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Amazon Announces Whispercast for Kindle–A Free Self-Service Tool for Schools and Businesses to Manage Large Deployments of Kindles and Support Purchase and Distribution of Kindle Books and Documents Across Kindle E-Readers, Kindle Fires and Free Kindle Reading Apps

Whispercast will also include support for “bring your own device” programs for students and employees wanting to add their own devices to a Whispercast account, and in the coming months the ability to support distribution of applications from the Amazon Appstore for Android

SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oct. 17, 2012– (NASDAQ:AMZN) – Amazon.com, Inc. today announced “Whispercast for Kindle,” giving schools and business customers a simple, scalable online tool for deploying Kindle devices and Kindle content. Whispercast provides a single access point to easily purchase and distribute Kindle books and documents for educational, marketing and employee incentive programs across Kindle devices and free Kindle reading applications for iPad, iPhone, Android phones and tablets, PCs and Macs. In the coming months, Whispercast will support distribution of Kindle Fire applications. Whispercast works with Kindle e-readers and Kindle Fire tablets, including the recently announced $69 Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Paperwhite 3G, Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD, Kindle Fire HD 8.9” and Kindle Fire HD 8.9” 4G LTE. To learn more about Whispercast, visit http://whispercast.amazon.com.

“Hundreds of thousands of students around the world are already reading on Kindle,” said Dave Limp, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. “Today, we are announcing Whispercast, a free, scalable solution for school and business administrators to centrally manage thousands of Kindles and wirelessly distribute Kindle books as well as their own documents to their users. Organizations can also design bring-your-own-device programs at school or work using personally-owned Kindles, Kindle Fires, and other tablets using the free Kindle reading applications for receiving content.”

Whispercast for Schools

gives teachers and educators access to millions of Kindle books, including best sellers and free classics, they can easily purchase and distribute to develop educational programs for every age group and level. And with Kindle books students no longer need to carry heavy textbooks. Kindle devices can also help meet the individual needs of students with features such as adjustable font sizes, line spacing, built-in dictionaries and the ability to add and share their own notes and highlights. Whispercast support for Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD and the free Kindle reading apps on iOS, Android, PC and Mac gives students the ability to explore and learn with full-color Kindle books, including interactive children’s books and websites. Schools can also register and seamlessly manage the settings on all their Kindles, including adding password protection, centrally configuring wireless connectivity to their organizations’ private networks and restricting individual purchases.

“We have been using Kindles in our schools for two and half years, and our students are more enthusiastic than ever about reading and studying,” said Keith Mastroides, Principal at Clearwater High School. “We started with 2,000 Kindle e-readers at our school and the program has been so successful that we have expanded it beyond our school and now more than 122 schools in the district are using Kindles. Whispercast gives us the ability to better streamline the process to manage our Kindles and content, so we can continue to grow the program.”

Whispercast for Business

Whispercast makes it easy for business owners to manage and deploy fleets of Kindle e-readers and tablets as a way to support employee productivity or customer marketing initiatives. Additionally, Whispercast makes it easy to centrally distribute PDFs and other business documents such as a conference agenda or training materials to employees or customers. With “bring your own device” support businesses will be able to distribute documents and Kindle books to personally-owned Kindles and other devices with access to free Kindle reading applications. Businesses will also be able to use Whispercast to purchase and distribute applications from the Amazon Appstore for Kindle Fires in the coming months.

“With Whispercast, our professional sales representatives can focus on helping our clients choose the medical information they want on their Kindle devices,” said Jim Donohue, Managing Director, Global Clinical Reference, Elsevier. “Rather than dealing with the logistics of shipping, managing and replacing physical books, hospitals and life sciences companies can now use Whispercast to immediately procure and distribute select Elsevier eBooks to their clinicians, researchers and staff.”

Whispercast for Non-Profit Organizations

Even nonprofit organizations with remote locations around the world have experienced the benefits of Whispercast. “Over the past year, Worldreader has trialed Whispercast to wirelessly deliver over 200,000 e-books to children in sub-Saharan Africa,” said David Risher, President of the literacy charity Worldreader. “With Whispercast, we are helping kids read more than ever. Kids no longer have to wait for a new book to be shipped. It is simply delivered electronically and waiting for them to start reading.”

Whispercast Features

Easily manage fleets of Kindles

With Whispercast, administrators can register and assign users to all of their organizations’ Kindle devices at once, creating personalized Kindle experiences for each student or employee.

Support for “bring your own device”

With support for personal devices, organizations can invite employees, students, customers and partners to receive content from the organization on their Kindles.

Create user groups

Whispercast gives administrators the ability to assign users into one or more groups, such as specific class, grade level or corporate department. User groups make it easier to purchase and distribute content for each group’s unique needs.

Control device settings, such as Wi-Fi and password protection

Schools and businesses can configure device settings across all their Kindles, including configuring wireless connectivity to private networks for a simple and secure user experience as well as restricting web access and purchases.

Wirelessly distribute Kindle books, documents and applications

Whispercast makes it easy for organizations to centrally distribute Kindle books as well as documents on an individual basis. In the coming months, Whispercast administrators will be able to purchase and send Kindle Fire applications. Additionally, during the purchase process organizations will be able to select which content should be assigned to specific user groups they have created.

