Apple's January media event in NYC to reportedly focus on iBooks, publishing

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
As reports have emerged of an Apple media event in New York City later this month, one insider has claimed that the event will feature industry-related announcements for publishers about the iBookstore platform.



TechCrunch reported on Monday that a source had independently confirmed plans for the end-of-January event, which was first noted by All Things D.



"According to the source the event will not involve any hardware at all and instead will focus on publishing and eBooks (sold through Apple?s iBooks platform) rather than iAds," report author Alexia Tsotsis wrote, adding that attendance would be "more publishing industry-oriented than consumer-focused."



The tipster also said Apple would take the wraps off of new improvements to its iBooks platform at the event, though the source described the announcement as not "major."



Given that the original report had claimed that Apple Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue will play a part in the event, speculation had arisen that the event would be related to either advertising or publishing.



Apple made minor improvements to the iBooks app last month with the release of version 1.5. The updated software added a night reading theme, full-screen mode and new fonts.







The Cupertino, Calif., company has faced an uphill climb against Amazon's Kindle platform, which got an early head start on ebook sales. Amazon revealed late last month that it sold "well over 1 million" Kindle devices each week throughout December. In addition, Christmas Day represented the biggest day ever for Kindle book downloads.



Last November, Amazon branched out from its e-ink-based e-readers to tackle Apple's iPad in the tablet market with the 7-inch Kindle Fire. Initial sales of the Fire will likely have propelled the device to take second place among tablets in the fourth quarter, behind only the iPad. However, Apple executives have said they are not worried about the Kindle Fire, as they believe it will actually drive customers to iOS in the long term.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 31
    Yawn.



    Leave that to Amazon.com.
  • Reply 2 of 31
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    Yawn. Leave that to Amazon.com.



    The only thing that would make this worthy of an "event" is if Apple announced support from all publishers for DRM free ePubs in the iBooks store.



    Otherwise I agree, Amazon.com remains the best place to purchase eBooks.
  • Reply 3 of 31
    tundraboytundraboy Posts: 1,884member
    It's the inaugural public presentation of newly knighted Sir Jonathan Ive.



    Would have been fun to watch Steve gently mock him about the new title.
  • Reply 4 of 31
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    Yawn.



    Leave that to Amazon.com.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Firefly7475 View Post


    The only thing that would make this worthy of an "event" is if Apple announced support from all publishers for DRM free ePubs in the iBooks store.



    Otherwise I agree, Amazon.com remains the best place to purchase eBooks.



    Yeah, lets not sell content.



    The real trick here would be to reduce the commission, the % taken per book. That could destroy Amazon. They also need more books.
  • Reply 5 of 31
    I'd love to see movies, short subjects, music, e-books and e-magazines go the route of apps, where anyone can become a content creator and seller directly through a next-gen iTunes (maybe it's time to rename it "iChannel" or something more akin to a market?).
  • Reply 6 of 31
    I've been working on an iBook, which leaves me wondering why there are so few titles that use all that it can do? Apple released Yellow Submarine (free), which shows its use as a children's book. Yet, it's amazing how rich you can make a textbook.



    It's much more of a Safari web page archive than an ePub. There's access to Javascript, CSS animation, audio/video, read-along highlighting, document embedding, hyperlinks both to other pages and to resources on the web, fixed and dynamic formatting, font embedding.



    Yet, nearly every title goes for the least common denominator.



    The Kindle apps are downright ugly. It's "the text, nothing but the text." I prefer iBooks because the layout generally looks better and I keep hoping the publisher will take advantage of the platform.



    Here's hoping the announcement is that Apple is adding even more features to iBooks and that publishers are committing to using said features.
  • Reply 7 of 31
    iqatedoiqatedo Posts: 1,822member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Twelve View Post


    I've been working on an iBook, which leaves me wondering why there are so few titles that use all that it can do? Apple released Yellow Submarine (free), which shows its use as a children's book. Yet, it's amazing how rich you can make a textbook.



    It's much more of a Safari web page archive than an ePub. There's access to Javascript, CSS animation, audio/video, read-along highlighting, document embedding, hyperlinks both to other pages and to resources on the web, fixed and dynamic formatting, font embedding.



    Yet, nearly every title goes for the least common denominator.



    The Kindle apps are downright ugly. It's "the text, nothing but the text." I prefer iBooks because the layout generally looks better and I keep hoping the publisher will take advantage of the platform.



    Here's hoping the announcement is that Apple is adding even more features to iBooks and that publishers are committing to using said features.



    I'm reading A New Kind of Science by Stephen Wolfram currently. This is sold as an application rather than ePub, no doubt due to the formatting control required by the publisher and perhaps its size of 1200 pages. However, one misses out on the reading modes provided by iBooks and other features. There is room therefore it seems, for great improvements that no doubt will come.



    I have a short story on the iBookstore - good fun.



