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Canada's ZappTek plans to soon roll out an eBook service, called Legends, for the iPhone and iPod touch. It is partnering with today's "hottest writers," starting with a number of short and novel-length fiction by bestselling author Michael A Stackpole.

ZappTek plans to distribute these electronic books and stories through the iPhone App Store (to be launched with the iPhone 3G this Friday, July 11) and iTunes. Each book will appear under its own name within the Entertainment category, with many more stories and authors joining Legends in the near future, according to the company.

Each book will display as an icon on the iPhone or iPod touch Home screen.

The Legends titles automatically remember where users left off; say, when they're changing songs or answering a call. Also, any page may be bookmarked to revisit later. You can also take notes.

The service will be available in English for iPhones and iPod touches running on the yet-to-be-released firmware 2.0 upgrade, which will sport the App Store and allow users to run official third-party applications like Legends for the first time. Current iPhone owners will be able to update their devices to 2.0 for free (iPod touch for a fee), while the software will ship on the iPhone 3G.

Pricing will start with short stories for $1.99 and novels for $4.99.