iPad Books
September 16th, 2010 at 1:39 PM EST | by inu846W
Though it’s just five months old, Apple’s iPad is a certifiable hit, having already sold millions of units and spawning tens of thousands of apps tailored for its 10-inch screen. The tablet has prompted many of its owners to use it instead of their laptops for everything from email and social networking to games and Web surfing.
It’s also a very good e-reader, in my view.
WSJ’s Personal Technology columnist Walt Mossberg takes a look the iPad’s three major e-reader apps – Apple’s iBooks app, Amazon’s Kindle app and Barnes & Noble’s Nook app. He tells you which is the slickest, the most comprehensive and the friendliest.Unlike dedicated e-reader devices like Amazon’s Kindle, the iPad offers a wide selection of e-reading apps, and I have used several of them heavily to devour scores of books. In particular, I have spent the past few weeks testing the best known of these iPad e-reader apps, comparing their strengths and weaknesses.
My verdict is that none of the three apps I focused on—which mimic and often interact with dedicated e-readers like the Kindle device—towers over the others. Each has its good and bad points, and I personally switch among them.
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September 16th, 2010 at 8:35 AM EST | by inu846W
Overview
The alphabetic book Animalia, by Graeme Base, with artful representations of animals and other items for each letter is now available for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. Now every page of the book is in digital form, and you’re given a hidden object game to go with it. You also get to find the little boy Graeme in brand new places as he moves about each time you find him.
Features
There are three game modes included on top of just the book itself. The first mode is explore Animalia where you’re given the task of finding four items for each page. Then there is the find Graeme mode where you need to find him three different times per letter with each one scored based on time taken. Finally there is what in the world mode where you’re given a silhouette with no particular page so you have to find the right letter and page, and then the item.
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September 15th, 2010 at 12:15 PM EST | by inu846W
The San Jose Mercury News reports that Apple is preparing to roll out support for newspaper subscriptions on the iPad, opening the door for new revenue streams for publishers. The information apparently comes via Roger Fidler, head of digital publishing at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute, who works closely with many newspapers and has received the information from industry sources.
Apple is expected to announce soon a new subscription plan for newspapers, which hope tablets like the iPad will eventually provide a new source of profits as media companies struggle with declining print circulation and advertising revenue.
Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
According to the report, Apple may be looking to take a 30% cut of subscription revenue and up to 40% of advertising revenue from the digital newspaper content. Apple and major newspaper publishers have also reportedly agreed on an "opt-in" option for subscribers that would allow user information to be passed along to the publishers for generating advertising commitments. Those two items of contention have been seen as the primary barriers to bringing newspaper and magazine subscriptions to the iPad.
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September 1st, 2010 at 8:08 AM EST | by inu846W
Future US magazine Mac|Life comes onto the iPad this week with a special edition that buzzes with a few of the customary tablet bells and whistles but emphasizes media sharing and user interaction. The free app ($1.99 for each subsequent edition) is not a facsimile of the magazine so much as a re-engineered version of a recent iPad Handbook special issue. The animated cover and table of contents draw readers into the guts of the content, which is a compilation of 101 iPad app reviews that are of course immediately relevant to the reader. Many reviews have slide shows embedded in the thumbnail image for the reviewed app so users can swipe through multiple screenshots.
Future US and development partner B3 Publishing have recreated the reviews from the handbook but also focused on social enhancements. Every review has direct links to Twitter, posting to Facebook, an article send tool via email and a link to post a comment. The reader can see the dynamically updated rating from other users of the app as well as a live view of how many people have seen the article and voted on the app. Towards the front of the issue, Mac|Life also includes a live feed of current Twitter conversations from its own page on the micro-blog site. “Digital and mobile readers deserve more than just repurposed print content,” says Kate Byrne, vp of technology and active group, Future US in a statement. The company says that each iteration of the app will incorporate feedback and input from the last version.
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August 26th, 2010 at 1:06 PM EST | by inu846W
Enterprising educators have big plans for Apple’s new tablet
David Woodbury got an early hint the iPad would be a big hit among the scholarly set.
When the Apple tablet went on sale to the public last spring, Woodbury ordered 30 for the libraries at North Carolina State University in Raleigh to be available for checkout by students and faculty. Demand was immediate and widespread.
“Literally, the hour we started [lending out iPads], we had students lining up to use them,” said Woodbury, NCSU’s Learning Commons Librarian.
That popularity is likely increase this fall. Universities and schools around the nation—and even the world—are distributing iPads to students and faculty to start the new school year. Some are using the device to lure talented freshmen; others hope faculty and students will merely experiment with the tablet as a learning tool. But a few educators are betting the iPad will herald a revolution in the classroom, once-and-for-all displacing musty textbooks in favor of a mobile multimedia device that can engage students in new and innovative ways.
Read more at: macworld.com
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July 29th, 2010 at 10:06 PM EST | by inu846W
CNET’s Crave blog compiled a great list last week of twenty great, free comic books to read on your iPad. For me, more than anything else, the iPad seems perfect for a visual, interactive medium like comics. Movies are better on my big screen, and books can be read on a Kindle (or just on paper — weird, I know), but for the iPad, having the ability to zoom in on a great piece of comic art or download new comics straight to the device to be read on that big, colorful screen seems perfect.
Enter this list, which has some great free samples from both the DC and Marvel comics apps, or a few other free Comics reader apps available on the store. There’s some really good stuff out there for the low price of absolutely nothing, from some classic books that are hard to find in print to some newer promo books for current series or comics that have been made into movies.
Man cannot live on free alone — if you’re really into comics, you’ll probably want to buy a few from their official apps (though it’s a shame that pricing and selection isn’t quite there yet, but hopefully Marvel and DC will eventually figure that out). And this article doesn’t even mention the tons of great single-app books you can find on the App Store, for both the iPhone and the iPad. The iPad was designed for consuming media, and comic books are one of my favorite media around.
iPad News Source: tuaw.com
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