Gadget Reviews, Product News, Electronic Gadgets

Do you read ebooks on your iPad? I do, and I’m thrilled about the new changes that Apple made to iBooks earlier this evening. There’s an all new theme for reading in the dark, additional fonts, a full screen layout, classic covers for public domain books, and a redesigned annotation palette.
The nighttime reading theme is the big addition here. It’s designed to make reading books in the dark easier on the eyes by providing a black background with white text. It’s different, but it works. As an added bonus, if you’re reading in bed with a partner that’s trying to sleep, this new mode is a lot less bright.
A new full screen layout removes the book-style edges and pages from the screen, leaving just the words for a clean reading experience with no distractions. Both the full screen and the nighttime reading mode have significantly improved readability on the iPad.
In addition, there are four new fonts you can choose from: Athelas, Charter, Iowan, and Seravek. There are now plenty of options for any style you prefer – serif or sans-serif. Books in the public domain, such as Alice in Wonderland, have redesigned covers that look great in a virtual bookshelf.
The annotation palette has been redesigned as well, with a new menu that makes it easy to choose different colors for highlighted text. Note taking is also done from the same menu, so reading and annotating textbooks and other important books is a breeze.
With the Kindle Fire flying from store shelves and ultra cheap ebook readers available from both major vendors, this is an important strategic move for Apple. There’s no denying that e-ink is infinitely easier to read than an LCD screen, but the convenience of the iPad just can’t be beat.
Overall, this is a great update. If you’ve shied away from reading on your iPad in the past, you may want to give it another go. The new iBooks can be updated on your iPad, or downloaded from the App Store.

via:padgadget