Google Books for iDevices gets landscape view for iPad and other features

mobiputing: "There’s a new version of Google Books for iOS, which is optimized for the Apple iPad thanks to a new landscape mode that lets you view two pages at a time and browse through the 2 million books in the Google Books library in landscape. I’m really not sure why it took this long before Google decided to enable this feature. ... "

MoMA Launches eBook App for iPad

DesignTAXI.com: "The Museum of Modern Art has launched a free iPad app that allows users to download and read eBooks published by the museum. The app, called MoMA Books [iTunes link] will include current and out-of-print titles, as well as exhibition catalogs, scholarly texts and anthologies of art-historical texts from around the world, MoMA said in a statement."

Amazon courting Apple's iOS developers to port apps to Kindle

AppleInsider: "Amazon is actively enticing Apple's iOS App Store developers to bring their efforts to the Kindle platform, particularly educational apps, in a strategy that attempts to push ebook readers up into competition with more sophisticated, general purpose tablets. ... "

Nook Color Android app store coming in April along with Flash support

Crave - CNET: "While plenty of people have "rooted" their Nook Colors with custom firmware that allows them to access the Android Market and download applications, most Nook Color buyers have stuck with the official firmware that came with the device. If you're in the latter group, you'll be happy to note that you'll soon have access to Barnes & Noble's version of an app store, which is due to launch in April, according to the HSN Web Site, where the Nook is being sold for $299.90."

Apple’s Message to Publishers: Quality

Interesting "take" on Apple's new subscription model. Liam Cassidy via NYTimes: "Much publishing today is less concerned with quality than it is with quantity. The more copies there are of a magazine in circulation — or clicks on a web page — the more eyeballs see accompanying ads. In a world where, more than ever before, readers have more choice of content, but less time to engage with it, for many publishers, the key to generating appreciable revenue lies not in value, but in volume. ... Online publishing’s focus on advertising, sponsorship and syndication is problematic, for viewers and for Apple as a company that wants to provide worthwhile content for users of its platforms. Great quality content, in this model, is of little use to publishers, despite the fact that it happens to be precisely the thing readers actually want. Apple, I think, has noticed this problem, and is now taking positive steps to solve it. Apple wants to ensure that publishing on the iPad is never anything less than top quality, where the paramount priorities of publishers lie always in ensuring the quality of their content."

Apple: if we get you subscribers, we deserve a cut

Ars Technica:

It has been almost two weeks since The Daily made its debut on the iPad, but Apple has finally announced its in-app subscription terms for other offerings in the App Store. The system is open to all publishers of content-based apps—music, newspapers, video, and magazines, but not insurance policies. Anyone who sells subscription-based content outside the App Store must also use Apple's system, giving Apple a 30 percent cut. Hello in-app Netflix subscriptions?

"Our philosophy is simple—when Apple brings a new subscriber to the app, Apple earns a 30 percent share; when the publisher brings an existing or new subscriber to the app, the publisher keeps 100 percent and Apple earns nothing," CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement. "All we require is that, if a publisher is making a subscription offer outside of the app, the same (or better) offer be made inside the app, so that customers can easily subscribe with one-click right in the app."

Apple's announcement went on to emphasize that publishers are not limited to using the App Store for subscriptions; they're allowed to use their own websites to sell subs. They can even offer free access via their apps to existing out-of-app subscribers (so, if you subscribe to a magazine in print form and that magazine lets you get iPad subscriptions for free as part of your agreement, that's still allowed). However, companies cannot offer those types of subscriptions as the only options within their iOS apps—just like Apple's newly enforced rule with e-books, publishers must go all-in with Apple's subscriptions and their own, or they can't be on the App Store.

Oh, and the subscriptions offered within iOS apps must be the same price or less as the company's other offerings, and the apps can no longer link to an outside store where users can purchase content. ...

Amazon HP TouchPad Kindle App

Gizmocrunch: "While no release date has been specified, it is expected to launch around the same time the HP TouchPad hits the market (summer release). With the HP TouchPad Kindle app, you can read Amazon Kindle books on your tablet and even sync it with other devices you own (e.g. iPad, iPhone). Amazon has also announced that the Kindle app will be making its way to Android, BlackBerry and Windows 7 tablets soon as well, allowing you to share book with just about every platform. ... "

What's to stop ...

iPaders from buying Kindle books not through app but direct thru browser in Amazon, and only then opening app to read? I'm probably missing something obvious. But, anyway, that's my question.

