An e-book (or ebook, or eBook, depending upon who you ask) is the digital equivalent of a paper book. According to KiwiTech, the publishers of Classics2Go, the market for eBooks has increased more than 60% over the last six years and growth from this point is expected to be very strong.

We can reasonably connect the start of this burgeoning market to the release of the Amazon Kindle in 2007. Strong sales convinced some wary readers that this was a viable option. You could carry a few hundred books under your arm, and the reading experience was, well, acceptable. Going on a long trip? Wouldn't it be nice to take about 20 pounds of paper out of your luggage?

2007 also marked the introduction of the iPhone; it took about a year for eBook apps to appear on the iPhone. Now there are so many of them that finding the right one for your purposes can be a confusing prospect. I would like to clarify all this a bit by categorizing the four types of eBook apps, at least so far, and letting you know what you can expect from each.

In deciding upon an eBook reader you need to consider: what sort of material you will be reading, how much you are willing to spend (if anything) and the quality of the viewing experience.

Last year, Andrew Kazmierski and Phill Ryu released Classics (iTunes link). Their idea was to take a bunch of books in the public domain, 22 in the current release, and control all aspects of the user experience. We covered the first release of Classics upon its original release when its price was $2.99. Since then, the price has dropped to .99 and the number of books has increased.

This app looked so impressive that it was featured in an Apple iPhone commercial. Upon launch, the reader is presented with a nicely rendered wooden bookshelf displaying colorful dust jackets. Click on a book and start reading. There is no wait, since all the books were downloaded with the app. Future updates bring more books. The books are all the kind of classics that are on school reading lists ranging from Frankenstein and Dracula, to Hound of the Baskervilles.

The feature set is slim. Tap the right side of the screen or swipe right to left and the sepia toned pages turn using a pleasing animation. There are two buttons on the top of the screen. One brings down a maroon and gold bookmark and sends you to the bookshelf. When you click on the book again, you are brought to where you left off. The second button takes you to a table of contents. The bottom of the screen tells you the name of the chapter you are reading and what page you are on. The top of the screen displays the title of the book. Illustrations in books like Alice in Wonderland are nicely rendered, and the text is attractively formatted. A change in color of the title bar gives you an idea of where you are in the book.

It was a surprisingly rumor-filled Saturday, as both AppleInsider and Boy Genius Report weighed in with hints of a future iMac revision and capabilities expected for iTunes 9. Aside from finally giving users the ability to manage iPhone application order on the desktop (thank goodness), the new version of Apple's media player app is rumored to include Blu-ray playback capability; this brings the technology once referred to as a "bag of hurt" by Steve Jobs onto the Mac platform in earnest.

While AI doesn't zero in on Blu-ray as one of the two cryptically-hinted iMac features, it does seem likely. AI also suggests that one of the ways Apple is going to pay for enhanced hardware features on the iMac line is by squeezing the profit pump of the iPhone line, with margins that put the computer business to shame.

Over at TechCrunch, they've poked around in the rather surprising (from an anti-trust perspective, anyway) Google & Apple no-poaching agreement, where the two companies made efforts not to cold-call each other's engineers for job opportunities. At Fortune/BrainstormTech, there's a report from everyone's favorite financial analyst Gene Munster that points toward the 'iPod mega' style of Apple tablet, again looking like it would be available close to the holiday shopping season.

The Google story continues to percolate in other directions, as David Pogue points out the forthcoming, full-featured web app version of the Google Voice service for iPhone; like the Latitude app, it will be implemented in Safari; maybe not as good as it would have been, but certainly higher profile. Among the Google apps remaining on the store, the Google Mobile app was updated to include "did you say?" search checking for voice search.

As we do every Sunday, we'll be diving into these stories and more on the weekly talkcast, 10 pm ET on Talkshoe. You can download last week's show, featuring Christina and the gang, from Talkshoe or subscribe in iTunes.

Recording support for the talkcast is provided by Call Recorder from ecamm networks.

