In light of the huge popularity of digital publishing companies over the past few years, NBC News has decided to join the market with its own subsidiary company, NBC Publishing.
The news corporation plans to offer video and print-based e-books from its massive archive of information.
Apple’s first event of the new year is coming up this week, on Thursday, January 19th. The invitations sent out last week to media read, “Join us for an education event in the Big Apple,” sparking lots of speculation about what Apple is planning on announcing (more here and here).
Most people in the tech and news communities believe that Apple’s event will be the first step towards a revolution of the current publishing system.
Even though The Adventures of Peter Pan is an app designed for children ages 3-10, the story appeals to the child that refuses to grow up in all of us. We are all familiar with the way this one goes. With the help of his fairy sidekick, Tinkerbell, Peter Pan takes his new friends, Wendy and John Darling to the magical and imaginary Neverland. The story is rounded out with appearances from the always adorable Lost Boys and the legendary (and frightening) Captain Hook.
It seems that Apple is back in the legal eye as the European Union looks toward the tech giant to see whether they assisted five of the larger publishing houses in illegally raised prices for eBooks at the time of the iPad and iBookstore launch in 2010. This probe comes as the eBook market surges with the popularity of eReaders and tablet devices growing rapidly.
The problem revolves around Agency Agreements, which Apple was the first to adopt. These agreements allow publishers to set their own retail prices. This differs from the old model where publishers set a wholesale price and it was up to the retailer to decide on the selling costs.
The only thing more magical to a child than Disney Princesses is the Christmas season, so imagine the joy inside this app having them both together! Cinderella, Ariel and Tiana all offer unique and enchanting holiday stories. Ariel is looking to surprise her family and friends with a Christmas-morning treasure hunt, Cinderella is throwing a party and Tiana is hosting a yuletide celebration!
The original artwork found inside this app is as wonderful as we have come to expect from Disney publications and features many tap-to-play animations.
I don’t care how old you are, the story of Beauty and the Beast is one that can promise to enchant and engage. If you are a little girl this story is nothing short of magical, particularly with Disney at the helm.
Filled with graphics made famous by the their cartoon and voices that your child will find familiar, this app is a pure delight. As with all Disney Digital Books I have had the pleasure to try, this one is a quality product from start to finish.
Puss In Boots is on a mission to find the Golden Goose and he’s bringing along Humpty Dumpty and Kitty Softpaws! Join Puss in Boots as he makes the transition smoothly from faithful sidekick to leading feline in this entertaining adventure.
This iStoryTime book features real images, character audio and video from the Puss in Boots motion picture that was recently released. This makes the content very recognizable but also of a higher quality than you might be used to in a storybook app.
Book apps give readers another way to experience narratives, from the simplest book for toddlers to more complex offerings by developers such as Touch Press, which are aimed at an older audience. Recently Sam Berman, CEO at Grids Interactive, a company that produces storybook apps for children including The Truly Great Noodle (4.5 stars, PadGadget) gathered fellow developers together to discuss the future of storytelling.
Long before I ever had an iPad, my children and I had a shelf full of books by Sandra Boynton. Boynton’s vibrant and clever board books are cherished by children and enjoyed by parents. I never get tired of reading them to my family which is something I can’t say about any other titles.
Knowing this, you can imagine my delight when I found my first Boynton-themed iPad app. I am just as delighted today as I evaluate and review the latest addition to her iOS library: Barnyard Dance.
Avid readers are usually on the hunt for other like-minded souls. Here at PadGadget, the Steve Jobs bio is currently a hot topic of conversation. The newly released social reading app Subtext promises to let our staff share comments and annotations while we all read the book.
Within moments of downloading Subtext, and opening an account, I had a friend request from the app’s co-founder Andrew Goldman, who mentioned that he was also reading the Jobs biography. While it is not my M.O. to befriend strangers on the Internet, this seems like a good time to make an exception.
Mousey Howsee is the kind of interactive storybook that has the potential to blow your mind. When you first begin they ask you to use location services to determine your location, which will actually serve to customize the book storyline based on the time of day or your current local weather.
The story also teaches a lesson, as Mousey Howsee begins by hopping into a boat and heading out onto the water when she knows she shouldn’t (she didn’t have permission and had no supervision). This kind of book helps us as parents to teach causality and consequences in an illustrated way that children can more easily understand. This is very helpful when you are dealing with a small child that doesn’t understand the word dangerous and needs to be shown.
The Ogglies are very worried about their dinosaur, Firebottom, and decide to throw him a birthday party to celebrate and cheer him up. All together with their friends Rocky Red, Blinky Blue, and the Chinese girl-dragon Leek-an-Lentil, the oggliest party in history is thrown and they have invited you too!
The story is delightfully silly. The Ogglies have positively poopy ideas and everything gross is actually good. Children (and adults alike) will laugh as they see all the pictures and hear all the goofy words and backwards phrases.
Once I got over the initial denial that it is that time of year when we start thinking about building snowmen, I really opened my mind to Snowman Joe. This is a lovely bedtime story about a sweet snowman wandering Snowman Street looking to greet the stars above.
Beautifully illustrated by artist, Michael Humphries, this book is a joy to look at as much as it is to read. Written in verse by Stefanie Fife, this story has particular appeal to younger children.
Hasbro’s beloved ponies have made their way to the iPad via a children’s book called My Little Pony: Twilight Sparkle, Teacher for a Day. To celebrate the launch, the book is on sale for only $0.99 for a limited time.
The book offers more than just a read-along adventure. There is a “read to me” feature, which is one of the greatest addition to children’s iPad books, but there is also a “record your own voice” feature and interactive mini games, creating an engaging environment for your little one to read in.
Those who remember the viral video of George W. Bush and John Kerry singing “This Land is Your Land” by the animation company Jib Jab, or have experienced their laundry list of personalized videos like “Star Wars by JibJab”, will be excited to know that the company has started a line of children’s books called Jib Jab Jr. Books.
The animation company uses a unique image-editing program to allow you to fine tune the cut-and-pasting of your face so that you can be the star of your own videos. JibJab Jr. uses the same technology to put your little one’s face into a storybook adventure. The first in the series, “The Biggest Pizza Ever” is free and you can buy additional books for $7.99, or you can join the Book of the Month club for only $3.99 per month.
On TapCentral
By 
