Apple's iBookstore set to launch in 18 new countries at 'iPad mini' event
An iBooks publishing label has reportedly discovered that Apple may take its iBookstore live in 18 countries as soon as Tuesday, which lines up perfectly with a special event at which the much-rumored 7.85-inch "iPad mini" is expected to debut.
An Australia-based iBooks label notified AppleInsider early Tuesday that its iTunes Connect account, the backend system used by publishers to sell their books, listed 18 new countries as having a "pending" sales status, suggesting an iBookstore launch may be imminent in those areas.
The newly-supported countries include Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela.
"The books aren't immediately available in the new areas," the publisher told AppleInsider. "iTunes Connect is showing their status as pending for contract reasons, although I'm quite certain they'll trigger to available during tomorrow's keynote. This is quite a big jump for iBooks."
He went on to say that the new additions would bring the number of countries to support iBookstore sales up to 50.
Apple is widely expected to launch a small format iPad at a special event on Tuesday. It was previously reported that iBooks would be a focus at the unveiling, along with the rumored tablet's capabilities in the classroom.
An Australia-based iBooks label notified AppleInsider early Tuesday that its iTunes Connect account, the backend system used by publishers to sell their books, listed 18 new countries as having a "pending" sales status, suggesting an iBookstore launch may be imminent in those areas.
The newly-supported countries include Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela.
"The books aren't immediately available in the new areas," the publisher told AppleInsider. "iTunes Connect is showing their status as pending for contract reasons, although I'm quite certain they'll trigger to available during tomorrow's keynote. This is quite a big jump for iBooks."
He went on to say that the new additions would bring the number of countries to support iBookstore sales up to 50.
Apple is widely expected to launch a small format iPad at a special event on Tuesday. It was previously reported that iBooks would be a focus at the unveiling, along with the rumored tablet's capabilities in the classroom.
Comments
If this is true then I will dance naked through the streets... metaphorically that is.
I've been wanting iBookStore in New Zealand since it was announced. If this rumour is true then Amazon will disappear from my iPad for good. :-)
I just want to say that the posters apple has posted for the event are very clever, and very Buddhist. If you haven't seen them, they are concentric rings of colored apples, shrinking until you have a white apple logo in the center. I presume the analogy is in regards to the products (iMac > MBP > iPad > iPad mini > ?*). But the image is also reminiscent of the Buddhist analogy of the meditation practitioner as an onion, peeling away the outer layers until all you have is the essence of the Apple, the ultimate truth that informs all its layers, but cannot be fully represented in any one of them individually.
*I've got my fingers crossed for a bluetooth iWatch ala last year's nano.
I am really waiting for the iTMS and iBookStore to release in India. I guess there is too much of red tape and the sales/ profits aren't worth the effort for Apple right now. Sri Lanka is lucky enough to get the iTMS, but they are a smaller country.
The thing is that there are other retailers, local and international (Nokia), that sell digital music. But all we have right now is the App Store and all those Project Gutenburg books. If I need to buy any other e-books, I need to do so from Amazon.
It's already live in NZ. You can't see the books on the homepage but you can in the charts or if you search for something.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lowkeylukey
It's already live in NZ. You can't see the books on the homepage but you can in the charts or if you search for something.
No it's not. That's the free Guteburg Project stuff. I'm talking about the latest stuff like Tom Clancy and the likes.
The Project Gutenburg stuff has been out for years.
Edit: I stand corrected. Do a search on Tom Clancy and low and behold books with prices... only not actual Tom Clancy novels. :-)
(Impatiently) waiting for iBookstpre to come to Malaysia.
I'm really hoping that the iBooks store will provide some kind of language filtering capability soon. I really don't care if my favorite author has a new book out in a language I can't read.
I'd also like to see iBooks provide something akin to the "smart mailboxes" feature in the Mail app in OS X, only geared towards the metadata of my books. Love to see auto-generated author and genre collections!