Inkling Lands Funding for eTextbooks

According to BusinessWire, both McGraw-Hill and Pearson have committed to building interactive editions of their top titles for the Inkling platform, after securing significant minority investments from these "two largest educational content providers in the world."

From the article:

Textbooks on Inkling’s platform are built from the ground up for multi-touch devices like iPad, bringing a level of engagement and learning that’s impossible with flat reproductions of print books. Students love the rich interactivity, self quizzes, easy search and annotation tools, and the ability to buy by the chapter, saving them money. Professors like that Inkling textbooks drive better student engagement and achievement without requiring any change in instruction. Plus, social collaboration among students and between professor and student opens doors to entirely new ways to learn.

Today, Inkling is partnering with top publishers to produce their most popular textbooks spanning business school, medical school, and undergraduate curricula for 2011. Content commitments now include:

• The top 100 undergraduate titles from McGraw-Hill Higher Education
• A comprehensive MBA curriculum, featuring 24 of the most popular business titles, from Pearson Education
• A full line of medical textbooks, featuring Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, an imprint of Wolters Kluwer Health
• Top undergraduate arts and sciences titles from Pearson Education
• Top medical education and reference content from McGraw-Hill Professional

(Image credit: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20110323005569/en/2271459/Inkling-Secures-Major-Investment-Top-Education-Companies)

BlueFire Reader for Adobe DRM eBooks

Today I borrowed an e-book from my local public library. Our library uses "My Media Mall" to manage e-borrowing. Library patrons can reserve a book, and when it's available, receive an email stating the book will be available for download for 3 days. Once downloaded, it is accessible for 14-days (Adobe Digital Editions is needed to read the DRM-protected book). Books can not be renewed, but patrons can request the title again, and get in the queue for the next available copy.

After downloading the book to my computer, I was not sure how to transfer it to my iPad. A bit of online research revealed "BlueFire Reader" which authenticates with an Adobe ID.  eBooks can then be "side-loaded" onto the iPad BlueFire Reader using iTunes.

From the website http://www.bluefirereader.com:

Bluefire Reader is built on the Adobe® digital publishing platform, the most widely used eBook distribution system. Our Adobe Reader Mobile based application supports ePUB and PDF content, including files protected by Adobe® Content Server encryption technology. Adobe® Reader Mobile is the industry standard for eReader devices and applications that support ePUB and PDF content.

Bluefire Reader integrates rich catalog presentation features, including in-app and web-based purchasing. You can also take advantage of Bluefire's advanced Open Publication Distribution System (OPDS) Services to make the creation and management of your book catalogs easier than ever before.