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Digital collections make comics on your iPad easy and cheap
Our friend Macenstein has a nice tip running over on his blog about how to get more comics on your iPad. The iPad is a device that seems made for comic book reading -- that display is colorful and bright, and the touchscreen lets you examine comic art from any size or angle. The problem, however, is price -- while there are some good official apps out there, and some great free comics in them, purchased comics still aren't too cheap, even compared to the real thing. Enter Amazon, which is selling things like this DVD of Archie Comics for super cheap. For four bucks, you can get 120 digital comics. That's an amazing deal, and while there aren't a lot of those to go around, there are definitely other digital collections you can purchase for much cheaper than actually buying them piecemeal. Turning those comics into PDFs (or just finding them on the disc) is usually not a problem, and then just dragging the PDFs into iTunes and cracking them open in iBooks is even simpler. And voila, you've got tons and tons of comics to read on your iPad. Excellent tip, and a great way to pick up a lot more comic books to read on your next plane trip.
WWF file format: it's like a PDF that's impossible to print
Have you ever received a PDF in your email, only to find yourself weeping moments later after accidentally printing 349 copies and murdering six or seven endangered trees in the Panamanian rain forest? It's more serious of a problem than you may realize. In order to solve spontaneous bouts of Accident Print Syndrome, the World Wide Fund For Nature has created the WWF file format. We'll let the entity itself explain: The WWF format is a PDF that cannot be printed out. It's a simple way to avoid unnecessary printing. So here's your chance to save trees and help the environment. Decide for yourself which documents don't need printing out – then simply save them as WWF. For now, it's only readable on a Mac, which means that WWF files also cannot be printed from a PC. We're envisioning a world of college professors using these to prevent printable study guides, but so as long as hackers also exist in that same universe, those who prefer their documents on paper -- and HP's ink department -- will probably figure out their own road to nirvana. Must to the dismay of Ma Earth, of course.
Google eBooks is live: just in case Amazon, B&N, and Apple aren't enough
You hear about this whole e-books thing? We hear it's gonna be a pretty big deal. Google, always with its finger on the pulse of our ever-evolving digital lifestyles, has decided to take a wild stab at this nascent market, and is launching Google eBooks today. Formerly known as Google Editions, the Google eBooks ecosystem is actually a pretty grand gesture, and seems to combine most of the positives of the primary e-book contenders (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple, naturally), while skimping on the UI flourishes, in traditional Google fashion. Books you buy are stored in the cloud, with your progress synced Whispersync-style, and can be read on your choice of native Android, iPhone, or iPad apps; from your browser; or on any device that supports the Adobe Digital Editions DRM for PDF and ePub files, which includes the B&N Nook and the Sony Reader (and plenty of other devices). Google is also trading on its vast repository of public domain books, with 3 million free eBooks on offer at its Google eBookstore, in addition to traditional paid fare. It's certainly a crowded market, full of sharp elbows, but it seems Google is having no trouble adjusting.
Chrome 8 released: web app support and built-in PDF viewer are a go
There are no apps just yet, but Google's Chrome browser is now reportedly updated to support the impending Web Store launch. Version 8.0.552.215 -- just call it '8,' for short -- also provides a built-in PDF viewer and over 800 claimed bug fixes. Download's a no-brainer if you're rocking the current stable release. And if you look at the code close enough, you might spot a Chrome OS release date. Okay, no, not really.
Rumor: iBooks update to bring Collections, PDF emailing and printing
Update: So much for rumors. Readers have let us know about two German websites pointing to explicit discussion of iBooks collections in the iOS 4.2 documentation, of all places. We can expect to see collection support in the next version of the iBooks app, which can be updated independently of the main OS releases. Steve himself has hinted at improvements "coming" soon to iBooks, and 9to5Mac claims to have nabbed some internal Apple documents that lay out those improvements. The biggest feature is called "Collections," and it sounds like it works the same as Folders in the rest of iOS -- you can combine items in iBooks however you like, and the collections you've got in iBooks can be viewed right on your bookshelf in the main screen. Sounds handy, if not all that revolutionary. Second, PDF users will get some nice additions -- PDFs will be able to be shared via email as well as printed off with AirPrint directly from the iBooks app. That functionality won't work for actual book files, obviously, given that if you want to read one of those, you'll have to buy it. But if this document is legit, it should make things a little easier for people who want to share and print PDFs from iBooks itself. We don't know yet when these features will actually come to iBooks, but presumably we wouldn't need to wait until an iOS update -- Apple could update the iBooks app. We'll keep an eye out for that soon.
