Apple's New iBooks 2, iBooks Author Apps Hit 440,000 Downloads Combined in First 3 Days

About 350,000 textbooks were downloaded from the iBooks 2 store while iBooks Author had 90,000 downloads

Just last week, Apple unveiled its efforts to reinvent the textbook via two new apps called iBook Author and iBooks 2, and both have gained significant popularity in their short time since release.

IBook Author and iBooks 2 launched January 19 at Apple's education event at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. IBook Author is Mac software that allows textbook writers and publishers to create textbooks specifically for the iPad while iBooks 2 is a sequel to the iBooks app that provides students with textbooks on the iPad as well as new study options like note-taking.

Global Equities Research, which provides research in global equities with a focus on near-term to long-term trends, has been keeping its eye on Apple's latest educational offerings via a proprietary tracking system. According to its findings, Apple's two new apps are already a huge hit.

Global Equities Research's tracking system determined that there were 90,000 downloads of iBooks Author within the first three days of availability while 350,000 textbooks were downloaded from the iBooks store within that same period of time.

The new textbook apps seem to be a winner for all parties involved, since iBook production costs about 80 percent less than print publication according to Global Equities Research. With supply chain markup on textbooks between 33 and 35 percent, cutting out the middlemen between the publisher to the retailer and instead delivering digital textbooks from the publisher to the student via iBooks will present considerable savings.

The textbooks in iBooks 2 are high school level books that are starting at $14.99 or less for now. These prices will increase over time as the selection expands. The books offered in the free app come from publishers like Pearson, McGraw Hill and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, which combined make up 90 percent of textbooks available.

Apple halts store sales of iPhones in Bejing and China, following disturbance

Following a disturbance at one of its stores in Beijing this morning, Apple has announced it has put a halt to all iPhone sales in its Beijing and Shanghai stores, “for the time being”. The devices will still be available, as before, via the carrier - China Unicom, other retail stores, and Apple’s online store.

The disturbance this morning was caused by a 500-strong crowd at the Sanlitun store in Beijing, where people had stood in line for hours in sub-zero temperatures, awaiting the launch of theiPhone 4S. The store did not open when it was supposed to, at 7AM, and the crowd became unruly, with some members even throwing eggs when they were informed that there would be no sales of iPhone 4S that day because of shortages.

The store was cordoned off, while the crowd was cleared by police. The store never did open however, and company later issued a statement, saying it was because of “the large crowd, and to ensure the safety of our customers and employees".

Elsewhere, one Shanghai store opened early, hoping to minimize problems at launch, but instead ended creating a lot of disappointment, amidst those people who arrived ‘on time’ to find the device sold out. Apart from these two incidents, no trouble was reported at any of Apple’s other Beijing and Shanghai stores, so it is perhaps surprising Apple made the announcement to stop iPhone sales in these cities.

The official reason for the halting of sales has not been given, though if the halt was not called because of the disturbances, but because of an iPhone 4S shortage, it would make no sense for Apple to have stopped sales of all iPhone devices.

The crowd outside the Apple Store at Sanlitun has faced problems in the past, when a crowd waiting to buy the iPad 2 turned unruly, evening breaking the glass of store, and causing some injuries to bystanders. Apple has faced other problems in the recent past with the launch of its devices, with resellers purchasing most of the devices on launch day, and selling them at exorbitant mark-ups.

At today’s fracas at Sanlibun, nearly 60 migrant workers were spotted, most hired by resellers to stand in line and buy the devices. According to reports, these workers were perhaps the most disappointed in the unruly crowd, as they would not be able to collect their fee.