While most of us at TUAW (in the US, anyway) are staring out the window, running down the clock to hit the lake or ocean or pavement in some manner, the intrepid bloggers of Engadget never take a vacation. Here are three* iPhone stories they posted today:

Apple patent applications offer glimpses of haptic screens, RFID readers, fingerprint ID
Oh man, haptics on the iPhone would be so sweet, and finally give us a little more than annoying clicks when typing. RFID and fingerprints? Well, that I'm not so keen on.

Apple patching nasty iPhone SMS vulnerability
Good ol' security maven Charlie Miller poked into the soft underbelly of the iPhone and discovered a pretty gnarly SMS hack that could potentially have your phone activating GPS, the phone's mic, and other nastiness. Perfect setup for a Tom Clancy novel or totally scary vulnerability? Read the HotHardware piece and see for yourself.

iPhone facing potential trademark issues in China?
Yeah, who'd have thunk there would be a trademark dispute over the name iPhone in China, right? Funny thing is, Apple has a trademark on iPhone in China... just not on mobile phones. Oops.

[Thanks to the tipsters who sent these in a while ago, there's fresh beer in the fridge in the garage!]

*OK, four stories. MG Siegler over at TechCrunch has a linkalicious report on Facebook's upcoming new iPhone app featuring... video uploads! (gasp, applause, nausea, use as directed)

If you've been listening to all the clamoring on Twitter, or perhaps have seen the updated Apple page, then you know there was an iPhone event today to discuss a new version of the iPhone OS, version 3.0. While you will have to wait until the summer to get the new version (unless you join the developer program), Apple showed off over 100 new features that we're all excited about. iPhone developers are also getting some love from Apple with over 1,000 new APIs.

Some of the biggest updates include:

• Push notifications will be standard in iPhone 3.0. Apple claims that there was a scaling issue when they first announced this feature last year, with thousands of developers clamoring to use it, so it had to be delayed. Developers will be able to build message, sound, and badge alerts into their applications.
• iPhone will support cut, copy and paste -- copy text and pictures, then paste them in any application on the device. If you change your mind about the newly pasted data, just shake to display a menu asking if you wish to undo the paste.
  
• In-App purchasing -- developers will have the ability to charge a fee from within the application for more levels in a game, magazine subscriptions, eBooks, etc. This solves the problem of the 20 ebook readers that only allow you to read one book each.
  
• MMS -- you'll be able to use MMS on your iPhone 3G (yes, 1st gen iPhones will not get the fortune of using MMS due to the use of a different cell radio). The new Messages application will be taking the place of the SMS app and will allow you to send voice memos and pictures to your friends.
  
• Peer-to-Peer connectivity -- allows iPhone apps the ability to find other iPhone users over WiFi or Bluetooth. This can be using for anything from gaming to sharing data.
  
• Third-party Accessories -- app developers can now access third-party accessories attached to the iPhone. This could allow for developers to interface with their own accessories to create a truly unique experience on the device. One of the demonstrated uses was a prototype blood glucose meter for the iPhone, from a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, which is already getting attention from our readers; it's not for sale yet!
  
• Apple will now be allowing applications the ability to get GPS coordinates from Core Location and turn that into software that provides Turn-by-Turn directions for iPhone users. However, due to the terms of use with Google maps, developers will be required to license their own maps for this use (meaning that Turn-by-Turn GPS applications will almost certainly be paid apps). This isn't a problem for vendors like TomTom or Telenav, who already have licenses for their map data.
• A landscape keyboard option is now available in all iPhone applications, including the infamous Mail.app.
• Voice memos will allow iPhone users the ability to capture audio and then email it, or send it through the Messages application as a multimedia message.
• System-wide Spotlight searching is built right into the home screen. To the left of the first home screen, there is a magnifying glass, so by flicking to the left of the first home screen will show this search app. You can search for anything, including mail, music, and notes. There is no word yet on how this will interface with third-party applications.
  
