Apple has teamed up with J.K. Rowling and Pottermore for a new immersive experience for all 7 books in the Harry Potter series.
The new enhanced editions are available exclusively through the Apple iBooks store. It offers readers more than 200 illustrations, animations, interactive images and annotations from J.K. Rowling herself. The original digital versions were previously only available through the Pottermore Shop.
The enhancements are subtle, but offer an expanded imagination to certain scenes. For example, Aunt Marge will float on the page after Harry blows her up like a balloon, and readers can select which winged key to use while on the hunt for the Sorcerer’s stone with Harry, Ron and Hermione. An interactive Quidditch match will make it harder to decide what’s more fun: trying to catch the golden snitch or simply turning the page. And Molly Weasley’s infamous Howler explodes out of the text during breakfast in the Great Hall.
The enhanced editions really personify digital reading at its core, a unique experience that you will be unable to buy in print. Â This is what reading on a tablet should be all about.
Each book is priced at $9.99 and are now available for purchase in English in 32 countries via the Apple bookstore If you live in France, Germany, or Spain, pre-orders begin Thursday.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
