books

Apple, publishers cut e-book deal with EU regulators -- report

Apple has reportedly negotiated a deal with European regulators that will help the company avoid litigation for potential antitrust violations while also enabling Amazon to offer lower prices than offered at Apple's iBookstore.

Reuters reports that EU regulators are preparing to accept the offer presented by Apple and four top book publishers: News Corp unit HarperCollins, Lagardere SCA's Hachette Livre, Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck, the owner of German company Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster, owned by CBS, parent company of CNET.

Apple's antitrust issues involving e-books began in the United States last spring. The U.S. government … Read more

Will Apple's silicon be good enough for a Mac?

Apple is starting to release some scary-good silicon. But can it muscle out Intel?

Last decade, the question was, will Apple go Intel? After years of speculation, that finally happened in 2006, when Apple dropped the PowerPC for its Mac line.

So are we now on a similar trajectory, as a Bloomberg story speculates, with Apple eventually evicting Intel from its Macs and using its own internally developed processors?

A quick look at the latest Apple silicon shows the company is on the right track. The A6X is a serious piece of silicon that makes the newest gen 4 iPad … Read more

Get Windows 8 for Dummies: Pocket Edition e-book for free

I've made no secret of my total hatred of lack of excessive fondness for Windows 8. I think unless you're getting it on a tablet or smartphone, the OS is best avoided.

That said, plenty of users have no doubt taken advantage of Microsoft's upgrade offer, and plenty more will end up with Windows 8 on their next desktop or laptop. And I think it's a safe bet that most of those users will need some help learning to navigate, operate, and, ultimately, tolerate 8.

To that end, Dell is offering a free copy of "Windows 8 for Dummies: Dell Pocket Edition" in e-book form. … Read more

Apple Byte: Has Apple lost some of its magic?

Apple's iPad Mini event was received by onlookers with mixed reviews, so has the company lost its edge? We'll break down everything Apple didn't tell you at the iPad Mini keynote presentation.

There were plenty of exciting hardware releases, including all-new iMacs, Mac Minis, and the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display, but it was the updated, fourth-generation iPad that caused the most controversy. Just seven months after the "new iPad," we're getting another? I'm throwing out the Bad Apple.

Did Apple reignite your passion for technology with its latest keynote address? Or … Read more

Apple launches ad for 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro

Want to get a better look at all of the gorgeous angles of Apple's new 13.3-inch Retina MacBook Pro? A new Apple "Colors" ad does just that.

With "for the pro in all of us" as the tagline for the ad, it appeared during ABC's "Modern Family," as well as other shows earlier.

In the ad, Apple does a 90-degree pan and seems keen on showing the display from all angles to underscore the wide viewing-angle attributes of its IPS tech.

As a quick refresher, the just-announced 13.3-inch MBP has … Read more

Enable scrolling in iBooks 3.0

iBooks users can now scroll through a book, instead of having to turn through it page-by-page. To get the new scrolling feature, make sure you're running the latest version of the app, iBooks 3.0, available in the App Store right now.

Once you have updated the app, open a book and then tap on the font icon at the top. Then tap on Themes and select Scroll. When you go back to the book, you'll be able to scroll up and down just as you would when using mobile Safari, or reading an e-mail. For me, the … Read more

iBooks 3 rolls out with iCloud support and vertical scrolling

Users of Apple's iBooks can now turn to some helpful new features.

Available from the App Store, iBooks 3.0 now taps into iCloud. So your bookshelves can display any books stored on Apple's cloud along with books saved locally.

You can now opt to scroll vertically through your books instead of turning each page horizontally. Simply tap on the Fonts icon, click on Themes, and choose the Scroll theme. You can then swipe the screen to move up and down page by page, an option I found quicker and easier than the default horizontal book layout.

You … Read more

Is Apple trying to bury Microsoft under a product avalanche?

Can Microsoft crawl out from under the stack of Apple products announced today?

I don't think I'm the only one stunned by the crush of new Apple products. What, a fourth-generation iPad already? New Mac Minis? Then the new iMacs on top of the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro?

Apple seemed to throw everything but the kitchen sink out there today. But that's only because the rest of the kitchen sink -- the new iPhone and iPod -- was already out there.

Maybe Apple just felt it was time to do a mega-upload of new products. Or maybe, … Read more

Apple news roundup: iPad Mini, new Macs

Tuesday's CNET Update has the breakdown of Apple's new hardware:

Apple shook up the tablet world (again) by revealing the iPad Mini at its press conference Tuesday. Apple also announced a new full-sized iPad and upgrades to its Mac computers. Today's Update video sums up all the new toys, but you can find more details on each product in the links below:

- iPad Mini: Starts at $330 for a 16GB Wi-Fi version, arrives Nov. 2. Preorder Friday. (4G version starts at $460, arrives Nov. 16)

- Fourth-generation iPad: Starts at $500 for 16GB Wi-Fi version, arrives … Read more

Apple iBooks gets continuous scrolling, 400M downloads

See CNET's full coverage of Apple's iPad Mini event

Apple CEO Tim Cook said 400 million books have been downloaded through its iBookStore.

The iBook program also got several new features, including continuous scrolling, which eliminates pages and the need to swipe to advance.

iBook also integrates with iCloud, allowing readers to stop on one device and pick up on another device. Readers can also share a passage via e-mail or Twitter.

Cook also talked up the iPad's use in the education world. Apple will make available iBooks Author, which allows publishers to do things like create … Read more