Support for free Kindle reading apps on iOS, Android, and other devices

Schools and businesses can purchase and send Kindle books and distribute documents to devices using any of the free Kindle reading apps, including iPads, iPhones, Android phones and tablets, PCs and Macs.

Support for centralized procurement

Organizations can efficiently purchase Kindle devices and content through a single payment method, including purchase orders, as well as Amazon gift cards or credit cards.

For more information about Whispercast, visit http://whispercast.amazon.com.

About First Edition Design Publishing:

First Edition Design Publishing is the world’s largest eBook and POD (Print On Demand) book distributor. Ranked first in the industry, First Edition Design Publishing converts and formats manuscripts for every type of platform (e-reader). They submit Fiction, Non-Fiction, Academic and Children’s Books to Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble, Sony, Google, Kobo, Diesel, 3M, Ingram, Baker and Taylor, Nielsen, EBSCO, and over 100,000 additional on-line locations including retailers, libraries, schools, colleges and universities. The company’s POD division creates printed books and makes them available worldwide through their distribution network. First Edition Design Publishing is a licensed and approved Aggregator and holds licenses with Apple and Microsoft.

Visit: www.firsteditiondesignpublishing.com

Best eReader Apps for #Apple #iPad #ebooks #FED_ebooks #author

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First Edition Design Publishing

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Best e-Reader Apps for the iPad

The iPad is a multifaceted device, but one of the primary functions is ebook reading. Apple has devoted significant resources to ensure ebook reading on the iPad is a pleasant affair. Presented below are a few apps that vie for consumer attention rated for ease of use, depth of content, and overall experience.

iBooks:

iBooks is Apple’s very own ebook reading application and it has quickly risen to the top, on account of the stupendous success the iPad has achieved. This is hardly surprising, considering the app is best integrated for the iPad, which means there is no requirement of any external software to read books. Also, with the iBook Store just a tap or two away, you will never find yourself lacking a good e-book to read.

However, it has also been the subject of some harsh criticism with experts often accusing Apple of having put a heavy emphasis on the looks and feel of the app at the cost of functionality and usability. So while the app looks great and page turns almost look like a real book, users have often complained about the inability to maximize the ebook experience to make the most of available screen space and so on. The inability to remove pagination graphics is another irritant. The iBooks search is another feature that needs to be worked on. Searching by keyword is still not an option and until that happens, searching by title is the only options for users. Categories are too general, which means searching by categories is a headache.

That said, there are several pluses with the iBook application, which can be used to read ePub and PDF files. Books can be obtained not only from the Apple iStore, but also from Project Guntenberg or any of the user’s own ePub or PDF files. Readability is excellent, which is enhanced further with the Retina Display in the new iPad 3. There are no distracting ads or other such things, which is another big plus. Users also have the option to pen down notes for specific passages for research and later reference.

Bluefire Reader:

The Bluefire Reader is one of the best independent ebook reading apps for the iPad, with its biggest selling point being that it uses the Adobe Digital Editions DRM platform. What this means is that the Bluefire app can be used to read DRM-protected PDF and ePub ebooks that you might have purchased from independent ebook retailers. This also makes the app perfect for reading ebooks borrowed from public libraries. With this app, the user won’t be tied down to a particular ecosystem.

The Bluefire Reader also offers the usual customization options such as font sizes, line spacing, color schemes, and so on.

Amazon Kindle:

Amazon is the pioneer in this field and started this entire trend in the first place. However, with the demographic change that the entire ebook segment has gone through, Amazon has found itself to be in direct competition with Apple. So the best thing Amazon can do is develop a Kindle app for iOS, which will allow iPad users to browse over 1,000,000 ebooks that Amazon hosts.

The app works great and reading a book on it is a pleasant experience. However, there is no way to buy books from within the app. Instead, users will have to buy from Amazon via the Safari browser. Also, as is usually the case, the app is heavily dependent on the Amazon ebook store, but that shouldn’t be a problem for those who have already invested substantially in the Amazon ecosystem.

Barnes & Noble Nook:

The B&N Nook ebook app follows the same principle as the Amazon app, allowing non-Nook users to source their books from the huge B&N store that comprises of more than two million ebooks. What makes the Nook app all the better is that it offers more customization options than other paid content readers. These include different font sizes, font types, colors schemes, or margins. This app is great for providing the best reading experience based on personal preferences. These are in addition to the usual reader app preferences such as notes, highlights, bookmarks, searching within the book, sync last page read, dictionary look-up, and such.

Kobo:

Kobo is the third of the big trio (Amazon and B&N being the other two) that offers an opening to the vast Kobo ebook store via its Kobo app on the iPad. Also, just like the Kindle or Nook apps, the Kobo app is tied to the Kobo ebook store and won’t respond to any other ebooks downloaded from any other source. Kobo also provides the standard amount of customization options that all reader supply.

Google Books:

Google Books is the newest addition to the reader apps available for the iPad and comprises of no less than 3 million ebooks. Apart from providing for a nice reading experience, the Google Book app boasts of some unique qualities, such as VoiceOver support or offline reading. Another interesting feature with Google Books is that many of the volumes from the Google bookstore are actually scanned copies of the actual literature, which means users will get to see the original form of the literature, including the typesetting and illustrations wherever present. On the flip side, users may not get to see the book in its entirety as a page may be shown to be warped depending on how the pages were treated on the scanning device. However, for the more important titles, Google also offers the regular ebook mode that will offer them in proper ebook format. Readers will just have to select ‘Flowing Text’ to enable viewing in ebook format.

