM protects authors and other creators from illegal distribution of their content (we all like to get paid for the work we do), though when poorly thought out or overzealously implemented, it can also stop legitimate customers from enjoying the content they purchased.

FairPlay tends to be pretty liberal, allowing up to 5 Mac or Windows PCs to be authorized for iTunes content, and up to 10 iOS devices, including iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, and Apple TV to access services like iTunes Match.

It's likely Apple is investigating the issue and will have a FairPlay fix put into place via a software update for iTunes and the iBookstore in the near future, but it's a cat-and-mouse game so we probably haven't heard the last of it.

Source: MobileRead Forums via CNET

Apple is reportedly planning a redesign for the iTunes Store and App Store for sometime later this year. Apple hasn't introduced a complete overhaul to the iTunes Store interface since late 2009 when they introduced iTunes 9. Mark Gurman at 9to5Mac reports:

The new design is said to be even simpler and more user-friendly than the current design. Apple is working on ways to enhance the speed and efficiency of finding new content, such as songs, videos, and applications. The cornerstone element of Apple’s new iTunes Store is interactivity. As Apple vaguely explained to a number of music labels and entertainment partners, Apple is looking to make the iTunes Store a much more engaging experience. [...] The interactivity that Apple wants within the digital store is something Apple could only likely pull off by housing the store within a full-fledged application, not a pure web browser experience.

They're not sure if this redesign, like iTunes 9, will require a new version number -- iTunes 11 -- or if it will just be rolled into an iTunes 10 point release. However, discoverability is said to be on the agenda, with more interactive ways to find music, movies, apps, and games being a priority. It sounds like iTunes on Windows and Mac is the current focus, and may be timed to coincide with Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion this summer, though the more traditional fall update cycle -- perhaps alongside the iPhone 5 -- could be a more likely possibility.

Source: 9to5Mac

Every week the editors at iMore carefully select some of our favorite, most useful, most extraordinary apps, accessories, gadgets, and websites. This weeks selections include apps for photo blogging, social gaming, podcasts, an interesting accessory, and a fun children's book.

To see what we picked, and to tell us your pick, follow on after the break!

Posterous - @sethclifford

Since I just can't leave well enough alone, I'm always tweaking my workflows and every other kind of flow I've got. This week it was all about photos for some reason. I started a Posterous account years ago when it was a new service whose main point of differentiation was that you could send an email to your blog to autopost to it and to your other sites really easily. At the time, it was super cool and worked extremely well. I eventually ended up using it more for just a photo blog, and then for some reason I can't recall, I just stopped using it all together. I was literally hovering over the "delete my account" button on the site this week because I haven't used it in so long when I decided to wait and explore a little. I'm really glad I did. The service has really grown a bit and become a really interesting place to host a blog as well as leverage as a platform through which you can post to a variety of different social channels and sites. I downloaded the new app in the App Store (there was a very basic one released a few years ago) and liked what I saw.

The design is pretty nice and clean. It's easy to get around and you know where you are and what you're doing quickly. And there's a lot packed in here. There's a reader function for people you follow - similar to Tumblr - and you can browse through posts and read your stream from your phone, but I think where the app really shines is both in the posting and management of your site(s). It's extremely easy to throw a post together and toggle which places you want it to go (it will always go to your Posterous by default anyway). You can add a title, tags, and text as well as slap a location on there in one tidy little interface.

Posterous has also done something that I really like (and think is really smart) and that's giving you some great admin controls over your sites right from the phone. From the "Profile" tab you can edit your profile and set up and modify autopost options, which means you really don't have to hit the full site very often if you don't want to. There are still more advanced things like theming that don't appear in the app, so not everything is covered, understandably. But it's still cool to have a few things you can tweak on the fly. If you're looking for a new clean place to start a sharp little blog and possibly save yourself some work cross posting between sites, you may want to give this one a look.

Free - Download Now

Scramble with friends - @Alli_Flowers

Our "friends" have done it again. First we fell in love with Words with friends, and now it's Scramble with friends. To say it's addictive is an understatement.

Similar to many word games we've known and loved in the past, Boggle, Bookworm, and others, the idea is to make as many words as you can out of sequential letters in a grid. Did I mention you only get two minutes to find your words? This is fast paced fun, and it brings out our competitive best when you play against your Facebook friends.

You can score extra points by using letters marked double point value - letter or word, depending on your level. And to keep things interesting, you can "buy" help, like the ability to turn your playing area sideways to help see the letters from a different angle; hints for additional words; and the ability to "freeze" your play for an extra five seconds to find even more words.

Free and paid versions are available, but so far only for iPhone, not iPad. Playing double screen on the iPad is acceptable for Scramble, but an iPad optimized version sure would be nice!

Free - Download Now

Pocket Casts – @chrisoldroyd

As a long time user or Instacast, I decided it was time for a change as certain features and more importantly, the interface was starting to get on my nerves. I decided to take the plunge and try out Pocket Casts by the developer with the awesome name of ShiftyJelly.

Pocket Casts is laid out very well, and is very simple yet very powerful as a podcast collector and playback tool. It even provides push notifications when a new podcast episode is available to download. You can also download episodes over the air without the 20MB restriction. All in all I find it to be a much smoother and more intuitive podcast application than any of the other ones I have tried so far.

$2.99 – Download Now

Parcel -- @andrewwray

With all the package tracking apps in the App Store, finding which one is best for you can be difficult. My personal favorite happens to be Parcel, which is designed as a universal app for both the iPhone and iPad. Parcel makes tracking packages simple and easy, with over 100 delivery services supported including UPS, DHL, USPS, FedEx, OnTrac and more.

One of the best features in Parcel is barcode scanning, allowing you to quickly input new packages to track without the need to type in a long string of numbers and/or letters. Additionally, Parcel automagically recognizes which carrier the tracking number is associated with, making the process even easier that most other package tracking apps out there. Another neat option is the ability to track your package on a map so you can pinpoint exactly where it is en route, giving you a much better idea of delivery time in case the package runs into any delays or issues.

Push Notifications are also included with Parcel so you won't need to constantly open up the app when the delivery is coming close to hitting your doorstep if you're not at home. One important thing to note is that Parcel does come with ads, and only lets you track up to three packages at a time under their free offering. It also doesn't come standard with Push Notifications. That -- along with adding more than three packages and removing the ads -- comes at a cost of $1.99 via in-app purchases. Bottom line: If you're looking for an easy way to track your packages, Parcel is definitely something you'll want to take a look at.

Free - Download Now

Gripsta - @JorjLim

As I mentioned in my most used accessories post, I don’t own that many accessories for my iPhone or iPad. However I was lucky enough to get my hands on a stand called The Gripsta.

The Gripsta is a stand for your iPhone, iPod Touch (or even Android or Blackberry, if you’re so inclined) made of foam (the same foam you’d find in a stress ball.). The unique design of the Gripsta allows you to stand it up, either in portrait or landscape, with the perfect angles for FaceTime or just watching movies.

I’m finding myself docking my iPhone into the Gripsta and just using the iPhone like normal because of the soft comfort of the Gripsta.

Its soft, comfortable, colourful, useful and a great product to pick up to spice up your desk.

£9.95 (+£2.95 P&P) - Gripsta

Hank Saves the Day (iBook) - @llofte

Hank Saves the Day is a book available in the iBookstore. It's about a big, friendly monster who has to save a bridge that was destroyed by a giant piece of Swiss cheese. I downloaded this as a recommendation from someone on Twitter and my daughter loves it! She's only 18 months old, so the big, simple pictures, big letters, and short sentences are perfect for her. She's already learning to identify objects in the book.

I recommend Hank Saves the Day to anyone with small children, especially since it's free!

Free - Download Now

Tell us your pick!

Those were our picks, iMore Nation, so now it's your turn! Tell us your pick of the week below. Give us the name of your favorite app, site, or accessory, and tell us why it made your life more productive, more informed, more entertaining, or just plain more fun.

So what are you waiting for? Jump into the comments and let us know your pick of the week!

Apple has sent out a letter via its iTunes Connect portal to all of its registered iBookstore content publishers advising them of some much needed improvements. The iBookstore will now allow publishers to submit screenshots of their books but even more importantly, they can now generate and issue promotional codes for any content sold in the iBookstore.

Publishers can now issue up to fifty promo codes which can be given to book reviewers to enable them to receive an iBooks version of a book for free. This works in a very similar way to app developer who already have the ability to give away promo codes for apps.

iBookstore publishers also now have the option of submitting screenshots of their books. This could prove extremely useful for books that include rich multi-media content which can be produced using Apple’s iBooks Author tools. Screenshots have to follow some strict guidelines with regard to size of the screen shots as well as the file types used.

The final change is in the way the iBookstore will handle any pre-order books. From now on, publishers can place books up for pre-order without the need to submit any cover artwork or other information. This information must be in place at least two weeks prior to the book actually being made available for sale.

Have you ever come across a PDF file while surfing the web in Safari and wondered how to save a copy to iBooks for later viewing? Whether you need to save an important forms, an eBook, a user manual, an insurance policy, or something as simple as a nutritional information sheet for your favorite restaurant, your iPhone and iPad have the ability to save to iBooks built right in. And using iBooks to store and manage PDFs is much, much easier than saving tons of bookmarks and waiting for them to re-load each time.

Here's how to do it.

Note: Make sure you have Apple's free iBooks app installed on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. If you don't, you can get it from the App Store.

• Free - Download now

1. launch Safari
2. Go to the PDF link you want to save.
3. Tap the screen once to bring up the overlay menu beneath the address bar.
4. Tap Open in iBooks.
5. iBooks will launch, and in a few moments, it will add the PDF to your collection.

You can find your PDF any time simply by launching iBooks and taping the Library button in the upper left hand corner. Your PDFs will all be on your shelf.

You should be able to do this with any standard PDF you find in Safari and decide to keep.

Bonus Tip: If you have iBooks installed on more than one device, including iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and iTunes on Mac or Windows, and iCloud syncing enabled, all your PDFs will automatically be downloaded to those other devices as well.

Wisconsin plans to use settlement funds from Microsoft to buy 1,400 iPads for educational use. The almost $80 million in settlement funds came a result of claims that Microsoft was overcharging consumers for software.

The iPads are being paid for with $3.4 million from the funds. With Apple's educational discounts, the schools should be able to purchase each iPad for around $479 each. They plan on initially purchasing 600 this Spring with plans to purchase an additional 800 in the Fall.

The settlement averaged out to around $85.09 per child. Not all schools chose to spend their share of the money on iPads. Some chose to spend the money on other media including smartboards, laptops, and other technology equipment.

State superintendent Tony Evers is scheduled to release a statewide digital learning plan next week. The district's director of technical services, Bill Smojver, thinks the iPads are going to be a significant transition for education.

"This is the most significant transition point for having digital learning at the optimal level,"

Apple's recent education announcement was met with enthusiasm by Smojver, who thinks it's a significant development. He still believes the schools will proceed cautiously when it comes to replacing traditional media with electronic versions.

There are currently around 50 school districts in Wisconsin currently implementing iPads according to Minnestota-based technology consultant, Naomi Harm. While some schools are going to experiment with students actually having access to the iPads, some are going to allow teachers access to implement them in planning and record-keeping.

iBooks Author has given authors an easy way to put together digital textbooks. iBooks 2 gives those authors a huge marketplace for distribution. Leanna has already stated that she believes this is only the beginning for iPads in education.

Source: Wisconsin State Journal via AppleInsider

There's an interesting debate taking place about the merits and virtues of modern electronic books like Apple's iBooks or Amazon's Kindle books and their traditional counterparts -- old fashioned paper bound and proper.

They're qualitatively different, inarguably. The feel of board and cloth and leather is warm and textured compared to the crisp coolness of glass, aluminum, and plastic. The gentle sound of pages flipping is vastly different than a tap or swipe or click. The sharp smell of a fresh new novel or musky scent of an old tome exists in a different dimension from the relative sterility of chips and displays.

Yet the weight, permanence, and nostalgia of traditional books can be a disadvantage when it comes to carrying them, correcting them, and moving the state of the art of knowledge forward once again.

Ben Brooks laments this, almost romantically.

I can tell you from first hand experience that the reading experience is very different on each of the different mediums and that’s why the distinction matters to me. I don’t care which version you bought because it changes what you read, but I do care because it may not be the same as the book I read (sometimes in the minor content differences, but always in experience and layout).

Marco Arment does not, functionally.

When I start reading, the form of the book quickly disappears. Just as I don’t notice the individual letters in each word, I stop noticing the layout, the font, the paper, the binding, and every other physical artifact because I’m focused on the writing.

Dieter Bohn thinks we're getting ahead of ourselves.

With ebooks, we're still looking at the equivalent of the day after Gutenberg printed his first Bible. We need to decide which paper book "specs" are important and ensure that they get recreated in our new digital world. We also need to ensure that these digital equivalents are at least as free and unfettered as paper books are now. We've already surpassed paper technology in a number of areas. However we are not giving nearly enough attention to the very things that made paper books flourish in the first place. The most important specs are the ones you take for granted.

Here's the thing -- once upon a time we passed down our stories between generations. Then we carved them into stone, brushed them on papyrus, illuminated them on scrolls, and eventually pressed them into print. We lost the voices of our parents, the lines of our hand, the power of our art, the uniqueness of our craft. But we gained volume and the democratization of information. Beauty gave way to volume.

Each transition has been painful. Each transition has been decried and denounced. Yet, inexorably, the new has overtaken the old. Even if it's never fully supplanted it. We still tell stories. We still practice calligraphy. We still work at leading and kerning. iBooks and eBooks won't wipe out traditional books any more than non-traditional books wiped out message mediums older than they. Those mediums will shrink, perhaps, and become the providence of craftsman and collectors, enthusiasts and artists, and the very same folk who still enjoy wooden toys, vinyl albums, and pre-iPhone phones.

Meanwhile, iBooks, Kindle books, and other forms of digital books will continue to crawl out of the primordial ooze and make more content more available to more people (and children) than ever before. And perhaps they'll recapture some of the magic of mediums past, the way Audible has voice and InDesign has done digital press.

iBooks, Kindle books, and their ilk are not perfect, not yet and maybe never, but they're the future. Until the next transition.

