Apple leaks mention of iBooks 3.0, reinforcing iPad mini focus on ebooks

Posted:
in iPad edited January 2014
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.

iBooks 2


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.

Textbooks


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.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 62


    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).

  • Reply 2 of 62


    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.

  • Reply 3 of 62
    gazoobeegazoobee Posts: 3,754member
    I hope this means that with iBooks 3 (and iBooks creator), we could see [B]comics[/B] in the iBooks store.
    CBZ and CBR need to die.
  • Reply 4 of 62
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    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,
  • Reply 5 of 62
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Yes! This is shaping up to be marketed exactly how I imagined it should be.

    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?

    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.

    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.
  • Reply 6 of 62
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    rogifan wrote: »
    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,

    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.
  • Reply 7 of 62


    Originally Posted by Gazoobee View Post

    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.

  • Reply 8 of 62
    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
  • Reply 9 of 62

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by logic368 View Post



    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.

  • Reply 10 of 62
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    logic368 wrote: »
    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

    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. :D
  • Reply 11 of 62
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    solipsismx wrote: »
    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.
    I'm kind of hoping (probably more wishful thinking) this was an inaccurate leak on purpose. That the real staring price will be $299. But if it is $329 hopefully it will have A6 and in-cell, super thin and light and as close to retina as possible. I've never really had an issue with the higher price so long as it had some amazing specs to go with it, I'm not one who thinks charging a $100 premium for the "ecosystem" will work in this particular market.
  • Reply 12 of 62


     deleted

  • Reply 13 of 62


    Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post

    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.

  • Reply 14 of 62
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member


    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 View Post


    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.


  • Reply 15 of 62

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post



    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.

  • Reply 16 of 62


    deleted

  • Reply 17 of 62


    Any chance it will be called iBook Air? At any rate, there is little doubt Apple wants a piece of Amazon, DOJ lawsuits aside.

  • Reply 18 of 62


    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.

  • Reply 19 of 62
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    Apple's not really known for that.
    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.
  • Reply 20 of 62


    Originally Posted by TeeJay2012 View Post

    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 View Post

    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.

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