Color E-Books at the iBookstore

The New York Times has said that Apple is now making a huge push for the illustrated e-books that they have available in their iBookstore.

The newest version of Apple’s iPad e-reader software, iBook 1.2, was released on Wednesday, December 15, and it introduced more than 100 new color e-books to the store. The Times reported that these new color books include children’s books, cookbooks, and photo books.

A few of the titles that have made the list include: chef Thomas Keller's cookbook, "Ad Hoc at Home," several books from the "Olivia" children's book series, and photographer Ansel Adams' collection of images called "In the National Parks."

With the announcement Apple seems to be focusing a lot on the addition of illustrated children’s books. The Times said that the company seemed very excited about it as well as many different publishers.

Jon Anderson, publisher from Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, said that his publishing company has been "itching to do it since e-books became possible." Unfortunately, for a while there was a lack of color options for e-books, but now there are endless possibilities. "It finally gives us the opportunity to have our picture books join the e-book revolution," said Anderson in an interview. "It gives us great opportunity to monetize our content in a way that we previously haven't been able to."

Simon & Schuster are releasing some great titles that will be included with the new color e-books released at the iBookstore. Some of these titles include: Candace Fleming's "Tippy-Tippy-Tippy, Hide!", Elise Broach's "When Dinosaurs Came With Everything," and Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell's "And Tango Makes Three."

The Times said that, according to Anderson, at the start of 2011 color e-books will begin to be released at the same exact time as the print edition of the book. Right now, this is already what has been going on for text-only e-books and their print versions, but soon it will apply to all e-books.

Apple told the Times that there will be many other publishers producing color e-books for the iBookstore in the near future. Just a few of these include: Disney Publishing, HarperCollins, the Hachette Book Group, and MacMillan and Workman Publishing.

This newest development for the iPad may cause some more issues for Amazon’s Kindle. The Kindle is equipped with an E-ink screen, which means that it cannot handle color. Apple’s iPad has been the preferred e-book reader by the majority of customers up to this point anyway, but this latest color development could cause even more distance between the sales numbers of the iPad and Kindle.

Apple’s new developments will most likely put some pressure on Amazon, and it could possibly result in a new color e-reader from the company.

Amazon has sold millions of Kindles, probably due to the E-ink screen featured on the device. The E-ink, backlit LCD screen featured on the Kindle makes it easy to read things on the tablet even in the bright sunlight, unlike the iPad and the Nook Color e-readers. Despite this great feature on the Kindle, they will definitely need to quickly look into developing a color e-book reader if they want to keep up with the other e-book readers available.

Interactive E-Book for Kids on the iPad

Many people are enjoying the fact that they can utilize their iPad as an e-book reader. It can be really convenient and sometimes easier to tote around than a book. Now, Kiwa Media has created their QBook interactive series of e-books that is specifically designed for kids. This series gives kids more than just something to read. It makes the whole experience more engaging for even small children since each story now becomes an interactive adventure.

You can purchase stories by QBook at Apple's App Store. The latest release for Kiwa Media's new series is a story called That's not JUNK. It is a story that is all about recycling, and it teaches kids the value of recycling. As mentioned before, the stories are interactive. That's not JUNK features Swipe-to-Read, this allows kids to read at their own pace; Touch-to-Hear, which lets kids touch than hear the words on the "pages;" and Touch-to-Spell, that helps kids improve their early language skills. Kids can decide whether or not they want to use Auto Play or My Narration when they read with QBook. Auto Play reads the story to your child, while My Narration allows your child to record themselves reading the story out loud.

With QBooks, children can see each page of the story in full color, or they can choose to use Paint mode which allows kids to color the pages of the story themselves with a variety of different colors and brush widths. Each page of the story also includes animation and different games that children can play. Basically, one single story has plenty of features to keep your child entertained for hours.

There are several different QBooks that are available from the Apps Store. They are available for iPad or iPhone. That's not JUNK is available now for $4.99. There is also a demo version of Sally Sloth Saves the Day that has just recently been released. Now the demo version only includes 5 pages, so if you get this demo for your kids, they may want to know what happens next in the story.

If you're looking for something to keep your kids occupied, QBooks from Kiwa Media are a great idea. They are fun, interactive, and even educational. For about $4.99 a story, you can keep your kids entertained for plenty of time. It's a great solution to keep the kids occupied on the go.

If you're looking for ways to keep your iPad protected while you're on the go check out the GO! iPad Sleeve, or if you're looking to try out an iPad, check out where you can rent them.

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