Adam Lashinsky's Inside Apple, wish purports to go behind the scenes of Apple's magic as the world's biggest start up, and lay bare the secrets of their success, is now available for purchase and, if you go the electronic route, immediate download.

You can pick it up via the links below, or if you're feeling especially lucky, go enter our Inside Apple contest -- we have three (3) copies to give away, and one might just have your name on it. Regardless of how you get it, get it, and then hop on over to the iMore book club and let the discussion begin!

• $12.99 - iBooks link
• $12.99 and up - Amazon link

Inside Apple is a new book from Adam Lashinsky that aims to reveal some of the secrets behind the success of America's premiere consumer electronics company -- Apple. Lashinsky wasn't given the access that Walter Issacson was given for the Steve Jobs biography, but he did lots of interviews and paints a compelling portrait of one of the most secret companies in recent history. How much of the Apple magic he ultimate manages to expose is anyone's guess, but for Apple enthusiasts and business students alike, it certainly looks like a must read.

Check out the full description -- and giveaway! -- after the break, and pre-order now to avoid the virtual rush. (We'll also be discussing this in the iMore book club, so head on over!)

• $12.99 - iBooks link
• $12.99 and up - Amazon link

INSIDE APPLE reveals the secret systems, tactics and leadership strategies that allowed Steve Jobs and his company to churn out hit after hit and inspire a cult-like following for its products.

If Apple is Silicon Valley's answer to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, then author Adam Lashinsky provides readers with a golden ticket to step inside. In this primer on leadership and innovation, the author will introduce readers to concepts like the "DRI" (Apple's practice of assigning a Directly Responsible Individual to every task) and the Top 100 (an annual ritual in which 100 up-and-coming executives are tapped a la Skull & Bones for a secret retreat with company founder Steve Jobs).

Based on numerous interviews, the book offers exclusive new information about how Apple innovates, deals with its suppliers and is handling the transition into the Post Jobs Era. Lashinsky, a Senior Editor at Large for Fortune, knows the subject cold: In a 2008 cover story for the magazine entitled The Genius Behind Steve: Could Operations Whiz Tim Cook Run The Company Someday he predicted that Tim Cook, then an unknown, would eventually succeed Steve Jobs as CEO.

While Inside Apple is ostensibly a deep dive into one, unique company (and its ecosystem of suppliers, investors, employees and competitors), the lessons about Jobs, leadership, product design and marketing are universal. They should appeal to anyone hoping to bring some of that Apple magic to their own company, career, or creative endeavor.

The Giveaway

Leave a comment below telling us what secret you'd most like to learn about Apple and you're automatically entered to win one of three (3) copies of Inside Apple, courtesy of your friends here at iMore! (Must have a U.S Apple Store account to redeem -- Apple's rule, not ours!). Contests starts now and ends Sunday, January 29 at midnight PST.

Never ones to wait on official Apple numbers, which could be coming as soon as Apple's Q1 2012 results call tomorrow, analysts are already trying to peg Apple's foray into the digital textbook market at 350,000 education-centric iBooks in the first 3 days. AllThingsD quotes reports:

According to Global Equities Research, the supply chain markup on textbooks ranges between 33 percent and 35 percent. So there are savings to be had in cutting out that publisher-to-distributor-to-wholesaler-to-retailer process.

Likewise, iBooks Author, a tool used to create eBooks for the iPad, reportedly sold through 90,000 downloads from the Mac App Store during the same period.

Global Equities Research, however, won't discuss how they get those numbers, so weigh them accordingly. Or just wait and see what Apple says tomorrow.

Source: AllThingsD

Birkley Breathed's Bloom County was my two favorite comic strips growing up, and now it's starting to become available in iBooks. From Bill the Cat's run for president to Milo's skewering of Senator Bedfellow to Oliver's landing the space shuttle to Opus'... everything, it delighted me on a daily basis.

The iBook's implementation isn't ideal, at least in my brief skim-through -- the pages don't turn as easily as a regular iBook and instead the double page spread slides and flops, and only the first three volumes are currently available, but I applaud them getting it into the iBookstore to begin with and look forward to the whole series.

Hopefully Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes, my other favorite, will join it in iBooks soon. (Like Bloom County, I bought the complete series the day it went on sale but would dearly love it in digital form as well.)

Adorn your virtual shelf with it now.

• Bloom County Vol. 1 - $7.99 - iBookstore link
• Bloom County Vol. 2 - $7.99 - iBookstore link
• Bloom County Vol. 3 - $7.99 - iBookstore link

Almost immediately following Apple's education event, the internet was filled with claims that Apple's textbook plan will never work. Namely, that the current $500 entry price of an iPad is unreasonably expensive for schools or parents to afford.

No shit.

Apple is not stupid. The publishers are not stupid. Yesterday's announcement was just the beginning, just a gimpse of what we can expect to see in the future. Baby steps. Take the timing of the announcement, for example. January is midway through the normal school year and months before the anticipated iPad 3. It was laying the groundwork.

Selling textbooks for $15 a pop to schools and students who can afford a $500 iPad may not sound like a promising business model, but Apple knows how to make money and, if there's one thing we can all agree on, it's that publishers are greedy. $15 is less than $40-$70 for traditional books, but when it's $15 for each student, each year, it starts to add up, coming very close to a $50-$70 book shared by 5 students over 5 years.

Apple famously runs the iTunes music and App Stores just above cost. They make their money on hardware sales, but it takes great content to drive those hardware sales. Apple also has longstanding relationships in education and has offered education discounts to schools and students alike.

My guess is that in addition to the anticipated iPad 3, Apple will also introduce an affordable iPad specifically for education. Perhaps it will be an iPad 2 discounted the way previous generation iPhones have been discounted for a few years now. Or perhaps it will be a special model available only to educational institutions. Apple doesn't need to make their traditional margins off the sale of such a device; they'll make some money off textbook sales, and they'll get far more once future generations are hooked into the Apple ecosystem.

Either way, it seems more than a little short-sighted to attack Apple on pricing so early in the process. Apple computers once tens of thousands of dollars and now a new MacBook Air starts at $1000. The original iPhone cost hundreds of dollars, now the iPhone 3GS is free on contract. Prices come down. Technology becomes democratized. It's happened with Apple for years; it seems silly to think it won't happen this time as well.

Now excuse me, I need to go work on a textbook of my very own. Using iBooks Author. You know, the extremely accessible, really powerful new ebook creator Apple just released. For free.

McGraw Hill CEO, Terry McGraw has paid a huge amount of credit to Steve Jobs over the launch of iBooks 2, which brought the availability of low price textbooks on the iPad.  Speaking to the press after Apple’s education event yesterday, McGraw was asked a number of questions by All Things D reporter Peter Kafka. He was asked why now for digital textbooks as Apple had been talking to publishers for the last few years.

Sitting and listening to all of this, I wish Steve Jobs was here. I was with him in June this past year, and we were talking about some of the benchmarks, and some of the things that we were trying to do together. He should be here. He probably is [gesturing up and around]. This was his vision, this was his idea, and it all had to do with the iPad.

We’ll do whatever we can to make this the most meaningful space. And the person, or, well, Steve Jobs and Apple, have done more, in terms of creating this personalized learning platform than anyone.

Source: All Things D

At Apple's education event they announced two initiatives: iBooks 2 and iBooks Author designed to bring textbooks into the digital age, and an all new iTunes U to create and share lesson plans, and follow and complete course work. As education initiatives from publicly traded companies go, they're big and bold -- but they're also just the beginning. There will be struggles and successes, breakthroughs and missteps. And while many of us here at iMore and Mobile Nations could speak about the implications from purely technical and business standpoints, we're lucky to have several teachers and educators, past and present, on staff. They were kind enough to share their thoughts on Apple's new initiatives, specifically and importantly where they impact most -- our kids in the classroom.

Seth Clifford

Apple's move to advance our shamefully archaic system was met with a lot of debate on Thursday morning. On one side, we heard from utopian education advocates (myself included to some degree), extolling the virtues of a centralized e-textbook platform, and Apple's commitment to engaging our youth. On the other hand, I had a few spirited conversations with those who feel that by making great educational opportunities "expensive" (meaning only upper-class schools may even be able to apply these new techniques, leaving inner-city and less-privileged districts behind) Apple has driven a wedge between the haves and the have-nots, making education less democratized and less accessible to all. Personally I feel that both sides have points, but quite honestly, nothing is fair. Education has, in the past decades, grown more and more to be the bastard child of the federal budget, despite the headline-grabbing initiatives that get introduced to fanfare and few results. Kids are taught only to pass tests, so that funding can be applied to districts who have "earned" it. Kids are getting the short end of every stick they see in school, and nothing is changing. And what if Apple's entire move here is not about changing the entire education system, which it most likely understands is irreparably flawed, but rather to disintermediate education the way it did carrier control with the mobile market? What if Apple's ultimate play (with products like iBooks Author) is to put education back in the hands of students (and the actual individuals they interact with on a daily basis), obviating the need for a bloated, antiquated system in much the same way that it saw the carriers as a necessary evil in bringing iOS to the hands of users?

Certainly not every district is hopelessly broken, and not every kid's education suffers at the hands of an ever-shrinking budget. Children who seek out learning will always learn, and those who do not will make their way in the world. It has happened for years and will always be the case, no matter what costs we apply. Apple's attempt to shake up a system so mired in early 20th century standards is merely a shot across the bow of a huge vessel that's been in motion for as long as any of us can remember. It will not be panacea to all the ills of our society, nor should people expect Apple to fix every problem. Apple is a business; they exist to make money and sell merchandise. Those who are decrying its attempts to make learning better are missing the bigger picture. Should we all shun this advance because only rich kids might get a chance to use it at first? Education needs disruption, and all it takes is a cursory look at the developing countries of the world to know that mobile computing is the future for our society. Not everyone will get an iPad or an iPhone, but at some point, everyone will be exposed to learning in a better, mobile capacity, and we'll have Apple to thank for jumpstarting the efforts of those who would sit idly and let our children continue on the endless march to mediocrity.

Seth worked for five years as a computer instructor in a public middle school (grades 6-8), for six years with kids with autism, and was a member of district-wide technology planning committees.

Alli Flowers

All that was missing was the old tagline - this changes everything. Again. In a way it does. But before I explain why I think it might, I must explain why it won't - at least not yet. So I must begin by stating that I take exception with Phil Shiller's comment at the beginning of his presentation when he stated that iPad is, amongst other things, affordable. In today's economy, $500 is just not what I would define as affordable. This thought will temper what follows.

Instead of bridging the digital divide, programs like Apple’s will only serve to deepen the chasm. Is a $15 textbook a great deal? Heck yea! The text I’m supposed to teach from costs $65, and that doesn’t include the workbook. But we hold onto our textbooks for seven years or more. Our school system (the largest in the state), can’t afford to purchase new texts for each subject at the recommended five year increments. Could we afford to purchase iPads for each student instead? It’s doubtful. Besides, even though you would then be looking at a tremendous discount for the textbook (and workbooks would be rolled right into the new format, right?), that’s still a lot of money.

Some of the concerns I’ve often heard about providing all students with iPads include the fear that student iPads will be stolen. I don’t believe this is as big a deal as other factors - if everyone has one, there will be no one left wanting one. The bigger concern is how children take care of their belongings. Most of my students have broken their cell phones at least once. How would we take care of broken iPads? Would we need to spend twice as much as what is needed to cover the student body so that when someone does break (or misplace) his iPad, we can replace it, like we do with a textbook? Can we demand that a family pay to have a $500 iPad replaced, when they can’t currently afford a $65 lost textbook fine?

But I rant. I love the very concept of iBooks Author. The potential here is limitless. For those of us who already prefer using custom content, the possibilities here are limitless. I have not used a textbook this year, and my students haven’t minded at all. I prefer providing them with small lessons and activities on the Smartboard so that they remain engaged, but aren’t overwhelmed. Would I like to give each of my students my custom designed text with practice activities? Heck yea! Do I see it happening any time soon? Probably not. On the other hand, I have an iPad and I can still use this valuable tool. There is no reason I can’t share the screen of my iPad with my students by connecting my iPad to my Smartboard either through an HDMI connection, or by placing the iPad under a document camera. Do I really want all my students touching my personal iPad? Not really. They are not concerned enough with the well being of other people’s property. And if you’re merely showing students the screen of an iPad, you may as well be showing them a traditional textbook. If they’re not the ones using it, the point of it being interactive is lost.

Ahhhhh...interactive textbooks. Again, the concept is brilliant. To have all my videos and exercises (with instant feedback!) in one place is a dream. But it’s a dream for a teacher. I have been lucky enough to both teach and facilitate several distance learning classes over the last three years. Distance classes can be great, and they do what Apple is proposing, but on a computer via a website. The biggest downside is the required Internet connection. The difference in our online course offerings, and the interactive texts presented yesterday by Roger Rosner is small. Each course is packed with links to videos, java games, and Flash activities (that will, no doubt, be replaced by HTML5 activities). Are the students more engaged with the material presented in their online classes? The average student is not. And the below average student simply needs a teacher to fill him with the information one to one. Just yesterday I had a student ask if he had to watch the whole video - referring to a 6 minute video presenting the Industrial Revolution. Really? I cannot believe that students will be more engaged watching a video on the iPad than on a laptop. And digital content won’t be changing for a while.

As a secondary teacher, I cannot speak to iTunes U. However, I have used it for my own professional development several times and love it. I will definitely be using it more often as a stand alone app.

In summary, yes, I love the basic concept of all Apple is doing for education. However, by making it all Apple centered, they are restricting America’s promise of a free and accessible education. The privileged will get Apple products and a better education, and those who can most benefit from a good education will be left out.

Alli is a high school teacher.

Leanna Lofte

I'll admit that the Apple Education Event has left me feeling a little giddy inside. As an educator, interactive textbooks on the iPad, iTunes U on the iPhone and iPad, and iBooks Author all make me very excited.