• Stereo Bluetooth audio devices are now supported through the use of A2DP technology.

iPhone owners should note that A2DP technology and the use of MMS will not be available on 1st generation iPhones. This is probably due to the iPhone Bluetooth spec used, and Apple has confirmed (during the Q&A session after the keynote) that MMS is not available because of the cell radio used.

iPhone OS 3.0 will be available for regular users "this summer." iPhone developers will be able to get the beta of OS 3.0 sometime today -- Apple is still busy updating their iPhone Dev Center, but we'll let you know when it is available.

Apple met or beat analyst expectations for sales over the weekend, selling 13 Macs and 3.4 iPhones every hour, according to one Piper Jaffray estimate.

Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu said that Apple's Black Friday promotions helped drive retail store traffic, according to reports from distributors. Wu also noted that the iPod touch is sold out at Amazon.com, which leads him to believe that Apple could sell $10 billion worth of products this quarter.

Thomas Weisel Partners' Doug Reid got the impression that Apple sales were up from last year. He was less optimistic about Dell's retail performance at Best Buy locations, noting that salespeople there were not strongly recommending Dell models at 35 stores they checked.

Weisel analysts expect Apple to sell 2.4 million Macs during the fourth quarter.

Deutsche Bank analysts also conducted their own checks over the weekend, and found demand to be "solid," considering the current global economic woes. They expect Apple to sell 5 million iPhones this quarter, and reiterated their "buy" rating and price target of $150 per share.

AAPL was down slightly in morning trading.

Several analysts have been lowering their expectations for iPhone sales during the first quarter of 2009, pointing to possible cuts in the number of units manufactured, according to a series of articles by Cult of Mac's Ed Sutherland.

Barclays Capital today cut its estimate of iPhone sales to 5 million handsets, down from 6.2 million. Yesterday, BMO Capital lowered its expectations to a slightly-better 5.6 million units, but still down from an earlier estimate of 6.6 million.

On Wednesday, UBS said iPhone production could drop to 6.7 million units, down from 9 million in the last quarter. Earlier this week, FBR Capital Markets analyst Craig Berger said that Apple could have already cut iPhone production by 40 percent.

Barclays analyst Ben Reitzes suggested that Apple could cut prices on iPhones and develop a new low-end handset to stimulate sales, taking the lead from how the iPod and iPod mini sold.

Reitzes also speculated that a low-cost laptop could sell 3.5 million units per year. It's unclear if Apple will take Reitzes' advice, as Steve Jobs said at last month's laptop event that "We don't know how to make a $500 computer that's not a piece of junk, and our DNA will not let us ship that."

Looking for some basic Mac know-how? You might have missed these tips the first time we published them, so here's another chance for you to get caught up on your mad Mac 101 skills. Remember, 101s are intended for new Mac users; if you're an expert, you probably won't learn anything new (but you never know).

Mastering the Save Dialog
Learn the secret of that down-pointing arrow to the right of the file name.

Simple File Renaming
It's easier than you might think.

Changing Icon Sizes
Resize your icons for your best viewing.

Going Home
Using your home folder for personal files.

Understanding DMG files
Why you shouldn't run applications from disk images.

Written by Erica Sadun

The news that Apple has stealthily included Safari in its Software Updater bounced all over the Mac blogosphere today, and earned cheers and jeers (well, mostly jeers). Here's a quick roundup.

• The most attention probably comes from John Lilly, CEO of Mozilla, who unequivocally calls the decision "wrong," and says that doing something other than "updating" with an "updater" betrays the public trust.
• Darby Lines at The Angry Drunk says that the whole matter is just plain "whining" and that Apple is hardly forcing the software on anyone, especially considering that there's a checkbox right next to the name of it. And it's not like, as many people have said, installing Safari on a PC is actually a bad move.
• The Inquirer actually makes a worthwhile joke: "Some iTunes users report that the box to sign up for Safari appears pre-ticked." At least we think that's a joke -- you'd only say Apple was "targeting" and "hijacking" Windows users if you were joking, right?
• Microsoft Watch calls the program a "rogue updater," while Paul Mison fisks them pretty completely and shows that even if Apple did somehow hurt the computers by installing a reasonable, standards-compliant browser, Microsoft has done much, much worse.

