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As we head into iPad 3 release territory, speculation is pouring in over every detail of Apple's tablet computer. So, what exactly do we know about the next update of the iPad? We think ZDNET's Adrian Kingsley-Hughes said it best: "Nothing." Can I really get one for $299? DigiTimes alleges a cheaper iPad model will be released alongside the iPad 3, as an answer to the Kindle Fire. Apple shaking in its boots? Please.

In a year when Borders went out of business and Oprah's Book Club disappeared, e-book sales surged and self-published authors got rich selling 99-cent digital books. But it also was a good year for an old print lion —Ernest Hemingway— and books about a famous 20th-century couple, Jack and Jackie. USA TODAY looks back at the rapidly changing world of books in 2011.

After carrying out unannounced inspections at the companies back in March, the European Commission is now starting a formal antitrust investigation in to whether Apple ( NSDQ: AAPL ) and book publishers are limiting e-book competition with their “agency” pricing model. The EC will investigate whether Hachette Livre, Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster ( NYSE: CBS ), Penguin and Macmillan Germany owner Holzbrinck “have, possibly with the help of Apple, engaged in anti-competitive practices affecting the sale of e-books in the European Economic Area (EEA)1, in breach of EU antitrust rules” ( announcement ). “The

Print books may be under siege from the rise of e-books, but they have a tenacious hold on a particular group: children and toddlers. Their parents are insisting this next generation of readers spend their early years with old-fashioned books. This is the case even with parents who themselves are die-hard downloaders of books onto Kindles, iPads, laptops and phones.

Kaplan Publishing is a huge name in test prep books. But did you know that they had also moved into trade books, the industry name for better quality titles you find in bookstores and online? Well, after about three years of getting next to nowhere with non-testing books, decided to wind down that operation.

Today, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) announced the launch of the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. With an Amazon Prime membership ($79 annually), Kindle owners can now choose from thousands of books to borrow for free – including over 100 current and former New York Times Bestsellers – as frequently as a book a month, with no due dates.

One thousand copies of a new title from Atria Books will be stickered with a RFID chip allowing any user of a cell phone with near-field communication capabilities to simply tap the tag and engage with the book’s content. The phone’s mobile web browser will be opened to specific book-related content.

HarperCollins Publishers, a division of News Corp., has acquired the rights to the majority of titles published by Newmarket Press, the respected independent publisher of film-related books, including its Shooting Script series and illustrated movie tie-in books. 

The August class action lawsuit filed against five major book publishers and Apple, accusing them of colluding to jack up the price of e-books in an effort to wrest back pricing power from Amazon, was simply the opening act. It has now ballooned into more than a dozen lawsuits, and dragged Amazon and Barnes & Noble into the mix.

iStoryTime, the library of children’s book apps, announced that many of its top selling storybook apps are now available on the NOOK Color Tablet.