I've spent a little time in a few textbooks in iBooks and I have been nothing short of impressed. When talk of these interactive textbooks first began to surface, I was concerned that they may not run very well and be a little laggy, but boy was I wrong! Content? Fantabulously engaging! Obviously the text hasn't changed, but textbooks filled with multimedia such as slideshows, videos, 3D diagrams, and quizzes - definitely a game changer.

I teach at a small community college and will be doing everything in my power to get those in charge on board with iTunes U. I am planning to use a website for my courses this semester to post course documents and videos, but iTunes U does it much better than I could on my measly little website.

Last, but definitely not least, I am very excited about iBooks Author. One of my not-so-little lifetime goals is to write a Calculus textbook (yep, I'm that crazy), and iBook Author gives me some hope of actually achieving this goal. I've only spent a little time with the app, but have been able to do so much with it. I plan to actually start writing some mini books to have available for free as supplementary material for my courses. I have a real passion for teaching, and iBooks Author will help me be the better teacher I strive to be.

I know, I sound like a raging fangirl right now, but I truly am excited about all this news. Is it perfect? No. iPads filled with textbooks may not be in the classrooms tomorrow, but the first step to making that a reality has happened. Good job, Apple.

I'm also starting to believe those rumors of low-budget iPads may not be that farfetched after all...

Leanna teaches math at a California college.

Keith Newman

I've been a teacher for 12 years now, and I remember having a hokey tablet PC hooked up to a projector 10 years ago. Apple's move towards the educational experience is breathtaking. I love what I am seeing and feel that the impact of such tools in the classroom is probably what education needs at the moment (besides parents who actually care, but that's a whole other article). Motivation in the classroom is possible with old-school means but let's be honest, retention is at its all time lowest for this generation. Apple is attempting to speak the "student language" in the classroom for the first time I can remember. It's nice... it's refreshing... it's not going to work.

I'm not trying to be negative, but these tools in the classroom need SERIOUS monitoring. Remote Desktop is a must for me when I have kids in a Lab or have a computer cart; otherwise, it's Twitter and ESPN videos all period long. As of now, there isn't this type of software to overlook iPad carts. It's one thing for a student to not be on the correct page and goof off, that happens everywhere; now we are giving the entire class, whom the majority are doing the right thing, a tool to entice them to not be on the right page.

Cost is also a factor. Yes, I know we aren't getting free iPads. Districts will have to spend that money upfront to save money on the back end. I understand. However... iPads get lost. They get stolen. They get broke. Each one costs the district $500 to replace. Students in my poor, urban school district do not have the money to replace an $80 textbook let alone an iPad.

I want to see this happen. I really do. But realistically it won't happen with Apple prouducts. Their devices have way too much of a markup for this to be economically fesible in an urban school district (that is already in a financial crisis of $629 million dollars). I do see this happening realistically with an OLPC tablet that's not as swanky as Apple's but is far more accessible.

Keith is a high school teacher.

Chris Vitek

As an educator, I am really excited about the potential that eBooks have, along with the interactive potential of having textbooks on an iPad. I am happy that Apple has decided to push the envelope, and I am eager to see college textbooks publishers join in the effort. It looks like Apple has really tried to make the textbooks as interactive, engaging, and as learner-centered as possible, but a lot will depend on how strongly publishers pursue this. While I think there are some hurdles to overcome, I hope that with Apple pushing publishers and authors along it will only get better. I have seen some publisher's attempts at interactive eBooks, and for the most part, they have been disappointing. If publishers and textbook authors can really use the tools Apple has provided, then I think that eBooks may be the future of textbooks. One thing that would be great to see is a teacher's version of the book, that would enable teachers to incorporate the material into teaching lessons (such as putting material in a PowerPoint or Keynote slide).

With iTunes U (which I am sad to say I have never really looked at) it looks like Apple is trying to steal business from Blackboard. I will admit that I have doubts about online learning (I am a little old-school and feel that classroom interaction is an important part of learning). I do use online features to supplement a course, however, and will certainly take a look at iTunes U. I wonder if it can be integrated with school systems so that only registered students can get access to the course (I know our administration won't want to offer all our courses online for free). But it looks like a promising option for online courses and for some course content.

Chris is an assistant professor at a Texas university.

• Complete coverage of Apple's education event

One of the big announcements at Apple's Education event was iBooks Author, a Mac application for creating books and textbooks for iBooks. I could that say I spent a better part of the day experimenting and learning how to use iBooks Author, but that'd be a lie. I spent more time typing out content then I did learning how to use the app.

After creating your book, it is incredibly easy to see how it looks on your iPad. Simply plug in your iPad, open iBooks, then click Preview in iBooks Author. The app immediately starts exporting your book and, boom, appears on your iPad. When you close everything down and unplug your iPad, your book will still be accessible in iBooks so that you can take a closer look at it from the comfort of your couch.

I never imagined that creating this type of content would be so easy - and free.

• Mac App Store link

BGR was tipped on a few references to x2 iPad graphics -- the kind required for Retina displays -- in the new iBooks 2, adding fuel to the iPad 3 rumor fire.

Some of these aren't new, and were included in the iBooks 1.1 update from last year, but it's still nice to see that Apple's getting ready.

Source: BGR, @boygenius

Immediately following Apple's Education Event, I downloaded a couple textbooks from the iBookstore, namely, Geometry and Chemistry. I've done some browsing and am very impressed with what Apple and the publishers have done with these textbooks.

On the surface, the books look like typical textbooks, but a simple touch brings the pages to life. You can enlarge images, flip through slideshows, watch videos and examples, take sample quizzes, and more. One of my favorites features is that there are flashcards pre-created with all the terms and definitions from each chapter. You can also create your own cards from highlighted text and user-created notes.

This is just the beginning of textbooks in the iBookstore and I'm looking forward to seeing how this all plays out.

Following Apple's iBooks Author announcement today, word started to circulate that content made with Apple's app could only be sold in Apple's iBookstore. Authors could freely distribute their work, but they couldn't sell it elsewhere.

After digging through the licensing PDF, Leanna thinks she might have found the pesky paragraph in question, namely, section 2.B.(ii).

If your Work is provided for a fee (including as part of any subscription-based product or service), you may only distribute the Work through Apple and such distribution is subject to the following limitations and conditions: (a) you will be required to enter into a separate written agreement with Apple (or an Apple affiliate or subsidiary) before any commercial distribution of your Work may take place; and (b) Apple may determine for any reason and in its sole discretion not to select your Work for distribution.

It wouldn't be unusual for Apple to exert this level of control over content, but that doesn't make it any the less irksome. Given the pushback they faced following subscriptions, if this isn't an error from the outset, Apple will need to walk it back and soon.

Following up on the education event in New York, Apple has posted an instructional video for the new iBooks Author app available in the Mac App Store.

The video goes over some of the default templates Apple has included, as well as some of the more fluid user-interface elements like drag-and-drop, widgets and deep customization options. One thing I noticed was the built-in accessibility options Apple has included, which makes creating books that people with disabilities can read and experience much easier. You can also preview your book on the iPad to make sure it looks just the way you want it to look.

All in all, the video is very educational and details most of the functionality included in iBooks Author. Check it out!

Source: Apple

No doubt there will be a lot of questions about iBooks Author, and in anticipation of many of those, Apple has posted a FAQ in their knowledge base to address some of the most common. Entries include:

How can I distribute my work? How do I publish my book on iTunes U? How do I publish my book on the iBookstore? I’m an educator. Is course material I create and provide to my students as part of a tuition-based course considered a work I’m selling? I’m an educational institution. Are course materials that I may provide to students as part of a tuition fee considered a work I’m selling? I’m an author (or publisher). Can I distribute this work on my own website? Can I distribute works created with iBooks Author as part of a product or service that charges a subscription-based fee?

iBooks Author for Mac OSX can create eBooks for digital distribution through the iBookstore and is made to work with applications like Pages, Keynote and Word.

• Free - Mac App Store Link

Source: Apple

Following their education event held in New York where iBooks 2 and textbooks were announced, Apple has gone ahead and released iTunes 10.5.3 to the masses. As noted in the change log, this release covers the ability to sync interactive iBook textbooks to your iPad:

What's new in iTunes 10.5.3

iTunes 10.5.3 allows you to sync interactive iBooks textbooks to your iPad. These Multi-Touch textbooks are available for purchase from the iTunes Store on your Mac or from the iBookstore included with iBooks 2 on your iPad.

iBooks textbooks are created with iBooks Author — now available as a free download on the Mac App Store. For information on the security content of this update, please visit: support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

The update is currently showing on the Apple website and should start rolling out through software updates shortly.

Source: 9to5Mac; Via: Apple

Apple has announced iBooks Author at the education event in New York. iBooks Author will allow you to create books within Mac OS X for digital distribution through the iBookstore.

You can select from a number of templates already created for you or import your existing content. iBooks Author is made to compliment and work nicely with applications such as Word, Pages, and Keynote. You can even turn Keynote presentations into widgets within your book.

iBooks Author will be available today as a free download in the Mac App Store.

Free - Mac App Store Link

Today, Apple held their education event in New York, and one of their announcements was iBooks 2, and update on their book store which sets textbooks in the iPad's sights. The goal was to create portable, durable, interactive, searchable and current textbooks that still include all the great content. Some of the first demos today showed a biology textbook with graphical table of contents, interactive 3D models of cells, along with all of the usual full text. Publishers will have full control over content layout, and even be able to remotely update the text as needed.

Textbooks can include quick shortcuts to glossaries and dictionaries, so you can quickly figure out foreign terms. There's going to be full-text search with auto-completed suggestions for when you're looking for a particular passage. Textbooks in iBooks 2 will even include little quizzes, to make sure you've absorbed the content from the last chapter. You can also include custom-made flash cards and notes to build your own quizzing scheme.

Not sure if you want a particular iBook? They're going to offer free samples so you can take a peek inside. iBooks may be a little on the large side... Some that we've seen are over 1 GB, so odds are you'll only be downloading and syncing these over Wi-Fi. Textbooks are available starting today in their own dedicated section of the iBooks store, with prices being $14.99 or less. Wow, that's a hell of a lot cheaper than textbooks in my day. Pearson, McGraw Hill, and Houghton Mifflin and Harcourt are just some of the initial publishing partners.

• iBooks - Free - App Store Link

• iBooks Author - Free - Mac App Store Link

Here's the iBooks 2 Changelog

Introducing iBooks 2 — now with iBooks textbooks.

• Experience gorgeous Multi-Touch textbooks designed for iPad
• iBooks textbooks are filled with interactive features, diagrams, photos, and videos
• Tap to dive into images with interactive captions, rotate 3D objects, swipe through image galleries, watch videos in full screen, and more
• Use a finger as a highlighter when swiping over text in a textbook
• Take advantage of Study Cards to help you memorize important highlights, notes, and glossary terms
• Tap glossary terms to see definitions of key topics and concepts without leaving the page

And here's the press release.

Apple Reinvents Textbooks with iBooks 2 for iPad

NEW YORK—January 19, 2012—Apple® today announced iBooks® 2 for iPad®, featuring iBooks textbooks, an entirely new kind of textbook that’s dynamic, engaging and truly interactive. iBooks textbooks offer iPad users gorgeous, fullscreen textbooks with interactive animations, diagrams, photos, videos, unrivaled navigation and much more. iBooks textbooks can be kept up to date, don't weigh down a backpack and never have to be returned. Leading education services companies including Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, McGraw-Hill and Pearson will deliver educational titles on the iBookstore℠ with most priced at $14.99 or less, and with the new iBooks Author, a free authoring tool available today, anyone with a Mac® can create stunning iBooks textbooks.

“Education is deep in Apple’s DNA and iPad may be our most exciting education product yet. With 1.5 million iPads already in use in education institutions, including over 1,000 one-to-one deployments, iPad is rapidly being adopted by schools across the US and around the world,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Now with iBooks 2 for iPad, students have a more dynamic, engaging and truly interactive way to read and learn, using the device they already love.”

The new iBooks 2 app is available today as a free download from the App Store™. With support for great new features including gorgeous, fullscreen books, interactive 3D objects, diagrams, videos and photos, the iBooks 2 app will let students learn about the solar system or the physics of a skyscraper with amazing new interactive textbooks that come to life with just a tap or swipe of the finger. With its fast, fluid navigation, easy highlighting and note-taking, searching and definitions, plus lesson reviews and study cards, the new iBooks 2 app lets students study and learn in more efficient and effective ways than ever before.

iBooks Author is also available today as a free download from the Mac App Store and lets anyone with a Mac create stunning iBooks textbooks, cookbooks, history books, picture books and more, and publish them to Apple’s iBookstore. Authors and publishers of any size can start creating with Apple-designed templates that feature a wide variety of page layouts. iBooks Author lets you add your own text and images by simply dragging and dropping, and with the Multi-Touch™ widgets you can easily add interactive photo galleries, movies, Keynote® presentations and 3D objects.

Apple today also announced an all-new iTunes® U app giving educators and students everything they need on their iPad, iPhone® and iPod touch® to teach and take entire courses. With the new iTunes U app, students using iPads have access to the world’s largest catalog of free educational content, along with over 20,000 education apps at their fingertips and hundreds of thousands of books in the iBookstore that can be used in their school curriculum, such as novels for English or Social Studies.* The iTunes U app is available today as a free download from the App Store.

*Some content is available only for iPad.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple’s iWork VP Roger Rosner has been charged to lead Apple's entry into the digital textbook arena.

According to people familiar with the matter, Mr. Rosner—Apple's vice president for productivity applications, in charge of its iWork document, spreadsheet and presentation software—is closely involved in developing the new digital-textbook service. Apple last week said it was holding an event in New York City on Thursday for an announcement, which people familiar with the matter have said will be around digital textbooks.

