Apple releases iBooks 3.0 with vertical scrolling, iCloud support

At an event held on October 23, Apple announced its newest version of iBooks. Apple stressed on the importance of the iPad in education, and how it has become a useful commodity in educational institutions. In iBooks 3.0, the latest version, the most interesting features are the ability to download purchases via the improved iCloud support as well as vertical scrolling.

It is now possible for users to view all their iBookstore purchases in iCloud, right on the bookshelf with iOS 6; scroll vertically through books by the flick of a finger using the new Scroll theme; and receive free updates to purchased books, which include new chapters, corrections, and other improvements. A user can also look up definitions for words in German, Spanish, French, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese with iOS 6, and share quotes or thoughts about books with friends on Facebook, Twitter, Messages, or Mail.

Now available with a range of new features

Download the latest version of iBooks  here. Alternatively, one can download it on an iOS device for free.

At the event held on October 23, the Cupertino-based company released the highly anticipated iPad mini. Apple declared that the new iPad design is such that it is now 23 percent thinner and 53 percent lighter than the third generation iPad. The new iPad mini sports a 7.9-inch multi-touch display, FaceTime HD, and iSight cameras.

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Speaking at the widely covered event, Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing said, “iPad mini is every inch an iPad. With its gorgeous 7.9-inch display, iPad mini features the same number of pixels as the original iPad and iPad 2, so you can run more than 275,000 apps designed specifically for iPad”. Schiller went on to add that the “iPad mini is as thin as a pencil and as light as a pad of paper, yet packs a fast A5 chip, FaceTime HD and 5 megapixel iSight cameras and ultrafast wireless―all while delivering up to 10 hours of battery life”.
 
The iPad mini has an aluminium and glass design 7.2mm thick, and weighs only 0.68 pounds. As per an official statement by Apple, the iPad mini has 35 percent more screen real estate than 7-inch tablets, and up to 67 percent more usable viewing area when browsing the web. The dual-core A5 chip on the iPad mini allows for responsive graphics and a multi-touch experience that Apple believes to be both, fast and fluid, while still providing all-day battery life.

The iPad mini features a front-facing FaceTime HD camera and a 5-megapixel iSight camera at the back, which allows for recording full 1080p HD video. The iSight camera includes video image stabilisation and both cameras feature backside illumination, which Apple claims will allow users to capture great pictures in low light. The iPad mini also allows easy sharing of photos with friends and family using iCloud’s Shared Photo Streams.

The iPad mini features dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi support for speeds up to 150Mbps, which Apple says is twice the Wi-Fi performance compared to previous the iPad models. The iPad mini is available in a Wi-Fi version and a cellular one, which are world-ready with built-in support for most wireless standards, including LTE and DC-HSDPA. The iPad mini data plans will be available sans contract; so users will be only required to sign up and activate service directly from their iPad. Using the Personal Hotspot feature you can share a fast cellular data connection via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or USB with up to five other devices such as the MacBook Pro, the iPod touch or another iPad.

With the introduction of iBooks 3.0, the iPad mini can be great for reading books, however, iPhone and iPod touch users may benefit more from this feature mainly because of the size of the display.