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Daily Update for December 6, 2011
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen.
Steve Jobs bio Amazon's best selling hardback book of 2011
When Steve Jobs selected Walter Isaacson to write his biography, he probably knew that the book about his life would be a bestseller. Sure enough, the hardcover edition of "Steve Jobs" topped the bestseller list for 2011, edging out "Heaven is for Real," "Unbroken" and other titles. This is an amazing feat considering that the Jobs biography wasn't actually in bookstores until October 24. Many of the other titles have been on bookshelves for well over a year. While the hardcover of the book is at the top of the stack for 2011, the ebook version is (with about three weeks left in the year) only in the #21 spot in the list. If you're one of the few Apple fans out there who hasn't had a chance to read the book cover-to-cover by this point, take a look at TUAW blogger Chris Rawson's excellent review of "Steve Jobs". Chris wrote his Master's thesis on the concept of truth in biographical works, and notes that "In the process of telling the unvarnished truth about Steve Jobs, it dispels much of the myth and magic surrounding the man and his legacy."
Amazon's third-gen Kindle is now its best-selling product... of all time!
Consider all the things you've bought from Amazon, all the things you wanted to, but couldn't afford to buy from Amazon, all the wildly popular fashions and fads that have gone through that online store's brief, but torrid history ... each of those has now been overshadowed by the mighty sales of the third-generation Kindle. Jeff Bezos and team have today announced that their latest and greatest Kindle has become their bestselling product of all time, thanks in no small part to an aggressive price that's been "low enough that people don't have to choose," as Jeff puts it, between an e-reader and a tablet -- they've just gone and bought both, apparently. Alas, we're still no closer to knowing the exact figure of Kindle sales, but who really cares at this point, the thing's looking like a runaway success.
New York Times to launch bestseller list for e-books in early 2011
The New York Times has dropped some PR on us this morning, making an official announcement that it will begin to publish a bestseller list for e-books in early 2011. The current NYT bestseller lists -- which are divided into several categories -- are considered by many to be the definitive metric for a book's success. The Times will have two separate lists covering fiction and non-fiction when it launches, drawing on information from various retailers, and will be independently verified by third party company RoyaltyShare. The list will appear in both the print and online editions of the paper. The full press release is below
It's official: iPad now the all-time fastest-selling gadget
For those of us who are Apple fanatics, we've had a feeling that the iPad was popular. Whether it's seeing the devices pop out all over the plane on an airline flight, or having to give hundreds of demos of the iPad on a cruise ship, it's apparent that Apple's tablet is still a hot item. Now it's officially the fastest-selling tech device in history. According to Bernstein Research financial analyst Colin McGranahan, the iPad has now sold an estimate 8.5 million units and is a "runaway success of unprecedented proportion." In an article in Information Week, writer Paul McDougall also notes that the iPad is starting to have a measurable effect on PC sales. A recent research study by NPD found that 13% of iPad users would have purchased a PC if they hadn't been able to buy an iPad. Coupled with the recent start of iPad sales at U.S. mega-retailers Target and Walmart, the device is sure to break many more records over the holiday buying season.
Golden's Arthas on NY Times bestseller list
Need any more evidence that World of Warcraft has gone mainstream? Arthas, the latest expanded universe novel about none other than our own Lich King (that got rave reviews from our own writers), has reached number 16 on the New York Times bestseller list for hardcover fiction. We're sure that makes Christie Golden happy -- I don't believe that any Warcraft-related novels have ever made the list before. Rise of the Horde is the most popular one I can think of, and I don't think that appeared there on first release. It's not the only videogame-related book of fiction to make the NYT, though -- the latest Halo novel did that a few years ago.At any rate, just shows you how popular the Warcraft universe really is, even outside of the videogame audience. You can pick up the Arthas book at a bookstore near you, or order it up from Amazon as well. [via WorldofWar]
Amazon presells Leopard, says release 10/07
Reader Elizabeth D sends a note that Amazon.com's Leopard page has been updated (from the sparse set of details that we first saw there). It's now available for presale, as well, and buyers haven't wasted any time-- as of this writing, it is the number one bestseller on the Software list.Now, Elizabeth noted that the release date was supposedly slated for October 31st, but I don't see that anywhere on the page. As far as I can tell, Amazon is just saying "October 2007." That's not real different from what we've heard before, and between you and me, I wouldn't make any major plans based on Amazon release dates alone. Then again, it's just another brick in the wall of evidence-- the odds are better all the time that we'll see this cat by Halloween.
