Apple announced that its iBook2, an updated version of the application is meant to reinvent textbooks. According to L.A. Times, the announcement was communicated on Thursday at a press event in New York at the Guggenheim Museum.

The updated version of the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch application was already released to the iOS App Store when the press conference took place. iBook2 is slightly different than its predecessor, but the most important aspect is the fact that the app will sell textbooks instead of novels, nonfiction and poetry. The interesting part is yet to come: all books will be sold at $14.99 or less, a price which is a lot smaller than most paper books in college bookstores.

According to the declarations of Apple’s spokespersons, the textbooks produced by iBooks2 are much better than the paper ones. Thanks to the application, you can use your textbooks for a longer period of time because they are more durable. The book is not only easy to search or to highlight, but it also enables owners to display interactive photo galleries, videos, and 3-D models and diagrams.

Students’ life will be much easier in the future thanks to these digital textbooks because each chapter provides feedback with the help of questionnaires. In addition, students can create flash cards of glossary terms to better study for their exams.

Apple considers that it was worth upgrading the first version of the iBook app because more than 1.5 million iPads are used in schools. Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing further stated that students will now have a more dynamic and interactive method of reading and studying.

Although Apple hasn’t created any programs that could enable students and professors to purchase iPads at a smaller price, the IT giant is nevertheless convinced that the new textbooks will draw increasingly more customers. Important textbook publishing companies have been co-opted for the project. Consequently, students will be able to purchase textbooks published by Pearson, McGraw Hill and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

The acquisition process is similar to the one used by Apple to sell other application. Thus, you can freely preview several pages from the textbook before purchasing it.