As TechCrunch noted, last time Apple was spotted showing an effort in the field of education was last August, when the $999 iMac for educational purposes was presented. However, this announcement is not about Apple’s hardware, it’s certainly about their iBooks and textbook publishing.

Reports have it, this one won’t be a major announcement, or a “Big” one. In any case, MacWorld experts sat around their round table and discussed what might be some topics at this Apple event. Here are some highlights of their discussion:

• Some deal between Apple, textbook publishers, and colleges and universities can be struck, and announced at this event. It’s worth to recall that none of the big textbook publishers are working with iBooks and Apple’s iOS ecosystem in any significant way, though Apple and the publishers have had on-and-off conversations for years.
•  iBooks for Macs might be introduced. The reasoning behind this prediction goes like this: if publishers start taking the time to create unique, custom books for iBooks, colleges may feel that Apple should make those books available to everyone. That is, Apple’s educational content could be not limited to just iPads and iPhones, but would be available across all Apple ecosystem.
• iWork suite may get access to iCloud.  iWork, with its Pages, Numbers, Keynote, was meant as a counterpart for MS Office’s suite and widely considered as needing substantial upgrades.

All in all, Apple has formidable opponents in their struggle for a slice of the educational market, Amazon Kindles (Fire’s, for example) look like they are in much better shape due to their low cost. Will this Apple event at Big Apple produce something big? A new tablet for students perhaps? We’ll see.

The post Apple Education Event Announced For Jan. 19 appeared first on Mobile Magazine.