So what's the deal overall? As we said earlier, Jobs very plainly told us this was going to happen, and though, yes, users who don't pay attention may end up with extra software, it's extremely easy to not install the software. While a warning might have been nice, Apple isn't really outside its bounds here, so it's unlikely that they'll change it anyway.

The only real result is that users, whether PC or Mac, are reminded once again to pay attention to what they're clicking on. It's unexpected that Apple would be the company to remind us of that, but it's as true as ever.

We've talked so much about Leopard already here at TUAW that I'd find it hard to believe you readers haven't decided yet whether you're ready to pick it up (or not), but just in case, here's a few concise reviews from around the 'net to let you know whether this is something you want or not.

• PC Mag gives the OS a whopping 4.5 out of 5: "Leopard performs all such tasks even better than previous versions did-and Leopard is the only OS on the planet that works effortlessly and intuitively in today's world of networked computers and peripherals. Leopard is far from perfect, but it's better than any alternative, and it's getting harder and harder to find good reasons to use anything else."
• Laptop Magazine isn't quite as harsh on the glitches, but also give it 4.5/5: "Part useful, part flash, all beautifully easy: Apple's Mac OS X 10 Leopard bounded into stores Friday, thrilling the Mac faithful with a solid and extremely useful upgrade."
• CNET gives Leopard an 8.0 out of 10, saying that while Leopard is nice, it might not be necessary: "Should you pay for Leopard? If you're happy with the way Tiger works, then maybe not. If you need Bootcamp, however, then you must have Leopard. And if you're considering the purchase of a new computer, Leopard makes Macs more enticing than Tiger did."
• And Macworld says that while you might not use everything, the stuff you will use is worth it: "Given the impressive value of Time Machine and improvements to existing programs such as iCal, iChat, Mail, and the Finder, most active Mac users will find more than enough reasons to consider that upgrade cost money well spent. Despite a few interface missteps, particularly when it comes the menu bar and the Dock, Leopard is an upgrade that roars."

Now, once again, odds are that either you've using Leopard right now, or you're already waiting on a specific reason to upgrade for it. But across the board, reviews on the new OS are generally good. And even though lots of users are dealing with bugs and unfixed errors right now, the best days of Leopard are still yet to come.
Thanks to everyone who sent these in!

We've given you a walkthrough of the heavy hitting new features in the just-released iTunes 7. We've shown you the new backup feature, as well as the slick new reverse syncing, and we've even explored how the new iTunes 7 UI could hint at an Aqua renaissance in the upcoming Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Now, we'd like to round up all the other little changes in this new version. You know, the missing and relocated buttons, the new preferences, the tiny quirks and the new whathaveyou's. Here is a list of what else we've found in the new iTunes 7, compiled from tips, our own tinkering and comments on our previous posts.


The browser button (which also doubled as the Burn button) has been moved from the top right, next to the search box, to the bottom right corner of the window. It is also an intelligent button, for example: if you have set your burning preferences to Data Disc, as I have, the button will change to display "Burn Data Disc." Nice.

Here we go with another Mac OS X Leopard tidbits roundup - yes, certainly to be confused with our running WWDC 2006 tidbits roundup; I figured it's all about the Leopard now, as we've pretty much exhausted everything WWDC-related besides which brand of socks Mr. Jobs wears with his new Nikes. So enjoy this latest batch of small tips and improvements in the next big cat from Cupertino:

• The ReadMe included with the Leopard requires G4, G5 or Intel processors - sorry G3 owners (ok, so maybe this isn't an improvement for the G3 folk out there, but it's still good to know)
  