FileMaker Go update adds PDF creation, photo import
The latest revision to FileMaker's two mobile database apps, FileMaker Go 1.1 for iPhone and for iPad (two separate products), gives the Go team a few vital new features for users on the move. First up: PDF creation in-app, which allows you to take a database report page or form and instantly create a saveable or mailable PDF -- great for invoices, site reports or price quotes. Second, the apps now support image capture from the iPhone camera or from the iPad's photo library; you can populate image fields in a database directly, a great tool for real estate or inventory applications. Other new features include scripted record imports from remote or local databases, the ability to email an entire DB from your device, file embeds (like a spreadsheet or document) into database records, and some additional security options. The URL handling for FM Go has also been souped up, meaning that other iOS applications can hand off data more easily; the first example is barcode scanning, which uses a separate app to do the scan and then hands off the result to Go. FileMaker Go works with all desktop versions of FileMaker from 7 to 11. The iPhone/iPod touch version is US$19.99 and the iPad version costs $39.
Peek 9 is nine times faster than Pronto, adds PeekMaps, weather, Twitter, and Facebook
It's official. The latest Peek -- dubbed the Peek 9 -- is up and dancing with a full list of features. The hubbub boils down to speed improvements thanks to revamped software that claims to reduce lag and sluggishness experienced when connecting to newly enhanced Peek servers. While the hardware appears unchanged, it's still said to offer better reception and be 9 times faster (hence the name) than the Peek Pronto. The 9 comes pre-loaded with native Twitter and Facebook apps with ActiveSync support tossed in for Exchange. They've also added PeekMaps and weather apps to give you an idea of where you are in Google Maps and what the weather forecast is for that location. Rounding things out is the Streams RSS reader; the ability to view Word, PDF, and spreadsheet attachments; and a new Peektop Apps feature that lets you transform Peek into a "tailor-made mobile productivity machine," whatever that means. Peak 9 is priced at $69.99 or $99.99 plus two months of contract-free service (sorry, no lifetime service offering at the moment). After that, the Peek service will cost you $19.95/mth or as little as $9.95/mth for 24 months. Of course, with the 9's broader communications focus beyond just Twitter or eMail, we really have to wonder why anyone would buy this instead of a much smarter featurephone -- a Nokia C3, for example, can be had in the US unlocked for just $129.%Gallery-102788%
Ask Engadget: Best e-reader for school use / PDF viewing?
We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget question is coming to us from Noah, who needs a bit of assistance in making the transition from textbook to e-book. If you're looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com. "I have a class that has gone paperless. All of our readings are posted online as PDF scans of books. I have become quite annoyed with having to read these on my computer. So I have thought about purchasing an e-reader. The best choice seems to be a Kindle, but would you recommend a Sony, Nook, or something else instead? My primary interest is great PDF support / viewing. Thanks." We know, you're "too busy" with "classes" to really answer here, but everyone deserves a study break or three. Take a breather and help your fellow student out -- it's just the right thing to do.
Older Apple iOS devices must jailbreak to be secure -- oh the irony
Remember that nasty PDF bug that allowed potentially malicious code to be executed on your iOS device? Right, the one that Apple recently patched with the iOS 4.0.2 software update, slamming the door on jailbreakme.com. Well, if you own the original iPhone or iPod touch you're still at risk since Apple's update isn't compatible with those devices. Hell, many iPhone 3G owners are also at risk after rolling back their handsets to iOS 3.1.3 due to sluggish (to put it mildly) performance running iOS 4. So what can you do to protect yourselves? Jailbreak. As counterintuitive as that sounds, Jay Freeman (aka @saurik) just released a patch onto Cydia (search for "PDF Patch") for all iOS devices, no need to update to 4.0.2. Of course, jailbreaking presents its own set of risks, so be careful -- and for crissake be sure to change the root password if you install SSH.
