Apple released an update to iBooks today that incorporates a new feature called read-along plus the usual improvements and bug fixes we typically expect from Apple.
The new update, iBooks 1.3, incorporates the following new features, improvements and bug fixes:
I haven’t encountered any books yet that support the new read-aloud feature, but if you have please leave a comment that includes the title of the book and the author’s name.
The update is free and available now in the iTunes App Store.
David W. Martin has more than 20 years of experience in the industry as a programmer, systems and business analyst, author, and consultant. David has written for CNET’s iPhoneatlas.com, MacLife.com, CultofMac.com, BYTE.com and recently for aNewDoman.net. He comes to Cult of Mac’s website with deep knowledge and passion for the all things Apple. Follow David on Twitter @david_w_martin or see what he’s up to now at davidwmartin.com.
6 responses to “Apple Updates iBooks Introduces Read-Aloud Plus Improvements & Bug Fixes”
Its a specialized book, they are called enhanced books, I just typed in enhanced books and got a list of some. Downloading some now, but it looks like its having issues, and I’m not sure if its because I jailbroke my iPhone, but I have the iBooks fix?
Any visibility as to when iBooks will allow for downloading annotations and highlights (such as the Kindle offers via their Web interface)? Without this option, Apple is seriously missing the boat for iBook adoption by academics and integration into educational environments.
to the Author… I got this to work on my iPad (and it updated to my iPhone 4 instantly… iCloud) the book was bossypants by Tina Fay (the enhanced edition) I only downloaded the sample but I could still get the audio. Which by the way is weak. Its just a little box, you hit the play button and you hear Tina Fay talking to you. But not reading what you highlight or anything like that.
Says real narrator, so no text to speech I’m afraid.
So you are dissing for the lack of a feature that they never said was included. They said reading the book aloud, that’s what you got.
And yet schools are still grabbing up tons of ipads etc. So perhaps they don’t think this is such a big issue.