Inkling takes on iBooks Author with ‘Habitat’ professional publishing platform

Jordan Kahn

Less than a month after Apple introduced its free “iBooks Author” e-book publishing platform, interactive iPad textbook startup Inkling introduced its own publishing platform called “Habitat.” Founder and CEO Matt MacInnis, who also happens to be a former senior manager of international education markets and Asia education marketing at Apple, made the announcement today in New York at the “Tools of Change for Publishing” conference.

Inkling dubbed Habitat the “First-Ever Digital Printing Press for Professionals,” and suggested the company hopes to offer a more comprehensive solution to professionals than Apple’s iBooks Author platform. In its press release, Inkling runs down some of habitat’s features: standards-based content including “guided tours, 3-D exhibits, interactive quizzes, and high definition video,” and single-click cross-platform publishing, cloud storage for collaboration, object-oriented content, and “Infinite revision management” to backup every change to your project.  The platform also has an “automated error reporting” feature to scan published content for broken links, and other issues with content…
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Apple modifies EULA for iBooks: Lays no claim to content, allows authors to distribute elsewhere

E. Betters

Apple just updated its End User License Agreement for the iBooks Author application, and the changes clearly outline the Cupertino, Calif.-based Company only requires .iBooks formatted products created in iBooks Author to sell through the iBookstore.

With that said, Apple aims to sell the packaged format without claiming the content nor restricting where else authors can distribute the content.

iBooks Author released alongside iBooks Textbook last month and controversy immediately brewed over its terms and conditions, which many claimed infringed upon software rights and imposed unjust requirements…

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27 German publishers to combat Apple with open digital textbook platform

Jordan Kahn

Following Apple’s big push into education with the announcement of the new “iBooks 2.0″ and “iBooks Author” platform, new reports claim 27 German textbook publishers are banding together to combat Apple with a digital textbook platform of their own. The platform will launch in time for the 2012 to 2013 school year.

According to a report from German language publication Boersenblatt.net (via eBookNewser), the unspecified German textbook publishers will unveil the new platform in Hannover during the Didacta Education Trade Fair from Feb. 14 to Feb. 18. The report seems to claim the platform is backed and developed in conjunction with the Educational Media Association. There is not a ton of details, but the reports claimed the platform would be completely open and available to all vendors and publishers, along with being supported on all devices and operating systems. According to eBookNewser: “There’s going to be both online and offline modes, and teachers and students will be able to purchase eBooks from different publishers and manage them on a shelf.”
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