Mac 101: Five tips for working with PDF files in Mac OS X
One of the best things about Mac OS X is its built-in support for PDF files. Instead of testing your sanity while you wait (sometimes it can seem like forever) for Adobe Acrobat to open a PDF file, you can use Preview.app to open them up quickly. However, built-in PDF support allows you to do other neat things as well. Here are five of my favorites. Print At the top of the list is the ability to create a PDF from almost any document. Whether it's a Word or Pages document, a spreadsheet, or a Web page, in most instances you'll be able to create PDFs out of them. Many Windows users print to a PDF printer in order to create a PDF file, and in a similar manner, creating PDFs on Mac OS X involves selecting the print option from the app that you're working in. Within the app, click on "File" and then select "Print." Then, you'll be presented with a dialog box with a "PDF" button on the left. Click on this button and select "Save as PDF." Annotate Once you've created your PDF, you can annotate it. Open up your PDF in Preview.app, click on "View," and select "Show Annotations Toolbar." After doing so, a toolbar will appear on the bottom left of your document. Alternatively, the toolbar will also be displayed if you select any of the annotate options under the "Tools" menu. Annotations include the ability to create text boxes (useful for filling out forms), add notes, or highlight and create shapes (among other things). Rearrange You can also move pages around within Preview.app (like rearranging the songs in an iTunes playlist). Simply choose "Contact sheet" or "Thumbnail" view from the sidebar, and then drag and drop your pages as you see fit. Bookmarks Let's say that a couple of pages within a PDF interest you, and you want to revisit them later. To do this, click on "Bookmarks" in Preview.app and select "Add Bookmark" (or use the Cmd+D shortcut). One of the neat things about this feature is that, even if your PDF isn't open, you can still access your bookmarks. Crop I've made no secret about my fondness of Preview.app's image editing ability, and this extends to PDFs as well. One neat image editing feature for PDFs is the ability to select an area and create a new image based on this selection. To do this in the PDF, click on the "Select" tool, select an area, and copy it. Then, in Preview.app, click on "File," select "New from clipboard," and voila, your selection is in a new document. This document can be saved in a variety of formats, including PDF, JPG, and PNG. PDF parsing and rendering are core features of Mac OS X and iOS. While providing for native support for PDF files, it also served as the foundation for the recently released Web-based jailbreak for the iPhone.
Apple releases iOS 4.0.2 for iPhone and 3.2.2 for iPad, fixes PDF vulnerability
Bad news, jailbreakers: as promised, Apple's just released iOS 4.0.2 for the iPhone and 3.2.2 for the iPad, both of which close the PDF exploit used by JailbreakMe. That appears to be the only change -- it's definitely good news for anyone concerned about iOS security, although we're guessing the Dev Team is hard at work finding a new way to crack iOS open once again. We'll let you know if we find anything else -- won't you do the same?
A quick tutorial on how to read PDF-formatted ebooks in iBooks
When me and my fellow TUAW bloggers Erica Sadun and Mike Grothaus recently had our collaborative effort "Taking Your iPad to the Max" published by Apress in both ebook and printed format, I wanted to make sure that I had a copy of the book on my iPad so I could show friends and prospective buyers examples of the content in the book. The ebook comes in a PDF format, but I wanted to read it in the iBooks app since it does such a wonderful job of displaying the printed word. Was I going to have to convert the PDF file to the app's native EPUB format before I'd be able to read it in iBooks? Fortunately, no. Apple's recent update to iBooks added the ability to read PDF documents natively. The only thing you really need to do in order to read any PDF in iBooks is to move it to the iPad, and that can be easily done in iTunes: Connect your iPad to your Mac or PC. Drag the PDF to the Books icon in your iTunes Library, and drop it. Note that you can edit the name and author(s) of the book if you don't like the way the file name is displayed. Click your iPad or iPhone in the Devices list, then click the Books tab. Make sure that the book title box is checked and that Sync Books is also checked. Click the Sync button. The sync should go very quickly. Most PDF-based ebooks are relatively small, and even over the somewhat pokey USB 2.0 sync connection, it will move to your iPad in less than a minute. What's interesting is that a new "PDFs" button appears on your iBooks bookshelf, and a tap displays all PDF documents that are in your library. While the PDFs don't have the nice side-by-side view in landscape orientation, they can be searched and bookmarked in the same manner as EPUBs. By the way, expect to see the TUAW-labeled "Taking Your iPad to the Max" in your local bookstore soon!