Another nice aspect of the Google Book app is the night reading mode, which presents the text in inverted white letters against a black background. The seven different typefaces along with a wide variety of text sizes further enhances the night mode reading experience.

What makes the Google Book app different from the others is its heavy dependence on cloud connectivity. What this means is that none of the free scanned ebooks will be downloaded onto the iPad. Instead, they will be loaded into cloud storage directly from the internet and as a result is very network intensive. This won’t be an ideal situation in those areas that suffer from network issues.

Stanza:

Stanza is another popular ebook reading app that is not tied to any particular store. Interestingly, Amazon is the current owner of it, but has kept the store independent. What adds to the app’s appeal is that it is compliant with a range of ebook formats, including Mobipocket, PalmDoc (DOC), Microsoft LIT, HTML, PDF, Microsoft Word, and Rich Text Format (RTF).

Stanza is also tied to a range of booksellers such as Feedbooks, Random House, Harlequin, Project Gutenberg, Munseys, BookGlutton, Mutopia, and PanMacmillan, from which users can source their ebook requirements. The app also boasts of solid functionality as well as an excellent search utility.

Source: www.goodereader.com By: Sovan Mandal

About First Edition Design Publishing:

Visit: www.firsteditiondesignpublishing.com

Students stock up on iPads, ebooks #FED_ebooks #ebook #teacher #ipad #writer

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Students stock up on iPads, ebooks

TRIPS TO OFFICEMAX to fill up on pencils, filler paper, binders, and notebooks for the first day of school could soon go the way of the horse and buggy, replaced by trips to the Apple store to pick up iPads and iPad Apps.

Ebook Publishing Design Edition First Graphic Aggregators Ebooks Publishers Distribution POD Designing Approved Aggregator How Services Academic Distributor Chapter Submission Professional Firsteditiondesignpublishing.com published book market

Apple’s iPad replaces textbooks

This September, BC High’s seventh through tenth graders will be required to obtain iPads as part of their school supply list. They join schools like Burlington High School and Sacred Heart High School in Kingston that have purchased iPads for their entire student body with the goal of cutting textbook costs and taking advantage of a wide variety of digital learning resources.

At BC High, a private school in Dorchester where students must pay for their own textbooks, administrators expect the iPads to pay for themselves in cost-savings from buying ebooks instead of regular textbooks. Charlie Drane, the BC High Academic Vice Principal, said many textbooks can cost between $100 and $200 each, but the e-versions of those books are priced significantly lower. “In one class alone, it’s a $100 savings,” Drane said.

Drane estimated that “potentially in two years, but certainly in three years,” students will recoup the cost of their $399 iPad in textbook savings.

Not only do the e-books cost less, Drane said, but they come with more features to aid learning than the regular books do.

Although the iPads are primarily for textbooks, teachers at BC High, who have already been equipped with their own iPads by the school, plan to use them for other activities. “There will be many different uses for it both in the classroom and out of the classroom, on top of the textbook replacement,” Drane said.

The iPads can save paper, allowing students to turn in their assignments to their teachers in digital form. Their teachers can grade them electronically and even record their comments for the student in audio form.

The idea for using iPads at BC High first surfaced in 2010, when the school’s director of technology got an iPad. He saw the potential for its use in the classroom, and last year the school purchased iPads for every member of the BC High faculty. Drane said letting the faculty use the iPads for a year gave them a sense of their value in the classroom. When it came time to decide whether to make iPads a part of the curriculum, the faculty was in full support. “It was very clear where everyone stood,” Drane said.

The school decided they would require students to purchase the iPads on their own rather than the school buying them, in part to allow students to consider the device their own. So far, reaction from students has been overwhelmingly positive but parents are a little more hesitant, Drane said.

The biggest issues that parents are concerned about are safety and security. A significant chunk of BC High students use public transportation to get to school, and parents are worried their sons’ iPads will be stolen or lost. Other parents are concerned their sons will access websites they shouldn’t go on to, or that their sons already spend too much time connected to technology.

“We’re trying to do what we can to allay some of those fears,” Drane said. The school intends to bring in a Massachusetts State Police officer to school early in the year to talk to students about iPad safety. The school is also encouraging students to purchase insurance for their iPads to address the issue of theft or breakage. The school also sees the iPads as a great opportunity to educate students about the resources available to them through technology, while also showing them how to be responsible on the web.

Ryan Bernardi, who is from Milton and is entering the tenth grade at BC High this year, said he is in favor of the iPads but thinks it may take some getting used to if teachers are asking students to use the device as a replacement for a notebook in class.

“I think one challenge will be to take notes,” Bernardi said.

Bernardi, who already had an iPad and had used it in some classes last year where teachers permitted them, is already seeing significant savings from textbook purchases. As for concerns about loss or breakage, Bernardi said he keeps it safely in his backpack when traveling to and from school on the Red Line. “I always check to make sure I have it,” he said.

He also pointed out that the Apple store sells cases to prevent the iPad from breaking if it is dropped.

Source: http://www.commonwealthmagazine.org

By: Sam Obar – August 27, 2012

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Visit: www.firsteditiondesignpublishing.com

Tablet PC Comparison

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A side by side comparison of more than 40 tablet PCs

This survey from www.tabletpccomparison.net shows cost in USD, screen resolution, CPU, Ghz, operating system, storage, battery life in hours, and the tablet weight in lbs and kg.