With Apple's education event happening January 19th, we'll soon be able to lay to rest all the rumors surrounding what, exactly will be unveiled. It seems, however, that rather then looking to replace textbooks with their digital counterparts right away, Rosner's team will introduce a new set of tools for publishers to create "iTextbooks". Apple's iTunes U podcast section is a critical if not mainstream success, and their iBooks eBookstore and reader already have a small set of textbook publishers participating. If Apple can expand on that existing base with tools to make the transition easier, they could start to get some momentum going.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

According to a report by Ars Technica, Apple is going to announce a GarageBand type tool to aid in the creation of e-books at its New York education event this Thursday. The new tools will assist in the creation of interactive e-books especially in the education sector.

At the same time, however, authoring standards-compliant e-books (despite some promises to the contrary) is not as simple as running a Word document of a manuscript through a filter. The current state of software tools continues to frustrate authors and publishers alike, with several authors telling Ars that they wish Apple or some other vendor would make a simple app that makes the process as easy as creating a song in GarageBand. Our sources say Apple will announce such a tool on Thursday.

Source: Ars Technica

According to Jim Dalrymple of The Loop, Apple has sent out the above invitation to a special media event to be held at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City on January 19.

Join us for an education announcement in the Big Apple.

No word yet on the exact agenda but rumors have circulated that it may involve text books, easier iBooks publication, iTunes U, and other related initiatives.

Source: The Loop

Clayton Morris has chimed in on the January media event and what Apple may have in store for us.

• This event will focus on iTunes University and Apple in education
• This initiative has been in the making for years.
• The announcement will be small in size but large in scope: a big announcement in a demure space.
• I expect at least two large project announcements as they relate to Apple in education.
• Steve Jobs was intimately involved with this project before his passing. He gave a hat tip to the textbook side of this project in the Isaacson biography.
• This will not be a hardware-related announcement.

It was previously speculated that Apple may be holding a special iBooks-related event, which could definitely hold true in respect to textbooks as Morris has outlined. Check out his whole post via the link below.

Source: Clayton Morris

Adding support to an earlier rumor concerning a January Apple event, Alexia Tsotsis of TechCrunch claims it's indeed happening and will focus on iBooks and publishing.

The event will unveil improvements to the iBooks platform, according to the same source, and is not “major.”

So yeah, no iPad 3 or Apple Television but perhaps something to make Apple's ebooks offering more competitive with Amazon's industry leading Kindle platform?

Source: TechCrunch

It has taken me so long to write up my most used apps of 2011 because - how was I supposed to choose just five apps? However, I've managed to narrow it down. My first home screen page is dedicated to my most used apps. This list isn't in any particular, so here we go!

1Password

I live and breathe this app 24/7. I can't live without it. My entire life is stored within it. It's way more than a password manager to me. 1Password has the best customer support and it's a well designed, easy to use app.

• $14.99 for iPhone and iPad - iTunes link
• $9.99 for iPhone - App Store link
• $9.99 for iPad - App Store link

Echofon Pro for Twitter

I love Twitter but trying to keep up with my timeline was killing me. It wasn't bad when I was only using Twitter via my iPhone. Then I added my iMac to the mix and it got a tad bit more complicated. And, well, I was completely done for once I got an iPad. Echofon is my Twitter app of choice. Echofon had tweet syncing long before other apps and Tweet Marker. Tweet syncing is my number one priority when it comes to any Twitter client. But that's not the only thing I love about Echofon. It's a universal app and it's inline photo/video preview is topnotch! It's not the prettiest Twitter app but it is one of the most function. I'll take function over pretty any day of the week. The Mac app is full of awesome too.

• $4.99 for iPhone and iPad - App Store link

Downcast

Oh how I love this app! This is app is AMAZING! It doesn't get the credit it deserves either. This app does so much. You can customize it as little or as much as you like because it has a TON of features and settings. I'm pretty hardcore when it comes to my podcasts because I'm subscribed to so many. I like to be as efficient as possible so I love how I have control over every feed individually. This app is universal and the iCloud syncing rocks.

• $1.99 for iPhone and iPad - App Store link

iBooks

I still adore this app. The latest update has fixed everything I didn't like when I made iBooks my Pick of the Week many months ago. 'Nuff said!

• Free for iPhone and iPad - App Store link

Reeder

What can I say about this app that hasn't already been said by Rene, Ally, Andrew, and Chris? So I'll just say, "Ditto" but I'll also say the Mac version rocks too.

• $2.99 for iPhone - App Store link
• $4.99 for iPad - App Store link

Kindle has updated their iPhone and iPad app to version 2.9, which now includes support for newspapers, magazines and textbooks. Here's the full update log:

iPad:

• New Design for Magazines: Kindle for iPad customers now have access to the huge selection of over 400 magazines and newspapers that are available on Kindle Fire. Magazines such as Martha Stewart Living, Food Network Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Men’s Health, Popular Science and many more are displayed in rich full-color pages. Customers can buy a single issue or subscribe to popular magazines and leading newspapers and have them wirelessly delivered to the Kindle for iPad app.
• Read print replica textbooks including rich formatting and layout of the print editions and support for notes and highlights, zoom and pan, and linked table of contents.

iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch: - Email documents to your new Send-to-Kindle e-mail address and we deliver them to your device. The documents are automatically archived in the Amazon Cloud and available for re-download on your iOS or supported Kindle devices. - Open PDFs from Mail or Safari, by transferring them from iTunes, or by sending them to your Send-to-Kindle email address. The Kindle PDF reader supports PDF table of contents and thumbnail navigation for quickly jumping through the document. - New library organization allows you to view your Kindle Books, Newsstand, and Docs.

Kindle for iOS is one of the better eBook reading apps out there, which even rivals Apple's own iBooks in a lot of respects. I, for one, personally prefer iBooks, but this update may give reason for those in similar opinion to make the jump into the Kindle eBook ecosystem.

• Free - App Store Link

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

Coming to us from Subafilms Ltd. is The Beatles Yellow Submarine book which is now available through iBooks for download. The beautifully illustrated book has iTunes exclusive clips from the movie as well as interactive animations, sounds and music clips.

If you fancy yourself a Beatles fan then you are no doubt are familiar with Yellow Submarine. That said; if you're looking to add a little something nice to your digital Beatles collection then you'll want to check this out.

You can grab the Yellow Submarine interactive books as a free download for your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch -- keep in mind iOS 5 is needed in order for it to work properly.

• Download Yellow Submarine - iTunes Bookstore Link

Apple has released their 12 Days of Christmas app a little early this year. The promotion will run between December 26 and January 6 but Apple hasn't put any content in there just yet.

You and your friends can download a fantastic selection of songs, music videos, apps and books for free. Each download will only be available for 24 hours. Get our special 12 Days of Christmas app to make it even easier to access your gifts while you’re on the go.

Don’t have an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch? Don’t worry. Come back 26 December to download gifts from your computer.

Falling in line with their 12 Days of Christmas promotion last year, Apple will promote special daily deals on music, apps, books and more for the holidays. You can download the app now from the Portugal and UK App Store, but content won't start showing up until the promotion begins. If you're outside of Portugal or the UK and see the app available in the App Store, let us know in the comments!

• Free - App Store Link

iBooks have been updated with some nice new features including a nighttime reading theme, full-screen layout, and new fonts. Apple has also replaced those ugly, boring covers to public domain books with beautiful, classic covers.

• Free - [App Store link]

• Nighttime reading theme makes reading books in the dark easier on the eyes.
• Full-screen layout lets you focus on the words without distraction.
• iBooks now features an improved selection of fonts, including Athelas, Charter, Iowan, and Seravek.
• Beautiful new classic covers for public domain books.
• Support for pop-up footnotes, included in select iBookstore titles.
• A redesigned annotation palette makes it easier to choose a color for your highlighted text.

Have an app you'd love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we'll take a look.

According to Bloomberg, the European Union Anti-trust regulators will be investigating Apple, along with five of the major eBook publishers, for possible collusion to help stifle competition within the eBook marketplace.

The European Commission in Brussels today said it opened a formal probe to examine whether the publishing groups and Apple, maker of the iPad tablet computer, engaged in agreements that would harm competition in the 27-nation EU. The probe will examine deals between Apple and Lagardere’s Hachette Livre, News Corp.’s Harper Collins, CBS Corp.’s Simon & Schuster, Pearson Plc’s Penguin and Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH.

The commission believes Apple and the publishers may have formed a sort of 'cartel' in the eBook market by practicing price-fixing techniques in order to ensure an ongoing revenue stream for all parties. Apple currently takes a 30% cut of eBook sales from within their own iBookstore.

This announcement comes after the EU conducted raides on a handful of publishers back in March along with a probe held by the U.K. Office of Fair Trading. The publishers, of course, say they haven't done anything wrong and will work closely with the EU to help get to the bottom of it.

Fortune chimed in saying the reason the EU included Apple is because of a deal Steve Jobs set up with the five publishers shortly after the release of the original iPad in 2010, which was followed by a similar investigation in the U.S. looking into anti-competitive behavior with Apple and the publishers to help drive up eBook prices from Amazon.

It will be interesting to see how this one plays out and if the impact, if any, has any direct relation to eBook pricing as it currently stands.

Source: Bloomberg, Fortune

Coffee lover, e-reader aficionado, and Instapaper developer Marco Arment put together what he describes as an informal survey of the current library landscape, including iPad and iBooks, Amazon's Kindle and Kindle app, the Nook color, and Kobo.

If you’re going to primarily read periodicals, get the iPad. If you’re going to read books, all of these platforms look like safe options.

Check out his comparison charts for books, magazines, and newspapers. It's not so much his results, which he cautions you take with a grain of salt, but the method he recommends for finding which device or app ecosystem is best for you that's compelling.

Source: Marco.org

Walter Isaacson's authorized biography of Steve Jobs, is now available from both Amazon's Kindle Store and Apple's own iBookstore. Isaacson, who appeared earlier today on CBS' 60 Minutes, had unprecedented access to Jobs, his family, friends, colleagues, and rivals, and the book strives to show Jobs not only as one of the most innovative and influential people of his time, but also as a human, a family man, and more.

If you pre-ordered it, download and enjoy. If you haven't yet, here are the links.

• iBooks link
• Amazon link

If you want to read along with TiPb, we invite you to join us in our Forum Book Club...

Looking for some last minute ways to get your Halloween gruesome on? To zone out with zombies, lose your head with horsemen, read about vampires that burst ever-so-properly into flame, and otherwise get more monstrous this weekend? Well, since you have an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, you're covered! From App Store to iTunes Store to iBookstore, and with a hellish dose of Netflix and Amazon thrown in, you'll never go brain-hungry again.

App Store Halloween apps and games

If you're looking for app-solutely (sorry!) the best way to have fun and get your iPhone and iPad chills and thrills on this Halloween, check out the apps and games. And don't just check out the Halloween apps and games either, because a lot of developers large and small and holding sales this weekend as well! Note: Neither Plants vs. Zombies nor Angry Birds Seasons are to be missed!

• App Store Halloween link

iTunes Halloween movies

iTunes is having a sale on Halloween themed-movies, starting at $4.99. We'd recommend Sleepy Hollow, because the heads weren't found at all...

• iTunes Movies Halloween link

Netflix Halloween movies

If you don't want to buy or rent individual movies, you can subscribe to Netflix and stream all the Halloween content you want.

• Netflix web link

Apple iBookstore and Amazon Halloween reading

The greatest and Halloween stories all time come from the dank, dusty pages of old books, written and read by candles flickering in the chill, dark wind. Apple's iBookstore has some on sale for both young and old. Not content with just books, After all, it's never too early to start Halloween off with a good family scream.

• iBookstore Halloween link

Everything else

Not content with apps or games, movies or books? Amazon has a special Halloween page up with everything you could ever possibly want. Ever. Costumes. Candy. Seriously.

Amazon has a special Halloween page up with everything you could ever possibly want. Ever.

• Amazon Halloween link

Your picks?

Got any other great ways to enjoy your iPhone, iPad touch, and iPad over Halloween? Let us know in the comments!

Apple is now using Twitter to promote the United States version of their iBookstore. Apple already uses Twitter to promote content for App store apps, iTunes music, TV shows, and iTunes movies. Even though the iBookstore account was created quite some time ago, Apple appears to have just started utilizing the account.

The first tweet was actually sent out just today -

Welcome to the Apple #iBookstore on Twitter. Follow us to discover new releases, exclusive book offers, and more.

The last tweet sent from the account is a link to a list of books that are quick reads at good prices. I've become a fan of companies using social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook to communicate with customers. If you're an avid reader and utilize iBooks you may want to follow the account for new releases, discounts, sales, and recommended picks. Hit the link below to follow iBookstore on Twitter.

@iBookstore

The iTunes 10.3 update that came out this week included a little surprise for reading lovers -- iBooks support.

iTunes 10.3 brings the iBookstore to the iTunes Store on your computer and allows you to wirelessly send samples to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with the new Automatic Downloads feature. Look in the navigation bar between App Store and Podcasts to find Books, which gives you full access to the iBookstore as well as Audiobooks. The triangle next to Books in the top navigation bar will produce shortcuts to categories such as Fiction & Literature, History, Biographies & Memoirs, and more. Each book includes a Get Sample button; click it to send a sample directly to any or all of your iOS devices once you've turned on Automatic Downloads. You can do this on your device by going to Settings and tapping on Store. You'll also need to confirm that you already have iBooks 1.2.2 or higher. Additionally, if you click the info icon that appears when you hover over a book cover, the downward pointing triangle next to the Buy button (the action menu) in the Quick View window that appears gives you access to both Add to Wishlist and Tell a Friend.

Now how about letting us read them on our PCs as well?

[Inside iTunes

iBooks for iPhone and iPad has been updated to 1.3 and includes new read-aloud feature that reads the book to you. It's only available for "enhanced" books and some books will even highlight the words as they are read to you.

• Help your children learn to read with the new read-aloud feature included in select children's books from the iBookstore. The read-aloud feature uses a real narrator to read the book to you, and in some books, it will even highlight the words as you read along.
• Enhanced books can now automatically play audio or video included with the book.
• Makes iBooks more responsive when opening very long books.
• Addresses an issue where some books may display the same page twice.

This will be a great feature for children learning how to read. If you have any books with this feature enabled, let us know what you think!

