Tag - IBooks
Last chance: MacNN books on final sale [u]
Go get some of the best articles and tutorials we've ever done. Just make sure you go get them right now. For the MacNN e-books that are just a buck each for our most popular Pointers pieces won't be a buck, and won't be MacNN for much longer. For from the end of this month, MacNN.com is closing down. Update: sale is over!
Apple starts paying customers affected by e-book price-fixing affair
Apple is starting to pay customers who purchased e-books from the iBooks store in the past, as part of its $450 million settlement to end a lawsuit over alleged e-book price fixing. Starting from today, affected consumers will receive a store credit from the company, with the law firm Hagens Berman advising the $400 million allocated to customers would be paid out at different levels, depending on the popularity of the books in question.
New MacNN Book: Work Smarter with Shortcuts
Behind every product Apple ever releases at WWDC, there are shortcuts. Little steps you can take to speed up how you work with them: methods to do things faster, to skip steps you don't need. They never get mentioned, except for now: our favorite tips are now in the new MacNN Pointers: Work Smarter with Shortcuts e-book, now available on Kindle and iBooks.
Closure of iTunes Movies, iBooks stores in China ordered by government
The shutdown of the iTunes Movies and iBooks stores in China last week were forced by a regulator within the local government, according to a report. It is claimed the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film, and Television is behind the closures, with the government's interest in more tightly controlling media from foreign sources appearing to be one of the main reasons why the stores were taken down.
Recommended: consider these for your first 10 iPad apps
The best way to get apps for your iPad is slowly: as you need to do something, find what does it, and try some out. The worst way is to read an article listing "100 Amazing Apps." and download the lot in one go. If nothing else, one person's amazing is another person's shrug. MacNN has picked 10 and while, actually yes, we think they're pretty amazing, this set has been picked specifically to be what every iPad should have.
Pointers: E-Publishing part 2 –– Planning
Last week, we said we'd take you through the whole process of writing and producing both e-books and paperbacks. We made a big thing about how we were doing this for real, that we'd show you the truth of what you need, and where it gets tricky. However, we also said the one thing this week-long series wouldn't have is "us writing another book." It was true, but we don't think it was very useful of us so instead, yes, we're writing another book. If we type just slightly faster than you read, then by this Friday we will have another e-book on sale, on both the Apple iBooks and the Kindle stores.
Pointers: writing and publishing e-books
We've been wanting to take you through writing e-books for a long, long time. We wanted it so much that actually, we did it: our 2015 Summer Project detailed every step right up to the one key thing we could not cover –– and now we can. We weren't messing around with this, we wrote actual new books to publish; we didn't regurgitate Apple's instructions, or use sample text. Yet it was only with the much later production of the MacNN guides for new Mac and iPad users that we finally got to really experience the tricky last stage: we hit problems with Apple's iBooks approval process.
MacNN e-books for new Apple users
Get our new guides, and save them to your Mac or iOS device: these three volumes tell you all you need to get started with your new Apple devices. Written by best-selling technology authors Charles Martin and William Gallagher, these MacNN guides are now available for free on Apple's iBooks Store.
China sees debut of native Music, Movies, iBooks stores
While the news will come as a surprise to those outside China, the country is only just today getting its own Apple Music service and some of the various iTunes Stores, including Movies and the iBookstore for the first time. The various stores will, as is the case in most other countries, emphasize native artists at least as much as western acts. Local heroes such as G.E.M. and Eason Chan will be seen in the Music store alongside popular western artists. The Movies store will feature Chinese cinema and Hollywood films, while the iBookstore will offer a wide selection of native-language e-books.
Briefly: Apple Pay at University of Oklahoma, NFL on Apple TV
The first US university to accept Apple Pay at all locations campus-wide turns out to be the University of Oklahoma, according to a blog post from the school. In total, the ultra-secure mobile payment system is accepted at some 400 point of sale locations at the university, from the campus bookstore to all the restauarants. Apple has been a popular vendor at the One University technology store on campus, and also promotes the university's content on iTunes U and on iBooks.