Apple: PDF security hole fix is already ready to go
JailbreakMe brought root to the iPhone 4-wielding masses, but also unearthed a nasty exploit in a PDF font. Thankfully for the rooted and those who never intended to root, Cupertino claims it has already patched the hole. "We're aware of the reported issue, we have already developed a fix and it will be available to customers in an upcoming software update," an Apple spokeswoman told CNET. We're not sure exactly when it will arrive, but we'd lay odds on soon -- in the meantime, don't open any PDFs you don't trust, don't do anything illegal or immoral, and hit up Comex's hack ASAP if your heart's still set on that shiny new unlock. [Image Source: F-Secure]
JailbreakMe using PDF exploit to hack your iPhone, so could the baddies; Apple looking into reports
As with any jailbreak or rooting of a handset, "hacking" a phone OS is usually exactly that: exploiting a weakness to get unsigned code onto a device. That means that any other hacker, be they sufficiently nefarious, could use that same exploit to mess with your phone in the bad, not-installing-emulators-off-of-Cydia sense. Early iPhone jailbreaks (back when installing your own ringtones was a wild idea) took advantage of a TIFF exploit, the recent EVO 4G root found a hole in Flash Lite, and the JailbreakMe exploit is stuffing its code in a PDF font. Until Apple patches this exploit (when asked, Apple told us it was "aware of the reports and looking into them") we'd be extra careful about which PDFs we open -- there aren't any reports of malicious use so far, but with Safari's seamless handling of PDFs, it wouldn't be hard for some hacker to hide a potentially phone-invading PDF behind some harmless looking hyperlink. The iPhone devteam points out that this isn't the only known exploit for Safari on iOS, so there's no need to start hyperventilating about this particular one... unless it's a slow day at your mainstream media publication and you're looking for something to hyperventilate about. Oh, and are you looking for a surefire way to steer clear of PDFs? Cydia has a PDF loading warner that lets you skip PDFs your browser is trying to load on a case by case basis. Of course, you'll need to jailbreak your phone to use it. Ironic, right?
Jailbreakme site utilizes PDF exploit in iOS
We reported on the return of browser-based jailbreakme.com yesterday. Today IT security guru F-Secure revealed just how the site is able to work. The jailbreak method utilizes a PDF exploit found in the iOS software. Charlie Miller with Independent Security Evaluators, tweeted, " Starting to get a handle on jailbreakme.com exploit. Very beautiful work. Scary how it totally defeats Apple's security architecture." What the exploit does is take a PDF sitting in a subdirectory of jailbreakme.com, shown on the right, and brings it into your device. PDF browsing is done through Safari, and the jailbreak exploits that weakness by using a corrupted font placed inside the PDF file to crash the Compact Font Format handler and allows access to the iOS. iPhone devteam member chpwn told us today, "There are other (public) exploits in Safari, including some on Apple's website that are fixed in desktop Safari but not iOS. Therefore, the JailbreakMe exploit isn't really a big deal for security." And even if it is, apparently there are other ways into the system. Comex, author of the exploit, sent a tweet yesterday saying, "M aybe I'll rely on USB based stuff for the next jailbreak so that Apple won't patch it so fast."
Readdle's anniversary sale and iPad giveaway
Readdle started developing iOS apps three years ago as of yesterday, and to celebrate they are discounting all of their apps (a rare occurrence for them) and offering up three iPads in a giveaway for Twitter followers of the company. More details can be found here. For you math students out there you may realize that three years of app development on iOS means Readdle actually provided a document reader app before the App Store opened. Their apps are quite awesome, although they sometimes suffer from too many features (if simplicity is your thing). When we reviewed Scanner Pro, for example, the UI was a little overwhelming for TJ. Still, Readdle Docs is one of the best document viewers out there, and Flash Drive offers up some nice features like ZIP compression support. We reviewed BookReader here. All of these apps (and more) are on sale for just $.99 until later today. For more info on the iPad giveaway, check Readdle's page here.