Tablet PCs from Acer, Samsung, Apple, Asus, Toshiba, Coby, Le Pan, Sony, Vizio, HP, Dell, Blackberry, B&N Nook, Nexus and Motorola are compared. The viewer can sort models by clicking on column headers.

To view click on the graphic >

F i rst Edition Design Publishing is the world’s largest eBook distributor. Ranked first in the i nd u stry, they convert, format and submit eBooks to Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble, Sony, Google, Kobo, Diesel, 3M, Ingram, Baker and Taylor, Nielsen, EBSCO, scores of additional on-line retailers and libraries, schools, colleges and universities. The company also has a POD (Print On Demand) division, which creates printed books and makes them available worldwide through their distribution network.The Company is a licensed and approved eBook Aggregator, Apple Developer and Microsoft Solution Provider.

48 #iPad #Apps That #Teachers and Parents Love

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First Edition Design Publishing

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48 iPad Apps That Teachers and Parents Love

Apple’s iPad and other tablet computers have certainly been garnering ardent support from the edtech community. Gadget geek teachers love the thousands of apps available to give their courses a multimedia edge, and students love how so many reach out to different learning styles. For the connected classroom, the following stand out as either great supplements to various lessons or essential, time-saving streamlining strategies.

Art and Music

Wasabi Paint:Get those little Jackson Pollocks acquainted with the core tenets of abstract and abstract expressionist art with one of the most hyper-realistic painting applications available.
Virtuoso Piano Free 2 HD:Pianos aren’t the cheapest pieces of equipment out there, and schools and teachers with iPad access will love teaching kids the all fundamentals without spending thousands.
Musee du Louvre:Since Paris is a bit too far away for most schools to schedule a field trip, the Louvre’s official app works almost as well, with virtual tours of its historical holdings.
StudioTrack:Perfect for band, choir, and orchestra directors who want to record their students’ performances using a full studio setup.
Sketchbook Pro for iPad:Often touted as one of the best art applications currently available, Sketchbook Pro’s extensive digital toolbox is an essential for art teachers and students looking to channel their creativity in virtual spaces.
Tonara:Tonara listens to musicians and music students play sheet music directly from the device and turns the page as soon as they hit the end.
iDraw:Introduce budding young design virtuosos to the glory and wonder that is vector drawing and encourage them to experiment.
The History of Jazz – an interactive timeline:Through video, audio, and other multimedia presentations, the rich and troubled history of a musical — not to mention cultural! — phenomenon compellingly unfurls.
MoMA:Another excellent iPad application bringing users to the hallways of the Museum of Modern Art for intensive creative inquiry.
Music Theory and Practice by Musicopoulos:Exactly what it says on the tin — play around with Musicopoulos’ offering for lessons, exercises, and quizzes about all the intricacies of interpreting music.
TypeDrawing for iPad V3.0:Typography and typographic design thrive in the digital arts community, and this critically acclaimed resource makes for a great way to get students thinking critically about the medium.
Symphony Pro:Write and play back compositions using Symphony Pro’s myriad features, which make it easier than ever to whip up original works for students to practice and perform.

Language, Reading, and Writing

iBooks:Apple’s official eBook reader requires a download since it doesn’t come with the iPad, but it’s well worth the few seconds to access free and cheap classics, bestsellers, and more obscure reads.
Dictionary.com – Dictionary & Thesaurus – Free:It’s a free digital dictionary and a thesaurus available through Dictionary.com — explanations don’t get much more straightforward than that.
Grammar Up:With more than 1,800 lessons and questions to choose from, Grammar Up works as an excellent refresher on punctuation and parts of speech for both students and their instructors.
Totale Course HD:Subscribers to the Rosetta Stone Totale Course program enjoy access to this application, which features comprehensive multimedia lessons in the world’s most widely-spoken languages.
Meegenius! Kids’ Books:Whenever children reading or listening to one of the featured books encounters an unfamiliar word, Meegenius! builds their vocabulary skills by hooking them up with the definition.
Pages:Pages is often touted as the best word processing application available on the Apple line of products, and since it works with the iCloud, it’s possible to save chances across devices.
Sounds: The Pronunciation App FREE:Both ESL and native speakers love flicking on Sounds and learning all the weird little quirks of English language pronunciation.
Storyist:An excellent resource for both teachers who dig writing on the side and students hoping to hammer out their very first creative writing work for publication!
Grammar Girl App:Mignon Fogarty — the Grammar Girl herself — brings her beloved Quick and Dirty Guide to all things wordy through this app, which includes direct access to her podcast, Twitter, book excerpts, and more.
iTranslate ~ the free translator:With more than 50 languages to choose from, almost anyone needing to know the translation for a quick word or phrase before a test or out exploring the world will likely find out what they need to know.
Goodreads:Crazy popular social networking site Goodreads allows bibliophiles to share reviews, rankings, and book collections; educators should definitely consider signing up and scoring some great recommendations about what to teach, what to learn from, and what to simply enjoy.
Chapters – Notebooks for Writing:Chapters’ friendly interface allows users to juggle through different writing projects in different mediums, and search and edit them with extreme ease.

