AppleInsider Staff
An iBooks publishing label has reportedly discovered that Apple may take its iBookstore live in 18 countries as soon as Tuesday, which lines up perfectly with a special event at which the much-rumored 7.85-inch "iPad mini" is expected to debut.
An Australia-based iBooks label notified AppleInsider early Tuesday that its iTunes Connect account, the backend system used by publishers to sell their books, listed 18 new countries as having a "pending" sales status, suggesting an iBookstore launch may be imminent in those areas.
The newly-supported countries include Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela.
"The books aren't immediately available in the new areas," the publisher told AppleInsider. "iTunes Connect is showing their status as pending for contract reasons, although I'm quite certain they'll trigger to available during tomorrow's keynote. This is quite a big jump for iBooks."
He went on to say that the new additions would bring the number of countries to support iBookstore sales up to 50.
Apple is widely expected to launch a small format iPad at a special event on Tuesday. It was previously reported that iBooks would be a focus at the unveiling, along with the rumored tablet's capabilities in the classroom.
Andrew Orr
Amber Neely
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
13 Comments
Is Apple hoping to compete with Amazon sales? What is Apple's cut of the profit- the normal 30%?
Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo If this is true then I will dance naked through the streets... metaphorically that is. I've been wanting iBookStore in New Zealand since it was announced. If this rumour is true then Amazon will disappear from my iPad for good. :-)
I just want to say that the posters apple has posted for the event are very clever, and very Buddhist. If you haven't seen them, they are concentric rings of colored apples, shrinking until you have a white apple logo in the center. I presume the analogy is in regards to the products (iMac > MBP > iPad > iPad mini > ?*). But the image is also reminiscent of the Buddhist analogy of the meditation practitioner as an onion, peeling away the outer layers until all you have is the essence of the Apple, the ultimate truth that informs all its layers, but cannot be fully represented in any one of them individually.
*I've got my fingers crossed for a bluetooth iWatch ala last year's nano.
Apple will officially launch iPhone 5 in China at 23rd event, based on many weibo tweets.
It's already working for Mexico. The prices are good, but the amount of available titles not so much. I hope this will change with time, because I really like reading.