Downloads for CourseSmart's New 'eTextbooks for the iPad' App Increase More than Fivefold

SAN MATEO, Calif., Sept. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- The iPad has proven to be an exciting new device for students returning to campus this Fall and in the last two weeks alone, CourseSmart, the world's largest provider of eTextbooks, has more than doubled the total number of students using its eTextbooks for the iPad App. Currently ranked #13 in the top 200 free iPad education apps list, eTextbooks for the iPad has received more than five times the number of average weekly downloads.

Providing students at colleges and universities nationwide the ultimate mobile solution, eTextbooks for the iPad offers access to more than 90 percent of core higher education textbooks as digital texts anytime-anywhere at a savings of up to 60 percent. Version 2.1 will allow students to further benefit from additional functionality and advanced features, including:

• Pinch and zoom in both landscape and portrait modes
• Ability to highlight, annotate passages and email a passage from an eTextbook to a classmate
• Enhanced page swiping in both landscape and portrait
• Improved notes feature
• Added indicative graphics and help/hints from within a student's iPad bookshelf

The new CourseSmart eTextbook App is available free of charge from Apple's App Store and can be accessed at www.coursesmart.com/go/mobile.

CourseSmart is also announcing the initial winners of its recent iPad-a-Day Giveaway contest, which gave away an iPad every day from August 17th through August 30th. The company congratulates the following students, who also received a free CourseSmart eTextbook:

iPad winner Mark Freudenthal, Case Western Reserve University, said, "As I head back to school this semester, my new iPad will certainly be an asset for my classes and studies. I will be saving more than $120 on one of my textbooks by purchasing it via CourseSmart and now I can access it on my new iPad too."

iPad winner Kimberly Salaksana, Texas State University-San Marcos, said, "I am very excited to have won the iPad, which among many other things, will help me save money on textbooks. Had I bought this semester's textbooks from the bookstore, I would have spent $550! Buying eTextbooks from CourseSmart saved me over $300! I look forward to accessing my textbooks on the go through CourseSmart's iPad app, saving me hundreds of dollars, not to mention saving my back from breaking."

iPad winner Javiel Rowe, Western Texas College, said, "I am ecstatic to have a new iPad as I head back to school. Accessing my textbooks through CourseSmart's app will be a great way to study on the go, not to mention save tons of money! CourseSmart eTextbooks are less than half the price I would pay and I don't know what I would do without them."

iPad winner Matthew Brewi, University of Alaska-Southeast, said, "I am very excited about winning an iPad and trying CourseSmart's eTextbooks for the iPad app so I can enjoy the inherent digital efficiencies such as search and reduced clutter. I hope to buy the majority of my texts for the spring semester as eBooks."

iPad winner Caitlin Arndt, Pratt Institute-Manhattan, said, "I hope to use the iPad for all of my classes this semester to streamline note taking, assignments and readings. I also plan to use the CourseSmart eTextbooks app to access my required textbooks as eTextbooks. The iPad will allow me to bring notes and books to class without lugging around a ton of paper. I can't wait to give it a spin."

For more winners of CourseSmart's iPad-a-Day Giveaway, visit www.coursesmart.com/go/ipadgiveaway.

Currently, whether accessing eTextbooks via laptops, eReaders, tablets or other mobile devices, students enjoy the savings, convenience and digital efficiencies of CourseSmart's eTextbooks, including:

• Up to 60% savings on more than 90% of all core higher education textbooks in use today
• Instant, anytime, anywhere access to materials via www.coursesmart.com or various mobile devices and tablets, including the iPhone and iPad
• Search functionality for topics within a single book or across an entire eTextbook stack
• Highlighting and note-taking capabilities within the eTextbook, which can be easily retrieved  or searched
• Ability to cut and paste as well as email sections, notes and highlighted text
• Page fidelity and preservation, mirroring the print edition's page numbers, full text, diagrams, illustrations and charts
• Access to Table of Contents
• The choice to print only what one needs

For more information or to purchase an assigned textbook as an eTextbook, visit www.coursesmart.com.

About CourseSmart

CourseSmart provides eTextbooks and digital course materials that improve the educational process by offering instructors and students a unique combination of the right course material, anywhere, any-time access and a low cost. As the world's largest digital course materials supplier, CourseSmart has a rapidly growing digital library of more than 90% of core higher education textbooks offered as eTextbooks, the same titles produced by major publishers in print and recommended by faculty across North America. The company's eTextbooks can be purchased for up to 60% less than print texts and offer users the ability to print what they need as well as search and copy and paste features which help to streamline students' studies. Additional information can be found on the company's Web site: www.coursesmart.com.

SOURCE CourseSmart