Hands-On With The Daily (Sure Doesn't Feel Like The Future of The Newspaper)

Audrey Watters dissects The Daily, and doesn't like what she finds: "The launch event for Rupert Murdoch's new iPad-only newspaper The Daily was full of rhetoric about the future of journalism, heralding the app as a 'this changes everything' sort of moment. But having had a chance to download and read today's inaugural issue, it doesn't seem that the user experience matches the rhetoric. That may not be a surprise as plenty of people have long predicted The Daily would be a flop. But it still feels like a shame, considering the resources (some $30 million from Murdoch himself) that have been poured into the endeavor and considering the promise for a reinvented and reinvigorated journalism. That's just my opinion, of course, as are these first impressions of the new app ... "

Digital Magazines Hindered by Long Download Times

NYTimes: "This morning I decide to try a little experiment: I opened up my iPad, clicked on the little Wired icon and purchased the magazine’s latest digital issue. After I agreed to fork over $4, it began downloading. For the next phase of the experiment, I grabbed my car keys, left my apartment and drove about 12 blocks to a local magazine store in Brooklyn, where I also purchased the latest issue of Wired magazine, this time in print. ... "

Apple sets deadline for Amazon's Kindle app to change

Tecca:

Apple has now taken the next step in its attempt to enforce the app store policy of not allowing iOS apps to use content which was purchased from an outside source. It's announced that as of March 31st, all apps must make the content they use available for purchase from within the app itself — paying Apple the customary 30% which it receives from every app store transaction.

To illustrate what will be changing, we'll use Amazon's Kindle app for iPhone and iPad as an example: Prior to the change, Kindle customers could purchase their reading materials straight from the Amazon website, and then load and read them via the Kindle app on their iPhone or iPad.

Apple's problem with this setup seems to be that it isn't seeing a cut of the money; Amazon distributes the app for free and all transactions are made directly through Amazon. After March 31st, Kindle users will need to be able to purchase their reading material through the Kindle app itself, which means Apple will receive 30% of the revenue.

What happens next is anyone's guess. Amazon could comply with the decision, and either absorb the hit to its Kindle proceeds, jack up the price of app-purchased reading materials to offset Apple's cut, or simply call Apple's bluff and allow the app to remain the way it is. Whatever their decision, it's going to be an interesting and tense couple of months between Amazon and Apple.

News Corp. Launches "The Daily" iPad Newspaper

NYTimes: "Rupert Murdoch on Wednesday pushed the send button on The Daily, a news application designed for the iPad that he hopes will position his News Corporation front and center in the digital newsstand of the future. ... "

Apple: Nothing Has Changed. Except For This One Thing ...

Jason Kincaid, Techcrunch:

Last night the New York Times published a report stating that Sony’s E-Reader application had been rejected from Apple’s App Store, because it used a transaction system other than Apple’s In-App Payments. What’s worse, Apple was apparently blocking applications from downloading content that had been purchased outside the application — which could spell bad news for Amazon’s Kindle platform.

Now an Apple spokesperson has given us this statement:

“We have not changed our developer terms or guidelines. We are now requiring that if an app offers customers the ability to purchase books outside of the app, that the same option is also available to customers from within the app with in-app purchase.”

Huh?

At first glance it looks like the NYT article was simply mistaken — Apple is saying that its terms and guidelines are the same. Except now it’s apparently choosing a different way to actually enforce those terms, which makes the report seem accurate after all.

The most relevant passage from Apple’s developer guidelines — which were only published in September, mind you — appears to be section 11.2, which states:

Apps utilizing a system other than the In App Purchase API (IAP) to purchase content, functionality, or services in an app will be rejected.

Now, Amazon’s Kindle app doesn’t conduct its purchases through the app itself — users are instead kicked off to a browser where they actually buy their books, and that content is then synced to the Kindle app. Apple’s rule is worded vaguely enough that it can claim this workaround is in violation of the guidelines. But it obviously hasn’t been enforced like this before now, so the notion that nothing has changed is clearly false.

It also doesn’t make a whole lot of sense from the user’s perspective. Apple is effectively telling developers that they can offer two purchase flows for content: one through the browser, and another via in-app purchases. Apple is obviously assuming people will prefer the latter because it’s quicker and simply requires the user to enter their Apple password. But developers have an incentive to push users toward the browser flow so that they don’t have to give Apple a 30% cut of each purchase. Which could mean we start seeing some bizarre checkout flows that are anything but user friendly.

On eve of 'The Daily' launch, rival iPad apps offer previews

AppleInsider:

Ahead of News Corp's unveiling of The Daily digital newspaper on Wednesday, developers showed off competing iPad apps, including a social news app from The New York Times and a digital book platform from a former Apple designer. ...

News Corp's iPad publication could also be the first to implement an iTunes subscription feature that Apple has reportedly been working on. Publishers have pressed Apple for an iPad subscription agreement that would automatically send content to paying customers.

Competitors, however, haven't been idly watching The Daily's development process. The New York Times, in collaboration with Betaworks, is working on News.me, a social news app that will aggregate article links from Twitter streams and link sharing site bit.ly, TechCrunch reports. The approach is worlds apart from News Corp's, which focuses on producing custom content.

Also making headlines Tuesday was Push Pop Press, a startup from former Apple designer and Delicious Monster founder Michael Matas. The startup, which aims to create a "new breed" of interactive digital books, launched a teaser site Tuesday. ...

Apple denies claim that Sony Reader, Kindle in danger on iOS App Store

AppleInsider:

... Wall Street Journal blogger John Paczkowski has reported official comment from Apple spokesperson Trudy Miller, who said the company has not "changed our developer terms or guidelines," while noting that "we are now requiring that if an app offers customers the ability to purchase books outside of the app, that the same option is also available to customers from within the app with in-app purchase."

