Archive for the ‘eBook Readers & Textbooks’ Category
Apple brings etextbooks to iBooks on the iPad no comments
Apple yesterday announced a new version of iBooks that will support interactive textbooks on the iPad. Apple also released iBooks Author, a new app which simplifies the creation of textbooks and other graphic and multimedia rich ebooks for anyone using a Mac computer. The new ebook authoring app uses pre-designed page layout templates that enable authors to include multimedia and interactive elements in their creations.
Pearson, McGraw-Hill and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt have started making iPad versions of their high school textbooks available through the new educational section of the iBookstore.
iBooks 2 is free at iTunes and iBooks Author is free at the Mac App Store.
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Chegg launches new eTextbook Reader no comments
Chegg announced a new HTML5 based reading app for its digital textbooks today. The new eTextbook Reader is cloud-based and allows students to access their etextbooks on any connected device, including their favorite tablets.
In addition to easy navigation, enhanced highlighting, note taking and search functions, the new eTextbook Reader includes some new features:
- Instant Definitions: Select any word or short phrase and instantly see the dictionary and Wikipedia definition.
- Always-on Q&A: Search any text and select "Ask A Question" to instantly connect to Chegg’s Homework Help service. Chegg’s community of subject matter experts answer questions, often in fewer than two hours.
- Key Highlights: Turn on a view of the most important content from each eTextbook, crowd-sourced from other users’ eTextbook activities.
For more details see Chegg.com.
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CourseSmart launches etextbook Web app no comments
CourseSmarthas launched a new Web app that enables access to etextbooks and course materials on a variety of mobile devices. The Web app presents textbooks in a digital version that is faithful page by page with the print edition.
There is no downloading process to access the free Web app. On supported browsers, CourseSmart users with an active eTextbook account will automatically be prompted to sign into the Web app when they begin reading their eTextbooks. Any future enhancements for the app are automatically updated, eliminating the need to visit an app store to obtain the latest app version.
The app is supported by Amazon Silk, Safari and Google Chrome browsers on the following devices: Kindle Fire, iPad and Android™ 3.0 and higher OS tablets.
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CourseSmart partners with 9 additional publishers no comments
CourseSmart today announced that it has formed partnerships with nine additional publishers: Oxford University Press (USA); Oxford University Press, Canada; W.W. Norton; American Technical Publishers (ATP); BarCharts; ASM Press; Paradigm Publishing; Vista Higher Learning; and University Readers.
With the new publishers on board, CourseSmart now offers more than 20,000 etextbooks from 31 publishers, representing 90 percent of all core higher education textbooks used in today’s curriculums.
"Our new publishing relationships will enable us to continue expanding our footprint and further solidify our position as the world’s largest provider of digital course materials. The additional titles and content to our higher education catalog will allow more students and faculty to enjoy the benefits of our digital course materials, including anytime, anywhere access, cost savings and efficiencies, device agnostic applications and other digital benefits inherent in our offerings," said Sean Devine, chief executive officer at CourseSmart. "We will continue to engage with other higher education-focused publishing houses to ensure we meet the growing demand for eTextbooks and other digital course materials."
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Kno adds 3D and multimedia to etextbook app no comments
Kno has added 3D and multimedia to its Textbooks for iPad app. According to Kno the 3D feature “makes it easier for students to grasp difficult concepts by
instantly turning 2D figures into interactive 3D models that jump off the page.”
Initially the 3D feature (which is still a beta version) will be in chemistry textbooks. The 3D views should help students to better understand complex and abstract figures by allowing them to rotate and zoom 360-degree views of objects.
The Smart Links feature, which is also in beta, enables links in Kno’s digital textbooks to free educational videos and other material from Khan Academy, websites and links to related material in other digital textbooks.
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Kno launches textbooks on Facebook & Web app no comments
Kno has begun making its selection of over 100,000 textbooks available on Facebook. Students can now access their etextbooks via Facebook and can choose to study alone or with their Facebook friends.
The digital textbook company has also launched the device-agnostic Kno for Web, which enables students to access their textbooks from any browser. This will make Kno usable on laptops, Android-based tablets and other devices.
Kno has also added two new features to its iPad app:
- Journal lets students create an easy to review digital notebook with images, annotations, stickies, text and media transferred from their textbooks.
- The new Quiz Me feature can turn any diagram into an instant multiple-choice quiz.