[Free - iTunes link]

Every day, TiPb gets flooded with announcements for new and updated iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps and games. So every day we pick just a few of the most interesting, the most notable, and simply the most awesome to share with you!

• Bible: Now with audio! [Free - iTunes link]

• iBooks: Update brings improved responsiveness and a few bug fixes. [Free - iTunes link]

• School 26: Kate ‘s parents insist that they’ve finally found the right town. It’s not like she hasn’t heard that line before, but something does feel different. Help Kate tackle a new school and discover herself. [$2.99, iPhone - iTunes link] [$4.99, iPad - iTunes link]

• Kindle: Updated for german users. [Free - iTunes link]

• Berzerk Ball: How far can a geek fly? Find out by joining gamers who have smashed the geek over 142 million times! [$0.99 - iTunes link]

Any other big apps or game releases or updates today? If you pick any of these up, let us know what you think!

Every week a few of us from team TiPb will bring you our current favorite, most fun and useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they’re iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch related, they’re fair game.

To see what we picked, and to tell us your pick, follow on after the break!

Digits Calculator for the iPad + iPhone - @skeetobite

My pick of the week is the calculator app for the iPad - "Digits Calculator for the iPad + iPhone". Yes, as you can guess, this is a universal binary, but I was trying it out on the iPad since (for who knows what reason) the iPad doesn't come with a calculator. The app is pretty straightforward - you have the numbers for entry, you have a "tape" to track what you have done, you have standard options for things like percent, change the sign, memory. But the app also has a few advanced features I like. For example, you can email a copy of the tape and you can put a new "roll" of paper tape in to start a new set of calculation (while keeping the old roll intact). In addition, there are some advance math features available: square root, square function, cube function, reciprocal function, etc. Okay, maybe "advanced" was the right term...commonly used features that may not be on most simplistic calculators. But in the end, it winds up being a simple, easy to use calculator for the iPad.

[$1.99 - iTunes link]

Take Five - @reneritchie

This happens to me all the time. I'm listening to a podcast, something else demands my attention -- a bit of work, a phone call, an email, whatever -- and so I pause my iPhone and then... a couple hours later I realize it's still paused. All. The. Time. It happened so often I just learned to accept it.

And then I saw Take Five.

From the typically genius minds at the Iconfactory], Take Five lets you pause a podcast, music, or any type of audio playable by the iPod app, and then automagically resumes playing it later. The default is five minutes but you can start, stop, and adjust as you like.

And because it comes from the Iconfactory, it's as good looking and well thought out as it is smart.

If you have to deal with the culture of constant interruption, Take Five. You deserve it.

[$0.99 - iTunes link]

Atari Greatest Hits – @chrisoldroyd

This week I have chosen a games package that is wrapped in nostalgia. Atari Greatest Hits is a fantastic compilation of early console and arcade games that drags you from 2011 back to the 1980's.

If you are over 30, this is a must buy game, it has loads of original games (0ver 100) to play and literally takes me back to my childhood. Sure the graphics are basic, it stays true to the originals; I wouldn't want it any other way.

The app is free to download but the games are all purchased in-app. They can be bought as packages of 3-4 games at $0.99 a pop or you can have them all for $14.99.

Look, I can't say this any clearer, go and get it now!!!

[Free – iTunes Link]

Weight Watchers for iPhone - @iMuggle

My New Years resolution this year was to lose a couple lbs. My mom had done Weight Watchers in the past and it was extremely successful for her, so I figured I would give it a try. The Weight Watchers iPhone app has definitely helped me be a lot more rigorous about keeping track of my points and really making better decisions about what I choose to eat. If I questioned what I was eating, I didn't have to eat it and look it up later to find out it was worth a ton of points, I'd just look it up on my iPhone and know before I made an eating decision.

Not only does it have a built in points tracker and calculator, it also has a large database of restaurants with pre-calculated point values. My only peeve is that the Weight Watchers app has not been updated once in the time I've been using it and there are a lot of major places missing from the restaurant portion of the app.

Overall the app does make sticking with Weight Watchers a lot easier. It syncs with your Weight Watchers account online for easy access from your iPhone or computer. The app also contains recipe suggestions, success stories, and of course, a built-in weight tracker. Since January, I've managed to lose a little over 20 lbs. So besides the lack of updates for point values for common restaurants, I'm extremely happy with the app. If you own an iPhone or iPod Touch and are doing Weight Watchers, I highly suggest checking it out!

[Free, with active Weight Watcher subscription - iTunes Link]

iBooks - @JBaby_9783

I've been using iBooks to read a lot lately. I think iBooks is the best ereader in the App Store. I know many people will disagree with me on that point, but let me try and persuade you. Please keep in mind that my pick is about the app and not the iBooks Store. iBooks is simple and looks stunning. It doesn't rely simply on the store for content. All the books I've been reading lately haven't come from the iBookstore at all. Now you are probably asking yourself why doesn't she just use Stanza to read her DRM-free ePubs? Well the reason is simple, Stanza doesn't sync my place between my iPhone and iPad. There are other apps that sync your place but none, that I know of, sync your content that hasn't been purchased from them. That is iBooks killer feature.

There are some things I don't like about it app though. I wish the status bar would disappear so there could be a fullscreen mode. Tapping the center of screen to calls up the settings. That action could also bring up the status bar. Finally, I wish there was a night mode. You can get around that by turning Sepia off and setting your Accessibility triple click to White on Black. iBooks' killer feature trumps these very minor complaints. Give iBooks and its killer feature a try and tweet me to let me know what you think!

[Free - iTunes link]

SafeSync - @Alli_Flowers

Best discovery at CTIA 2011. SafeSync is the newest offering from our friends at TrendMicro - the antivirus people. While the service is not free, the iPhone app is. Why is it better than Dropbox? You don't need to have copies of the files you want stored in the cloud. You don't need to create separate folders to sync. If you want your music folder sync'd, just put a check by it in the settings.

SafeSync syncs in the background, and while the initial sync takes a while (depending on your connection speed and the number of files you're backing up), once the initial backup is complete, it will automagically back up changed/added files without your having to do anything. Of course, you can access your files from anywhere. You can log on to your SafeSync account from any desktop (pc or Mac) or your iPhone, via the app.

From the iPhone app, you can view your photos, or even listen to the music you have stored. This is cloud computing at its absolute finest.

[Free - iTunes link]

Apple Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard - @andrewwray

My pick this week is the Apple Wireless Keyboard, not only because of its simplicity and mobility in nature (thin is in!), but also because it's built like a tank and can take a real beating without showing any signs of abuse. I've been using it over the past six months after I got the first iPad and realized I needed something more than the software keyboard for certain tasks that required heavy text input.

Every morning before heading to work, I throw the keyboard into my bag along with a number of other items. I won't hesitate to say that if this were any other standard keyboard, it'd probably be broken by now. Yet my Apple keyboard doesn't even have a scratch on it! The build quality is top-notch, as with anything you'd expect from Apple, and I'd highly recommend picking one up if you're looking for a better way to type on the iPad. And yes, it works with the iPhone too!

[$69 -- Apple Store]

SoundTracking -@MsLafleur82 (Reader's Choice)

SoundTracking is a new an exciting way to explore, discover and share your taste in music. It allows you to share music from iPod library or "Shazam" a song you have heard on the radio. You can also search for a song using their database to share. One of the really cool things about soundtracking is that like iTunes it gives your a friends a 30 second preview of the song you are listening to. If they feel like buying the song, they are one tap away!

You can sign in and share using Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare. If geotagging isn't your cup of tea, you can choose not to sign into Foursquare. Once signed in, let the world know the soundtrack of your life. You can use the album art of the song or take a picture and add a comment for some individuality!

Soundtracking is like Instagram for music and a great alternative for Ping. You can comment, like and love a friend's musical taste without the clutter of Ping! The best thing about this app is that its free!

[Free- iTunes link]

Your pick?

You’re part of the team as well, so we will be choosing one reader to make a submission each week! Just look for the announcement on [twitter](http://www.twitter.com/llofte] or our Facebook page each weekend for a chance to be picked! In the meantime, jump into the comments and let us know your pick of the week!

As part of the iPad 2 event today Apple announced that their iBooks ebook store has enjoyed over 100 million downloads since launching alongside the original iPad in 2010. Also, as previously noted, Random House has finally become the last major publisher to sign on and will be bringing 17,000 additional titles to the iBookstore.

As rumored, it looks like Random House -- the last big publisher hold-out -- now has books available in Apple's iBooks library. Or as Chad put it when he woke us all up at the crack of dawn this morning:

Born to Run from Christopher McDougall and Tim Ferris's books can now be downloaded!!! Whoot!

Dan Brown as well. Is this part of the iPad 2 event announcement later today? Seems a bit of a coincidence timing wise if not... Either way, anyone want to recommend some other good Random House books to check out?

Random House will be adopting the Apple and iBooks-centric 70/30 "agency model" tomorrow, the day before Apple's iPad 2 event on Wednesday.

"The agency model guarantees a higher margin for retailers than did our previous sales terms," Random House said in a statement. "We are making this change both as an investment in the successful digital transition of our existing partners and in order to give us the opportunity to forge new retail relationships."

Coincidence or a sign the iBooks catalog might soon be a little less sparse?

[LA Times]

If you launch iBooks on a Jailbroken iPhone there's a good chance you'll get an error message and not be able to open any of your legitimately purchased iBooks content. This is NOT a new problem -- many of us here at TiPb have been having this issue for a while and with older versions of iBooks. Some thought it was a bug with iBooks or an issue with certain releases of redsn0w or greenpois0n Jailbreak tools, but iPhone dev-team member @comex finally figured out what was causing it.

It seems that before opening a DRMed book, iBooks drops an improperly signed binary, tries to execute it, and if it works concludes that the device is jailbroken and refuses to open the book.

This is what the binary does:

int main() { return 42; }

The complete message you get is:

There is a problem with the configuration of your iPhone. Please restore with iTunes and reinstall iBooks.

If you do restore your iPhone you will, of course, lose your Jailbreak. If you're an avid iBooks user and can't live it without it that's a choice you'll have to make. Why Apple is only choosing to do this with iBooks and not other iTunes content, like media and apps is unknown.

Again, this is not a new problem but with iOS 4.2.1 getting an untethered Jailbreak courtesy of greenpois0n (and iOS 4.2.6 for the Verizon iPhone), it's probably something more and more people have noticed and been complaining about. Hopefully the Jailbreak community comes up with a fix, otherwise Apple and iBooks might lose a lot of #TeamJailbreak customers to Amazon's Kindle store...

Have you had trouble using iBooks on your Jailbroken iPhone? Does it bother you enough that you'll restore or just stop using iBooks?

[@comex]

Problem with iBooks disappearing from your iBookshelf, or getting a configuration error telling you have to restore your iPhone or iPad and reinstall iBooks? You're not alone. We'll go over the bug and try to troubleshoot after the break!

Disappearing iBooks

iBooks seems to be... well, a little quirkier when it comes to errors than its older iTunes and App Store cousins. Sometimes when it launches you can watch your iBookshelf populate with titles only to see one or more disappear right before your eyes. (We've had readers report a dozen or more disappearing). Luckily, you can redownload your previously purchased iBooks:

1. Tap Store, top right
2. Tap Purchases, bottom left
3. Tap redownload for any iBooks that have disappeared

It's a pain but it's better than music, movies, or TV Shows where there are no re-downloads.

If you're near your Mac or Windows PC, you can also just re-sync and that might fix it, though I've had to redownload some even after sync.

iBooks configuration error

This one is even more galling. You tap to open a book and start reading but instead get an error messages saying "There is a problem with the configuration of your iPhone [or iPad]. Please restore with iTunes and reinstall iBooks."

Restoring in iTunes is a nuclear option and Apple shouldn't be so quick to recommend it. In my experience, the following work in most cases:

1. Exit iBooks
2. Double click the Home Button
3. Tap and hold iBooks in the Fast App Switcher dock to put it into Jiggly Mode
4. Tap the X in the corner to Force Quit iBooks
5. Click the Home to exit back to the Home Screen
6. Relaunch iBooks

Others have recommended restarting your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, or syncing to iTunes on your Mac or Windows PC. Restoring your device should be a last resort.

We've gotten some comments that this only affects devices with multiple iTunes accounts on them, or Jailbroken devices, but there's no clear pattern we can determine so I think it's most likely just a bug. Hopefully Apple fixes it soon. They invented iTunes, dagnabit. Managing digital downloads should be a cakewalk for them by now.

If you've had this problem, let us know what you've experienced and if these tips help fix it. If you've got more or better fixed, leave them in the comments!

Apple has just released a significant update to its iBooks application for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. New in version 1.2 is the ability to experience fully illustrated books, be they children’s picture books or books of beautifully designed art, you can now enjoy them in all their glory within iBooks. Another new feature is the ability to organise your books and PDFs into personal collections, this is also synched over the air to your other iOS devices if you have them.

Air Print has also been enabled if you have one of the few printers that work with this; you can now print PDFs and notes you have written in iBooks. Apple also claim to be able to fit more text to the screen by automatically hyphenating text, this is only available if your device is updated to iOS 4.2

There is no question that iBooks is a beautifully presented application, the only problem is the lack of content in the iBooks store.

[iTunes Link]

Trying to read an iBook or Kindle eBook at night and curious how to switch to white text on a black background so as not to strain your eyes or keep others awake from the glare? Luckily iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad have this feature built right in. We'll show you how to enable it after the break!

Because "White on Black" is considered a system-wide feature, so all we need to do is head into Settings.

• Open Settings
• Tap General
• Select Accessibility
• Switch "White on Black" to "ON"
• Exit settings, launch iBooks or Kindle, and enjoy!

Bonus tip: If you want to have white on black as a quick option then place it on your triple click home button.

• Settings
• General
• Accessibility
• Triple click home
• White on Black

There you have it! Now can read your books (or web pages, or email, or anything really) as "White on Black" for those lighting situations that require it. If you have an questions, let us know in the comments below.

Tips of the day will range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you'd like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to news@tipb.com. (If it's especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we'll even give ya a reward...)