Now AAPL Stock: 150.27 ( -0.07 )
Cirrus creates Lightning-headphone dev kit
Apple supplier Cirrus Logic has introduced a MFi-compliant new development kit for companies interested in using Cirrus' chips to create Lightning-based headphones, which -- regardless of whether rumors about Apple dropping the analog headphone jack in its iPhone this fall -- can offer advantages to music-loving iOS device users. The kit mentions some of the advantages of an all-digital headset or headphone connector, including higher-bitrate support, a more customizable experience, and support for power and data transfer into headphone hardware. Several companies already make Lightning headphones, and Apple has supported the concept since June 2014. http://bit.ly/29giiZj
Apple Store app offers Procreate Pocket
The Apple Store app for iPhone, which periodically rewards users with free app gifts, is now offering the iPhone "Pocket" version of drawing app Procreate for those who have the free Apple Store app until July 28. Users who have redeemed the offer by navigating to the "Stores" tab of the app and swiping past the "iPhone Upgrade Program" banner to the "Procreate" banner have noted that only the limited Pocket (iPhone) version of the app is available free, even if the Apple Store app is installed and the offer redeemed on an iPad. The Pocket version currently sells for $3 on the iOS App Store. [32.4MB]
Porsche adds CarPlay to 2017 Panamera
Porsche has added a fifth model of vehicle to its CarPlay-supported lineup, announcing that the 2017 Panamera -- which will arrive in the US in January -- will include Apple's infotainment technology, and be seen on a giant 12.3-inch touchscreen as part of an all-new Porsche Communication Management system. The luxury sedan starts at $99,900 for the 4S model, and scales up to the Panamera Turbo, which sells for $146,900. Other vehicles that currently support CarPlay include the 2016 911 and the 2017 models of Macan, 718 Boxster, and 718 Cayman. The company did not mention support for Google's corresponding Android Auto in its announcement. http://bit.ly/295ZQ94
Apple employees testing wheelchair features
New features included in the forthcoming watchOS 3 are being tested by Apple retail store employees, including a new activity-tracking feature that has been designed with wheelchair users in mind. The move is slightly unusual in that, while retail employees have previously been used to test pre-release versions of OS X and iOS, this marks the first time they've been included in the otherwise developer-only watchOS betas. The company is said to have gone to great lengths to modify the activity tracker for wheelchair users, including changing the "time to stand" notification to "time to roll" and including two wheelchair-centric workout apps. http://bit.ly/2955JDa
SanDisk reveals two 256GB microSDXC cards
SanDisk has introduced two 256GB microSDXC cards. Arriving in August for $150, the Ultra microSDXC UHS-I Premium Edition card offers transfer speeds of up to 95MB/s for reading data. The Extreme microSDXC UHS-I card can read at a fast 100MB/s and write at up to 90MB/s, and will be shipping sometime in the fourth quarter for $200. http://bit.ly/294Q1If
Apple's third-quarter results due July 26
Apple has advised it will be issuing its third-quarter results on July 26, with a conference call to answer investor and analyst queries about the earnings set to take place later that day. The stream of the call will go live at 2pm PT (5pm ET) via Apple's investor site, with the results themselves expected to be released roughly 30 minutes before the call commences. Apple's guidance for the quarter put revenue at between $41 billion and $43 billion. http://apple.co/1oi1Pbm
Twitter stickers slowly roll out to users
Twitter has introduced "stickers," allowing users to add extra graphical elements to their photos before uploading them to the micro-blogging service. A library of hundreds of accessories, props, and emoji will be available to use as stickers, which can be resized, rotated, and placed anywhere on the photograph. Images with stickers will also become searchable with viewers able to select a sticker to see how others use the same graphic in their own posts. Twitter advises stickers will be rolling out to users over the next few weeks, and will work on both the mobile apps and through the browser. http://bit.ly/29bbwUE
