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‘iBooks’ Stories

Steve Jobs an ebooks doubter Eddy Cue tells iBooks price fix court

, Jun 14th 2013 Discuss [0]

Apple's Steve Jobs had to be convinced of the potential for ebooks on the iPad, Eddy Cue has revealed, describing how he needed to petition for iBooks support during testimony at the ebook price fixing trial this week. Cue first pitched a digital bookstore in 2009, Cue told the court, AllThingsD reports, but Jobs "wasn't interested" as at the time the iPad was yet to be launched. However, after revisiting the idea on the iPad, Jobs gave Cue's team less than three months to get the iBookstore ready for public demo at the first launch event. Read The Full Story

Apple reveals actual Steve Jobs ebook email (and it’s not what the DoJ used)

, Jun 13th 2013 Discuss [12]

The "smoking gun" email the Department of Justice has cited as evidence of Apple's conspiracy with publishers to artificially hike ebook pricing was, in fact, only an unsent draft by Steve Jobs, the Cupertino firm's legal team has revealed. The DoJ had highlighted the email, from Jobs to SVP Eddy Cue, as a sign that Apple would pressure publishers to force Amazon into shifting to the so-called agency model of ebook pricing, which would result in more expensive downloads and, consequently, more money for the iBookstore. However, Apple revealed that the actual email Jobs sent to Cue was far less dramatic. Read The Full Story

Apple: We’re publishing’s saviors not ebook price-fixers

, Jun 4th 2013 Discuss [6]

Apple has vehemently denied conspiring with publishing industry heavyweights to artificially inflate ebook pricing, countering Department of Justice claims that Steve Jobs attempted price fixing with the argument that Apple and the rights holders were in fact strongly opposed throughout negotiations. Apple, representatives from which appeared in a New York court on Monday this week as the latest phase of the ebook price fix case kicks off, argued that the DoJ's assertion that Steve Jobs and the five big publishing houses were working together to force ebook prices up from the $9.99 Amazon had been commonly charging, to the $12.99-14.99 of the agency model, was patently false, and that the former-CEO's emails with publisher counterparts were being taken out of context. Read The Full Story

Apple likely to lose ebook price-fix case hints judge before trial even starts

, May 24th 2013 Discuss [3]

Apple is unlikely to be able to counter evidence that it conspired with publishers to inflate ebook prices, the federal judge overseeing the case has said in a surprise pre-trial comment, though the Cupertino firm vehemently disagrees. The case, set to be heard from June 3, sees the US Justice Department allege Apple along with five big name publishers aimed to raise the price of ebooks for the launch of iBooks. Apple is the final hold-out, after the publishers settled with the DoJ, but according to US District Judge Denise Cote, Reuters reports, the evidence prepared seems sufficiently damning. Read The Full Story

Apple launches Breakout Books to promote indie authors

, Feb 5th 2013 Discuss [0]

Today Apple unveiled a new section to its iBookstore called "Breakout Books," which features books published to the iBookstore by indie authors. The curated collection highlights titles that have earned four and five star reviews, so not every indie book will get its moment of glory in the new section. Read The Full Story

Apple granted patent for page-turn animation

, Nov 16th 2012 Discuss [27]

If you've been a long-time iOS user and also read your fair share of ebooks, then you'll know that Apple implemented a pretty cool page-turning animation when reading ebooks, meaning that sliding your finger across the screen to go to the next page resulted in the page actually turning, just like it would with a real book. And finally, USPTO has granted Apple the patent for that animation. Read The Full Story

DC digital comic books now available for iOS, Kindle, and NOOK devices

, Nov 7th 2012 Discuss [3]

DC Comics has announced that it will be offering its comic books on a variety of digital platforms, including Apple's iBooks, Amazon's Kindle, and Barnes & Noble's NOOK ereaders and tablets. Of course, DC Comics has been selling graphic novels in digital form for quite some time, but this is the first time that DC is officially releasing new content on a weekly basis to various big digital platforms. Read The Full Story

Apple avoids antitrust investigation by allowing Amazon to lower ebook prices

, Nov 6th 2012 Discuss [5]

Apple has negotiated a deal with European Union regulators that will result in the company avoiding a potential investigation on antitrust violations. However, in return, Apple is letting Amazon set their own prices for ebooks, which will most likely be lower than what Apple offers in their iBooks store. Read The Full Story

Apple announces new version of iBooks Author

, Oct 23rd 2012 Discuss [2]

Apple has announced a brand new version of iBooks Author, and there's a few very important things to note. Starting today, iBooks Author comes with a bunch of new Apple templates, making textbook creation even easier. Publishers can also use their own fonts right there in their digital books, which should do something to give their books some personality that make them stand out. Read The Full Story

iBooks app updated with Continuous Scrolling

, Oct 23rd 2012 Discuss [0]

With the update of the Apple universe comes the push for apps that keep the Apple ecosystem strong, thus the event today came running with 1.5 million books on the iBooks book store. This update from Tim Cook came in with 400 million downloads from the iBooks book store. These numbers came with a brand new update for iBooks that starts in with Continuous Scrolling, iCloud, and new sharing abilities. Read The Full Story

Choose Your Own Adventure books coming to iPad

, Apr 28th 2012 Discuss [0]

With the explosion of e-books lately, there is increasing dialogue about the emergence of books that users can interact with. There's an entire new class of digital books that contain links to websites, have embedded videos and dynamic content, and all sorts of other things that take advantage of the fact that these books are being presented on a digital device. Read The Full Story

US sues Apple and publishers over ebook price fixing [Update: Full details]

, Apr 11th 2012 Discuss [2]

Apple, along with publishers Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan and Penguin, is the target of a price- fixing antitrust lawsuit filed by the US government, alleging the companies colluded on the price of ebooks. The lawsuit was filed in New York district court, Bloomberg reports, and while full details of the suit are unknown, it’s believed that some of the publishers are chasing an early settlement. Update: News on settlements and the full documentation after the cut.

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