Google is expected to launch an online eBook store before the end of the year under the name of Google Editions and that once again puts the head to head against Apple and their new iBooks:

The long-delayed venture—Google executives had said they hoped to launch this summer—recently has cleared several technical and legal hurdles, people close to the company say. It is set to debut in the U.S. by the end of the year and internationally in the first quarter of next year, said Scott Dougall, a Google product management director.

Google will handle their eBook store differently from how Apple or Amazon play the game, opting for a "read anywhere" model where users can purchase an eBook from Google (or an online retail partner) and it's added to an online library tied to your Google account. Users can then access their Google account from a number of devices including smartphones and tablets.

No word yet on revenue sharing (iBooks is 70/30), which publishing companies have signed up, or which partners will come on board. However, Google's reach is not to be underestimated:

Google says it is on a mission to reach all Internet users, not just those with tablets, through a program in which websites refer their users to Google Editions. For example, a surfing-related blog could recommend a surfing book, point readers to Google Editions to purchase it, and share revenue with Google. Through another program, booksellers could sell Google Editions e-books from their websites and share revenue with Google.

Keeping things on the cloud is nothing new for Google and it's worked well for services like Gmail. If Google Editions is successful could it have a negative impact on iBooks but, like Amazon's Kindle app, add value to iPad and iPhone at the same time?

Let us know in the comments!

[ WSJ ]

According to some leaked screenshots and descriptions, Apple's iBooks app for iPad, iPod touch, and iPhone will be getting an update in the near future that includes "collections", along with PDF printing and emailing.

Collections are similar to folders. You will be able to make groups of books and PDF's that are accessible via the new "collections" button as well as from your bookshelf. User-created collections are completely customizable, but the the two default collections, Books and PDF's, are not.

In addition to collections, the new iBooks update will have the option to email PDF's and print PDF's with AirPrint. You will be unable to print or email books, however. (That makes sense for purchased books but hopefully non-protected ePub books will get print and email functionality at some point.)

There is no word on when we can expect to see this update, but we're betting it'll make an appearance at the rumored Apple event in December.

Who's looking forward to this update? What collections do you plan to create?

[9To5Mac]

Ever wonder how to get your digital booklets into iBooks? All of us probably have some sort of digital booklet we received as part of an album in iTunes, right? To be honest, I never really viewed them because I would typically be on the go when the mood struck, not necessarily sitting on front of a computer.

Well, did you know you can "convert" your digital booklets in iTunes to make them viewable in iBooks? This is so easy, it should be illegal. We'll show you how after the break!

• First, find the digital booklet in your iTunes library
• Next, right-click to get to the "Get Info" option and click it
• Next, click on the "Options" tab
• Last, change the "Media Kind" to "Book"

In your device menu, go to books and make sure your booklet is check-marked and sync. That's it! If you want to place the digital booklet back into iTunes, just change the media type back to "Music" from the Books section in iTunes.

That's it. You're done! If you have any questions or know any addition cool iBooks tips, leave them in the comments below!

Tips of the day will range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you’d like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to dailytips@tipb.com. (If it’s especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we’ll even give ya a reward…)

Just in time for the holiday season, Apple is now selling iBooks gift cards. They have been spotted at Apple stores, Target stores, and Best Buy stores. These will pair very nicely with iPad gifts.

There was some confusion as to whether iTunes gift cards could be used to buy iBooks since iBooks are not purchasable on a desktop - they must be bought in the iBooks store on an iPad or iPhone. The answer is yes, you can, but this makes it easy for those who are not sure and want to gift a book.

Anyone planning to pick up some iBooks gift cards for your iPad-weilding family and friends? Whose hoping to receive one as a gift?

[iLounge via TUAW]

Ever since the iBooks was announced, this is probably the single biggest issue an avid ebook reader will ultimately have to deal with: Kindle app or iBooks. What should you pick? Well, no one can tell you that for certain, but I hope to give you a little insight that might help you decide.

The fundamental difference between the two is the Kindle app has a very large ebook selection by comparison. 750,000 ebooks on Kindle and 60,000 books at iBooks launch (Apple has not released exact numbers). To me, this is the differentiating factor. Both applications support landscape view with two columns and a built-in dictionary as well as syncing of bookmarks, highlights and notes. Let's look at some of the differences of each app beyond how many books they have.

(You can get our quick review of the Kindle app here and iBooks app here)

Kindle

The Kindle app is a free universal app so you can run it on any iOS device. You can tap the left or right of the screen to turn pages and tap the top right corner to bookmark a page. You have several levels of font sizes and colors to choose from to help create your reading experience as good as it can be. You can even sync your annotations to other devices that support Kindle, that includes any iOS device, Mac, PC, Android and BlackBerry as well as Amazon's own Kindle.

There are a couple of innovative features that the Kindle has brought to the ebook table. First the Kindle app displays popular highlights in a book via underlined text while you read. You can easily see what other people have highlighted, quotes or whole passages. Second is data supplied by Shelfari. This content includes summary, character, spoilers and more; not a bad benefit. On the iPad, you can turn on a page turning feature similar to iBooks, but it is not has smooth or pays as much attention to detail as Apple's iBooks. On iPad, you have to different ways to view your library; big icons that can use pinch to zoom to resize as needed or an alphabetical list. I like both options depending on my mood, but what is lacking is a manual arrange function; You only can sort by Recent, Author or Title.

Since Kindle books are in the cloud, there is no need to sync your book on any desktop. Simple navigate to the archive in Kindle and redownload your book and it will then sync your bookmarks and other annotations.

iBooks

These are all very nice touches iBooks. The look, feel and options are fantastic. However, content is king, just like available software for a platform and regretfully, iBooks falls flat on its face. 9 out of 10 books I search for on iBooks comes up empty. This is very disheartening. I remember in the early days of the Kindle, they only had a 100,000 ebooks or so and are now approaching one million. Sadly, iBooks is not even up to 100,00o yet. I have hopes that Apple will forge the relationships needed to foster a growing library.

Alas, at this time, Kindle really is the better choice for content and iBooks is a much better app. In the end, what s more important to you; books you can actually read, or a pretty application?

Apple has just set iBooks 1.1.1 loose in the App Store. A point release, it does sneak in some nice functionality none-the-less:

• Double-tap an image within a book to view it in greater detail.
• Experience books that include audio and video.
• Enjoy substantial performance improvements when reading PDFs.
• Look-up definitions to English words inside books without a specified language.
• Addresses an issue that may have caused some book downloads to not complete.
• Includes many stability and performance improvements.

If you're trying it out, let us know how it works for you.

[iTunes, thanks @daveizzle!]

How does an elementary school teacher use her iPad to get the job done and what iPad apps help get her through her day? TiPb’s iPad at work contest aims to bring you just such slices of the iPad life. Here’s Courtfrogger's answer and as a small token of thanks we’re sending her a $20 iTunes gift certificate. If you want to see your name up on the TiPb home page and get a gift certificate all your own, head on over to the TiPb iPad Forum and share your story now!

The iPad has added another dimension to my classroom! I teach music, English and theatre at a very small public k-12 school. I use the iPad for lots of different things in the classroom, at meetings and at play rehearsals. For my youngest students, who sometimes just need to dance, I use Pandora. I can just type in "Tito Puente", for example, and get unlimited Latin jazz that keeps them moving and very happy.

For slightly older kids, who are learning band instruments for the first time, I can use the YouTube app to show them videos of famous musicians playing their instruments. With the cleaner interface, I don't have to worry about R- rated adds showing up alongside the content I want.

For the spring production of "A Doll's House," I loaded the script into iBooks. I found it free through project Gutenberg. I can easily toggle back and forth between that and my notes, keeping track of actors' lines while taking direction notes. I don't have to worry about running out of paper, dropping my script, or forgetting a pencil!

For fun, I showed my kindergarten class the Planets app. They're studying planets right now, and for music class they wrote rhymes about planets that can be sung to the tune of twinkle twinkle little star. Being able to spin beautiful images of the planets was engaging for them and added a tangible element to the class.

So there you have it! My top five apps for the music and theatre classroom are Pandora, YouTube, iBooks, notes and Planets.

Are you an elementary school teacher? If so, what apps do you use to enhance the learning experience in the classroom?

With the iPhone 4 now available, many people want to use that gorgeous retina display to begin reading books on the go via iBooks. We have looked at iBooks on the iPhone 3GS and on the iPad. How does iBooks compare on the iPhone 4?

The good news is that with the increased speed of the A4 processor in iPhone 4 and the retina display, your reading experience is fast and beautiful with iBooks. Let's look at the processor impact first. Many of us eagerly updated our iPhone 3G and 3GS devices when the iOS4 updated became available and quickly downloaded iBooks from the App Store. Sadly, the performance on of iBooks on 3G devices was, to say the least, very disappointing. So much so that some of our readers uninstalled it immediately and rendered it useless. Others, like myself, had a good experience with iBooks on the iPhone 3GS. Not as zippy as iBooks on iPad, but definitely doable. I even encountered an issue where my impatience led me to believe that iBooks did not rotate into landscape. However, at the end of the day it looked good and performance was adequate.

Now the iPhone 4 steps into the scene. In my use of the app over the last 5 days since the device launch, it runs almost up to par with it's big tablet brother. There is still the initial screen to load the library, but after loading, books open responsively and PDF performance is great. I was able to open many PDFs with large images and file sizes with little problem. Of course, as file size increases, performance may decrease. I don't knock this as a downside since opening large PDF's can take a toll on desktop machines.

Next is the retina display. Does it make a difference? For me, the major benefit of the retina display is zooming in on text. In iBooks, you can't zoom on text in real-time, just enlarge the font. Granted, there are absolutely no jaggies, but does it improve my overall reading experience? I would say yes, but it is not a deal breaker. Where the retina display really shines is viewing PDFs- they are stunning. Zoom in as far as you like and the text looks fantastic. The artwork can too, based on the quality of the PDF. Anything you can do to make the viewing experience more pleasant in a mobile device with a screen size like the iPhone is a bonus. Yes the retina display makes a marginal difference when reading iBooks, but by no means is it a deal-breaker. iBooks on iPhone 4 for PDFs, now that is awesome.  If you are reading iBooks on the 3GS, I feel you have a comparable screen-reading experience- even on the 3G for most things, but the PDFs are heads and shoulders above what theses other device can offer.

Syncing between devices is a breeze. I have an active iPad, 3GS and iPhone 4. After installing the app on your device and you open it for the first time, it asks you if you want to sync. After choosing yes, the device stealthily syncs in the background, you don't have to hit a button or anything. A spinning "gear" appears in the top right corner by the Wi-Fi and signal icons indicating it is doing its work. It takes just seconds for it to sync and you receive the bookmarks, notes, etc from what you have entered in a iBook and is synced to all devices when you open iBooks on that device.

iBooks for iPhone 4 is extremely polished (well except for a minor bug I encountered. It is captured in the video and screens) and the bookshelf looks amazing with all of the book artwork on the retina display. Text looks good too, though not as amazing as you might think unless you are reading PDFs. Performance is zippy and I think Apple is doing great for their first endeavor for ebooks. Now where is my desktop version?

[Free- iTunes Link]

Pros

• App looks beautiful with the retina display
• Very responsive with the new faster A4 processor
• Colors really stand out
• PDF Text looks amazing

Cons

• Can’t export notes
• Can’t copy text
• Occasional bug/error "Failed to load book because the requested resource is missing"

Finally, iBooks for iPhone arrives! I have been enjoying iBooks on my iPad for some time now. With iBooks for iPhone many more people can enjoy portable reading with their phones. How does iBooks measure up? Keep reading to find out!

After updating to iOS4 for iPhone 3GS I promptly downloaded iBooks. Apple has done a fantastic job with the application and it translates very nicely to the small screen. Let's start off with actually getting a book on your device. When you first launch the app, it asks if you want it to sync with other devices to keep bookmarks, notes, etc. in sync. Next, you are presented with a blank bookshelf. The promised Winnie the Pooh book is free, but you have to get it yourself. So to do that, I tapped the store icon and the app rotated in 3D very smoothly to reveal the iBooks store. From here you can find any Featured books, the New York Times Charts, Search and review your purchases.

Tap a book you are interested in and and you can download a sample (the samples typically contain at least one whole chapter, but sometimes more) or purchase the book. So, I went to the search option and looked up Winnie the Pooh. After finding the book, I tapped the "Free" button, the store flipped back to reveal my bookshelf, or Library, and it proceeded to download. About 10 seconds later I had Winnie the Pooh on my iPhone.

To begin reading just tap the book and you are taken to the first page. To go back to the Library, tap the icon in the top left. To view the Table of Contents and Bookmarks, tap the icon next to that. Simply tapping the left to right side of the page turns it. You can't scroll up or down; that's not very book-like. You can tap and hold on any text to bring up a few different tools. Some of the more useful ones are Highlight, Dictionary and Note. You can tap highlight and iBooks applies a highlight to the text. Tap again and you can add a note or change the note color.

If tapping the side of the page doesn't excite you, the page can be manually turned by tapping and holding the bottom right corner and turning the page like a real book. The effect is gorgeous and it really is impressive. At the top of the page you have more choices beyond returning to the Library or the Table of Contents. You can adjust font size, change the font, adjust brightness (especially helpful at night) and a new feature- sepia color. This is particularly nice as it dulls down the very bright background and makes it a little easier on the eyes. Next, you can search within the iBook, but it doesn't stop there. You can also search in Google and Wikipedia right from the search page! When done reading, you can tap the top right corner of any page and place a bookmark. All bookmarks, notes and highlights are accessible from the Table of Contents page.

Another new feature that Apple added with this release of iBooks is the ability to read PDFs. You can add PDFs a couple of ways. First, you can add a PDF in email to iBooks directly from the mail app. Second you can add PDFs to the Books section in iTunes and sync them over. Once a PDF is added, you see a PDF button next to Book on the top of the Library. Tap the PDF button to look at your PDFs and they are beautifully rendered. Scroll your finger along the bottom to view the different pages or Tap the Table of Contents button to get a zoomed out view of all PDF pages. Search, bookmarks, etc., work with PDFs as well.

