Apple unleashed a tornado of new devices and software that could rock the tech industry. New iPad Mini, iMac, Macbook Pro, and iBooks 3 are just a few.
On Tuesday Apple announced a new version of the iBooks reader app at an event in San Jose.
According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, the iBooks app is "one of the most popular apps on the store," said Cook, before outlining the enhancements in the new version."
MacWorld reported that the app now supports more than 40 languages-including Korean, Chinese, and Japanese-and features a new "continuous scrolling" reading option for those who prefer scrolling over page-turning. iCloud also got an update: it not only syncs your page turns, but all your purchased iBookstore books over your various devices.
Users can now also share favorite snippets and passages to their Twitter and Facebook accounts, according to TechCrunch.
The new version is available now for free. Cook said that there are over 1.5 million books available in the iBooks store, and over 400 million of those iBooks have been downloaded since the service's launch.
Moving on to the new iMac, Apple announced a new iMac desktop computer line-up. They computers are thinner and lighter than previous models and also have an added Fusion drive "that contains both flash storage and a traditional disk-based hard drive, according to MacRumors.
"The iMac will still come in two display sizes: 21.5-inch and 27-inch. The display has a fully laminated design to improve optical quality and has an anti-reflective coating thanks to a manufacturing process that uses plasma deposition to add the ultra thin layer," the website said. "The 21.5-inch iMac with a 2.7GHz quad-core i5 processor, 8 GB of RAM, and a 1 TB hard drive will start at $1,299 and will begin shipping in November. The 27-inch iMac with a 2.9GHz quad-core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 1 TB hard drive will start at $1,799 and will begin shipping in December."
"It is absolutely beautiful," Apple's Phil Schiller said during the introduction at an event in San Jose, Calif. "It is stunning from every side," CNET reported.
Apple also unveiled a new MacBook Pro.
According to ZDNet, the 13-inch MacBook Pro is the lightest one ever. It is 0.75-inches thick and 20 percent thinner and has a 13-inch 2,560 x 1,600 resolution display with 4,096,000 pixels total. It has more display upgrades: 29 percent higher contrast ratio, 75 percent reduced reflection, IPS with 178-degree viewing angles and a FaceTime HD camera with stereo speakers and a back-lit keyboard. It connects with MagSafe, Thunderbolt, USB 3.0, HDMI, SD Card reader, headphones and dual microphones support.
The new Pro with Retina starts at $1,699 and is available Tuesday.
What about the highly anticipated iPad Mini?
Apple has announced that as well. It will have a 7.9-inch screen and run on Apple's new iOS 6 software. It is 23 percent thinner than the fourth-generation iPad, according to USA Today. It has a display screen resolution of 1,024 x 768 and has a 35 percent larger display area than the Google Nexus 7, and is 67 percent larger to surf the Web. It has a A5 dual-core chip, 5 megapixle iSight camera on the rear of the tablet which can shoot 1080p HD video, 4G LTE and Wi-Fi support as well as the new Lightning connector available on the iPhone 5.
It will sell for $329 for the 16GB model.
Cook said, "We think we kept our promise, and I hope that you agree."
Apple's new items serve big competition for Google and Amazon, with many reports saying that it will crush competition if the price is right. We will just have to wait and see.