That would be the reverse of the situation reported by the Times, and also makes more sense. Pulling popular titles such as Kindle, and similar content-access apps including Dropbox, Hulu , Netflix and Pandora, would do little to benefit Apple.

That would be the reverse of the situation reported by the Times, and also makes more sense. Pulling popular titles such as Kindle, and similar content-access apps including Dropbox, Hulu+, Netflix and Pandora, would do little to benefit Apple.

In-app option required, but not exclusive

Instead, as Paczkowski explained, "Apple wants its cut on sales enabled by its iOS devices, it has an established guideline that allows it to take it and that’s what it’s doing.

"Developers are still free to send customers to their own Web stores, but they must also offer them the option of purchasing content within their apps themselves, and they must route those sales through Apple which will then take its percentage."

This harmonizes with Apple's previous policy, enabling users to buy through iTunes (and allowing Apple to earn a cut for facilitating the convenience) without forcing all content to be purchased within iTunes. For example, Amazon can sell Kindle-DRM ebooks directly from its website or through its own Kindle device, and iOS Kindle app users can sync those purchases to their iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. ...

Apps Customize How Users Read Content Online

NYTimes:

One popular tool, Readability, strips articles to the bare minimum of text and photographs with a single click. But now, Readability wants to give something back to publishers.

On Tuesday, the developers behind the tool will unveil a service that requires a subscription fee of at least $5 a month. The service, also called Readability, plans to distribute 70 percent of that fee to the news outlets and blogs that each subscriber is reading.

For example, if a subscriber is a regular visitor to the gadget blog Gizmodo and the women’s news site The Hairpin over the course of a month, Readability will calculate what percentage of her payment should go to each site and send them checks.

“We were never about stripping ads or being an ad blocker,” said Richard Ziade, who created the original Readability tool as well as the second-generation version. Instead, he said, the company has been wondering: “Can we come up with a mechanism to make the experience of reading on the Web better, but also support content creators and publishers?”

Readability is one of many services experimenting with the future of reading. A wave of applications, including Pulse, Flipboard and My Taptu, are responding to changes in how people prefer to read on the Web, putting articles and blog posts into cleaner or more attractive visual displays. ...

Apple's Sony app rejection poses serious questions

eBook Magazine:

... It’s a brave man who second guesses Apple but I can’t see them suddenly pulling the rug from under the likes of Kindle – the PR fallout would be disastrous for them.

On the other hand, if Apple were to move to make iBooks the only/default ebook app now’s probably the best time to do it. The iPad has sold fantastically well but its successor – now probably only weeks away from launch – is likely to sell even better.

Cutting third party ebook stores adrift before a new wave of iPad owners take delivery of their devices compartmentalizes the fall out.

As is always the case when Apple extends the higher of the wall around its garden, some speculate about legal action any disgruntled third parties might take.

The problem here is that the biggest potential loser if Apple were to kick ot third party ebook apps is Kindle, yet could Amazon really ask any court to rule against a closed, single retailer ebook platform without creating an instant case for opening up the Kindle to other retailers? ...

More re: Apple App Store restrictions

Money quote: “This sudden shift perhaps tells you something about Apple’s understanding of the value of its platform,” said Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey. “Apple started making money with devices. Maybe the new thing that everyone recognizes is the unit of economic value is the platform, not the device.” ...

AppleInsider:

... Analysts were taken aback by Apple's new restrictions, as they represent a shift away from recent attempts to be more collaborative.

Last fall, after receiving criticism for App Store restrictions that were viewed as "anti-competitive," Apple removed its ban on third-party development tools. With the more open licensing terms, Adobe resumed development of its Packager for iPhone tool for porting Flash to iOS.

Rival Google also gained from the changes, as its Google Voice application was accepted into the App Store. After Apple pulled Google Voice-enabled iPhone apps from the App Store, the US FCC launched an investigation of Apple and AT&T. ...

Apple clips publishers' wings

A strategic miscalculation on Apple's part, especially if the policy extends to the Kindle app. The Register: "Apple is cracking down on applications that provide access to paid content, rejecting anything that looks as though its trying to bypass handing over 30 per cent to Cupertino. Apple gets a 30 per cent cut of anything purchased on the iPhone, or iPad, but iOS applications such as Amazon's Kindle reader and some newspaper clients provide access to content that was paid for elsewhere: something that Apple is apparently no longer going to tolerate. Sony is one of those affected, the New York Times reports, having had its Sony Reader software rejected by Apple on the basis that customers can buy a book on one device and view it on another. Apple has no argument with that concept, as long as both devices are running iOS and under the complete control of Messrs Jobs & Co, but if you buy a book on a desktop computer and then read it on your iPhone then Apple won't get its pound of flesh – and that's not acceptable. ... "

Sony Unveils Sony Reader for Android

AppScout: " ... The app gives you access to your Sony eBook Store account, and allows you to download books you've previously purchased right to your Android phone. In addition to giving you access to your account, the app is also an eBook reader, and allows you to open your downloaded eBooks and read them the same way you would on a Sony device. ... "