Apple unveils iBooks 2 service

service, which makes digital versions of textbooks easily accessible on iPads, The Augusta Chronicle reports.

Kim Stripling, the school system's director of media and technology, said Apple's development would take education to another level if integrated in Augusta.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, iBooks 2 will be able to display books with videos and other interactive features.

It's not clear how Apple plans to get the books in front of students, however, since textbooks are subject to lengthy approval processes by states. Also, few students have iPads, which start at $579.

All textbooks sold through the free app, which is available only to Apple's mobile devices, will be priced at $14.99 or less, The Christian Science Monitor notes.

Apple, which announced the iBooks update at a media event, in New York, at the Guggenheim Museum, said the iBooks textbook exceeds paper texts in terms of engagement, calling it a durable, quickly searchable book that offers easy highlighting and note-taking, as well as interactive photo galleries, videos and 3D models and diagrams.