Math and Science

The Elements: A Visual Exploration:Every element on the periodic table comes alive in sterling, gorgeous detail, with multimedia lessons on its basic characteristics, uses, and appearances.
Wolfram Alpha:It’s a veritable Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in one single application, but mathematics buffs in particular will absolutely adore the fully functional scientific calculator and seemingly endless computational capabilities.
Star Walk:Point the iPad at the sky and learn exactly what stars and constellations happen to appear that night through this heavily decorated astronomy application.
Math Evolve:Ideal for ages 6 and up (though the developers threw in a few fun things for adults!), Math Evolve turns numerical basics into some super fun, super memorable games.
Skeletal Anatomy 3D – Quiz and Reference:Three-dimensional models and charts detail all the bones in the human body as well as how they work together. And, of course, users can use the built-in exams for keeping the information fresh upstairs.
Number Line:Teachers take advantage of the eponymous interface to provide quick and accessible lessons in fractions, decimals, and percentages.
Popular Science +:Subscribers to Popular Science magazine also receive access to the iPad app, which offers up both a full version of each months’ issue as well as exclusive multimedia content.
Motion Math Zoom:Play super duper fun math games suitable for kids — and maybe even adults who need a few refreshers — in glorious high-definition.
GeoMaster Plus HD:Fourteen games and an atlas provide hours of edutainment to students needing some effective and fun supplements to their classroom geography lessons.
MathRef Free:This math-related reference houses more than 1,400 formulas, facts, and almost everything else both teachers and students ought to know about number crunching.
Vernier Video Physics:Teach students the real-life applications of physics principles with Vernier Video Physics, which uses the iPad’s built-in camera to record an object in motion and detail all the tasty science morsels behind it.
Algebra Touch:Anything and everything learners and teachers have to know about simple and advanced algebra gets covered through this extremely popular, effective resource.

Organization, Productivity, and Learning

TeacherPal:This organizer specifically targets the titular demographic and offers up features specific to their needs, such as grade storage and calculation, rosters, behavior and attendance notes, and more.
Flashcards:One of the best flashcard apps available allows for fully customizable, multimedia decks of various sizes covering any subject an educator desires.
Khan Academy:Open courseware juggernaut Khan Academy wants everyone to “learn almost anything for free,” meaning teachers can use its official app for professional or personal development.
Dropbox:Dropbox remains among the most popular organization applications around because its simple aim of letting user access their files anywhere, anytime, from any device makes life just that much easier.
Evernote:Use Evernote to create fully searchable documents and notes retrievable from any connected device for free!
Instapaper:Because this app saves websites and blogs for offline reading and browsing, it’s a great tool for teachers who stumble across something to share with the class or relevant to their careers and private lives.
iTunes U:Another super amazing open source education resource overflowing with videos, audio, and other media lessons from such illustrious institutions as Oxford, MoMA, MIT, Yale, The Library of Congress, and plenty more; they cover an extensive range of topics, to boot!
DocuSign Ink:With this simple electronic signature tool, educators stave off the onset of carpal tunnel by downloading and appending it to documents needing their approval.
TED:Browse TED’s extensive archives of recorded lectures about pretty much everything directly from the world’s most influential, industrial movers and shakers.
iThoughts:When inspiration strikes, iThoughts is there to help iPad enthusiasts mind map lectures, assignments, and anything else to push education forward.
Box:Another productivity app streamlining the document and file storage and retrieval process, this time allowing for projection!
PBS Kids Video:Preschool and elementary school teachers who love themselves some technology integration will love exploring the the thousands of kid-friendly educational videos provided by PBS via their official iPad presence.

by staff writers

SOURCE: http://www.onlinecolleges.net
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Apple’s Antitrust Reply On eBooks: ‘We Benefited The Public’ #FED_ebooks #eBooks #Author #Writer

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Apple’s Antitrust Reply On eBooks: ‘We Benefited The Public’

http://www.ibtimes.com Business & Books

Wednesday, May 30, 2012 6:42 AM EDT

By David Zielenziger

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), the world’s most valuable technology company, has acknowledged that its iPad made it a major force in ebooks but denied that it’s stifling competition in a formal reply to the Justice Department’s April antitrust lawsuit.

In a response to an antitrust complaint that was made by the U.S. Department of Justice in the U.S. District Court in New York on April 11, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company denied the charges and said the iPad had effectively broken an ebook monopoly held until 2010 by Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN), the No. 1 e-retailer.

“The Government sides with monopoly, rather than competition, in bringing this case,” Apple stated in its legal response, which was prepared by Daniel S. Floyd of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, Apple’s outside counsel.

Apple was sued along with five publishing giants for allegedly conspiring to fix the price of ebooks. The others were HarperCollins, a unit of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. (NYSE: NWS); Simon & Schuster, a unit of CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS); Penguin Group, a unit of Pearson PLC (NYSE: PSO); Hachette, an imprint of France’s Lagardere (EPA: MMB); and Macmillan, a unit of Germany’s private Holtzbrinck.

All of the defendants have settled except for Apple, Macmillan and Penguin.

Since the lawsuit, Apple shares have shed nearly 9 percent of their value. They closed Tuesday at $572.27, up $9.98. Shares of Seattle-based Amazon have declined 1 percent. They closed Tuesday at $214.75, up $1.86.

Nevertheless, Apple’s brief sheds light on some of the process behind its entry into ebooks. Among them:

The iPad wasn’t intended as an eBook reader. “Apple did not believe it was necessary to sell eBooks for the iPad to be successful,” the brief reads. “But [it] concluded that if a viable iBookstore model could be created, it would consider offering eBooks.”

