Local e-book developer is excited about the iPad

A rendition of a classic fairy tale in StoryBoy

Many developers are giving the iPad a lukewarm reception but at least one local developer is thrilled -- SkyVu Pictures, which makes interactive e-books for kids based on its own StoryBoy e-book application.

"SkyVu Pictures is very excited about the iPad," says Anthea Chuah, the creative director of the studio. "The larger iPad format will be great for StoryBoy books because it allows our readers to enjoy our animated illustrated books at its full potential and will really bring our books to life.

"In fact, when our founders first came up with the idea of StoryBoy a year ago, it was with the Apple tablet in mind. Back then, it was just a myth but now it has become a reality."

The larger format means more room to add extra content and menu options. "This was limited before because of space considerations but the new size (480x320 versus 1024x768) makes it easier to allow for pop-ups and additional functions," says Anthea.

StoryBoy's development team has already begun work on an entire slate of content for the device, she says.

StoryBoy is an e-book reader/library application that was created in Singapore with the support of the Media Development Authority. StoryBoy Kids Books is free and comes with two books pre-loaded on it. If parents are interested, they can buy additional books in-app. In addition, the app also has content aimed at parents. The company currently has 18 books in its library.

While StoryBoy was developed in Singapore, the company itself, SkyVu Pictures, is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Singapore is one of the company's two studios in Asia, the other being in Vietnam. 

According to Anthea, the Singapore studio manages and produces all content for the StoryBoy app with minimal support from our US and Vietnam studio. You can download StoryBoy Kids Books here.