Apple finally opens iBookstore in Australia

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Apple finally opens iBookstore in Australia

By Asher Moses
Updated

Australians can now use ther iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch as a serious e-book reader after Apple opened the doors to its iBookstore today.

It's taken the company five months since the iPad's launch to get the store up and running but it has succeeded in signing up a wide range of book publishers including Macmillan, Hachette, HarperCollins, Hardie Grant, Murdoch Publishers and Wiley.

John Howard's memoirs sell for $32.99 on Apple's iBookstore.

John Howard's memoirs sell for $32.99 on Apple's iBookstore.

Previously, Australians viewing the iBookstore could only access old out-of-copyright books but now there is a range of new release titles on offer. The exact number is unclear but an Apple spokeswoman said they numbered in the "thousands".

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Gadgets on the Go: eBooks come to Aussie iPads
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The iBookstore will compete with the Amazon Kindle and Kobo apps already available for Apple devices. While those US-based apps offer cheaper average prices for e-books, their selection of books written by Australians is meagre.

On the iBookstore, entertainer Reg Grundy's biography can be bought for $19.95, while former Prime Minister John Howard's recently released memoirs, Lazarus Rising, sells for $32.99.

Stephanie Meyer's Twilight books cost $12.99 each on the iBookstore, compared to $US8.99 on the US version of the iBookstore and $US8.59 on Amazon's Kindle.

Hachette Australia said it would make books available on the iBookstore on or shortly after the print launch date.

"The iBookstore in the US and UK have been a huge success, and it is incredibly exciting that Australian readers can now have a store perfectly tailored for their needs, and that Hachette's many authors have an innovative new outlet for their works," said managing director Malcolm Edwards.

HarperCollins said its full e-book catalogue of local and international titles would be available through the iBookstore, including Colleen McCullough's Naked Cruelty, Rebecca Lim's Mercy and A Simpler Time by Peter FitzSimons.

HarperCollins Australia CEO Michael Moynahan said the opening of the store represented "a significant opportunity for the Australian consumer to get further access to a fantastic array of books".

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