Comparing books to ebooks is like comparing mechanical watches to digital watches, or manual cars to automatic cars. No one doubts the convenience, reach, and flexibility of the ebook format, but it will never convincingly replicate the experience of a paper book—nor does it need to. Ebooks are a fundamentally new medium, stuck in an awkward growing stage. Read More >>

Happy holidays from space; there's a new, free, astronomic e-book in the iTunes store and all you need to check it out is an iDevice and some time. Hubble Space Telescope: Discoveries boasts a collection of picture, video, and animation that lets you stare out into the beautiful void like never before. Read More >>

Another day, another patent: according to this one, Apple wants to incorporate a book-case (which you might just recognise from iBooks) into OS X's app launcher. Is this another sign that Apple's slowly drawing its operating systems together, or just the latest in a long, long line of patents out of Cupertino? Read More >>

Apple just announced a new version of iBooks. It's got a continuous scrolling reading option, which is pretty great. It's also got its own iCloud-enabled version of Whispersync, that will sync your current page across any device you're reading on—iPhone, iPad, etc. You've also got more sharing options, like copying and sharing quotes. Read More >>

Here's an interesting titbit that leaked out over the weekend. It looks like Apple might be targeting the iPad Mini squarely at those who love a good book, oh, and probably at education too. Is the iPad Mini Apple's Kindle killer? Read More >>

Selling a book with Apple's iBook Author program is now a one-way ticket to Apple being the only place you can sell the book. Maybe selling your book on iBooks isn't such a great deal after all. Read More >>

It was almost definitely not the first time Apple thought about how to revolutionise textbooks and education, but Joe Peters and a couple of Apple interns won its annual iContest, "sort of an American Idol for great ideas that gives interns a chance to present their best thoughts to executives," by presenting a plan for cheap digital textbooks to enthusiastic Apple execs back in 2008, two years before the iPad was loosed on the world. Read More >>

iBooks Author, Apple's new iPad textbook maker, is purported to be so easy to use that [insert stupid animate object here] could go and make one. So we figured we'd try our hand at it. Even if we won't win any education or design awards, making a three page book was a walk in the park. Read More >>

TechCrunch has an anonymous source in their ear, saying this month's alleged Apple powwow is all about iBooks. Read More >>

Fancy reading something different on your iOS device this weekend? The Beatles Yellow Submarine children's book is currently available for free for iBooks. The ebook is narrated by Dean Lennox Kelly, that bloke off Shameless, and animated throughout, bringing those characteristicly psychedelic musings to life as you swipe. Read More >>

The new iBooks 1.5 is out. It's great. It has a nighttime mode to make reading books in the dark easier on the eyes and full-screen layout with none of the stupidly gimmicky backdrop. Just beautiful typography. More useful features: Read More >>

Free music track with your Espresso Macchiato sir? Why I don't mind if I do -- finally, Starbucks has brought the UK into parity with the US with its free iTunes 'Pick of the Week'. Read More >>