Disqus
The famous British Library is launching its first smartphone apps for two of the hottest mobile platforms – Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android. Called Treasures, it presents a rich selection of the items featured in the Library’s Sir John Ritblat Treasures Gallery, including over 100 of the Library’s greatest collection items, 250 high-definition images, over 40 videos, textual interpretations, as well as up to date information about current exhibitions.
Among the items you will be able to explore are such things as the first edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the world’s oldest bible Codex Sinaiticus, Nelson’s Battle Plan, Galileo’s letters and Leonardo Da Vinci’s notebooks. Expert commentary is provided on many of the items and users can watch, for example, videos of explorer Ben Fogle talking about Scott’s Diary and Linguist David Crystal discussing the 1,000 year old poem Beowulf.
Furthermore, literary highlights include Charles Dickens’s handwritten draft of Nicholas Nickleby and Jane Austen’s teenage writings, while key historical documents include 2000-year-old Oracle Bones from China and an original Magna Carta of 1215. Music historians will appreciate manuscripts from some of the best-known classical composers, such as Handel, Purcell, Mozart and Schubert, alongside hand-written lyrics by The Beatles. And there’s more, like religious texts, scientific documents and so on.
Introductory price (until January 24th) is set at $1.99 for smartphone apps and $3.99 for the iPad version.
Treasures ($1.99) [iTunes link]
Treasures HD ($3.99) [iTunes link]
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