Apple always wanted a 30 percent commission. Rather than use Amazon’s one-price model, Apple always wanted to collect a 30 percent cut from every publisher, a so-called “agency commission.” The reason is that sales through the AppStore, which has sold more than 25 billion items, are based on the same model.

Steve Jobs was involved in setting up the eBookstore. Apple CEO Steve Jobs was aware of internal efforts to create the iBookstore as shown in emails to retail Executive VP Eddy Cue a year before the iPad came out. But Cue handled the details and first contacted the publishers as late as December 2009.

Jobs, though, personally contacted one senior executive of a publisher “to discuss whether or not the publisher would sign up.” Identities were not disclosed. Jobs died Oct. 5, 2011.

Some publishers were upset at Amazon.com. That’s a reason why they talked to Apple about an alternative platform to the Seattle e-retailer because some believed Amazon was selling books below cost.

Apple didn’t require them to “contractually adhere to a $9.99 price ceiling regardless of competitive or market conditions,” the brief states.

Apple wanted all publishers for the iBookstore. While many of the terms were the same, there was no forced agreement for any of them to commit to Apple. The proposals, though, “were similar” but not intended to fix prices.

Apple’s entry into the book market is protected by the First Amendment. A common claim in publishing, Apple said that it is free to engage in book publishing as part of its constitutional rights.

Next up: Apple and its co-defendants will likely ask the court to dismiss the case. Barring that, it’s likely the company and its co-defendants will engage in some last-minute bargaining before a trial begins in New York. With cash and investments exceeding $110 billion, Apple could go to trial and pay lawyers forever. Or it could sign some sort of consent decree that would subject it to some kind of judicial or Justice Department scrutiny.

Other technology giants, including International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) are very familiar with that path. Apple will have to write its own book — or ebook — in this case.

First Edition Design Publishing, based in Sarasota, Florida, USA leads the industry in eBook distribution.They convert, format and submit eBooks to Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble, Sony, Google, Kobo, Diesel, 3M, Ingram, Baker and Taylor, Nielsen, EBSCO, scores of additional on-line retailers and libraries, schools, colleges and universities. The company also has a POD (Print On Demand) division, which creates printed books and makes them available worldwide through their distribution network. The Company is a licensed Apple Developer and a Microsoft Solution Provider.

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How to: Give #eBooks As Gifts #FED_ebooks #Author #Writer #Indieauthor

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How to: Give eBooks As Gifts

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First Edition Design Publishing, based in Sarasota, Florida, USA leads the industry in eBook distribution. They convert, format and submit eBooks to Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble, Sony, Google, Kobo, Diesel, 3M, Ingram, Baker and Taylor, Nielsen, EBSCO, scores of additional on-line retailers and libraries, schools, colleges and universities. The company also has a POD (Print On Demand) division, which creates printed books and makes them available worldwide through their distribution network. The Company is a licensed Apple Developer and a Microsoft Solution Provider.

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Rx for Medical Students: Take One Tablet

By Pam Baker

TechNewsWorld

“Having access to textbooks and notes on the iPad facilitated productivity — not only in the classroom, but also on subway and train commutes,” said Crystal Kyaw, a student who participated in a study of the iPad’s benefits for medical education. “Its sleek profile made it easy to carry and allowed me to access references in a nonobtrusive and convenient manner during meetings as well.”

The educational e-book market has grown fiercer in the last few years, raising the question of where the end game will leave educational institutions in their attempts to reduce student churn, increase productivity and radically reduce costs.

As the battling e-textbook giants try to cut exclusive deals and limit competitors’ supplies of e-content, educators from the kindergarten to university level are wondering if their choices of learning material will be choked as a result.

That concern is not unfounded considering that e-books are likely to outright replace paper textbooks in the next 36 months, according to Brian Kibby, president of McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Within the next 12-18 months, entire departments at universities will have replaced paper textbooks completely, Kibby predicted, noting that the trend is already under way. If titans in the e-textbook market limit access to e-content as a means to harm their competition, a learning institution can find itself short of the course material it needs by virtue of choosing the “wrong” device or service.

Tablet vs. E-Reader

Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) rents e-textbooks while Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) produces the software and service to create them, thereby providing the means to sidestep traditional textbook publishers. Both aggressively cut prices to the bone in an attempt to cripple their competitors.

Meanwhile, Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) offers Nook Study, which rents and sells textbooks. The content available from each is not identical. Some books are available on one outlet and not another.

However, content on tablets tends to be of more concern to educators than that which is available solely for e-readers, and that has everything to do with how the devices are faring in the consumer market.

The more colorful, glitzy and versatile tablets are overcoming their drabber e-ink e-reader cousins. E-readers sales have slumped from 9 million units in late 2011 to a meager 2 million units in the first quarter of 2012, according to Digitimes Research.

That doesn’t mean, however, that e-readers are fading away or that educational institutions are turning away from them. Annual e-reader shipments will exceed 60 million units by 2015, the firm forecast.

Tablet Wars

In regard to tablets, the competition, while still fierce, looks to be almost at the point of crowning a winner.

Apple reasserted its dominance in the first quarter of 2012 with a staggering lead in iPad sales, claiming 68 percent of the tablet market, according to preliminary data from IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Media Tablet and eReader Tracker.

