Apple sees over 350K digital textbook downloads, report says

Apple’s venture into digital textbooks is apparently already proving successful, according to a recent report from Global Equities Research.

Last week, the company launched a new version of its iBooks iOS application for the iPhone and iPad, which will offer highly interactive electronic textbooks, as well as a new textbook section in the iBookstore. It also debuted iBooks Author, which is a way for teachers to create their own textbooks.

In the first three days … Continue Reading

How schools are reacting to Apple’s entry into education

When Apple announced its textbook initiative on Thursday, there was a rush of excitement among educators. Textbooks from major publishers, which can cost $40 to $75 dollars in print, would be available as interactive e-books for $15 or less. The new iBooks Author application could turn anyone into a publisher, with its simple interactive e-book creation tools.

But then there was the small print: In order to buy and read these textbooks, each student will … Continue Reading

The dark side of Apple’s digital textbook utopia

As it did with music and cellphones, Apple today fundamentally redefined what a textbook is with the announcement of iBooks 2 and its accompanying iBooks Author software.

The benefits of iBooks 2 and its interactive textbooks were hammered home during Apple’s New York City press event today: they’re interactive, easily updated, portable, the list goes on. But now that Apple’s hype machine has calmed down a bit, the issues with the company’s grand plan to … Continue Reading

Can Apple’s new textbook initiative save U.S. education? (infographic)

Apple recently announced a handful of new initiatives focused on making digital books more accessible in the classroom.

The company launched a new version of its iBooks (iBooks 2) iOS application for the iPhone and iPad, which will offer highly interactive electronic textbooks, as well as a new textbook section in the iBookstore. It also debuted an updated version of its education-based service iTunes U, which gives teachers the ability to do much more than … Continue Reading

iBooks 2: Apple’s stab at interactive textbooks (hands-on video)

Apple set its sights on education this morning when it announced a slew of new apps and services for students and teachers.

Among them was iBooks 2, an updated version of the company’s iPad e-reading app that adds support for interactive textbooks. Apple promises that iBooks 2 is a complete reinvention of the textbook as we know it. From my hands-on time with the app this morning, I’m not sure Apple has completely obliterated the … Continue Reading

Apple reinvents textbooks and curriculum with iBooks 2, iBooks Author, updated iTunes U

I can’t remember the last time anyone was so interested in education technology, but leave it up to Apple to whip up excitement. The company held an “education related” event at New York City’s Guggenheim Museum today, where many expected it to take on the textbook industry with new, interactive e-books.

And so it did. Apple announced iBooks 2, an updated iPhone and iPad app that will offer highly interactive electronic textbooks, as well as … Continue Reading

Apple to revolutionize textbooks with “GarageBand for e-books,” says report

For its big education-related announcement in New York City this Thursday, January 19, Apple may be planning to unveil new tools that would make it easy for publishers and authors to create interactive textbooks.

That’s according to Ars Technica, which points to sources that describe Apple’s plans for a “GarageBand for e-books” — in other words, software for interactive e-books that would be as easy to use as the company’s renowned music software.

Apple was … Continue Reading

Apple announces education event Jan. 19 — iTextbooks coming?

Apple is sending out media invitations to an event next week where it plans to make an “education announcement”, much to the dismay of many fanboys and fangirls hoping for information about the company’s next generation iPad.

The event, which is scheduled for January 19 at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, is expected to be a low-key affair. The invitation, as you’d expect, doesn’t contain any details that would shed light on what the … Continue Reading

Steve Jobs wanted to revolutionize textbooks next

After revolutionizing the digital music business, smartphones and tablets, former Apple CEO Steve Jobs was planning to take on an unlikely project: textbooks.

Jobs apparently wanted to hire textbook writers to create interactive digital versions of their books for the iPad, the New York Times is reporting based on information from the upcoming Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson.

The Times was one of many news organizations that got its hands on the biography last … Continue Reading

Inkling lands $17M, promises more innovative digital textbooks than Amazon

Digital textbook company Inkling announced Wednesday that is has scored $17 million in second-round funding from Tenaya Capital to compete with major competitors entering the space.

Collegians are getting more attention with companies like Chegg and CampusBookRentals, which recently raised $20 million, taking over the textbook rental market. But what about textbook innovation? Sure, the ability to hack down prices is A+ (get it?), but Inkling thinks interactive elements are key and believes the publishing … Continue Reading

Amazon finally introduces Kindle textbook rentals

Amazon on Monday announced that it would now offer students the option to rent digital textbooks, advertising that customers can save up to 80% off textbook list prices.

Buying textbooks in college has been a costly endeavor for many years, and just looking over new and used prices on textbooks in business, math, science, or history can be frightening. A CBS report last year listed the 12 most expensive college textbooks, with a jaw-dropping top … Continue Reading

Kno launches iPad textbook app, no threat to used books yet

We’re still waiting for the student tablet company Kno to deliver on its innovative dual-screen tablet design, but for now iPad owners will be able to get a taste of Kno’s textbook marketplace with its newly launched iPad app.

The free app, which is still in beta testing stage, gives users access to over 70,000 titles at 30 to 50 percent off their list price. But it will likely be a while before Kno can … Continue Reading

BenchPrep bets on textbooks (and more) beyond the iPad

Chicago startup Watermelon Express has been building educational apps since 2009, but now it’s pursuing a new strategy and giving itself a new name to match — BenchPrep.

Under its previous model, Watermelon Express worked with educational publishers like McGraw Hill and John Wiley (which publishes the CliffNotes series) to build standalone apps for interactive textbooks and test prep material. Chief executive Ashish Rangnekar told me that the company currently has 75 apps in Apple’s … Continue Reading

Intel leads $30M round for student tablet maker Kno, consult on hardware design (updated)

Update: Intel has clarified some aspects of this story. Find its statement below.
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Intel seems hot for ambitious education tablet startup Kno. Intel Capital is leading a new $30 million funding round in the company (along with Conde Nast owner Advance Publications), and Intel will also license Kno’s hardware design — effectively taking over its hardware burden — Intel will consult on the tablet’s hardware design,  All Things Digital reports.

Now Kno, which originally … Continue Reading

Student tablet maker Kno may drop hardware to focus on software

The developers behind the Kno, a student-focused tablet computer with a pen input, are in talks to sell off their hardware business and focus exclusively on software, according to tech blog BoomTown.

The Kno is designed to replace textbooks. The idea is to use pen input to recreate the same kind of tactile satisfaction that comes with smattering massive math textbooks with notes, something most finger-controlled tablets can’t offer.

So it does make sense that … Continue Reading

With $46M grab, can Kno make the education tablet a reality?

Kno, the maker of an upcoming digital textbook tablet, announced today it has secured $46 million as part of an equity and debt round. Marc Andreesen’s Andreesen-Horowitz was the lead in the round, with Silicon Valley Bank and TriplePoint Capital participating.

The company is building an all-in-one tablet for the higher education market that combines digital textbooks, course materials, e-mail, and the web into a dual-screen, notebook-shaped device.

Although the price of the device is … Continue Reading

Macmillan announces DynamicBooks, allows instructors to edit digital textbooks

Kno, the maker of an upcoming digital textbook tablet, announced today it has secured $46 million as part of an equity and debt round. Marc Andreesen’s Andreesen-Horowitz was the lead in the round, with Silicon Valley Bank and TriplePoint Capital participating.

The company is building an all-in-one tablet for the higher education market that combines digital textbooks, course materials, e-mail, and the web into a dual-screen, notebook-shaped device.

Although the price of the device is … Continue Reading