TED launches e-bookstore on iOS

The app is called TED Books and is available for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.

“TED Books are short original electronic books produced every two weeks by TED Conferences. Like the best TEDTalks, they're personal and provocative, and designed to spread great ideas. TED Books are typically under 20,000 words — long enough to unleash a powerful narrative, but short enough to be read in a single sitting,” explains TED in a blurb on its website.

The books can be purchased individually for $2.99 or users can sign up for a three-month, six-book subscription for $14.99.

TED’s library of downloadable e-books already exists on both Amazon’s Kindle platform and Barnes & Noble’s Nook platform. The iOS app, however, enables authors to supplement text with immersive videos, images and social features.

“These additional multimedia features suit the wide-ranging creative palette of our contributors, many of who use photography, audio, and video in addition to the printed word to fully express their ideas,” says TED.

Ars Technica went hands on with the app and concluded “that book and subscription prices were right in the sweet spot, though the app itself (while functional) could use a little more polish before it becomes great.”

You can download the TED Books app for free from the App Store here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ted-books/id511071050?ls=1&mt=8.