Apple updates iBooks with folders and PDF printing and emailing, Canadian books are coming soon

by Vlad Bobleanta on December 16, 2010 at 11:30 AM

Apple's iBooks has received an update today, pushing it to version 1.2. New in the app are a few features that have long been requested by iBooks fans.

First off, iBooks now has support for folders. These work in a similar fashion to iOS folders, only they're called 'Collections.' The two default collections are Books and PDFs. Of course, you can create your own, name them however you like, and move things around from one collection to another.

Also supported is emailing PDFs, as well as printing PDFs and notes from iBooks using Apple's AirPrint. Strangely enough, you still won't be able to print actual e-books -- just PDFs or annotations to books.

Rounding up the new feature additions are support for fully illustrated books (such as children's picture books) and more words per page being displayed, thanks to the addition of auto-hyphenation.

Also in iBooks-related news, the Canadian government has approved Apple's iBookstore. The iBookstore had been available in Canada prior to this, but did not have any Canadian works in it. Now that Apple and Canada have reached an agreement, expect Canadian books to show up in Apple's book store pretty soon.

iBooks 1.2 works on the iPad, iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 3.2 or newer installed.

Download iBooks 1.2 from the iTunes App Store Tags: Apple, apps, Collections, e book, e book reader, e-books, EBook, EBookReader, folders, ibooks, ibookstore, ios, ipad, iphone, ipod touch, IpodTouch

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Adblock Plus for Chrome coming soon

by Erez Zukerman on December 17, 2010 at 06:15 AM

Adblock is already available for Chrome, and is working very well for us so far. But now Adblock Plus, of Firefox fame, may be joining making the jump to Google's browser platform.

AdBlock Plus' developer, Wladimir Palant, has had lots of time to convert the extension; after all, Chrome isn't exactly new. But so far, Palant has been reluctant to do the porting, due to the amount of work required and Chrome's limited blocking capabilities. Times have changed however, as according to TechCrunch, Adblock Plus is on its way. It won't be a complete re-write apparently, but based on an existing extension called AdThwart.

From an end user's point of view, having Adblock Plus for Chrome might not make a huge difference. After all, the existing options for Chrome do get the job done. But when you step back and look at the big picture, this is one more indication of the rapid rise of Chrome as a browser platform, and now, an OS. Tags: adblock, adblock plus, AdblockPlus, browsers, chrome, google, productivity

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Words with Friends coming to Android, will be playable against iOS users

by Matthew Rogers on December 17, 2010 at 04:45 AM

Words with Friends has been a ridiculously popular asynchronous Scrabble-like game for iOS devices since it came out over a year ago, but word comes from the developers themselves that an Android version is on the way -- and that it's going to be compatible with the iOS version of the game.

Developers at the now Zynga-owned company recently told Android Central that they're working on a ported version, but aren't "ready to share much more beyond that." As for Android users playing against iPhoners, they went on to say that their goal "is that it will be compatible with the iOS version from day one."

Compared to the iOS App Store, the Android Market is suffering pretty badly from a lack of quality games -- even more so for games that have compatible versions on the other side of the smartphone garden wall. So a game as popular as Words with Friends getting the non-partisan treatment is a pretty big deal, even if it is just a Scrabble analogue.

Of course, you'd have to get past the fact that it's now owned by Zynga. Tags: android, apps, cellphones, gaming, google, words with friends, WordsWithFriends, zynga

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