MobileViews Blog

Apple’s multimedia iBooks textbooks fascinates me in terms of its development (Apple iBooks Author for Mac OS X) and the books themselves. One thing is clear, developing these multimedia textbooks is going to be an expensive proposition. Textbooks tend to be much more complicated publications that, for example, novels because of the the number of page components. Novels tend to be a stream of text in, for the most part, a single typeface and font size. Textbooks have sidebars, indexes, charts, photos, maps, and even objects requiring different ink colors. Adding audio, video, and interactive learning tools ups the ante for textbook development even more.

The E.O. Wilson’s Life on Earth project estimates that the production and maintenance (updates) will cost millions of dollars: Initial development of Life on Earth will cost $8.5 million. Continuing costs will be approximately $1.5 million per year, including continuing development, maintenance, and bandwidth expenses. In all, we will require continuing annual support equivalent to the budget of a very small municipal museum, yet we expect to deliver value on another scale altogether
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Apple’s updated iBooks 2 app supports highly interactive multimedia textbooks created by the new free iBooks Author software for Mac OS X. iBooks Author’s EULA lock-in clause has raised a ruckus (see: Publish an ebook created using iBook Author & lock yourself in Apple-land forever). However, there’s another problem that may be a showstopper for students and other people who want to use these multimedia iBook ebooks: Their iPad may not have enough storage space to house the ebook.
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Can you include CSS3 animation in iBooks created using Apple’s new iBooks Author app? That’s what the people at Sencha wondered about too. So, they created a CSS3 animation using Sencha Animator and included it in a test iBook created with iBooks Author. You can see the result above.

How to Embed Interactive CSS3 Animations in an iBook

You can listen to my discussion with Sencha’s Senior Director of Product Management, Aditya Bansod. in MobileViews Podcast 54 recorded last month.

Thirty (30) of the apps for my iPad &/or iPhone were updated in the past week. Apps that do not have comments in the list below indicates that the update is simply a bug fix release.
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It looks like Apple launched a new podcast series named Meet the Developer. It is under the TV & Film/Events at the Apple Store category. The first podcast features a fourth generation butcher who released an app named Pat LaFrieda’s Big App for Meat ($6.99). The app has a somewhat unusual format. It combines the audio track with a slideshow of still photos from the discussion.

Apple created the desktop publishing industry in the 1980s. In the 21st century, they want to reinvent ebook publishing. Part of this reinvention process is the free iBooks Author software for Mac OS X that Apple released today (2012.01.19). Anyone using a Mac can download it from the Mac App Store at no charge, use the software to create an ebook, and publish it through Apple’s iBookstore. You can bypass the iBookstore publishing process for testing and informal distribution by simply getting the file over to an iOS device using, for example, Dropbox.

However, as most of us have learned by now, there’s always a price to pay even when something is free. In this case, the price is being locked into distributing only through Apple’s iBookstore if you create an ebook using iBooks Author that is sold for a fee. From that point on, any ebook created using iBooks Author must be distributed through the iBookstore. That’s what Dan Wineman learned by reading the software’s EULA: If you charge a fee for any book or other work you generate using this software (a “Work”), you may only sell or distribute such Work through Apple (e.g., through the iBookstore) and such distribution will be subject to a separate agreement with Apple.

Here’s an example of a book publisher “doing the right thing” for their customers. Erica Sadun’s book, The iOS5 Developer’s Cookbook, has production process related defects. So, Pearson has corrected these errors in both the print and ebook versions and is making replacement copies available. Here’s the official announcement.

The iOS5 Developer’s Cookbook – RECALL

It has come to Pearson’s attention that problems occurred during the production process of The iOS5 Developer’s Cookbook. The scope of the error was widespread and all print and eBook versions of the first printing were affected. Pearson has corrected these errors and the title has been updated. To find out if the copy you have includes errors and how to obtain a replacement copy please visit informit.com/ios5update

Source: IDC via Fortune

Earlier this week, I offered my opinion on: Why Microsoft insists tablets run Windows instead of Windows Phone (Windows CE). My opinion is that PC shipments are flat at best (worldwide numbers). This means that Windows sales are probably flat too (not accounting for people upgrading PCs). Assuming that tablet sales (mostly the iPad) is a partial factor for this situation, putting Windows on tablets could help prop up Windows sales.

The data from IDC mentioned by Fortune’s Philip Elmer-DeWitt (Snapshot of the computer market, with and without iPad) supports my theory. IDC’s data indicates that if the iPad is considered a “computer”, then the global PC market share is falling for Acer, Dell, HP and Lenovo. Apple’s market share hockey sticked and would, in fact, be the “PC” market leader if iPads are included.

Take a look at the two screen segment captures from my iPad 2 space two minutes apart. Notice that the battery level was reported at 95% at 7:24am. However, two minutes late, the iPad 2 reported 98% battery level despite the fact that I had not plugged it in to any power source to recharge the battery. So, what happened?
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Disney Publishing Worldwide announced a pair of iOS apps scheduled for release next month (Feb. 2012) that tell the origin stories of Marvel Comics’ Hulk and Avengers. The apps follow the 2011 release of The Amazing Spider-Man: An Origin Story app.
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T-Mobile’s free Bobsled for iOS app was updated a few weeks ago. But, I didn’t notice that it gained the ability to make free voice calls to any landline phone in the U.S., Canada, or Puerto Rico. Fortunately for me Paul Miller at The Verge did and let us know about it.

T-Mobile Bobsled adds free calling for iOS and Android, expands group messaging

I just tested the feature by calling my home phone from an iPad 2. It worked fine.

You can, of course, still make VoIP calls to your Facebook friends without needing any phone number at all.

The giant Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is going on this week in Las Vegas. If you’ve ever been in the huge LVCC or any of the hotels, you know that some kind of navigation is a big help. Google announced indoor mapping for the LVCC, airport and some hotels/casinos in Las Vegas. However, this indoor mapping feature is only supported in the Android version of the app. I guess Google’s messages is: If you have an iPhone, get lost!

Get indoor maps of Las Vegas Casinos, the Convention Center and more