Google Commerce Starts The Year Off With A Reorganization

Some of Google’s core product areas , like search and YouTube, have the enviable duty of retaining market dominance. Others, like its Android mobile operating system, get to be the free-wheeling disruptor. Google Commerce, meanwhile, has the perennial chore of trying to gain ground versus a vareity of well-established payments competitors ranging from PayPal on the web to Apple’s iTunes and Amazon on mobile. So, it’s not that surprising to hear about a reorganization within the commerce area as Google tries to figure this space out, as ...
iBooks 2 for iPad unveiled

It looks like these week’s rumors about Apple’s education were right on the dot. Apple announced today the launch of iBooks 2 for iPad – which introduces the support for iPad textbooks. iBooks textbooks are said to offer iPad users “gorgeous, fullscreen textbooks with interactive animations, diagrams, photos, videos, unrivaled navigation and much more. iBooks textbooks can be kept up to date, don’t weigh down a backpack and never have to be returned.”
With companies like Houghton ...
iBooks Author and iTunes U released

In addition to the release of iBooks 2, Apple also announced the launch of iBooks Author – a free app downloadable from the Mac App Store that lets anybody easily create textbooks suitable for the iBooks App. GarageBand for iBooks? Sure sounds like it. While I haven’t given iBooks Author a spin, it is supposed to be easy to use and powerful. Best of all, it doesn’t cost a thing – so you can expect a ...
Sea Change: Apple Guts Textbook Publishing

The days of the $500 college textbook bills are, it seems, over. With Apple’s announcement of iBooks 2, the world of textbooks is changed forever. Education is a hard nut to crack. There are bright spots and clever new ideas, but technology hasn’t quite figured out how to do a better job than the “old ways.” That’s why Apple’s decision to launch iBooks 2 and the attendant editing tools is so important: it tears down a number of entrenched technologies while maintaining the scaffolding of familiarity. It ...
Houghton Mifflin, McGraw Hill, Pearson First Textbook Publishing Partners For Apple’s iBooks 2

Today at Apple’s education event, the company introduced iBooks 2, a textbook platform that effectively transforms $200 textbooks into iPad apps at a much more reasonable price. But of course, a textbook platform isn’t worth a thing without the educational powerhouse publishers behind it. Luckily, the first up to the bat on the iBooks 2 platform are names we know well: Pearson, McGraw Hill and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. They’re responsible for 90 percent of the textbooks sold. Pearson will be offering Algebra 1, Biology, Environmental Science and ...
Gucci covers for your iPhone and iPad

If you’re looking for a functional and stylish case for your iOS devices and you’ve got some money to throw around, how about picking up a designer case for your iPhone/iPad? The folks over at Gucci have decided to put their experience and expertise behind making fashionable suits, bags and accessories into creating stylish designer cases for iOS devices. They’ve recently come up with silicone covers that are decked ...