Quietly announced two weeks ago following discussions with both the European Commission and the German Federal Cartel Office, Apple and Amazon have decided to end their deal which made Amazon-owned Audible an exclusive provider of audiobooks for iTunes.
According to a Reuters report Thursday, the move puts an end to antitrust complaints by the German government and is likely to boost competition.
The agreement had been in place for over a decade, since 2003.
Back in September, publisher HarperCollins debuted on iBooks Store exclusive Game of Thrones digital books featuring interactive content. Today, Apple began promoting these enhanced edition iBooks in last-minute holiday push with a trio of new videos published on its YouTube channel.
Comprised of five individual titles, these interactive iBook exclusives are available individually or as a $39.99 bundle from iBooks Store.
In November Apple debuted a hardbound photo book chronicling 20 years of product designs. The book is titled "Designed by Apple in California," and it comes in two sizes: small and large, priced at $199 and $299 respectively.
Alongside the release, Apple posted a promotional video by the same name on its website featuring voiceover from Chief Design Officer Jony Ive and a sneak peek into their design studio. And now the clip is available on YouTube.
Apple is releasing a pricey book, titled “Designed by Apple in California,” in which it chronicles many iconically designed products it's churned out over the span of past 20 years. Discussing the book's launch, Chief Design Office Jony Ive sat down with Tony Chambers of Wallpaper.com to explain why the iPhone maker set out to publish this book in the first place. Plus, Ive reflects on the nature of objects, the fragility of ideas and much more.
Apple today announced a hardbound photo book which tells the story of award-winning design at the company. Aptly titled “Designed by Apple in California,” the book is dedicated to the memory of Steve Jobs and covers 20 years of Apple’s design as expressed through hundreds of photographs of past and current product designs, from the 1998 iMac to the 2015 Apple Pencil. The photo book, which also documents the materials and techniques used by Jony Ive's design team, will be available beginning tomorrow for $199 or $299 from Apple.com and Apple retail stores.
The first book in George R. R. Martin's “Game of Thrones” fantasy series was published twenty years ago today. Celebrating the anniversary, publisher HarperCollins and Apple released interactive “Game of Thrones” digital books on the iBooks Store today.
Representing “an amazing next step in the world of books,” The Guardian reports that the enhanced electronic books bring “a world of additional content” such as sigils, family trees and glossaries.
Following launch of the widely popular and incredibly active Apple Support account on Twitter earlier this year, Apple has now created a brand new account on Instagram. Dedicated solely to iBooks, it shares book quotes, spotlights authors and reviews, promotes new arrivals and more. At the same time, the iPhone maker has now released the script for “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” on the iBooks Store (also available from Amazon and other retailers).
Lookmark for iPhone by developer Claes Jacobsson received a major update yesterday, prompting me to take another look at this interesting piece of software.
With Lookmark, you can bookmark apps and other iTunes content very easily from Safari, other apps and your desktop, and install/download them later when the time is right. Yesterday's update added a Share sheet extension which can save apps mentioned on any webpage.
Are you worried that your child may download an app, watch a movie/TV show, play a song, see a news story, or read a book that is not suitable for them? In this tutorial, we will show you how to block your kid’s access to explicit, vulgar, gambling, violent, or inappropriate apps and media on their iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV.
As of this morning, customers in China are unable to access Apple's content stores for digital movies and books, the iTunes Store for Movies and the iBooks Store, as both services went offline last evening without explanation. These stores are now inaccessible in China on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices, as well as on computers with iTunes.
No reason was give for the downtime and Apple had not commented on the move at post time, but AppleInsider has learned that it has something to do with the government's pending investigation into Apple's business practices.
Amazon on Wednesday unveiled a brand new device, the $290 Kindle Oasis, its eighth-generation Kindle e-reader. Billed as its thinnest and lightest e-redear yet, the Oasis weighs in at just 4.6 ounces and measures a remarkable 3.4 millimeters at its thinnest point, which is less than half the thickness of Apple's iPhone 6s at its smallest point.
Its dual-battery charging system lets you read for months without plugging in if you're using the Oasis with the official charging case. Without the case, the device's built-in battery provides up to two weeks of reading based on 30 minutes usage per day.
Thanks to the iTunes in the Cloud feature, Apple customers have long been able to re-download apps, movies, TV shows, music, music videos, books, ring tones and tones purchased on the iTunes Store, but not audiobooks. As per Apple's newly updated support document, customers in 22 countries total can now re-download any audiobook.
This feature is available in iBooks on an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with iOS 8.4 or later, or in iTunes on a Mac or Windows PC. In addition, previously downloaded audiobooks, free or paid, are now listed in your Purchased history in iBooks and iTunes.