iPad Books
June 25th, 2010 at 8:58 AM EST | by inu846W
Sports Illustrated rode an early wave of tablet computer fever last fall, when the iPad was only a rumor. Now, the 56-year-old sports icon is rolling out its first iPad magazine issue.
Sports Illustrated’s iPad edition, released Thursday, has the same stories as the print issue, plus about 30% more content in the form of extra photos, an exclusive documentary video, a book excerpt and other bells and whistles. A story about the recent U.S. Open golf tournament includes a panoramic photo of a tricky part of the Pebble Beach golf course, along with pop-up graphics showing how five top golfers fared at those holes. While the beginning of each print edition typically has a handful of sports photos, the iPad edition adds a slideshow of a spectacular bicycle crash.
Each weekly issue costs $4.99, the same as the paper magazine. Many magazines have been selling their iPad editions at the same price as print, a trend that some people have criticized as misguided.
Read more: Wall Street Journal
App Store: Free
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June 25th, 2010 at 8:45 AM EST | by inu846W
DC Comics–home to pop culture icons Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman (and lesser-known characters like Jonah Hex and The Losers)–announced Wednesday that it would be distributing its comics digitally in a deal that resembles those of its competitors, but with some unique twists.
The publisher has partnered with ComiXology and the PlayStation Network to digitally distribute its comic books on Apple iOS devices and on all PlayStation Portable devices. ComiXology has now locked down distribution deals with more than 30 comics publishers, including the “big two” of Marvel Comics and DC, as well as Boom Studios, Image Comics, and Slave Labor Graphics.
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June 13th, 2010 at 7:56 AM EST | by inu846W
It’s been a busy few weeks for iPad RSS clients. The Early Edition saw an update, Pulse got keynote love followed by a quick yank from/return to the App Store… it’s almost as if the whole Newspad idea is starting to catch on.
Read more: TUAW.com
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June 7th, 2010 at 11:59 AM EST | by inu846W
The iPad makes a great comic-book reader. The 9.7-inch screen may not be quite as big a a standard paper page (around 12.2-inches), but the easy zooming actually makes the story easier to read.
Comics and Marvel, the two apps that got such great coverage when the iPad launched, are both gorgeous, but they only let you read comics that are downloaded from within (which also suffer from DRM). What about reading your own scans? Over the last few weeks, I have been trying out several apps which will variously read CBR, CBZ, PDF and other standard comic-book scan formats (most are essentially compressed folders of images). None of them is yet the real killer app, but one comes close, and the others are catching up fast.
ComicZeal4
This is the gold standard so far, in that it is the most feature packed and really gets out of your way when reading, although there are still quite a few problems. ComicZeal (pictured above) has existed for the iPhone for some time, and required a companion app to beam comics across. Now, with iTunes file-transfers for the iPad, getting your collection into ComicZeal4 is easy.
First, the gripes: The page turning animation is horrible. You need to drag the page a long way to the left (or right) before the animation kicks in, and then it whips across. It has improved in recent updates but still jars when you’re used to the standard Apple implementation.
The second big problem is the lack of a library. You pick your books from a popover, but there is no neat shelf like that found in iBooks, or in Comic Viewer (below). With large collections you’ll be doing lots of scrolling in an iPhone-sized panel.
On the plus side, ComicZeal4 is the only app tested that handles zooming and page turning properly. If you are zoomed in on a panel or are reading in landscape mode and then turn to the next page, the zoom level is respected, but you are popped to the top of the new page. Other apps either return you to full screen or force you to zoom out before turning pages, or dump you at the bottom of the new page, not the top.
Read more: WIRED
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June 3rd, 2010 at 3:15 PM EST | by inu846W
Time Inc. revealed it would develop iPad apps for seven more of its brands this year, including a series of paid apps from lifestyle magazine Real Simple.
Speaking May 27 during a Time Warner investor day, Time Inc. chairman and CEO Ann Moore provided some of the first details on them.
The Real Simple app will launch under the banner “No Time To…” and offer solutions to cooking, cleaning and beauty problems, in keeping with the print magazine’s brand proposition, said Paul Greenberg, president of digital for Time Inc.’s Lifestyle Group. They’ll cost $4.99 each and roll out beginning in the fourth quarter, simultaneously on the iPhone, iPad and Google’s Android devices.
The Real Simple app will follow iPad apps Time Inc. has already launched for its Time and Entertainment Weekly magazines.
There are skeptics who question the business benefit e-readers will bring magazines, despite the hope that they’ll help the industry offset its advertising declines and capture circulation revenue. Moore spared no enthusiasm for the Apple device and the anticipated wave of other e-readers, pronouncing them a “game changer” for magazines with their ability to charge consumers for content.
“It’ll be the opportunity Time Inc. is waiting for,” she said.
Read more: MediaWeek.com
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May 21st, 2010 at 8:12 AM EST | by inu846W
Portland, Oregon – dBelement, LLC today is excited to announce the release and immediate availability of Reader for the iPad. More than 400,000 users have already chosen Reader by dBelement as their favorite ebook app on the iPhone and iPod touch, the same powerful Reader app is now available on the iPad. Reader makes enjoying your books easy. From an organized bookshelf interface to the crisp fonts scientifically proven to speed up your reading.
- Reader lets you import your own books and it also has a built in Public Library so you’ll never run out of books to read
- The colors are chosen to be easy on the eyes, so you can read for hours
- Reader has a built-in “night time” mode to make it easy to read books at night
- Quick bookmarks let you jump back to exactly where you left off without missing beat
- You can adjust the font size to your liking and use one touch scrolling to turn pages
- Set an auto scroll speed and your books will flow up just like movie credits. The auto scroll is a great feature for touch-free reading, it also trains your eyes to read at a constant pace
- Reader also has a built in dictionary so you can lookup words on the fly
“I’ve been using Reader for a year and it’s bar none the easiest to use book reader app. I’m no computer expert but I have no trouble adding my books and New York Times articles right into Reader.” – Carol G. (Bend, Oregon)
“My wife and I love to read at night. The “nighttime mode” on Reader has saved my eyes. I just turn on Reader and set auto scroll for medium and read my book. It’s almost like watching movie. I can’t believe how many books I’ve finished thanks to Reader”. – Barry J. (Los Angeles, California)
Read more: ipadmodo.com
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