No More Crippled iBooks? Jailbreaking Tool's Update Claims to Fix Issues

NYTimes: "Last week, Apple updated its e-reader app iBooks with several minor new features and one very unwelcome tweak that affected users of jailbroken phones. Jailbreakers who downloaded the update were no longer able to use iBooks on their mobile phone. 'Apple deliberately crippled my device,' wrote an angry blogger on Social Apples after realizing what had occurred. Today, an update to the jailbreaking tool Sn0wbreeze may have addressed this issue, according to reports from mobile bloggers and Twitter."

Pressure mounts over Apple's 30% subscription charge

BBC: "Pressure is mounting on Apple over subscription charges it plans to levy on some mobile content. The company wants a 30% cut of payments for newspapers and other publications downloaded to its devices. Anti-trust regulators in the US and Europe are reportedly poised to investigate the new pricing model. ... "

Apple Subscription Service Draws Antitrust Scrutiny

We all saw this coming, right? NYTimes: "Apple’s new subscription service for iPad and iPhone applications, which has drawn complaints from some publishers, has also drawn the attention of federal antitrust regulators, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. ... "

No iBooks For You - Latest iBooks Version Won't Work On Jailbroken Phones

NYTimes: "Apple's e-reader app iBooks received an update last week, boasting a fairly typical set of changes: better stability, better layout, and a connection to AirPrint. But according to some reports, this latest version can cause problems for those trying to open e-books on jailbroken iPhones. ... "

Apple's App Store on Pace to Surpass Total iTunes Music Sales by March

AppleInsider: "The average iOS device has seen more than 60 applications from the App Store downloaded on to it, putting Apple's digital download destination for the iPhone and iPad on pace to eclipse the iTunes Music Store this March. ... "

Background Downloads Come to Kindle for iOS

thenextweb: "If you’ve ever started the download of a book, flipped over to another to read while it finishes and then flipped back, you’ve been sorely disappointed. Until now, background downloads just didn’t work on the Kindle app for your iPad or iPhone. However, according to Electronista, the just-released 2.5 update to Kindle for iOS will allow you to finish (though not start) a download in the background while you enjoy other content. There’s another pretty hefty change, too. The app will now support raw files, so you can send in text from Mail, Safari and even pull in books via iTunes file sharing."

2010: The Year in Digital Comics

Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources: "What a difference a year makes! A year ago today, the iPad not only didn’t exist, it hadn’t been officially announced yet. People read comics on their iPhones and iPod Touches, but the screens were too small for a good experience (and therefore, no one wanted to spend much money on them). The iPad changed all that, with a big, full-color screen that is just a tad smaller than a standard comics page (and a tad larger than a standard manga page), and publishers started taking digital comics seriously. The distribution was already in place, thanks to the iPhone—comiXology, iVerse, Panelfly—and now the publishers not only jumped on board with those platforms but also started developing their own apps. ... "

iFlow Reader Takes Reading Down the Wrong Path

The Digital Reader: "iFlow Reader is getting a lot of attention today. This is a new reading app for iOS, with different versions for iPhone and iPad. While it comes with a good set of reading options, iFlow’s one big pitch point is that it abandons page turns in favor of scrolling. This is so not a good idea. ... "

Apple Updates iBooks - Adds AirPrint, Collections

iPad Atlas - CNET Reviews: "Apple has updated its popular digital-book reader iOS App, iBooks, now version 1.2, to include support for AirPrint, PDF and notes printing, Collections, and new fully illustrated children's books and art books available for download in the iBookstore. Apple's iBooks allows you to download digital versions of your favorite books directly to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. iBooks 1.2 includes the ability to print notes or PDFs using Apple's newly released AirPrint functionality. With everything going digital, it's nice to see you can still get your notes back on paper. iBooks 1.2 also includes new functionality (must have iOS 4.2.1 installed) to allow more words per page by automatically hyphenating text."

Jouve Group Announces Direct Online eBook Conversion for Apple’s iBookstore

Press Release via Business Wire: "PARIS--As the global leader in digital eBook conversion, Jouve has developed an innovative online client platform for Apple’s iBookstore, making its industrial conversion solutions available to publishers of all sizes. A high-performance digital conversion process that’s personalized and 100% compliant with Apple specifications. Jouve now offers publishers an easy way to directly convert their catalog to standard or enhanced eBooks for the iBookstore. The iBookstore is included with the free iBooks app available for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. This simple solution fits the digital needs of all types of publishers, with production costs starting from just $19.99 per book. ..."

Macmillan Dictionaries/DW Education Launch iPhone/iPad Apps

mediabistro.com: eBookNewser: "Macmillan Dictionaries has teamed up with software company DW Education to launch a suite of iPhone and iPad apps based on their dictionaries. The apps are interactive and users can create personalized word lists. Users can also distinguish between British and American English. The Macmillan website explains: 'These tools will give you immediate access to definitions, phonetics, pronunciation and synonyms, plus the unique Macmillan English Dictionary red-star system indicating frequency of word usage for the most common words in English. In addition, the highly-interactive interface allows you to cross-search for the definitions of other words and to create your own wordlists.'"

Kobo iPad/iPhone App Review - Slow Page Turns, Slow Chapter to Chapter Movement

Macworld: "I don’t know that the world needs yet another e-book competitor, but that’s not my call. If Kindle, iBooks, Nook, and the rest haven’t yet sated your unique e-reading hunger, Kobo’s certainly worth a shot; generally speaking, it works fine. But unless the developer can address the app’s occasional slowness—when changing chapters and when turning pages—Kobo will remain my last e-reading choice on the iPad and iPhone."

