"In what is predicted to be a pivotal year for ebooks, with next month's iPad launch, the number of books available as iPhone apps now exceeds the number of games.....

"'It's a very exciting time,' agreed Penguin's digital publisher, Jeremy Ettinghausen. 'It's very exciting that people are using iPhones to read books.'....

"A significant proportion of these apps are free downloads of out-of-copyright books, but according to Franklin the recent surge in book apps can also be attributed to improvements in Apple's approval processes.

"'Initially books weren't seen as being top of the pile,' Franklin explained, but with the launch of the iBookstore imminent, "Apple are now taking more notice of book submissions'.

"'With the iPad due next month, and Google looking like they're going to launch their Google Editions, this is the key year for electronic books,' he said."

Richard Lea, The Guardian (UK), 9 March 2010