IBooks

Apple will sell ebooks in Japan

Apple will launch a fully fledged iBookstore in Japan this year. Kobo, Kindle and Google all launched Japanese ebookstores in 2012 — greasing the wheels for Apple’s launch in a country that has been slow to embrace ebooks.

Hands on: Retina-enabled reading apps for iPad

The main appeal of the high-resolution Retina display of the new iPad to voracious readers is the improved text viewing. We go hands on with the major reader apps that are now Retina-capable — the Kindle app, iBooks, Comixology and Zinio — to see which adapted best.

E-textbook veteran CourseSmart defends its turf

Apple is not the first company to introduce the idea of interactive and digital textbooks for mobile devices. And the players that are already doing that are, unsurprisingly, not super thrilled with all the attention Apple) is getting today. And they’re defending their territory.

Apple education event on calendar for Jan. 19

Apple will be holding a press event in New York City this month, according to invitations sent Wednesday. The invitation has few details, but says the topic will be “an education announcement.” The event will take place at the Guggenheim Museum.

Report

Forecast: the evolution of the e-book market

The newfound popularity of the e-book is now raising questions over what exactly it will look like in the future, since digital formats allow authors and artists to offer much more than what was possible with the printed page. Social and interactive experiences within the e-book can include not only text but also audio, video or even a combination of all three, and these factors have a direct effect on the evolution of the overall e-book market. In this analysis, we identify six competitive areas of that market that will see large-scale shifts in the near future. Such rapid change will mean that in just four to five years, what a book is and what publishing is will — to many — mean something radically different than it does today. Companies mentioned in this report include Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google and Open Road. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial.

Get a taste of iCloud, right now

iCloud doesn’t fully launch until iOS 5 arrives this fall, but you can check out some features right now. Apple has pushed out updates to the iOS 4.3 App Store, iBooks and iTunes apps that let you check out your purchase history, and setup Automatic Downloads.

How To Use Collections To Manage Your iBooks Library

Between prior purchases and poor self-restraint, I now have an e-book library several hundred titles strong on my iPad, and it’s growing constantly. Built-in sorting isn’t cutting it. Thankfully, user-manageable Collections in iBooks adds some much needed depth to iPad e-book organization.

Only Apple Loses With iBooks Jailbreak Block

Apple’s latest efforts to counteract jailbreaking are more likely to hurt the company, its reputation, and its revenue than to prevent iPhone owners from going out-of-bounds with their device software. I’m talking about recent reports that iBooks stops working on jailbroken devices.

Google Books: The Worst iOS E-reader, But Still a Winner

To say Google’s Books app lacks polish would be kind indeed. If Apple can be accused of sometimes favoring form over function, Google does neither with Books. Instead, Google leaves out expected features, adds a few bizarre ones, and wraps it in a barren interface.

Apple Upgrades iWork, Gives ePub Format a Boost

Soon, folks who are interested in publishing their content in the ePub format — an open eBook standard — might just develop a taste for the iWork suite, which, using today’s update, makes it simple to export documents in the ePub format.

Can Borders Unseat Amazon in the E-Book Market?

Borders today launched its digital e-book store and debuted software readers for both BlackBerry and Android devices. While Amazon has the early lead in this market, Borders is taking an Amazon-like approach with a “buy once, read anywhere” mantra. Will such a strategy work?

Showdown: 5 iPad Reading Apps

Now that all the commercial e-book distributors have made their iPad apps available, it’s time for an overview of how each app performs, along with their pluses and minuses. So, here’s how I found each app to hold up.

Apple Launches Self-Publishing Opportunity

Budding authors are often only budding because it’s so difficult to get published. Apple has rolled out an opportunity that has big potential for unknown writers to get works published on a major online book outlet. The iBookstore is now open for such business.

Will ePubs Replace Your Library?

The idea of reading on mobile devices is not new. Devices like the Amazon Kindle and the Sony eReader have been around for a while, but with the buzz surrounding iBooks sparking more interest, are digital books worth it?

Zinio’s iPad Magazines Suggest Disappointing Future

Just like Apple with its iBookstore, Zinio has established relationships with an impressive array of publications. As such, you can expect to find enhanced editions of magazines Cosmopolitan, T3 and Rolling Stone among others. However, unlike Apple’s iBookstore, Zinio certainly doesn’t live up to the hype.

iBooks and the iBookstore: A Walkthrough

When Steve Jobs introduced the iPad several weeks ago, one of the key announcements was that the new tablet device would feature an e-reader. I have spent the last couple of weeks using the iBooks app and shopping in the iBookstore to see how it works.

iPhone OS 4.0: Mail, Folders & iBooks

iPhone fans around the world will rejoice with the improvements coming in Apple’s iPhone 4.0 OS this summer. Support for organizing applications within folders, an improved Mail app and the new iBooks app are among the most notable.

iPad + iBookstore + Smashwords = Free, Low Hassle e-Book Publishing

Have a hankering to be a published author? With the iPad’s launch expected to exponentially increase interest in and demand for e-books, a new e-book publishing and distribution platform called Smashwords could be your ticket to , if not necessarily literary fame and fortune, at least the satisfaction of authorship and perhaps a few bucks of income enhancement.

Why I’m Sticking With Amazon for My e-Books

Amazon got the ball rolling with the Kindle after years of stagnation in the market. Apple is going toe to toe with them with the launch of the iBookstore. So when I have an iPad in hand I’m going to be faced with a choice, use Apple’s iBooks solution, or stick with Amazon’s Kindle platform.

iTunes 9.1: iPad Support and Genius Updates

Just days before the iPad lands in our hands, Apple has updated iTunes to version 9.1 so that we can sync content onto the new device just as soon as we post our unboxing photos to Twitter. iTunes 9.1 provides the ability to sync books from the iBooks app and adds some improvements for managing Genius Mixes.

iBookstore Pricing Leaked: Cheaper Than Expected

According to at least one source, pricing of e-books sold through Apple’s iBookstore will not be as expensive we were initially led to believe. Many sources put the original price of bestsellers between $12 and $14, as compared to the $9.99 sweet spot offered by Amazon.

iBooks App & iBookstore

The new Apple (s aapl) iPad, as widely anticipated, will have an e-book reader built-in to the device. The iBooks app displays…