China is Apple’s second biggest market for mobile devices, with the company’s products evidently very popular there. Maybe next time, Apple could price the devices in China as high as India, to prevent any such incidents.

iPad 3 reportedly on track for early March shipment

 Though you can never really separate truth from fiction until Apple makes its announcement, a series of iPad 3 leaks and rumors is starting to paint a picture. The latest rumor, from Asian supply chain sources, has Apple splitting production duties between Foxconn and Pegatron. While that doesn’t shed a lot of light on the end result that will end up in consumers’ hands, this last part will: supposedly the tablets will be ready to ship in early March, putting the iPad 3 in around the same release slot as last year’s iPad 2 — around March.

This report says that Sharp will be supplying the Retina displays in the iPad 3. Foxconn will be driving 85% of the iPad 3′s production, with Pegatron picking up 15%. This is similar to the division that Apple went with for the iPhone 4S, so it sounds feasible.

Chinese New Year celebrations are earlier than usual this year, which throws a wrench into iPad production. 2012, the year of the Dragon, has the festivities starting on the evening of January 22, and ending on February 6. That’s a prime time slot for iPad production; one which is likely being compensated for by starting production earlier.

At this point, rumors and leaks are supporting logic. Nearly everyone expects this to be the year that Apple goes “Retina” — 2048×1536 resolution at 264 pixels per inch — with the iPad, and leaks have supported that. If the next-gen iPad does have that Retina display, then it may need a bigger battery to power it. Leaks have also supported that. And most people expect the tablet to be released in March, this latest leak corroborates that too.

This latest report also supports yesterday’s leak, which said that the form-factor of the iPad 3 will remain mostly unchanged from the iPad 2. One differentiation, however, is that form-fitting cases designed for the iPad 2 allegedly won’t fit the new iPad without a gap. The previous leak said that the iPad 3 would get slightly thicker to compensate for the Retina display, a larger battery, or both.

                     

How To Updating the ROM in Your Mobile Device

Remember This: The phone or tablet you purchased is yours. It does not belong to the carrier that you bought it from despite the fact that the device is emblazoned with its corporate identity, logo or splash screen.

This outright ownership you have in the device means that you can do whatever you like with it once you've walked out of the store, assuming you don't mess with the radio hardware and cause interference to your fellow users.

This state-of-play lends itself to the question: What to do with the corporate logo-dripping thing? How can you really make it your own? Customize it? Theme it? Move the soft buttons around? That all goes only so far.

The real mark of ownership in the device is to replace the ROM (Read Only Memory) with one that suits you more than the carrier or manufacturer.

What Is ROM?

The ROM is the memory within the phone or tablet that's used to run the base device. It consists of the code that boots the device and runs it as it relates to its hardware.

For example, the ROM will contain code that tells the phone's GPS or WiFi chip how to behave. ROM is distinct from Apps, which aren't hard-coded into the phone's operating system.

Although Apps also tell the chips what to do, they're less rigid in their approach and can be customized more easily by the end-user through UIs. ROM is also distinct from RAM (Random Access Memory) that can be written to.

ROMs are loosely related to one or more of four areas: Speed enhancement; customizing the look and feel; bug fixes not supplied by the phone company or manufacturer; and pre-official ports of operating systems, just for the hell of it.

When to Look for a New ROM

If there's something that your device doesn't seem to be doing properly, there's a chance fellow owners have identified the issue and created a fix. The nature of the passionate developer community means this fix can be released significantly faster than one approved by a manufacturer, which may not even bother to fix it, and may even be focused on the next hardware incarnation -- you a long-forgotten blip in its revenue stream.

The developer-created fix will often be provided as a patch, initially, and then incorporated into an updated ROM.

A good example of this is a common issue whereby some Honeycomb tablets don't support ad hoc WiFi tethering that's necessary for some phones. Toshiba's Thrive's Honeycomb 3.2 operating system, for example, doesn't. So Dalepi, a member of the Toshiba Thrive Forum, coded a fix. Dalepi then incorporated that fix into a ROM that he made available at the Forum's website.

Owners run his code on their tablets rather than the factory-supplied code, because it's the owner's tablet and not Toshiba's, and Dalepi's code in this case suits the owner better than Toshiba's code.

