E-book publisher tunes into iPhone

HarperCollins' new e-book service is tailored to work with Apple's iPhone.

Book publisher HarperCollins has launched a new e-book service tailored to work with Apple's iPhone.

The new Browse Inside service will allow users to view the first 10 pages of the first two chapters of upcoming publications. After reading the pages, users will be given the option of pre-ordering the book.

Browse Inside currently offers 14 titles from HarperCollins and its subsidiary publishing houses.

The books are all slated for release in August and September, and include Ray Bradbury's Now and Forever and David Mendell's Obama.

Browse Inside will also work with Flash-enabled smartphones, but will require users to access the service through a different page.

The iPhone's web browser does not support Java or Flash, and many companies have had to retool their mobile services to use Ajax exclusively in order to support the handset.