Reportedly inspired by Al Gore’s ‘Our Choice’ e-book app

Jan 19, 2012 08:01 GMT  ·  By

Anonymous sources are leaking some interesting information about Apple’s upcoming event in NYC today, including the project’s code name, and some of the stuff that will be announced by the company’s top brass.

Apple’s secret textbook project is code-named “Bliss,” according to people speaking to AppleInsider under anonymity.

The site learned from this source that Apple was pushing to promote a digital textbook experience that was inspired from Al Gore’s Our Choice e-book.

Former US Vice President Al Gore is on Apple’s board of directors. He is an author and an environmental activist. His iPad app, sold by Push Pop Press, hopes to change the way we read books. A video demonstration can be found below.

The person speaking under anonymity also said that a new piece of software would be unveiled at today’s event that would allow publishers to make textbooks more interactive, much like the aforementioned e-book.

Roger Rosner, Apple's vice president of development for iWork, is reportedly overseeing the entire project, but it is Apple's Internet Software Chief, Eddy Cue, that has been assigned “the distribution side of the new e-textbook initiative,” according to the report.

Rosner is also handling the development of the software editor (SDK) used to create digital textbooks. A ‘reading’ component is said to be included as well. This will reportedly allow students and teachers to view the files.

While the news certainly is interesting, it shouldn’t be surprising to many Apple fans who’ve read the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson.

In the book, Isaacson reveals that Steve Jobs had envisioned digital textbooks that could be updated with new content and teacher comments using the Internet. He believed this would revolutionize textbooks, and today’s event is poised to fulfill that dream.

Al Gore's Our Choice Guided Tour from Push Pop Press on Vimeo.