Report: Next iPod to offer eBook functionality

Apple’s next iPod could allow users to read eBooks on its widescreen display, according to a report by Engadget. The gadget site claims that two “trustworthy” sources have provided details on Apple’s eBook plans, including the possibility of eBooks being sold on the iTunes Music Store. “According to a source at a major publishing house, they were just ordered to archive all their manuscripts—every single one—and send them over to Apple’s Cupertino HQ,” reports Engadget. “A separate trusted source let us know that the next iPod will have a substantial amount of screen real estate (as we’d all suspected), as well as a book reading mode that pumps up the contrast and drops into monochrome for easy reading.”