iBooks 2 Revealed With Textbooks

Building on the very central subject of the education event in NYC this week in the iPad, Apple spoke of the second generation of iBooks, that being iBooks 2. This application will tie Apple's already portable, durable, interactive, searchable, and current iPad to the "great content" of the textbook, the textbook having none of the features the iPad can offer to the next generation of students. What iBooks 2 offers the student is much more than just pages – multitouch gestures, 3D models, and interactive experiences galore will bring kids directly into the content they're working with.

Authors will soon be able to easily create content for this platform, complete with total freedom for laying out text and graphics as well as integrating interactive elements from top to bottom. Books in iBooks 2 will be able to be read in a traditional way, but will also be able to have interactive elements in each page that can either be worked with or skipped over. The entirety of the book you're working with will be able to be accessed from any point in the book with gestures, and what's more: Q and A sections at the ends of chapters, for example, for the teacher to work directly with the student.

Highlighting and notetaking is included in the basic experience in iBooks 2, a rather simple interface allowing you to swipe, change colors, and leave notes. You can leave notes throughout a book with your on-screen keyboard, and it all happens within the book. Saves happen inside each book connected to iBooks 2, and it's all contained within the iPad itself. To get these books, you've only to go to the iBookstore and check out the brand new Textbooks category.

Follow the rest of our coverage for this Apple education event at http://live.slashgear.com/ live, as it happens!