News tagged ‘iBooks’

On Wednesday Apple sent out invitations for a special event set for January 19. The event will be held at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, where will be made an announcement related to education.

The invitation, as shown by The Loop, features a chalkboard-style drawing outlining the skyline of New York. Front and center in the skyline is the Apple logo, while the tagline for the event confirms that the event will involve an education-related announcement.

According to the previous rumors, Apple Senior Vice President Eddy Cue will play a part in the demonstration. The event is highly unlikely to be devoted to a new device like an anticipated third-generation iPad or rumored Apple television.

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Bloomberg reports that Adobe executive Todd Teresi was hired by Apple to head up its mobile advertising unit iAd. Detailed information on the employment will be forthcoming.

Teresi has worked as VP of Media Solutions division in Adobe for the past nine months and previously worked in Yahoo, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Quantcast.

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All Things D reported on Monday that Apple is reportedly planning an event scheduled to take place in New York at the end of January. The company is said to use the event as a platform for an advertising or publishing announcement. Of course, many anxiously await the announcement of a much anticipated iPad 3 or new Apple TV, which some think will be launched later in 2012. Apple usually reserves product launches and important announcements for its home-state like the latest iPhone 4S, which debuted on Oct. 4, 2011 at Apple's campus.

According to sources close to the situation, Apple is planning an important — but not large-scale — event to be held in New York at the end of this month that will focus on a media-related announcement.

Per the usual caveat, the tech giant is well known for moving around their public show-and-tells, so this could certainly change at any moment.

Several of Apple's media and advertising units have significant presences in New York City, and Apple Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue (Cue is currently heading up the iTunes Store, App Store, iBookstore) is said to take part in the end of the event that has caused rumors suggesting that Apple’s announcement may be connected with advertising or publishing.

iPhone Dev-Team released RedSn0w 0.9.9b9 with full iOS 5.0.1 support (no need to point to iOS 5.0 any more). New version also features support for SHSH and APTickets:

• native support for 5.0.1 (no need to point redsn0w at 5.0 IPSW or use command-line args).  Support automatically extends to all of redsn0w’s various functions: “Jailbreak”, “Just boot”, “Fetch blobs”, “Stitch blobs”, “Recovery Fix”
• iBooks fixed in 5.0 and 5.0.1.  This is a targeted fix that doesn’t remove entire sandbox mechanism.  5.x users already using redsn0w “Just Boot” can just use the new version without redoing entire jailbreak again
• 3GS old-bootrom owners can now create custom IPSWs without blobs
• ultrasn0w compatability update (i.e. same baseband requirements) for 5.0.1 will be available on Cydia Monday
• support for newer 8GB iPhone4 (which until now had problems with “Fetch blobs”).  Thanks to @JKjeepnJeff for loaning us one of these newer i4 units for testing!
• allows Windows users (not just OS X users) to use the “Custom” button to create IPSWs without baseband updates.  (Update: please wait for 0.9.9b9b for this!)
• accommodates APTickets in 5.x (until next Apple countermove).  APTickets are crypto-verified before submitting to Cydia, just like the main blobs.  Cydia server support for sending back the APTickets is upcoming.  For now, use stitched IPSWs for 5.x.  Due to APTickets, stitched 5.x IPSWs now require user to start in “Pwned DFU” mode
• Support added for stitching 4.x blobs to iPad2-GSM IPSWs.  Similar to @notcom’s TinyCFW but doesn’t require lots of RAM or a TSS-assisted restore. Won’t work for iPad2 5.x blobs (or iPhone4S at all) until a bootrom-level exploit is out
• top line now shows whether (and where) a redsn0w update is available, or if the version being run is the latest.  Uses DNS TXT record to alleviate any concerns about snooping
• no 5.1 beta support at this time (major apps like Cydia are not yet compatible)
• @pod2g has been doing a great job porting his 5.x untether…check his blog for updates!
• Owners of newer 3GS iPhones must not flash the iPad baseband.  The iPad baseband will not work on 3GS iPhones built later than 2011 week 35.  You have a week 35 or later device if your serial # starts with xx135.

Update #17b: Version 0.9.9b9b enables the “Custom” button for Windows users, and make the 3GS week 35 warning a more explicit part of the process.

You can download RedSn0w 0.9.9b9b here.

UPDATE: redsn0w updated to redsn0w 0.9.9b9d.

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Last week Gartner reported that Android doubled its market share year-over-year, while Apple experienced a decline at 15%, compared to the previous quarter. Despite that fact, a report from research company GfK (via Reuters) states that iPhone users are more likely to show loyalty to iOS by buying another iPhone when upgrading their smartphone.

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iH8Sn0w has released Sn0wBreeze 2.8b10. Here is a changelog:

• Supports iOS 5.0 (9A334)/5.0.1-b2 (9A404)
• Fixed iBooks sandbox crashing issues.
• Fixed location services issues with iPhone 3GS users running the iPad baseband (06.15).
• Re-added iPad baseband (06.15) install option to iPhone 3GS.
• Removes UDID requirement/Beta timer in 5.0.1.
• Tethered devices are booted via iBooty which is extracted to the Desktop after running sn0wbreeze.

As usual the jailbreak is semi-tethered for iPhone 4, iPad, iPhone 3GS with new bootrom, iPad Touch 3G, iPod Touch 4G and untethered for iPhone 3GS with old bootrom.

You can download Sn0wBreeze 2.8b10 here.

