Apple revamps the textbook

Speaker 1:Hi. I'm Bridget Carey with CNET TV. Here at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City where Apple has announced new ways that you're gonna be getting your textbooks and course materials on the iPad. It's starts with an update to iBook Store. There is a whole new category now for textbooks. Speaker 2: They have some really cool rich engaging interactive experiences and this is one here. I'm gonna pinch it up to full screen, so you can see it better. Now, when I tap, we zoom in and we see animated 3D models of the structures inside of a cell. Speaker 1: And they've even introduced an app called iBooks Author that makes it really simple for people to make textbooks and you don't need to have any programming skills, but if do have programming skills, you can always take it up a notch with animations and unique features, but with really simple tools, all you have to do is drag and drop photos, drag and drop movies and drag and drop the text itself. It's all automatically formatted. Apple is hoping that this makes textbooks more enjoyable the learning experience, more interactive for classrooms. Speaker 2: So I'm really happy to be the first to tell you that the new iBooks Author will be available for free. Speaker 1: There also is another announcement. The iTunes U has its own app now. iTunes U will now have entire college curriculum, not just that PDF or Electrovideo. Now, you're talking syllabus, all the (materials you need?) for class. The professors can even send assignments to you and you'll get notified in the app and check off what assignments you completed. Speaker 2: Let's take a look at my next assignment. This is to read a chapter and as I tap on it, it opens up and shows me the book and just tapping on it, switches me over to iBooks and opens me right to that spot in the book. Speaker 1: The apps are free and those new interactive textbooks are gonna start at 14.99 or lower. iTunes you will even be introduced to a K through 12 level, so it's not's just colleges anymore. From the Guggenheim in New York City, I'm Bridget Carey.