Apple leaks mention of iBooks 3.0, reinforcing iPad mini focus on ebooks
The appearance of the yet unreleased "iBooks 3.0" as a requirement for certain titles in Apple's iBookstore suggests the company will soon update its ebook client app for iOS, likely in conjunction with the release of iPad mini.
According to a report by The Next Web, there is already at least one title in the French iTunes Store specifying iBooks 3.0.
Under the title's "Requirements," which are generated by Apple and not potentially a third party developer's typo, iTunes specifies, "This book requires iBooks 3.0 or later and iOS 4.2 or later. The books can be displayed with iBooks on an iPad, iPhone (3G or later) or iPod touch (2nd generation or later)."
An ebook publisher commented on the report, noting that the iTunes publisher software is indeed listing "iBooks 3.0" as a requirement option.
The news only bolsters rumors that the same site floated last week, indicating that Apple plans to emphasize the new iPad mini as a media-centric device, particularly in regard to iBooks.
This isn't really surprising, given that iBooks is currently the third "built-in app" highlighted by Apple on its iPad website, listed right after Safari and Mail.
But Apple also lists Photos, FaceTime, Maps, Newsstand and Messages in equally large type, and gives secondary mention to its Calendar, Reminders, Contacts, the App Store, iTunes, Music and Videos, Notes, Game Center, Photo Booth, Clock and Camera apps for iPad,
While competing mini tablets from Amazon, Google and others have emphasized ebook reader functionality, they haven't attempted to cover the wide range of other apps Apple provides.
iBooks is, however, an important focus for Apple, particularly in education, an important market for Apple's current tablets and a likely focus for the smaller new iPad mini. With the release of the new iPad earlier this year, Apple also introduced the new iBooks Author, a tool designed to simplify the creation of interactive digital textbooks, as well as an enhanced iBooks 2 for reading them.
Last month, an error reported by Apple TV suggested that Apple also plans to bring iBooks to the living room.
According to a report by The Next Web, there is already at least one title in the French iTunes Store specifying iBooks 3.0.
Under the title's "Requirements," which are generated by Apple and not potentially a third party developer's typo, iTunes specifies, "This book requires iBooks 3.0 or later and iOS 4.2 or later. The books can be displayed with iBooks on an iPad, iPhone (3G or later) or iPod touch (2nd generation or later)."
An ebook publisher commented on the report, noting that the iTunes publisher software is indeed listing "iBooks 3.0" as a requirement option.
The news only bolsters rumors that the same site floated last week, indicating that Apple plans to emphasize the new iPad mini as a media-centric device, particularly in regard to iBooks.
This isn't really surprising, given that iBooks is currently the third "built-in app" highlighted by Apple on its iPad website, listed right after Safari and Mail.
But Apple also lists Photos, FaceTime, Maps, Newsstand and Messages in equally large type, and gives secondary mention to its Calendar, Reminders, Contacts, the App Store, iTunes, Music and Videos, Notes, Game Center, Photo Booth, Clock and Camera apps for iPad,
While competing mini tablets from Amazon, Google and others have emphasized ebook reader functionality, they haven't attempted to cover the wide range of other apps Apple provides.
iBooks is, however, an important focus for Apple, particularly in education, an important market for Apple's current tablets and a likely focus for the smaller new iPad mini. With the release of the new iPad earlier this year, Apple also introduced the new iBooks Author, a tool designed to simplify the creation of interactive digital textbooks, as well as an enhanced iBooks 2 for reading them.
Last month, an error reported by Apple TV suggested that Apple also plans to bring iBooks to the living room.
Comments
This makes more and more sense. It's unlike Apple to release a new product sub-category without its own identity. I doubt iPadAir or iPad will totally displace e-ink based readers. But for students, a device that can serve as more than a reader is rather compelling. In fact, iBooks and FaceTime together would make this attractive for my kids, if they didn't have iPad already. I wonder if, for reading, the distinction between iPad and iPadAir will be akin to a hardcover vs. a paperback (not in terms of price, of course).
Obviously this comes with a new version of iBooks Author, which hopefully will stop taking 980KB text-only Pages documents and turning them into 500MB files.
CBZ and CBR need to die.
It still amazes me that the areas that Apple can't patent are the ones that competitors completely ignore. Where is Google, MS, and Amazon's SW for cornering the digital textbook industry for their tablets?
That's crazy excessive! Let's hope they can figure out some ways to reference images, too, instead of authors using repeat photos having to publish it multiple times.
Why not focus on the extra $30? We know that psychologically $299 is very attractive compared to anything in the $300 range so why is this thing priced $30 more than one would expect for this "range"? I'm wondering if they fear cannibalization of the flagship iPad so even if they get the same or higher profit ratio they will still be less than the net profit of a more expensive device. They might also have figured that being within a $100 or so of the cheap tablets is enough to affect their sales and pull enough buyers to sell out all their make this season. It's easier to drop a price than to raise it later on.
Originally Posted by Gazoobee
I hope this means that with iBooks 3 (and iBooks creator), we could see comics in the iBooks store.
CBZ and CBR need to die.
I think having simple (looping, too) animations in comic books would be a great way to kill off paper.
Dictated using Siri on an iPhone%u2026
Quote:
Originally Posted by logic368
Okay, now why doesn't iBooks 3.0 have iCloud support with syncing over all devices including Macs? Why can't we Read a page on our iPhone, hop over to our Mac, and continue reading where we left off? Or maybe that will be What they will announce? Otherwise, I don't see much of a point in updating such a large version number.
Dictated using Siri on an iPhone%u2026
Agree - the absence of iBooks on the Mac is glaring.
I expect that will come if we have iCloud Tabs in Safari and syncing of notes and bookmarks in iBooks already.
What I'd rather have is the ability for iTunes to sync my tracks and location across the cloud so I can switch between devices without skipping a beat.. <== I just wrote their advertising campaign for them.
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Originally Posted by Rogifan
I've never really had an issue with the higher price so long as it had some amazing specs to go with it…
Apple's not really known for that.
Which hopefully also fixes the hundreds of bugs in iBooksAuthor. It is perhaps the most frustrating developer oriented program apple has.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
Obviously this comes with a new version of iBooks Author, which hopefully will stop taking 980KB text-only Pages documents and turning them into 500MB files.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rogifan
Well with a rumored $329 starting price point there better be something to make this worth the extra $70-$100. Yes, I know people here will tell me the "ecosystem" is easily worth that premium. I guess we'll find out next week,
This does sound high, particularly when it is supposed to go as high as $529. But Weintraub has been misled before.
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Any chance it will be called iBook Air? At any rate, there is little doubt Apple wants a piece of Amazon, DOJ lawsuits aside.
I hope this renewed focus on eBooks will mean they open the iBook Store in New Zealand.
Kindle eBooks suck hole but are the only option I have available to me.
Stupid Publishers.
Originally Posted by TeeJay2012
Any chance it will be called iBook Air? At any rate, there is little doubt Apple wants a piece of Amazon, DOJ lawsuits aside.
Not an iBook, not an Air.
So no.
Originally Posted by Rogifan
I guess I should qualify....when I say specs I don't mean speeds and feeds. iPhone 5 might not win based purely on spec sheet but its as good if not better than any other smartphone out there.
But what quantifies "good"? You're not looking to say 'specs' at all; you're meaning to say that the hardware that Apple uses, despite often not being numerically or qualitatively superior to other hardware available within its specific field, is made the best through its integration with the other hardware within the device.
They often don't have near the best specs. But they very often have the subjective (and objective) best—and fastest—product, despite not having specs that would make that seem possible.