UPDATE: Sn0wBreeze 2.8b10 step-by-step jailbreak and unlock tutorials:

• iPhone 4 - Sn0wBreeze (Windows)
• iPhone 3GS - Sn0wBreeze (Windows)

The Steve Jobs biography as it was promised have been released today and is available now in all regions. You may download the book on Apple's iBooks or purchase via Amazon.com. The book is an authorized biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. Steve Jobs, himself, reached out to Isaacson to suggest the author write a biography on Jobs. Due to the unprecedented level of candor Jobs extended to Isaacson, the book has already made plenty of waves ahead of its public release, which was moved up to Oct. 24 after Jobs passed away on October 5th. Isaacson had asked Jobs prior to his passing why he had agreed to participate:

In order to mask my emotion, I asked the one question that was still puzzling me: Why had he been so eager, during close to 50 interviews and conversations over the course of two years, to open up so much for a book when he was usually so private? “I wanted my kids to know me,” he said. “I wasn’t always there for them, and I wanted them to know why and to understand what I did.”

Apple has started promotion of its iBookstore on Twitter by launching a new account in this social network to keep followers informed on special offers, new releases and other changes in the store. Apple has actually created account in June, but the company has just today started sending out Tweets.

"Welcome to the Apple #iBookstore on Twitter. Follow us to discover new releases, exclusive book offers, and more".

The Apple’s second Tweet promotes "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern, which is now actively promoted by the company. Currently Apple is featuring this book on the main page of iBookstore. Starbucks  has also joined the promotion by offering an "extended sample" of this book for free through its program “Pick of the Week” .

Apples created several Twitter accounts to keep users updated on featured and new content on the iTunes Store.

Also Apple is expanded its ties with this social network in other places, having allowed for Facebook and Twitter posting on its online store and added Twitter integration to the upcoming iOS 5.

Yesterday, Tim Cook started redirecting customers’ e-mails to Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president for Internet services. Cook confirmed 9to5Mac that Cue was officially promoted to a senior vise president position.

From an internal Apple email sent by Tim Cook:

It is my pleasure to announce the promotion of Eddy Cue to Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services. Eddy will report to me and will serve on Apple’s executive management team.

Eddy oversees Apple’s industry-leading content stores including the iTunes Store, the revolutionary App Store and the iBookstore, as well as iAd and Apple’s innovative iCloud services. He is a 22-year Apple veteran and leads a large organization of amazing people. He played a major role in creating the Apple online store in 1998, the iTunes Music Store in 2003 and the App Store in 2008.

Cue's promotion may be the first move in a reshuffling of Apple's leadership. The position of Chief Operating Officer is now vacant. Apple’s COO was Tim Cook until his ascension to the CEO position. And soon a position of a senior vice president for retail will be vacant as he takes the CEO position at J.C. Penney.

Recently Digitimes reported that the production of the next-gen iPad’s high resolution display remains to be a problem. As a result, Chimei Innolux Corporation didn’t get certification to become an LCD provider for Apple’s next-gen tablet.

“CMI has cut into the supply chain of iPad 2, which uses IPS panels, but the new Apple tablet is more demanding in terms of resolution, the sources said. The iPad 3 will feature a 9.7-inch panel with resolution of 2,048x1,536 compared to the iPad 2's 1,024x768”.

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A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Apple and 5 of the 6 major book publishers: Hachette, HarperCollins, MacMillan, Penguin, and Simon & Shuster. The lawsuit claims that they "colluded to increase prices for popular e-book titles to boost profits and force e-book rival Amazon to abandon its pro-consumer discount pricing."

From the lawsuit:

In November 2007, Amazon revolutionized the book publishing industry by releasing the Kindle, a handheld digital reader for electronic books or “eBooks.” A major economic advantage to eBook technology is its potential to massively reduce distribution costs historically associated with brick-and-mortar publishing. But publishers quickly realized that if market forces were allowed to prevail too quickly, these efficiency enhancing characteristics would rapidly lead to lower consumer prices, improved consumer welfare, and threaten the current business model and available surplus (profit margins). So, faced with disruptive eBook technology that threatened their inefficient and antiquated business model, several major book publishers, working with Apple Inc. (“Apple”), decided free market competition should not be allowed to work – together they coordinated their activities to fight back in an effort to restrain trade and retard innovation. The largest book publishers and Apple were successful.

This lawsuit alleges that as a "direct result of this anticompetitive conduct as intended by the conspiracy, the price of eBooks has soared" and "bring claims under federal and state antitrust laws to enjoin the illegal conduct and to obtain damages."

Patently Apple reported about Apple’s new patent application from last week which describes some innovations in using new gestures in children’s books in iBooks.

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The continuous sales growth of Apple’s iOS devices made it possible for Apple to expect growth of iTunes that includes iBookstore and App Store at a rate of 39% during the next three years and to earn tremendous $13 billion during 2013.

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Some time ago several high resolution images were found in iPad iBooks app. The resolution was twice the size of the iPad screen 1024x768. This resulted in rumors that iPad 2 would have retina display and the same double pixel strategy used in the iPhone 4. While iPad 2 was released with the same screen resolution of 1024x768 new evidence of retina iPad was recently found.

iPhone developer @Frankrockz found iPad Retina Display sized graphics hidden in the Twitter frameworks of the iOS 5 beta firmware.

As I was going through the iOS SDK I came across some images in the new Twitter .framework. The resolution appears to be 1,536 x 2,048.

This means that iPad 3 might eventually get retina display. Well, we shall see.

Apple released iTunes 10.3 that has iCoud beta support for devices with iOS 4.3.3 (US and Canada for now).

What's new in iTunes 10.3

Introducing iTunes in the Cloud beta. The music you purchase in iTunes appears automatically on all your devices. You can also download your past iTunes purchases. Where you want, when you want.

• Automatic Downloads. Purchase music from any device or computer and automatically download a copy to your Mac and iOS devices.

• Download Previous Purchases. Download your past music purchases again at no additional cost. Your purchases are available in the iTunes Store on your Mac or in the iTunes app on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Previous purchases may be unavailable if they are no longer on the iTunes Store.

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