They only real chink I can find in iBooks armor is there is no option for landscape in iBooks or PDF view. This is disappointing since on the iPad app, you get a two page view. I understand this may not be possible with the screen real estate, but just like the web, sometimes landscape is preferred. Many apologies. I was impatient waiting for my 3GS to rotate. Many thanks to the commenters on this post for pointing this out.

This is a must-buy free app for Apple. You have access to more than romance novels. Technical references abound and can come in really handy when you need them and viewing PDFs is very convenient. If you would like to know more about iBooks for iPad, check out our earlier review.

[Free- iTunes Link]

Pros

• Beautiful layout
• Fast
• Wonderfully animated
• Great tools for navigation
• Easy to use

Cons

• No landscapeI was too impatient with my device for it to rotate
• Can't export notes
• Can't copy text

Apple has released iBooks 1.1 for iPhone (iOS 4 required) and iPad. Shown off during WWDC 2010, it adds some oft-demanded features such as notes, bookmarks, and the syncing of both of those and highlights -- including between devices.

We'll be back with a review later, but here's the boilerplate for now:

• Enjoy a complimentary copy of the beautifully illustrated classic, Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne.
• Download many of your favorite books from the included iBookstore.
• Read a free sample of any book on the iBookstore before making it part of your collection.
• Reorder your books on your bookshelf or browse them in a list sorted by title, author, or category.
• Easily adjust your screen brightness to find the perfect lighting for any environment.
• Change the font size and pick from five included type faces to make your books more comfortable to read.
• Find a word, character, or phrase anywhere in your book with the built-in search feature.
• Quickly find a specific page using the page navigator at the bottom of every page.
• Highlight your favorite passages with the built-in bookmarking feature.
• Add books in the industry-standard ePub electronic book format to iTunes and sync them to iPad.
• iBooks supports amazing accessibility features in iPad, such as speaking the words on a given page.

You trying it out? If so, what do you think? How does it compare to iBooks on iPad? To Kindle or Stanza?

During the WWDC 2010 keynote today, Steve jobs did his usual bragging announcement of the numbers for devices sold, apps downloaded, percent market share, etc.

• 2 million iPads sold (one every 3 seconds)
• iPad available in 10 countries, 19 countries in July
• 8500 iPad apps in the App Store. These apps have been downloaded over 35 million times which is about 17 apps per iPad.
• iBooks sold 5 million books in the first 65 days. That's about 2 and a half books per iPad.
• iBooks is responsible for 22% of eBook sales
• Over 225,000 apps in App Store
• 5 billion downloads from the App Store
• Apple has paid out 1 billion dollars to developers
• Receive 15,000 app submissions per week. 97% of them are approved within 7 days.
• Nielsen reports that smartphone market share is the following: 35% RIM, 28% iPhone, 19% Windows, 9% Android, 9% other.
• US mobile usages breakdown: 58.2% iPhone, 22.7% Android, 12.7% RIM, 6.4% other.
• 150 million credit card accounts between iTunes, App Store, and iBookstore - biggest on the web.
• iAds are projected to represent 48% of the mobile advertising market in the second half of 2010.

Are you impressed with any of these numbers?

[image via gdgt]

During the WWDC 2010 Keynote today, Steve Jobs announced new features for Apple's iBooks app, including the much-in-demand ability to take notes, the ability to tap and and bookmarks, and support for the PDF format. Jobs also announced that, while it's only been on the market for 8 weeks, iBooks already accounts for 22% of the eBook market. They also repeated that it would soon be available for the iPhone.

The iBooks app is now available as a free download for iPhone, so you can read your favorite books anywhere. On iPhone 4, the high-resolution Retina display renders every page beautifully. Vibrant colors, rich illustrations, and crisp, sharp text make reading a pleasure. Turn pages by tapping the right or left side of the screen or by dragging the page corner (just like a real book). Jump to a different part of the book by visiting the table of contents and tapping a chapter. When you’re finished reading, iBooks bookmarks where you left off. It syncs with iPad, too, so the story you started on your iPhone can be finished on your iPad.

[Apple.com iPhone iBooks page]

Just like the on-iPad App Store, Apple has begun turning on the on-iPad iBookstore for international iTunes accounts just ahead of the May 28 international iPad launch. Unlike the App Store, however, which includes almost all major titles paid and free, the international iBookstore only seems to include free public domain titles.

No doubt there are more true classics of literature contained in the copyright-free Project Gutenberg library than I could read in a lifetime, but this once again shows just how fragmented and old-fashioned traditional media remains. Apple can't just do a deal to carry Harry Potter in the iBookstore, for example, as a different publisher owns the rights to that book in the UK as opposed to North America. No doubt some vary by country as well.

Apple still hasn't been able to roll out TV and Movies to many international iTunes store and iBooks probably won't be any different. I'd hope that would embarrass big media, getting caught in the horse and buggy while the App Store Ferrari laps them in distribution but I have a feeling they don't care. They'd rather hold on to the dwindling pennies of the past than embrace the economy of the future.

All other complaints about the App Store aside, it's delivering content to international users today.

As part of their larger, 9 country international iPad rollout on May 28, Apple announced today that the iBooks app and iBookstore service will also become available in many of those countries.

Publication rights often vary by region (for example, Harry Potter has different publishers in North America than it does in the UK) and it's an understatement to call the situation a mess. So, it's good to see Apple making headway.

Given how slow iTunes TV and Movies have been offered internationally, however, the entertainment industry should still feel shame and hopefully this adds impetus towards simplifying and -- frankly -- modernizing the way these licenses and rights are handled internationally.

Back on-topic: who's excited for iBooks? Anyone going to switch over from Kindle? Or is it just an easy gateway to getting those 30,000 Project Gutenberg titles onto your iPad (and later this year, iPhone)?

[Apple]

According to The Wall Street Journal Google is planning on introducing their very own eBook store as early as this next month, and gearing up once again to go head-to-head with Apple. This news comes just after Apple announced that in just 28 days, iPad users have downloaded over 1.5 million eBooks via iBooks.

"Google says its new service--called Google Editions--will allow users to buy digital copies of books they discover through its book search service. It will also allow book retailers to sell Google Editions on their own sites, taking the bulk of the revenue. Google has yet to release details about pricing and which publishers are expected to participate."

Unlike on devices such as the iPhone, iPad and Kindle, Google's approach will be to allow users access to the digital books from a complete range of websites and over various devices.

Would any of our readers prefer Google's eBooks over Apple's iBooks? Sound off in the comments below!

[WSJ via Mac Rumors]

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Midway through the big iPhone 4.0 announcements today and Apple has just introduced iBooks to the iPhone, bringing it up to eBook par with its big iPad brother launched last weekend.

[Image via Gizmodo]

Marco Arment raised a flag on the iPad App Store field today and called foul over Apple using private APIs in their first-party iBooks app.

Private APIs are meant to be exclusive to Apple's OS and built-in apps (like Safari, Mail, iPod, etc.) because they're experimental, transitional, or otherwise not something that developers should count on being there in the same form in the next OS update. They're still works in progress. Public APIs on the other hand are an agreement between Apple and developers that they can be used to build apps safely and confidently because they won't be changed in a future update (Apple won't break existing apps).

Up until now, Apple has played by their own rules and all of the apps they've not built into the iPhone (Remote, Keynote Remote, MobileMe Gallery, etc.) have been based on public, no private APIs. Reportedly Pages, Keynote, and Numbers were careful to stick to public APIs as well. That's only fair. If Apple could do things in the App Store that competitors like QuickOffice or Documents to Go couldn't, developers could rightly call it unfair, and that could lead to trouble.

However, according to Arment and backed up by oldmanuk, iBooks does make use of private APIs for functions like the in-app brightness control, a feature that would get a competitor like Amazon's Kindle app rejected from the App Store.

Developers are understandably upset about this seeming break in Apple's policy.

Thing is, Google famously got away with using private API for their Google Mobile App in late 2008 only to have those API made nice and legal in 2009.

So for TiPb's part, we're going to wait for the iPhone 4.0 event in 2 days and see if the private vs. public API landscape doesn't change when the next SDK beta hits the streets.

[Thanks Dev for the tip]

iBooks on the iPad is the best ebook reading experience I've ever had (though to be fair I only have compared it to the Kindle 2nd Gen, Kindle on iPad, Kindle on iPhone, and various ebook readers on webOS and PalmOS).

Although initially I was a little concerned that reading on an LCD for extended periods of time would cause eye strain, reading for a couple of hours last night wasn't a problem at all. I will have to wait and see if even longer sessions cause problems, but my hunch is that won't be the case. You can adjust the brightness of the screen, the font size, and even the font type right from inside the app as you're reading to ensure that you're not squinting into some insanely bright screen.

You can search an entire book, look up words in the dictionary, jump to chapters, and so on. Bookmarking seems to only work on specific words, not on pages, but once you figure that out you're set to go. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a way to enter notes, only to highlight text in one of five colors. In other words, academics can add the inability to add margin notes to the other reasons to shy away from ebooks for now (the others including the fact that you can't trade or sell ebooks and, of course, DRM).

The iBooks Store is in-app and ties into your iTunes account, so you won't need to remember a different password to use it. Book selection seems to be slightly worse than what you can find in Amazon's Kindle store - but this early it's not completely fair to judge on selection. As with iTunes, there are plenty of top-charts like the NYT bestseller list, categories, and the ability to download samples of books to see if it's something you'd really like to read. One nice bit - iBooks uses the ePub standard, so it has the entire Gutenberg Project library

If you were thinking of buying a Kindle, don't.

Video and gallery after the break!

Kindle on iPad is, well, not as good as Kindle on a Kindle or iBooks. That's going to be the bottom line for a lot of people. It works in both portrait and landscape - though curiously I can't find a way to get a two-column book view in landscape. You can do most of the traditional ebook things: change the font size, adjust brightness, jump to any point in the book, have your place saved, etc. On Kindle you can also bookmark pages and add your own notes - all of which get synced up to Amazon's cloud so you can see them on other Kindle devices like your iPhone, a Kindle, etc.

Instead of an in-app store, Amazon sends you to Safari to browse and search for Kindle book - which I don't find especially annoying because the iPad's web browser is so good. Amazon has a slightly better selection of books than Apple does too, though in both cases I often find myself stymied when trying to find a particular book.

With both Kindle and iBooks my basic feeling is that they're good for light reading, but the difficulty of entering and exporting notes means that while I'll use them for entertainment, I won't use them for 'serious' work.

Hopefully Amazon will update this app to support two-column landscape mode soon.

Video and gallery after the break!

Apple's iBooks and integrated iBookstore is now available for pre-download from the iTunes App Store [Free - iTunes link]. Due to licensing and the other insanities that keep publishing in the dark ages, it's US only for the time being, and while its purported 60,000 ePub-format catalog isn't the biggest, the integration with Project Gutenberg and ability to pull in other free ePub content will certainly keep you busy while Apple keeps ramping it up.

iBooks requires the just-released iTunes 9.1 to manage and sync iBooks ePub and DRM-free ePub content, so make sure you're all up to date. Then get reading and let us know how the experience compares to Amazon's Kindle, Sony's eReader, Barnes & Noble's Nook, and -- why not! -- one of them paper and ink real book jobbies!

Apple Guided Tour after the break!

YouTube link

It's pretty much a guarantee that Apple will release a new version of iTunes to coincide with this Saturday's iPad launch, and now MacRumors has a source claiming it will be iTunes 9.1 and contain iPad support, integration of ePub for iBooks management, Genius Mix enhancements, and bitrate conversion.

According to the source, the existing "Audiobooks" entry in the iTunes Source list will be replaced with a broader "Books" section. A similar change will made to the sources for managing content on connected devices such as iPhones, iPods, and iPads. The revamped "Books" section for connected devices will reportedly display all book content compatible with a given device for easy content management.

The bitrate conversion, which would previously automagically make 128-bit AAC files for iPod shuffle is said to be rolled out across devices in this new version.

Will we see it before Saturday? Apple would be wise to spread out the server load for this and the iPad App Store launch, so we certainly hope so!

AppAdvice has followed up their $9.99 bestseller sneak-peak with more screenshots they claim come from the pre-release iPad iBooks and iBookstore, this time indicating Apple is including that massive Project Gutenberg library of free eBook content right in the app.

We mentioned Project Gutenberg last week and it's 30,000 ePub-format, iBooks friendly public domain titles and figured Apple would just let you drag them into iTunes and move them on over to iBooks. This, however, would mean they're already linked and ready to download.

Whether or not the full catalog is there, or just some subset of popular or editorial choices is unknown, and indeed everything is subject to change before the iPad ships on April 3, but we're hoping this is true and stays put.

It would be the iBooks answer to iTunes' free podcast and iTunes U, and the App Store's free apps section. And t'would be glorious.

AppAdvice claims to have gotten a sneak-peak at the iPad iBookstore and says the prices for bestsellers aren't nearly as high as we expected -- in fact they mostly match the $9.99 loss-leading price Amazon pioneered with its Kindle.

1. Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang By Chelsea Handler – $9.99
2. The Help by Kathryn Stockett – $9.99
3. The Silent Sea by Clive Cussier & Jack Du Brul – $9.99
4. Missing (under negotiation?)
5. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith – $9.99

27 of the top 32 hit the $9.99 price point. This type of negative price pressure brought on by competition between Apple and Amazon is why Random House is, according to theFinancial Times, staying away from iBooks for now. Though the New York Times says independent distributor Perseus Books Group has signed right up with Apple despite pressure from Amazon.

In talks with publishers, Apple has said it would not let other retailers sell any book for a lower price than the price in its new iBookstore. Several of the larger publishers are seeking to renegotiate agreements with Amazon and other e-book retailers to mirror the deals with Apple.

Given what's happened with the "race to the bottom" for video game prices on the iPhone, it's likely going to be tricky to catch that sweet spot between competitive and cannibalistic. I guess we'll see what happens come iPad launch on April 3.