    All the best (happy new year).
  • Reply 8 of 31
    I'll be thrilled if it means full ePub 3.0 support implemented. The HTML5/CSS3 support will make books far more interesting.
  • Reply 9 of 31
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Twelve View Post


    I've been working on an iBook, which leaves me wondering why there are so few titles that use all that it can do? Apple released Yellow Submarine (free), which shows its use as a children's book. Yet, it's amazing how rich you can make a textbook.



    It's much more of a Safari web page archive than an ePub. There's access to Javascript, CSS animation, audio/video, read-along highlighting, document embedding, hyperlinks both to other pages and to resources on the web, fixed and dynamic formatting, font embedding.



    Yet, nearly every title goes for the least common denominator.



    The Kindle apps are downright ugly. It's "the text, nothing but the text." I prefer iBooks because the layout generally looks better and I keep hoping the publisher will take advantage of the platform.



    Here's hoping the announcement is that Apple is adding even more features to iBooks and that publishers are committing to using said features.



    Publishers are just stripping out their proprietary tags, adding minimal ePub 2.x requirements and the quickly publishing their books to the iBookStore. As you note, to do it with real focus requires more time and perhaps they don't see the need for it.



    They will, especially when it comes to Technical Books for the Hard Sciences, Mathematics, etc.



    Not to mention advanced abilities for creative Endnotes, Footnotes, sidenotes, etc., with the use of javascript can make the experience more enriching, but only time will tell.



    http://www.niso.org/home/



    PDF explanation of ePub 3.0 for Publishing: http://www.niso.org/publications/isq..._isqv23no2.pdf
  • Reply 10 of 31
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    I would like them to increase their range of fiction books.
  • Reply 11 of 31
    iqatedoiqatedo Posts: 1,822member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer View Post


    Publishers are just stripping out their proprietary tags, adding minimal ePub 2.x requirements and the quickly publishing their books to the iBookStore. As you note, to do it with real focus requires more time and perhaps they don't see the need for it.



    They will, especially when it comes to Technical Books for the Hard Sciences, Mathematics, etc.



    Not to mention advanced abilities for creative Endnotes, Footnotes, sidenotes, etc., with the use of javascript can make the experience more enriching, but only time will tell.



    http://www.niso.org/home/



    PDF explanation of ePub 3.0 for Publishing: http://www.niso.org/publications/isq..._isqv23no2.pdf



    Thanks for the information and links.



    All the best.
  • Reply 12 of 31
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    I'd love to see movies, short subjects, music, e-books and e-magazines go the route of apps, where anyone can become a content creator and seller directly through a next-gen iTunes (maybe it's time to rename it "iChannel" or something more akin to a market?).



    ^ This. This would be extraordinary. Apple could provide a platform for developers of creative content to share and sell their works. GREAT idea.
  • Reply 13 of 31
    iqatedoiqatedo Posts: 1,822member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    I'd love to see movies, short subjects, music, e-books and e-magazines go the route of apps, where anyone can become a content creator and seller directly through a next-gen iTunes (maybe it's time to rename it "iChannel" or something more akin to a market?).



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jakevin. View Post


    ^ This. This would be extraordinary. Apple could provide a platform for developers of creative content to share and sell their works. GREAT idea.



    Hear hear!



    Surely technical documents that currently require a distinct application present a significant opportunity (to which others have alluded).
  • Reply 14 of 31
    maecvsmaecvs Posts: 129member
    Any word yet on a date for the 2012 shareholders meeting?
  • Reply 15 of 31
    mrtotesmrtotes Posts: 760member
    Or perhaps just a reader app for OS X/Win...
  • Reply 16 of 31
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jakevin. View Post


    ^ This. This would be extraordinary. Apple could provide a platform for developers of creative content to share and sell their works. GREAT idea.



    Self publish that is. In fact I remember reading a news paper article recently about the success authors are having with self published works. As far as I know there are no obsticals in place to prevent creators from selling on iBook store.
  • Reply 17 of 31
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mrtotes View Post


    Or perhaps just a reader app for OS X/Win...



    This is one big advantage amazon / kindle has over iBooks at the moment - desktop readers so you have far more choice about when / where you consume your books. This is especially true with their recent web based "cloud reader" which means you can log into your amazon account on pretty much any pc/mac/tablet anywhere in the world and pick up on your reading without even installing anything...



    I've never understood why Apple let you download the books through iTunes on your Mac / PC but there is no way of then actually reading them without syncing to an iDevice...
  • Reply 18 of 31
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Is it possible Apple could launch a low end iPad too? I doubt it personally but the sure fire way to compete at the low end would be just that, to compete at the low end.
  • Reply 19 of 31
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Maecvs View Post


    Any word yet on a date for the 2012 shareholders meeting?



    I have it in my iCal for the 17th. But entered it along time ago...
  • Reply 20 of 31
    matrix07matrix07 Posts: 1,993member
    Awesome. I'm a fan of iBook. The more update the better.
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