Gadgetory

it's thursday january nineteen twenty twelve i'm brigitte carry on cnet com and it's time to get loaded this morning Apple announced a new textbook experience with ibooks and an update to itunes u ibooks now includes interactive textbooks with embedded video content students can use multi-touch gestures to navigate and interact with digital objects like 3d models additionally you can search the text incorporate highlights and typed notes linked to glossary xande get quizzed on each chapter the tool to build interactive textbooks is a free app called iBooks Author and it doesn't require programming skills authors simply drag-and-drop elements like photos videos even keynote presentations into templates to build the textbooks and unique animations can also be added using html5 or JavaScript several iBook text books are available today for 1499 or less apple also revamped the iTunes U offerings into a full-fledged app teachers in K through 12 as well as university professors can design and distribute complete courses featuring audio/video books and apps iTunes U allows teachers to messages when assigning homework and students can keep documents and notes synced across multiple devices you'll be seeing new verbs in your facebook timeline until now you've been able to like and poke and let your friends know what you're listening to well now with new timeline apps you can tell them where you're going what you're eating what you're interested in and more Facebook has partnered up with over 60 companies including foodspotting ticketmaster and TripAdvisor to add new apps that share more of your life actions on your timeline verizon has turned on its 4G LTE speeds to five more cities in the areas of New York Oklahoma and Texas also Spokane Washington Atlanta and Houston will see expanded service Verizon's 4G is in nearly 200 markets now and the company says it will complete nationwide rollout by the end of 2013 the legendary eastman kodak company has voluntarily filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization the move was expected Kodak struggled to transition into a digital world but the company hopes to emerge from bankruptcy in one form or another by 2013 so Wikipedia is back up and running after a day-long blackout to protest the soap short for Stop Online Piracy Act many sites participated in a web strike Wednesday to protest and it seems it made a difference eight lawmakers have withdrawn support for SOPA including co-sponsors like Marco Rubio from Florida and Rory blend from Missouri if you listen to headphones while walking yeah better watch your step serious injuries to pedestrians who are listening to headphones have more than tripled since 2004 according to research from the University of Maryland and most of those accidents seventy percent ended in death yes death about seventy percent of accents were males under the age of 30 and more than half involved a train so next time you're rocking out to Train watch out for that train cuz multi-tasking can kill those are your headlines for today I'm Bridget Carey for cnet.com and you've just been loaded