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Amazon launches Kindle textbook rental with flexible rental periods no comments
Amazon today announced the launch of Kindle Textbook Rental. The program allows students to pay only for the exact time the digital textbook is needed by choosing a rental length of between 30 and 360 days. According to Amazon a 30 day rental can save up to 80 percent off the list price of the print version. If more time is needed when the initial rental period is over, the rental can be extended multiple times by as little as one day.
Another feature is that all notes and highlights are saved in the cloud after the rental expires. The etextbooks can be read on a Kindle ereader or on one of the free Kindle reading apps.
For more details see the Kindle Textbook Rental store.
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Kno releases Textbooks for iPad no comments
You may recall Kno, the startup that planned to launch the large and expensive single and dual-screened tablets for use with digital textbooks.
When this proved to not be viable, Kno decided instead to concentrate on developing its digital textbook reading software for use on other platforms. A couple of months ago Intel Capital invested $20 million dollars in Kno.
Kno today announced the launch of Textbooks for iPad, a digital textbook app. At launch there are over 70,000 titles that are priced 30-50 percent off list price. The app will also handle PDF files.
Some of the features of the app include:
- Page numbers that match those of the physical textbook.
- Highlighting and annotations; Sticky notes.
- Preview an entire chapter and jump to any page.
- Organize your textbooks & PDF documents by class and term.
- Social learning features: Ask questions or share comments with friends.
- Display works in both portrait and landscape mode; Pinch to zoom enabled; Double tap illustrations to enlarge.
- 15-day money back guarantee on textbooks.
Textbooks can be purchased from within the app, but are a bit cheaper if you instead use the iPad’s browser to go to Kno.com and do your shopping there. In addition to selling digital textbooks Kno has an etextbook rental program.
Kno is running a promotion, the Early Bird Program, that will refund the purchase price of one of your text books at the end of the promotion. Participation involves sharing your thoughts on the new Kno app in product feedback sessions. To join this program like Kno on its Facebook page and then fill out the form.
The Textbooks for iPad app is free at the App Store.
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Ectaco and Hanvon to launch ereader for the educational market no comments
Around the first of the year Ectaco announced that it would be launching the K-12, an ereader aimed at the educational market. That is the last I’d heard of this project until Ectaco sent out this press release today:
Ectaco Inc., the world’s leader in portable language learning and the manufacturer of the jetBook eBook Reader announced today that it has teamed up with Hanvon, a leading global eBook Reader manufacturer and character recognition technology provider to create the first ever eBook Reader oriented towards education and implementation into standard classroom usage for teachers and students worldwide. These two brand new Educational eBook Readers will be showcased at the 2011 Book Expo of America in New York.
The first educational device is the jetBook K-12 for the US market features one-of-a-kind interactive technology to aid students in honing their skills in all subjects. The jetBook K-12 has specific programs students need like Speaking Oxford English Dictionaries, Speaking Oxford English-Spanish (or one of the soon available 38 languages) Dictionaries, the most comprehensive electronic SAT preparation course with endless lessons, Speed Reading courses to aid students in learning to read faster, English-Spanish (or one of 12 available language pairs) Text Translation System that can translate any text in full, English, Spanish and other language grammar courses, Interactive Phonetic Language Teacher® program to teach virtually any language step by step, Linguistic crosswords, Graphing, Scientific and Accounting Calculators, Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Earth Science reference books, interactive course of US History and Facts, interactive Periodic Table of Elements, Text and Voice Note storage, Audiobooks Player and much more.
The second educational eBook Reader, named jetBook Color, will be implemented to schools across the US, China and Eastern Europe for the 2011-2012 school year. It will utilize the newest 9.8 inch Color E-Ink screen with an easy to use interface directed toward students and teachers. It will feature most of the programs from the jetBook K-12 with extra components based on each regions educational system.
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CourseSmart launches etextbook app for Android no comments
CourseSmart has announced the release of CourseSmart for Android 1.0, a mobile app that gives students access to their etextbooks from CourseSmart on their Android-powered smartphones, netbooks and tablets.
Some of the features the new app provides:
- Search for a topic within a single book or across an entire eTextbook stack and access the table of contents;
- Zoom in on text and graphs;
- Scroll through or jump to individual pages;
- Read eTextbooks in landscape or portrait mode;
- View, add and edit text notes.
- Enjoy anytime, anywhere access to 90 percent of all core higher education textbooks in use today; and
- Shop for additional books at up to 60 percent off using a specialized AOS version of CourseSmart’s website
The app is available at the Android Market or at CourseSmart.
£149.00
£109