Apple releases iBooks 1.1.1
Following on the heels of the iTunes 9.2.1 update that was released yesterday, Apple has updated the iBooks app to version 1.1.1, which includes "substantial performance improvements when reading PDFs." While the new version of iBooks still lacks some lovin' for PDFs that e-books get (in-text Dictionary lookup, notes, etc.), this version makes swiping through PDFs smoother than before. Other improvements to iBooks 1.1.1 include: • The ability to double-tap an image within a book in order to view it in greater detail. • The ability to experience books that include audio and video. • Look up definitions to English words inside books without a specified language. • An answer to an issue that may have caused some book downloads to not complete. • The addition of many stability and performance improvements. The free update for both the iPad and iPhone/iPod touch apps is available now in the App Store.
Apple corrects iBooks PDF features list after TUAW post
After our post that iBooks 1.1 doesn't deliver what Apple promises, Apple has quietly updated the language on its iBooks page to accurately reflect what iBooks 1.1 can do as far as PDF handling goes. Two days ago we pointed out that the copy on Apple's iBooks page read: Tap a PDF to read it and it fills the screen just like an ebook. You can flip through pages, add bookmarks and highlights, or zoom in for a closer look. The problem with this was that you couldn't actually flip through PDF pages or highlight them -- those were features of books purchased from the iBooks store, not PDFs. While some readers thought I was being picky that Apple used the word "flip" instead of "swipe" to move to the next PDF page, Apple seems to have agreed with me. Flipping a page involves the iBooks page-curl eye candy. Swiping a page moves one page off screen as the next appears. As of today, Apple has changed the copy on the iBooks page to accurately reflect how you can interact with PDFs in iBooks 1.1. The new copy reads: Tap a PDF to read it and it fills the screen just like an ebook. You can swipe through pages, add bookmarks, or zoom in for a closer look. Here's hoping that Apple does add page flipping and text highlight functionality to PDFs soon. iBooks is shaping up to be a wonderful app and I can't wait to see where it goes in the future.
iBooks 1.1 doesn't deliver what Apple promises
Apple touted iBooks 1.1 as a major upgrade which allows users to sync and view PDFs from their computer to the iPad. While Apple has delivered the ability to sync and view PDFs in iBooks 1.1, there are some major limitations, including some features that iBooks 1.1 is advertised as being able to do, but actually cannot. The image above is a screen shot from Apple's iBooks page. It states: Tap a PDF to read it and it fills the screen just like an ebook. You can flip through pages, add bookmarks and highlights, or zoom in for a closer look. The problems with this is that you can't actually flip through pages or add highlights to a PDF. There's a difference between flipping through pages and swiping. iBooks 1.1 lets you swipe one page off the screen in order to bring on the next. That's very different than flipping the page as you do with an ebook in iBooks. As for highlighting – well, the feature just isn't there.
Fast PDF brings iBooks functionality to PDF files
One bit of news from WWDC is that the new version of the OS formerly known as iPhone OS, iOS 4, will be released on June 21st. Along with it will come an iBooks app that will support PDF files. But you don't have to wait until then to get PDF support both on the iPhone/iPod touch and the iPad with an app that looks very much like iBooks. Fast PDF (US $0.99) does the job for PDF reading; it's a Unversal app (meaning that it looks great on both the iPhone and the iPad). This is really nothing revolutionary, since apps like Stanza (also a Universal app) have been doing this for quite a long time, but the virtue of Fast PDF is that it looks remarkably like iBooks and it is very simple to use. Just like Stanza, you can download PDF files from either the Internet (this was a bit confusing), from your computer using a built-in server, or via iTunes' file transfer feature. Unlike Stanza, there is no file conversion. Often PDF files imported into Stanza look horribly formatted, and saving the file as an ePub or other file type doesn't make it any better. Fast PDF (which only deals with PDF files) brings everything in, perfectly formatted. After transferring, the resulting file looks exactly like the source. %Gallery-94785%
