Apple’s iPad goes on sale April 3rd, but ebook publishers like Amazon and Barnes and Noble, are getting their own on-line ebook stores ready, making content viewable on the iPad as well as other tablets, such as Windows-based Slate PCs and Android Tablets.
Amazon’s Kindle app for the iPad offers splashes of color and allows readers to slowly turn pages with their fingers. Only books from the Amazon will be available on the iPad, but it can sync across multiple devices. People who currently subscribe to Kindle magazines, newspapers or blogs are currently restricted to those version on their current B&W e-reader, according to Paid Content.
Last week Amazon announced “Kindle for Mac,” a free application that lets readers enjoy Kindle books on their Mac computers. Kindle books are also available on the iPhone, Blackberry, and now tablets like the iPad. No Kindle required.
Amazon says their ebooks for tablets are:
- Tailored to the size, look, and feel of your tablet computer
- Customize background color and font size to ease eye strain
- Adjust screen brightness from within the app to make reading easier
- Page turn animation replicates the look of turning a page in a book. Or choose Basic Reading Mode for a simpler and unadorned reading experience
- Search and browse more than 450,000 Kindle books, including 101 of 112 New York Times Best Sellers.
- Books you purchase for a tablet can also be read on a Kindle and Kindle-compatible devices
When asked if Amazon’s Kindle app has been approved for Apples’ App Store, a spokesman replied: “We look forward to making Kindle for iPad available very soon. I’ll have to ask you to stay tuned on specific timing.”
Tablets and iPads can switch between animated page mode and basic reading. New content creation tools that address the needs of tablet users may emerge shortly.
“There are going to be many general purpose tablet computers and we want to show customers what they can expect for the category in general,” said an Amazon spokesman. The ePub format is the standard for ebooks at the present, but it is designed to support traditional narrative text, not embedded and streaming audio, video and social networking stuff.
Meanwhile, Barnes & Noble has yet to announce specific iPad plans, but has promised an app “specifically” for iPad. Apparently it will be different than Amazon’s tablets-and-iPad strategy. Unlike Amazon, B&N is promising iPad access to everything sold in its eBookstore. Apparently that includes book, newspaper and magazine subscriptions. It’s also promising to enhance the other B&N eReader apps for “an enhanced on-the-go reading experience.”
A number of Android-based color tablets have been demonstrated in recent months. These include WePad (above) the ICD Ultra, as well as Notion Ink’s Adam and HP’s Slate.
| WePad | iPad | |
| Display | 11.6-inch (1,366 x 768 pixels) | 9.7-inch (1,024 x 768 pixels) |
| Processor | 1.66 GHz Intel Atom N450 Pineview-M | 1.0 GHz Apple A4 |
| Memory | 16 GB NAND Flash (optional 32 GB internal + 32 GB SDcard) | 16 / 32 / 64 GB |
| Webcam | 1.3 Megapixel | None |
| Ports | 2 USB ports, card reader, audio out, SIM card slot, multi pin connector | Apple connector for camera or card reader as peripherals |
| Flash / Adobe AIR | Yes / Yes | No / No |
| App Store | WePad AppStore + Google Android Marketplace | iTunes App Store |
| Multitasking | Yes | Restricted, allowed only for Apple apps |
| Battery life | 6 hours | 10 hours |
| eBook format | All open standards | Proprietary Apple format from iBooks store |
| Wireless connect | Bluetooth 2.1, WiFi N, 3G optional | Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, WiFi N, 3G optional |
| Body | Magnesium-Aluminium | Aluminium |
| Size | 288 x 190 x 13 mm | 242.8 x 189.7 x 13,4 mm |
| Weight | 800 g (850 g with 3G) | 680 g |
NPR and WSJ are building iPad-Only websites without Adobe Flash technology.
What impact tablets and wireless broadband will have on the publishing industry is anyone’s guess.
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