Overall, tablet shipments tanked by 38.4 percent, mostly due to plummeting Android sales, although Amazon fared poorly too.

“Amazon, which stormed into the market in 4Q11 to grab second place with 16.8 percent of the market on shipment of 4.8 million units, saw its share decline significantly in the first quarter to just over 4 percent, falling to third place as a result,” reads the report. “Samsung took advantage of Amazon’s weakness to regain the number two position while Lenovo vaulted into the number four spot, followed by Barnes & Noble at number five.”

Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) almost fell off the shelf entirely in tablets, which limits its ability to carve much space in the textbook market — but the company is preparing to push back hard with Windows 8 and its touch-oriented Metro user interface.

“The worldwide tablet market is entering a new phase in the second half of 2012 that will undoubtedly reshape the competitive landscape,” said Bob O’Donnell, IDC program vice president, clients and displays.

“While Apple will continue to sit comfortably on the top for now, the battle for the next several positions is going to be fierce,” he said. “Throw in Ultrabooks, the launch of Windows 8, and a few surprise product launches, and you have all the makings of an incredible 2012 holiday shopping season.”

iPad Goes to Med School

To get a better feel for the effects of e-textbooks on student productivity, the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine’s Health Sciences launched an iPad pilot program and study.

With the aid of a US$10,000 Technology Improvement Express Award grant from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Middle Atlantic Region, Hofstra set out to determine the effectiveness of the iPad and apps as a tool for medical education.

The grant paid for 10 iPads and cases, along with textbook, productivity and medical applications. Ten out of the 40 first-year medical students and 10 out of approximately 30 faculty members involved in the Winter/Spring term received the devices.

In-person training and a support website were provided by the library staff. Some of the apps loaded on the iPads included textbooks not currently available via library subscriptions on various platforms; specific information-retrieval apps such as Pubmed on Tap, Micromedex and DynaMed; patient education apps; and a patient log app such as Drchrono, which served the students as a transportable Electronic Health Record.

“Students were eager to use iPad functionality as a collaborative tool in their case-based and self-directed learning, critical pathways in our integrated curriculum,” Debra Rand associate dean and director for health sciences libraries, told TechNewsWorld. “This grant-funded pilot study provided us with usage trends and the opportunity to obtain significant real-time feedback from students and faculty that will guide us in our future planning.”

How iPad Scored

The results of the 12-week pilot study were overwhelmingly positive from students and faculty alike. Students and faculty listed the iPad’s top strengths as portability, ease of accessing materials, and the note-taking and annotation capabilities. The top weaknesses noted by study participants were a “difficult to use” onscreen keyboard and the inability to use Flash content. Further, participants noted that the vendor feature allowing the purchase of chapters rather than an entire textbook was not useful.

The iPads were loaded with partial content of medical textbooks required in the school’s curriculum — some 20 chapters from five different textbooks for the purpose of this study. But most study participants said they preferred access to entire textbooks for reference purposes.

“Having access to textbooks and notes on the iPad facilitated productivity — not only in the classroom, but also on subway and train commutes,” Crystal Kyaw, one of the students who won a free iPad at the end of the Hofstra study, told TechNewsWorld. “Its sleek profile made it easy to carry and allowed me to access references in a nonobtrusive and convenient manner during meetings as well.”

But using iPads in medical school is not only beneficial to learning the material — it’s also preparation for real-world use in medical fields, a fact that further distances Apple from its e-textbook and tablet competitors.

Nearly three-quarters (74.3 percent) of the physicians participating in a study conducted by ON24 and MedData said they either owned or planned to buy an iPad in the next six months.

“We’re looking at a significant change in how doctors say they use and want to use virtual technology,” said Bill Reinstein, president and CEO of MedData Group, “and the results of the survey point to wider adoption and more meaningful use of online training anytime, anywhere.”

As to whether Apple will force med schools and doctors to use content that Apple provides or will be open to procuring content as the schools and physicians dictate is yet to be seen.

Pam Baker has written hundreds of articles published in leading technology, business and finance publications. She has also authored several analytical studies on technology, eight books, and an award-winning documentary on paper-making. She is a member of the National Press Club (NPC), Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) and the Internet Press Guild (IPG). She can be reached on Twitter at @bakercom1.

Sweet Deals for New Apple Stores #FED_ebooks, #Apple #ebooks

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The lure of the Store: Why authorities are sweetening deals for new Apple Stores

Source: thenextweb.com

By Matt Brian – 19 May 2012

The lure of an Apple Store can be so great that local authorities are doing all they can to sweeten the deal for the world’s biggest technology company, waiving rents and taxes in order to have it set up an Apple Store in their area.

New York’s Grand Central Terminal wanted Apple so bad it dropped its leasing fees and in Salt Lake City, authorities are rumoured to have dropped rents completely, to incentivise the opening of a new Apple Store.

Apple’s retail dominance

As a business, Apple’s retail stores are booming. In its second financial quarter (ending March 2012), the company saw sales rise by some 90 percent, breaking records with a $24.67 billion in quarterly revenue and $5.99 billion in profits.

A staggering 71 million customers visited Apple’s retail stores between January and March, an increase of 28 million from a year earlier. Apple’s impressive footfall is proving to be a catalyst for retail spending in the areas in which they are located, pushing the money spent back into the local economy.

