Macworld | iWorld 2012 kicked off this morning in San Francisco with the opening of the expo show floor. For years, Macworld was the major trade show for Apple to announce their new products. The venue was the launching ground for the first iPhone launch back in 2007

AllThingsD reports on a new research note from Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry claiming that customers downloaded approximately 350,000 iBooks Textbooks from the iBookstore over the first three days of availability. That performance was accompanied by over 90,000 downloads of Apple's iBooks Author app from the Mac App Store. If those numbers are accurate, Apple’s textbook effort would seem to be off to a good start

Following today's media event that saw the introduction of iBooks 2 with new iPad digital textbooks alongside expanded iTunes U functionality, Apple has now posted video of the event to its site. The video is also available as a podcast video download in HD and standard formats. Among today's announcements: - Apple Launches iBooks 2 with Interactive Textbooks - 'iBooks Author' eBook Authoring App for Mac Now Available - iTunes U for iPad Retools the Learning Experience Our additional coverage includes: - Hands-On Video With Apple's Digital Textbooks - Some iPad Textbooks Weigh In Above Apple's 2GB Book Size Limit - iBooks Textbook Sales: Authors Set Pricing Up to $14.99, Apple Takes 30%, iBooks-Exclusive - New iBooks 'Not Technically' in ePub Format Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories • New iBooks 'Not Technically' in ePub Format • iBooks Textbook Sales: Authors Set Pricing Up to $14.99, Apple Takes 30%, iBooks-Exclusive • Some iPad Textbooks Weigh In Above Apple's 2GB Book Size Limit • A Comparison of US iPhone Data Plans • Apple's Smartphone Market Share Surge Continues through December on iPhone 4S Strength

Engadget highlights the economics of publishing iBooks Textbooks to the iBookstore, noting that paid downloads follow Apple's traditional App Store and iBookstore model where the company takes a 30% cut of the purchase price of each book. Authors are free to set their own pricing, although Apple has placed a maximum price tag of $14.99 on the textbooks. In addition, the report notes that Apple requires all iBooks Textbooks to be exclusive to the iBookstore.

In the second half of Apple's education-focused media event today, the company turned its attention to iTunes U, the company's free educational podcast section in the iTunes Store. Eddy Cue took the stage to announce that over 1,000 universities are currently using iTunes U, with the program's content having seen over 700 million downloads to date

At its education-focused media event today, Apple introduced iBooks 2 , an updated version of the company's e-book software for iOS devices. The update comes as part of a push into interactive digital textbooks in partnership with a number of major publishers. From the iBooks 2 description : Introducing iBooks 2 — now with iBooks textbooks

AT&T today announced new smartphone data plans with larger data allocations, the first update to AT&T's plans since June of 2010 . The plans kick in this Sunday, January 22. "Customers are using more data than ever before," said David Christopher, chief marketing officer, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets

AppleInsider reports that it received a tip earlier this week claiming that Apple's digital textbook project rumored for unveiling tomorrow has been developed internally under the code name "Bliss". The source also indicated that the project was inspired by Apple board member Al Gore's Our Choice e-book app focused on global climate change. Al Gore's Our Choice app Some of the source's information, including details on Roger Rosner's role in the project, was corroborated yesterday by The Wall Street Journal , increasing confidence in the remainder of the claims

As we noted last September, Fortune 's Adam Lashinsky has written a new book entitled Inside Apple: How America's Most Admired -- and Secretive -- Company Really Works , an unauthorized look at the inner workings of Apple. The book is due for release on January 25. Fortune offers one tidbit from the book today, profiling Senior Vice President for iOS Software Scott Forstall as Apple's current "CEO-in-waiting"

The Loop reports that Apple has sent out media invitations for an "education announcement" to be made at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City on Thursday, January 19. Word of the event first surfaced last week , and sources have indicated that the announcement will relate to publishing , with digital textbooks perhaps playing a major role.