• We're receiving reports that Safari can resize any text areas (such as comment fields) on the fly. We can't confirm because we don't feel like risking the wrath of Jobs. Some of us have families, y'know
• "Smart Renaming" - when renaming a file, the extension is no longer included in the file name selection (Someone buy that engineer a beer!)
• If you have to rename a file extension, the Finder now includes a preference for disabling the extension renaming warning (a second round, comin' up!)
• A new preference in the Dock System Preferences pane allows for toggling how quickly the Dock 'springs' when hidden
• The Finder allows for customizing the amount of space between icons
• iChat includes many handy window organizing features, such as a customizable keyboard shortcut for bringing the app to the front, as well as a preference for tabbed chats (instead of simply forcing it on those who aren't quite as hip on tabs)
• It sounds like Safari will know when you've entered text into a website (for example: when leaving a comment in a forum), and can prompt you before quiting and blowing away unsaved changes
• Spaces, thankfully, allows users to bind applications to one desktop or another. This will be handy for, well, keeping everything in its place, but it will probably be something to get used to for virtual desktop newbies

That's it for now. We'd post more, but we still have to walk that aforementioned line of not having to relocate to a building with "minimum security" in its title.

Thanks to everyone who sent these in

It's a sequel! That's right boys and girls: in our never-ending quest to dig up every detail we can on the recent events surrounding WWDC, Leopard and other random tidbits, we've gathered a few more juicy items for your digestion.

• Apple 'Teams?' Readers sent in various tips, and even The Gruber™ linked it. So it must be real. But what is it? [UPDATE: Looks like Teams is an advertised wiki feature of Leopard Server.]
  
• Readers are noting that, in the keynote, Bertrand Serlet says "With Spotlight, finally, it's easy to find information on your local disks and information on the web." Could this be a prelude to an even farther-reaching (and slower) Spotlight in Leopard?
• MacFixIt has a nice roundup of actual application versions included in Leopard. Of specific interest, they note that Exposé is listed as a 1.0 app, which might also mean that this icon in the dock heralds Spotlight as a full-blown app as well.
  
• Happy Finder, Sad Finder - neurotic Finder? Sorry for the crummy screenshots, but these were both taken from different times of the keynote (36:28 and 1:01:25, to be exact. Thanks David B.!). Could they have been from different Macs? If so, why the curious change in such a fundamental icon?
• This is on iChat's preview page, but it's still worth mentioning in part because no one did on stage: along with the new video and slideshow features, it also has screen sharing so users can get truly collaborative over a chat.
  
• This might be a new type of file preview ability in the Finder, or it could just be an extra feature in Time Machine. Either way, it looks handy. It also seems to be an indication that Apple is moving towards a broader use of palettes like those in iWork and iWeb, including the transparent style found in iPhoto '06.
• Some readers are reporting a new icon in Safari's toolbar (which can be seen on the Dashboard preview page), but that's just the Dash Clippings widget tool.

That's it for another round of WWDC and Leopard tidbits, and thanks to the many who sent these in; you readers have some good eyes. Keep those tips rolling in, and we'll keep rounding them up.

With big events and announcements like yesterday's WWDC, there's always a few bits and pieces that manage to fall through the cracks. New product details as well as features and screenshots of new Mac OS X functionality are prime examples, and these bits and pieces are now starting to trickle in. Instead of posting each minor piece of info, we figured it would be better to simply round them all up together, so here we go with the first WWDC 2006 tidbits roundup post of what we've found so far:

• In the Spaces video preview at Apple's new Mac OS X site, you can clearly make out a new RSS sidebar item in Mail.app (pictured). This isn't in the dedicated Mail.app preview section and wasn't mentioned on stage. Woops. [UPDATE: Commenter David is right: this RSS feature is mentioned lower on Mail.app's preview page, but it isn't featured at all in the demo video. Strange.]
  
• In a screenshot of the Dock, a folder on the right side of the divider has a black triangle underneath it, denoting the same 'yes, it's running' UI feedback that applications have.
• iChat is also featured with a new UI sans brushed metal (pictured on left). If it's already been stripped from iChat, could brushed metal have gone the way of the PowerMac G5 for the rest of Leopard?
• The Mac Pros are apparently the first (and only?) Intel Mac to not include Front Row and an Apple Remote. This also means (to our knowledge) they don't have an IR port either.

That's it for now. If you've uncovered more juicy new details not mentioned so far from yesterday's keynote, feel free to leave a comment in this post or use our tips form.

Thanks to everyone who sent these in