A recent ABC News report states that Apple is going to open a new store in Salt Lake City, located in City Creek. The company already has one store in the the Utah city but thanks to what appears to be a massive retail incentive, it may open a new store before the end of the year.

What is the big incentive? According to ABC’s sources, City Creek has offered a “major concession package” that is thought to include five years free rent.

What makes Apple so special?

The truth is, realtors and local authorities know that when an Apple Store is opened in an area, tech savvy consumers come from surrounding areas to view products, seek help and spend money on luxury electronics. Put simply, spending will flow into City Creek.

The rental deal isn’t a one-off either.

While authorities will never confirm it — even City Creek’s Marketing Director said it “does not release the terms of its leases” — Apple’s lease for its impressive store in New York’s Grand Central Terminal is a third of that paid by other retailers and restaurants in the area.

In fact, the lease is costing Apple $60 per-square-foot, where other retailers are expected to pay $200 for the same area, and it has escaped having to share any of its revenue with Grand Central’s operator, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, according to papers obtained by the New York Post.

Apple’s success was directly benefitted other companies in the Terminal. In just seven weeks, Apple’s newest New York store helped one restaurant boost sales by 7 percent — impressive as it’s already co-owned by basketball legend Michael Jordan.

That restaurant – The Steakhouse — directly attributes its increased footfall to the nearby Apple Store with its other co-owner stating: “The jump only happened after Apple opened.”

Moving Forward

Apple is showing no signs of slowing its retail expansion, it’s already seeing an average of 22,000 customers, per store, per week. Of course, it wants to further increase that figure.

As of January 2012, Apple operated 363 stores and has opened a small number since then. In 2012, it has plans to open 40 new stores, including a handful in China, perhaps its most important market.

In order to facilitate this, Apple has allocated $900 million for its new stores, some of which have been confirmed in Germany, Spain, France and Australia.

Apple’s retail success is down in part to its customer service, ease of purchasing, level of detail in its stores — and the quality of its products. However, the company isn’t completely satisfied with its operations, and has brought aboard former Dixons CEO John Browett to drive its retail business forward.

Tim Cook has said that the Dixons exec will bring “Apple to an even higher level of customer service and satisfaction.”

Part of this plan apparently involves automating its sales processes, which includes investment in its ‘Personal Pickup’ service, which allows customers to buy products online and pick them up from their local Apple Store.

Apple also launched a new iOS payment service called EasyPay, providing a simple way for customers to enter an Apple Store and pay for their purchase using their iPhone, without having to seek assistance from a sales clerk.

The company is set to release a new iPhone and update its range of Mac computers in the coming months, no doubt incentivising Apple fans to return to their local store to check them out.

As it stands, the company is setting the standard for retail, with other technology companies — including Microsoft — rushing to open similar stores and build rapport and most importantly gain trust from their customers.

Apple might be benefitting from its success, in terms of the money it saves from leases, but companies in the vicinity of an Apple Store don’t seem to mind. It’s difficult to complain that a company is getting preferential treatment when it helps boost your own revenues and increase the number of people coming to the area.

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Tablet Sales Expected to Soar with Apple (Mostly) Dominating

Source: WSJ.com

CIO Journal. May 15, 2012

By Thomas Loftus, News Editor

Tablet sales are echoing the “wild exuberance” of the cellphone industry in its early years, market watcher IHS iSuppli said in a report issued on Tuesday, predicting that unit growth will soar 85% to 126 million in 2012 and 63% to 205 million in 2013. Apple’s iPad is expected to dominate sales, capturing 61% of 2012 market share. But IHS iSuppli predicts that things could get more interesting for the industry (and CIOs) in late 2012 with the launch of a new generation of tablets that use the forthcoming Windows 8 operating system.

Apple’s iPad

IHS iSuppli predicts that these ‘PC-type’ tablets will generate 8 million unit sales next year, a 160% increase over expected 2012 figures. By comparison, what IHS Suppli calls “media tablets,” such as Apple’s iPad, will boast a more modest—but still impressive—60% increase in sales with 197 million units in 2013. PC tablets will appeal to business users looking for desktop-like features such as opening multiple windows and access to traditional desktop applications. As CIO Journal reported, Lenovo is among the enterprise PC makers hoping to tap this demand, with a Windows 8 tablet.

Despite hopes for the PC tablet, Apple remains the vendor to beat inside and out of the enterprise. After dipping to 55.1 percent share of the tablet market in late 2011 owing to the launch of Amazon’s Kindle Fire, the company is on track to claim 61%, the same portion it had in 2011. IHS Suppli director Rhoda Alexander cited the Apple platform’s “complete hardware-plus-content ecosystem,” first forged with the creation of the iPod and the iTunes music store, as a significant obstacle for any rival to overcome.

IHS Suppli cited rumors concerning the possible deployment of a smaller 7.8 inch display version of the Apple iPad. If Apple does release such a version, IHS iSuppli writes, the emphasis will be on playing up the quality of the overall tablet experience, and not on a substantially lower price.

First Edition Design Publishing, based in Sarasota, Florida, USA leads the industry in eBook distribution. They convert, format and submit eBooks to Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble, Sony, Google, Kobo, Diesel, 3M, Ingram, Baker and Taylor, Nielsen, EBSCO, scores of additional on-line retailers and libraries, schools, colleges and universities. The company also has a POD (Print On Demand) division, which creates printed books and makes them available worldwide through their distribution network.

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