Category Archives: iPad

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New Quark Xpress is ebook Friendly

Quark announced this month the availability of QuarkXPress 9.2, the new update to QuarkXPress 9 that is free to all QuarkXPress 9 customers. QuarkXPress 9 is award-winning design software that enables millions of creative professionals to publish across digital devices as well as to print and the Web. The best part for authors is that version 9.2 adds new ePUB features, ePUB 3 audio and video support .

QuarkXPress 9.2 and ePUB

QuarkXPress 9 introduced the ability for designers to easily export print layouts to ePUB to create traditional e-books. With QuarkXPress 9.2 designers can now, in addition to converting a print layout to ePUB, create a new project specifically for ePUB export. With the new update, it’s now also possible to:

* Add audio, videos, and hyperlinks to an ePUB e-book

* Create hierarchical tables of content
* Control the format and resolution of pictures on a global or
picture-by-picture basis
* Create new articles, visually crop pictures, and split text
components in a reflow article
* Re-order components by dragging-and-dropping within the Reflow
Tagging Palette
* Specify the default story direction for East Asian ePUB e-books

Along with the new ePUB functionality, QuarkXPress 9.2 also supports audio and video for ePUB 3, the new version of the standard that supports rich media. Read more about QuarkXPress 9 and ePUB here.

QuarkXPress 9.2 and iPad Publishing

A key component of QuarkXPress 9 is App Studio, which offers designers a cost-effective way to create and publish enriched, interactive content to digital devices, such as the iPad. With QuarkXPress 9.2, App Studio templates support iOS 5 Newsstand and meet new Apple guidelines for iCloud storage. In addition to the many enrichment options already available with QuarkXPress 9, QuarkXPress 9.2 and App Studio now include:

* New Play/Pause/Stop/Toggle play actions that allow designers to
build buttons that control other media elements such as sound and
video
* A Hide Controls option for sound and video that allows designers
to make the control bar for a media player invisible
* A Loop option that designers can use to specify that a sound or
video element should loop its playback

 

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Publishing Push coming from Apple

Apple

Apple could be hosting a special media event in New York City this month. The event won’t be about Apple’s next iPad if reports are believed to be correct. Instead, Apple will be talking directly to the publishing industry.

The theme of the event will be publishing and e-books. Considering reports indicate Eddy Cue will be prominently involved, it’s a focus area that makes a lot of sense.

Apple SVP of Internet Software and Services, Mr. Cue is in charge of the iBookstore, as well as the iTunes and App Stores, iAd and iCloud. Cue is the one who took the stage the last time the company had a publishing event, when it unveiled News Corp.’s publication The Daily.

READ THE FULL STORY



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Check out the 20 Free eBook Apps Of The Week

AppsBooks apps. We will surely start seeing more and more apps for smartphones and tablets that are derived from the publishing industry for both avid and casual readers. It is no surprise that iBooks leads the way in this category. AppData tracks the top apps of the past week and here are the top 20 book apps.

No Angry Birds need apply

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Fast Company – The Great Tech War of 2012

This is a pretty amazing in-depth analysis of the Fab Four tech companies:

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/160/tech-wars-2012-amazon-apple-google-facebook

“Everyone reading this article is a customer of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, or Google, and most probably count on all four. This passion for the Fab Four of business is reflected in the blogosphere’s panting coverage of their every move. ExxonMobil may sometimes be the world’s most valuable company, but can you name its CEO? Do you scour the Internet for rumors about its next product? As the four companies encroach further and further into one another’s space, consumers look forward to cooler and cooler products. The coming years will be fascinating to watch because this is a competition that might reinvent our daily lives even more than the four have changed our habits in the past decade. And that, dear reader, is why you need a program guide to the battle ahead.”

The Great Tech War of 2012

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A Steve Jobs Comic Book

Apple vs Amazon Steve Jobs

The late Steve Jobs

The comic from Bluewater Productions, which was first announced last June, is expected to show the history of Steve Jobs and Apple’s rise to the top of the technological heap. Of course, since the comic was produced before his passing, the paper copy will make no mention of when he passed away. The special eBook version however will make respectful mention of the end of his life. While those who use Comixology as their main comic book or eBook reading app will have to wait until October 27th to get the book, Kindle users will be able to download the book today and Nook users tomorrow. 

This is not the first time that… READ MORE

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InnoTab, an iPad for children

Child on iPad like deviceRecently, Leapfrog introduced its LeapPad tablet for children. A company called VTech has now entered the market with the InnoTab, an inexpensive iPad-like device for kids that plays games, music and ebooks, and offers downloadable apps for the device. USA Today takes a closer look at this second kiddie tablet, which is to hit the market in the next few weeks.

The e-reader lets kids listen to books as the words are read aloud and highlighted. Each page offers interactivity when kids tap the screen. And words appearing in a different color ink can be tapped to be defined.

READ MORE AT USA TODAY

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iPads Available now at Wisconsin Library

Photographer: Daniel Acker/BloombergThe L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library in Eau Claire, WI is set to introduce a new program in which participants can try out iPads on the premises and can also rent out models for up to seven days for personal use.
This program is being put into motion thanks to a $50,000 grant provided by the Presto Foundation.
 
Here’s how it works…LEARN MORE
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Unflattering Review of the Amazon Tablet, aka Kindle Fire

Amazon Kindle Fire tablet

ETC@USC/flickr

Tomorrow Amazon will unveil its answer to the iPad, says TechCrunch’s MG Seigler. “On Wednesday morning in New York City, Amazon will unveil the Kindle Fire, which is expected to retail for around $250.

It is designed for two fingers, instead of ten. It is described as “like the BlackBerry Playbook, but not in a good way.”

READ MORE FROM THE ATLANTIC WIRE

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Apple and other Major Publishers Sued over Price Fixing

Apple and other publishers sued

Law firm Finkelstein Thompson LLP filed a class action complaint against Apple, Inc. and six major book publishers alleging a horizontal conspiracy to fix and increase the price of eBooks in the United States. These allegations, if proved, may entitle purchasers of eBooks to monetary damages. The publishers include Hachette Book Group, Inc., HarperCollins Publishers Inc., Macmillan Publishers, Inc., Penguin Group (USA), Inc., Random House, Inc., and Simon & Schuster, Inc. The action is currently pending before a New York State judge.

The complaint alleges that six of the defendants implemented price-fixing agreements contemporaneously with Apple’s introduction of the iPad in April, 2010. Defendants allegedly did so by coordinating the introduction of an “agency” model for eBooks sales, where the publishers are the direct sellers of the eBooks and dictate the price at which online retailers, such as Amazon.com, can sell the eBooks as agents for the publishers. The book publishers and Apple allegedly agreed among themselves to simultaneously raise the price of eBooks, often from $9.99 to $12.99 or higher.

If you are interested in discussing your rights, or have information relating to this investigation, please contact Finkelstein Thompson’s Washington, DC offices at   (877) 337-1050  or by email at contact@finkelsteinthompson.com

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Are eReaders taking over?

Libraries and ebooksOn a recent Go bus trip from Hamilton to Toronto, more than half the approximately 50 passengers had their noses buried in something.

Two of them were reading books. A handful of people were busy texting or using an app on their smartphones. One young kid, who looked to be about seven, played a video game and at least eight people seemed to be just staring at their electronic devices.

They were… [READ THIS COMMENTARY]