Haiku on Your iPhone

App Smart- NYTimes.com: "There are probably people who have read 'War and Peace' on their smartphones, but just the thought of spending that much time squinting at a little screen makes my eyes hurt. A little haiku, on the other hand? A snippet of e.e. cummings? ... Smartphones are arguably the best thing to hit poetry since the printing press, as even the most casual lovers of verse can read a poem whenever the spirit moves them, not just when they are in the vicinity of a book or computer. ..." Read on for a list of recommended apps.

Kindle iPhone/iPad App Improved With Smarter Dictionary, Interior Book Search, Better Line Spacing and Fast-App Switching

M.G. Siegler at TechCrunch:

Despite their clear commitment to the hardware version of the Kindle, Amazon continues to make the Kindle apps that run on the iPad and iPhone better. Today, version 2.2 of the app brings a full dictionary with it. This matches the functionality of Apple’s own iBooks app, but the Kindle implementation is even a little better.

... this dictionary functionality matches that of Apple’s own iBooks app. But those definitions are an extra click away (you highlight a word then select “Dictionary” which bring up the definition in a pop-up).

The latest iPad version of the Kindle app also allows you to search inside a book for the first time. This too matches iBooks functionality. (The in-book search for the iPhone has also been improved with 2.2.)

Other small improvements include better line spacing on the iPad version, and fast-app switching for iOS 4 devices.

Overheating Vampire iPads Ain't "Just Like a Book"

Apple sued for Overheating iPads: eBook Reader Outrage : Product Reviews Net:

According to this report from CNN, the iPad shuts off after a certain amount of hours, when exposed in direct sunlight. The users have said that Apple hasn’t met its promises when they said that reading on the iPad is "just like a book".

Apple’s iPad shutdown also occurs on the iPod Touch and iPhone devices, giving users the message that the device is operating at a high temperature level and should be left alone to cool down for a while.

If Apple hadn’t of said that reading on the iPad is the same as on a real book, then we wouldn’t have an issue here. Instead, there appears to be further trouble on the way for Apple.

LOC: 'Jailbreaking' of iPhones OK

Steve Jobs loses a round; Apple gets shoved a few steps closer to being open. Exemption Will Allow ‘Jailbreaking’ of iPhones - NYTimes.com: "The Library of Congress, which has the power to define exceptions to an important copyright law, said on Monday that it was legal to bypass a phone's controls on what software it will run to get 'lawfully obtained' programs to work. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit digital rights group, had asked for that exception to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to allow the so-called jailbreaking of iPhones and other devices. ..."

Big Brother Steve Jobs: More Apple iBooks Censorship

Apple accused of censorship after porn disappears from iPad book chart - Telegraph: "Blonde and Wet, the Complete Story was ranked first on the iPad in a top 10 that included three other erotic novellas yesterday morning. But all four titles disappeared simultaneously and had been replaced with less risque books, such as Peter Mandelson’s autobiography, by the afternoon. Book chart analysts said it was unlikely that all the erotic titles could have dropped out of the list at the same moment without being deliberately removed. It is not the first time that Apple has faced accusations of prudishness. The company embarked on a "great porn purge" in February, ridding its iPhone App Store of all "overtly sexual content." Steve Jobs, chief executive, announced in April that he wanted the newly-launched iPad to remain free of pornographic applications. ..."

And Now, iBooks Audio and Video Support

From Mac Observer:

Along with iTunes 9.2.1, Apple released iBooks 1.1.1 for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch late on Monday. The update for Apple’s ebook reader app added support for ebooks that include audio and video content.

Version 1.1.1 also added the ability to double-tap images to zoom in, improved performance when reading PDF documents, added the ability to look up English word definitions in books that don’t include a specified language, and improved overall stability and performance.

"Green Eggs and Ham" eBook for iPhone and iPad Released as the 100th App From Oceanhouse Media

Press Release:

Oceanhouse Media, Inc. today announced the release of three new Dr. Seuss eBooks for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. The best-selling children’s classic Green Eggs and Ham, and early reader favorite Hop on Pop are both now available in the App Store for $3.99 each. In addition, Oceanhouse Media released the Dr. Seuss short-story Gertrude McFuzz, available for only $1.99. All Dr. Seuss eBooks are designed as universal apps that can be used on the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch for no additional charge. These apps also include special high-resolution graphics for the iPhone 4 Retina display. ...

Oceanhouse Media, creators of the award-winning Dr. Seuss apps, reached the milestone of publishing their 100th app with the release of Green Eggs and Ham. “We love developing for these mobile platforms” said Michel Kripalani, President of Oceanhouse Media. “We are incredibly excited about the rate of iPad acceptance and what that means to the future of learning.”

The Cat in the Hat was recently awarded the Parent’s Choice Silver Medal for Mobile Apps, and four Dr. Seuss apps received Editor’s Choice picks from Children’s Technology Review in June 2010. Over 300,000 Dr. Seuss apps have been sold since the release of the first app, Grinchmas!, in November of 2009. ...

Barnes & Noble iPad App Nicely Updated, Android Version On The Way

From Electronista:

Barnes & Noble this morning [Saturday, July 9th] posted an upgraded version of its eReader app for the iPad (free, App Store) that brings it more in step with iBooks, other apps, and the features on some dedicated, LCD-based e-readers. Like the special control in Apple's iBooks app, the Barnes & Noble client can now tune the screen brightness itself instead of relying on the tablet's overall preferences. Its two-page layout has improved, and book syncing has also been accelerated.

Other improvements brought to bear include a newer in-app registration layout, a smaller minimum font size, and multiple unnamed performance upgrades.

Alongside the iPad news, Barnes & Noble has added that it expects an Android version of eReader to arrive later along with an upgraded version of the iPhone-sized app.