Confirming that it won't just be Apple's iBookstore (and your own free ePubs) on the iPad, the New York Times today mentions that both Amazon and Barnes & Noble are both working on book stores of their own. While both market their own hardware devices, the Kindle and the Nook respectively, the iPad is expected to throw a huge spotlight on eBooks in general, and they want to benefit:

The Kindle app for the iPad, which Amazon demonstrated to a reporter last week, allows readers to slowly turn pages with their fingers. It also presents two new ways for people to view their entire e-book collection, including one view where large images of book covers are set against a backdrop of a silhouetted figure reading under a tree. The sun’s position in that image varies with the time of day.

At the offices of Barnes & Noble’s digital unit in New York, 14 developers have occupied a windowless room since January, completely redesigning the company’s iPhone app for the iPad, according to Douglas Gottlieb, its vice president of digital products. The developers hunch over Macs around a big table, and printouts and notecards are taped up on the walls.

The new app will let users flip through books quickly with finger swipes and customize fonts in multiple colors and sizes. Mr. Gottlieb said the company was talking to publishers about adding multimedia to digital books.

Neither company received one of those secret, early-access iPad units for testing, so while they may be simulator-ready for the April 3 launch, they may not want to release until they've had a chance to run their apps on the real hardware. Comic reader app Panefly, for example, thinks a bad day 1 experience with an app that worked fine in the lab but poorly on the actual iPad could "kill the train before it leaves the station".

As to whether or not Apple will approve competing bookstores for the iPad App Store, TiPb's always felt that the best indicator was Steve Jobs announcing iBooks as a separate, downloadable app rather than a built-in like iTunes Store. While this may have also reflected iBooks US-only availability, and there's never any way to tell for sure what Apple will do until they do it, at the end of the day they want to move hardware and letting existing Kindle (and Nook) owners bring over their books is a great way to lower the barrier of iPad entry.

Right now, both the Kindle for iPhone [Free- iTunes link] and Barnes & Noble eReader for iPhone [Free - iTunes link] frequire a clunky web-based work around for purchasing books, however, and it would be nice to see that process actually integrated into the apps -- like iBooks and the iBookstore.

So, given the choice, what will you be buying and reading your eBooks with -- Amazon Kindle for iPad, Barnes & Noble eBook Reader for iPad, or Apple's iBooks?

[NYT via AppleInsider]

Waiting for Apple's iPad and its iBooks and iBookstore app? The outstanding Project Gutenberg has 30,000 free-as-in-beer-and-and-as-in-speech ePub format eBooks to help keep you start building your library today.

If you're not already familiar with the geeky details, ePub is the open, free-flowing eBook format that Apple is using for iBooks. However, let's caveat that "open" piece -- ePub books bought from the iBookstore will be using Apple's FairPlay DRM (digital rights management) which means that while ePub is a widely supported format, Apple ePub books won't work on other devices, and ePub books using other DRM (like Adobe Content Server) won't work on the iPad. Headache, right? Well, the good news is DRM-free ePub eBooks -- like those from Project Gutenberg -- should work on the iPad and pretty much everything else.

To use Project Gutenberg, just click on the link above and browse or search away. If you're not sure where to start, try their Top 100 list. When you find something you like, scroll down to the EPUB link and download the file.

Apple is also giving us an easy-as-iTunes way to drag, drop, manage and sync free ePub books over to the iPad. (Hopefully iPhone owners will one day get the same ability, though in the meantime we have the powerful if less elegant super-combo of Calibre and Stanza.)

If you know of any other great sources for free ePub content -- or any terrific free eBooks you want to recommend -- tell us about them in the comments.

While I was busy enjoying the subtler UI details, AppleInsider noticed that last night's iPad commercial debut showed what might be some of the pricing inside the new iBooks Store:

The commercial showed Sen. Edward Kennedy's "True Compass: A Memoir" for $14.99, the novel "I, Alex Cross" by James Patterson for $12.99, and "Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Journey to Change the World... One Child at a Time" by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin for $7.99.

For comparison, "True Compass" currently sells for $19.25 for the Amazon Kindle, "I, Alex Cross" costs $9.99, and "Three Cups of Tea" costs $7.19.

Whether or not that was final, or merely mocked up pricing for the commercial, remains to be seen.

TUAW also notes a New York Times button at the bottom, presumably to access a special New York Times Bestsellers section of the iBooks Store.

Lastly, 9to5Mac notes the My Documents button at the top left of of the Pages iWork touch app (good for PC users?). And -- gasp! -- another smudge that's likely still not a camera.

So, did the iPad commercial do it's job and make anyone more interested in picking up a magical, revolutionary new piece of gear on April 3?

So after all that pushing by publishers for the 70/30 split "agency model", and bullying of Amazon into raising eBook best-seller prices to $14.99, the New York Times is now reporting that Apple may be allowed to discount the price of those same bestsellers to $9.99 -- the original Amazon price.

Yeah, we're confused too. Amazon used to lose money selling aBooks at $9.99 because the publishers got paid the same amount regardless of price or discounts. Under the new "agency model" and 70/30 split, the publishers get less money, 70%. What they wanted, however, was a higher sticker price for consumers whether or not they lost some money on it. See, it was all about the "perceived value" of eBooks. They don't want us to think eBooks are cheap, and they'll take less money to charge us more. Apple, wanting to compete with Amazon (and liking the consistent 70/30 model they already use in the iTunes and App Stores) agreed to the deal with the launch of the iPad and the iBooks app. Big publishers then started pressuring Amazon to do likewise.

Which brings us -- again still confused -- to the New York Times story:

according to at least three people with knowledge of the discussions, who spoke anonymously because of the confidentiality of the talks, Apple inserted provisions requiring publishers to discount e-book prices on best sellers — so that $12.99-to-$14.99 range was merely a ceiling; prices for some titles could be lower, even as low as Amazon’s $9.99. Essentially, Apple wants the flexibility to offer lower prices for the hottest books, those on one of the New York Times best-seller lists, which are heavily discounted in bookstores and on rival retail sites. So, for example, a book that started at $14.99 would drop to $12.99 or less once it hit the best-seller lists.

So did Apple give publishers everything they thought they wanted, and somehow still keep the ability to charge $9.99 for bestsellers? And if our heads are throbbing from all this, is Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos' near ready to 'splode?

It's interesting that, since Steve Jobs announced during his iPad keynote that iBooks would be available for download from the App Store, recently there's been some coverage of this as news -- including that the iBooks books will be using Apple's FairPlay DRM.

That iBooks won't be built in like iPod, Music, or Movies apps, and that it includes the iBooks Store inside it instead of in a separate -- also built-in -- app like iTunes Store or App Store, is what made TiPb assume Apple was intending to compete on equal terms with existing App Store apps like Kindle. Making iBooks built in, and making the store part of the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad would clearly be a sign that Kindle's days in the App Store might be numbered. This way, however, we took it as just the opposite, especially since Jobs went to the trouble of mentioning it.

In terms of FairPlay DRM, while recent media coverage implies that it hasn't been seen since iTunes music went DRM-free in April of last year, iTunes Movies and TV Shows certainly haven't (a point 9to5Mac makes as well), and App Store apps are protected as well. TiPb has always assumed they've been using FairPlay this whole time, since Apple prefers technology they control, especially when they're contractual bound to maintain things like copy protection. (This is why they historically refused to license it to third parties -- it would make it easier to break and harder to re-secure).

So, again, when Jobs announced iBooks Store, we just took it for granted it would be using Apple's DRM system, FairPlay. It nicely sets the stage for a big DRM-free books movement in a few years, doesn't it?

When iTunes Music went DRM-free and "hits" jumped from $0.99 to $1.29 stories soon followed that the higher price point was leading to slower sales... and now that iBooks and publishers aim to increase eBook sales from $9.99 to up to $14.99, MediaMemo is telling them to "beware!":

Warner Music Group (WMG) said this morning that it has seen unit sales growth at Apple’s (AAPL) iTunes decelerate since the price increase: Industrywide, year-over-year “digital track equivalent album unit growth” was at five percent in the December quarter, down sequentially from 10 percent in the September quarter and 11 percent in the June quarter.

If people have to spend more they'll buy less? And if they think the price is unreasonably high they'll buy less still? Shocked. Shocked are we!

The thing is this -- under the new 70/30 agency model, publishers can charge what they like. If nobody buys a new bestseller at $14.99 but they do at $12.99, publishers can set that price on iBooks and still get their 70%. They can go back to $9.99 if they want to. Same with music.

Way back when iTunes Store launched, Steve Jobs made it a point to say their competition wasn't physical media -- it was free pirated media. There's a price point where users will feel it's cheap enough they don't even want to bother with the steps involved in pirating eBooks or MP3s, they'll just click the Buy Now button and thank Apple for the convenience.

That's the real model.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that publishers, McGraw-Hill Cos, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt K-12, Pearson Education, and Kaplan Inc., have signed with ScrollMotion to adapt their textbooks for Apple's new iPad tablet.

Though Apple didn't outline its strategy to target the educational sector with its iPad last week, people familiar with Apple's thinking have said that the iPad's use in schools was one of the focal points of discussions in developing the product. In its exploration of electronic book technology, it thought particularly about how it could re-invent textbooks, these people said. Apple declined to comment on the role of textbooks on the iPad. Apple has an edge in the educational sector becauseits Macintosh computers have always enjoyed a strong following in the academic sphere, and it already offers educational audio and video content through its iTunes U service.

ScrollMotion is signed to provide video playback, text highlighting, lecture recording, note taking, text search, and interactive quizzing.

If the original iPod was 10,000 songs in your pocket, is the iPad poised to but 10,000+ book in your lap, and is that ultimately the "killer app"?

[Wall Street Journal via Macrumors]

Both Mcmillan and Amazon have issued statements about the story linked to previously, wherein they stopped selling Macmillan e-books after the publisher wanted to raise the price for best-sellers to an agency model $12.99 to $14.99 -- which Apple had already agreed to for iBooks on the iPad.

Mcmillan's CEO, John Sargent's comments ran as a paid advertisement in the Sunday edition of PublishersLunch and read in part:

Under the agency model, we will sell the digital editions of our books to consumers through our retailers. Our retailers will act as our agents and will take a 30% commission (the standard split today for many digital media businesses). The price will be set the price for each book individually. Our plan is to price the digital edition of most adult trade books in a price range from $14.99 to $5.99. At first release, concurrent with a hardcover, most titles will be priced between $14.99 and $12.99. E books will almost always appear day on date with the physical edition. Pricing will be dynamic over time.

The agency model would allow Amazon to make more money selling our books, not less. We would make less money in our dealings with Amazon under the new model. Our disagreement is not about short-term profitability but rather about the long-term viability and stability of the digital book market.

Amazon's response can be found in full on Engadget, but contains:

We have expressed our strong disagreement and the seriousness of our disagreement by temporarily ceasing the sale of all Macmillan titles. We want you to know that ultimately, however, we will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan's terms because Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles, and we will want to offer them to you even at prices we believe are needlessly high for e-books. Amazon customers will at that point decide for themselves whether they believe it's reasonable to pay $14.99 for a bestselling e-book. We don't believe that all of the major publishers will take the same route as Macmillan. And we know for sure that many independent presses and self-published authors will see this as an opportunity to provide attractively priced e-books as an alternative.

So what do you think? Will the publishers be able to raise prices or will the market -- or lack thereof for higher priced e-books -- force them back down again?

[PublishersLunch via BoingBoing via Engadget]

According to the NYT's Bits blog, Amazon has pulled Macmillan e-books due to a dispute over pricing, with Amazon wanting to hold the line at $9.99 and Macmillan wanting to raise it to an Apple iPad iBooks-like $14.99.

Eerily similar to Apple and iTunes Music, where Steve Jobs resisted the music industries desire to raise prices from $0.99 a song, and finally came to an agreement for flexible pricing up to $1.29 in exchange for DRM-free 3G downloads in January 2009. Previous to the change, Amazon was able to use music industry dissatisfaction to offer DRM-free Amazon MP3 music at $0.89. The industry was willing to take the loss in an attempt to break Apple's control, and now it looks like their hoping similar pressure and competition from Apple's iBooks will break down Amazon.

Ironic, poetic? Here's where it stands:

Macmillan offered Amazon the opportunity to buy Kindle editions on the same “agency” model as it will sell e-books to Apple for the iPad. Under this model, the publisher sets the consumer book price and takes 70 percent of each sale, leaving 30 percent to the retailer. Macmillan said Amazon could continue to buy e-books under its current wholesale model, paying the publisher 50 percent of the hardcover list price while pricing the e-book at any level Amazon chooses, but that Macmillan would delay those e-book editions by seven months after hardcover release. Amazon’s removal of Macmillan titles on Friday appears to be a direct reaction to that.

And here we thought when there was competition, prices were supposed to go down...

Stop us if you've heard this one before -- Apple rolls out a new form of media, like say iBooks e-books, for their iTunes/iPod/iPhone/now iPad ecosystem, and it's initially only available in the US.

No doubt the global-village defying mess that is international media licensing rights is at play here, as different publishers can own different parts of the same books in different territories, so TiPb is not at all surprised. Like iTunes Movies and TV, which took a long time to reach Canada, the UK, Australia, etc., we're not going to hold our breath for iBooks any time soon.

But that's hardly unique. Amazon took a while to get the Kindle international, and they've failed miserably at rolling Amazon MP3 out. If there is a company that can push through the quagmire, however, it's Apple and its iTunes juggernaut.

Meanwhile, we're still waiting to hear if US-based iPhone and iPod touch users will get a version of Apple's newest app as well. Or is everyone outside the US and not on an iPad just going to have to make do with the Kindle app...?

[via Engadget]

As part of their iPad announcement today, Apple introduced a new app called iBooks (hey, there's that old name!) which they said stands on the shoulders of Amazon to go a little further.

The initial GUI looks a lot like the iPhone ebook app Classics [iTunes link]. As rumored, $14.99 for a new "hardcover" book is the selling price.

You can tap to change pages or swipe, and readers can choose their own font and size from a small list including Baskerville, Cochin, Palatino, Times, and Verdana.

It uses standard ePub format, so hopefully it will be cross-compatible with a lot of other stores and existing collections.

[Image via GDGT]