EPUB has become a very widely used format for publishing electronic book content. We are at the moment up to epub2. But by the end of this year (2011) the specification of epub 3 will have come out of the standardisation committee stage and become the new agreed version. This will then allow the major players such as Apple, Sony, Google and Adobe to implement it into a new range of devices
Matt Garrish provides a good introduction to the new standard. He is the chief editor of the epub 3 suite of specification so he certainly in a good position to explain it.
This free booklet only takes about two hours to get through but it explains how audio (mp3) and video content is part of the new format. Video can be in H.264 format although this has a significant patent load upon it, or WebM which is patent free, or both. This will allow for richer forms of publishing.
Epub 3 also offers user interactivity in the form of support for a scripted language, for example a computer programming book containing example code in various languages - the user chooses which language they are interested in.
Accessibility will also be a key feature. Media overlays are achieved via a profile of the SMIL specification, this will allow for audio synchronisation with the text. This makes it relatively easy to distribute a book as both an audio book and a normal one.
Comics and graphic novels are not forgotten as an SVG-only book is also possible within the specification.
Global publishing of a book is also considered part of the new specification, as non-Roman languages can be supported. Readers can use languages going from right to left or bottom to top. Page rendering direction can be programmed correctly.
Epub 3 is an effort to bring the next generation of ebooks to the fore and this is an excellent briefing on its capabilities.
This book will appeal to developers and publishers who are interested in the next generation of ebooks. Although it is a brief introduction to this field it is comprehensive enough as to be useful.