How to Look for a ROM

Perform a Web-based search for your device maker and model, and add the word "forum." Browse the resulting pages for good leads.

In the case of the Toshiba, for example, the Toshiba Thrive Forums website holds all ROMs available, and is the definitive source. You'll often find one Web-based location that's definitive.

Another good source is XDA Developers -- likely the largest Android developer community. XDA members have been responsible for, or active in, any ROM I've used. Look for releases labeled "Stable" or "Beta," rather than "Nightly" or "Experimental" for best results to start.

Some Prerequisites

Any replacement ROM must be loaded onto a rooted device. The phone you purchase isn't rooted, but the sources in the previous step will tell you how to perform the root.

You'll also need a PC and a USB cable. Sometimes you'll also need a memory card.

The Process

Ensure that the device can communicate with the PC you're going to be using. This involves installing the correct drivers. Then root the device following the instructions provided by the developer specific to your device and revision.

Often the developer will have written all of the commands into a batch file that you can simply run with one click from a connected PC. This can include the root, drivers, recovery software and ROM.

Follow the instructions provided by the ROM developer to load new recovery software after a simple root. Once the recovery software is loaded, any new appropriate ROM can be installed.

Further toying can include restoring the ROM back to its original condition. If you get the opportunity to make a backup -- say from within the recover software step, always do so.

Thank the developer, or donate money to his or her listed Paypal account if you get good results or have otherwise enjoyed the process. It's considered good form.

A Few Warnings

Follow the forum instructions carefully, because it's possible to brick the device. Often, the first release day of any community-released code will be athwart with danger -- the experimenters that day know it and like the thrill. We don't. The first day of a recent Google TV upgrade bricked numerous devices.

As a beginner, wait a few days after a release for the kinks to get ironed out, and always reads the forums carefully. Always match release-for-release. For example, if the hack (ROM, root tool or other) is for a version labeled 3.1.01.5.0029, don't use it on 3.1.01.5.0002. Be aware that sending a bricked, hacked device in for warranty repair might be problematic. You may be on your own.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg admires Amazon, Apple, Google

Summary: Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg says he admires Amazon, Apple, and Google. There’s a company missing from his list though: Microsoft. Are you surprised?

The Wall Street Journal recently interviewed Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg as well as Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg in separate interviews. While they were conducted in October 2011, excerpts from them have only been published now.

When Zuckerberg was asked about companies he looks up to, he named three. Here’s the relevant excerpt:

WSJ: What companies do you admire?
Zuckerberg: Amazon is a great recent example of focusing on the long term and accepting shorter margins on the short term. [Amazon CEO] Jeff [Bezos] went through years of people thinking he’s crazy. Apple is amazing in terms of the quality of stuff that they do. And Google, too, for the same thing.

WSJ: Do you place Facebook in the same category as those businesses?
Mr. Zuckerberg: I hope one day we will be. We’re a lot younger than all of them and still quite a bit smaller in terms of size of employees. Because we focused so much over the past five or six years on building things that are going to have lasting value for people, I think we have a good shot at that.

I agree with all three companies listed by Zuckerberg. Facebook has a long history with both Apple and Google, but barely anything to do with Amazon, so it’s nice to know that the company’s leader is paying attention to what is happening in the technology industry. In fact, Facebook has a poor history with both Apple and Google, though it is slowly rebuilding the one with the former (and not so much the latter).

It’s worth noting Zuckerberg skipped over Microsoft, which is a big investor in Facebook. The two companies are solid partners; just last year the duo launched multiple initiatives and new features. On the other hand, they are also competitors: Facebook is quickly gaining on Microsoft in terms of advertising market share.

Regardless of which companies Facebook competes or partners with, Zuckerberg can still have his own personal opinion. Sometimes it will influence his company’s decisions, and other times it will simply remain his own view. Are you surprised by his thoughts?