Archive for the ‘digital textbooks’ tag
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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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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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.
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Intel invests in Kno no comments
It had seemed that the interesting but expensive Kno tablets were
DOA, confirming the skepticism they were frequently met with. Now it seems that Intel Capital has made a $20 million investment in the startup. So apparently Kno, the company, will live on in some form. While the Kno tablets looked quite good, especially for the educational market they were aimed at, it always seemed doubtful they could compete at the announced prices.
There were reports a couple of months ago that Kno was planning to sell its tablet hardware business and to then concentrate on its software. The press release below from Intel Capital appears to confirm this. The Kno website has been replaced with a simple page proclaiming “We’re unveiling something new.”
The Kno Blog has not been updated for almost three months.
The press release:
Intel Capital invests $20 million in Kno.
- Intel and Kno to work together to optimize Kno’s touch-based applications for Intel’s educational platforms.
- Intel continues strong support of 1:1 eLearning environments.
SANTA CLARA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Intel Capital, Intel Corporation’s global investment organization, today announced a $20 million investment in Kno Inc., an education software company. The investment is part of a $30 million Series-C round led by Intel Capital, which includes participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Advance Publications, First Round Capital, FLOODGATE and SV Angels. Kno will use the funding to develop its innovative educational software solutions for multiple platforms, including Intel® architecture.
“Intel® AtomTM processors and the underlying technologies are well-suited for Kno’s touch-based applications, and provide the power-efficient performance and responsiveness today’s students have come to expect from tablets.”
Kno, short for knowledge, is an education software company on a mission to make learning engaging, effective and social for students. The companies will work together to address the growing interactive and 1:1 student learning environments by exploring opportunities to make Kno’s touch-based applications available for Intel’s educational platforms.
“The increasing consumption of digital content has primed the textbook market for disruption, creating an exciting opportunity for technology innovation to fundamentally change the way 1.4 billion students globally learn,” said Arvind Sodhani, president of Intel Capital and Intel executive vice president. “Kno’s purpose-built education tablet, along with its unique software solution, delivers a learning experience that directly supports Intel’s 1:1 eLearning vision.”
"Intel and Kno have a shared goal of accelerating the global education technology market so we are very pleased to have Intel Capital’s support," said Osman Rashid, CEO and co-founder, Kno Inc. "Kno’s software makes learning more engaging, effective and social for students, which we believe has the power to transform how students learn."
“Intel technology is increasingly becoming a favorite in devices for consumers as well as vertical industries like education,” said Bill Kircos, marketing general manager, Intel Netbook and Tablet Group. “Intel® AtomTM processors and the underlying technologies are well-suited for Kno’s touch-based applications, and provide the power-efficient performance and responsiveness today’s students have come to expect from tablets.”
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Kno tablets get price tags no comments
Kno has released the prices on its 14-inch tablets and, like the tablets themselves, the price tags are sizeable. Kno claims that if you do the math, the average student can pay for the Kno and save another $1300 by using it to study digital textbooks rather than using printed textbooks.
There are currently four configurations listed:
- Single screen 16GB — $599
- Single screen 32GB — $699
- Dual screen 16GB — $899
- Dual screen 32GB — $999
Actually, the prices are not that much different than the iPad, if you consider the size of the screen. Of course the Kno doesn’t have the Apple App Store behind it; instead it is relying on the developer community to come forward and make apps for it. How successful that will be no doubt depends on how many of the tablets are sold. The Kno is designed primarily for students to study digital textbooks on, and it does appear to come with a nice suite of study tools.
Some of the specs:
- Single or dual 14.1-inch LED multitouch display.
- Weight: Single screen 2.6 lbs; dual screen 5.6 lbs.
- Size: Single screen 13.8 x 9.1 x .55 inches; dual screen 13.8 x 18.3 x 1.14 inches.
- Nvidia Tegra T200 CPU; CPU speed up to 1GHz.
- 512 MB internal memory.
- Micro USB; microphone with noise cancellation (feature to be added with a future software update); 3.5mm stereo headphone jack.
- Battery life up to six hours.
- Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
- Accelerometer and ambient light sensor.
- Flash support.
- Audio and video playback supporting common formats will be added with a software update after the tablet’s release.
Kno expects to start shipping on Dec 20, 2010.
£149.00
£109
