Inkling's By-the-Chapter e-Textbooks Come to iPhone

If a little cramming before the big test is in order, Inkling's got your back. The e-textbook publisher, today (July 31) released its first app for the iPhone (previous versions were iPad-only) — shrinking interactive textbooks from the small screens of tablets to even smaller smartphone screens. That's good news for  college kids  heading back to school in less than a month. But what really sets Inkling apart from most other e-textbook sources is the ability to buy one chapter at a time. It's no secret that textbooks can easily exceed $100 and often only selected chapters are assigned to students. At $4 a chapter, buying only what's assigned can save a bundle. However, Inkling isn't just for students. Earlier this year, the company added Frommer’s  travel  guides, cookbooks and how-to books. "The Culinary Institute's Professional Chef" is a pricey option at $50 (about $10 more than Amazon's hardcover price), but maybe you just want "Plated Desserts," to satisfy your craving for $3. Inkling works with publishers and authors to produce videos, interactive quizzes, 3D objects and other digital content exclusive to its editions, which explains why some titles are expensive. The Inkling store is also available on the Web. E-books can be read on Inkling's site, but the navigation is designed for tablets, which doesn't translate well to an ordinary computer. As with Amazon's Kindle books, all Inkley purchases are stored on the company's servers, so readers don't have to worry about  running out of storage  on their devices. They can delete and re-downloaded books on demand. The Inkling 3.0 app for iPhone and iPad is available for free in the App Store. To get started, try one of the free trial chapters available for download in most Inkling offerings, such as the just-released "Blackjack Domination: The Game and Basic Strategy."

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