River Publishing have launched a digital magazine version of their Honda contract magazine, Dream.
The online edition, hosted at www.honda.co.uk/dreamonline, is sent to Honda's email database.
As well as replicating the edition, the Flash-based format also hosts videos and enables users to book test drives. Future issues of the electronic magazine will use bespoke content filmed by River's new digital division.
The department recently launched electronic projects for American Golf and Co-op Travel Group plans to roll out digital magazines for more of River's clients.
Advertisers will be encouraged to supply rich media copy, including Flash animation and TV adverts, to fit into the magazine's look and feel and encourage better response.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Friday, February 23, 2007
Hearst to test download products
Hearst Corporation, the magazines to radio US giant, has announced plans to test a downloadable version of its Seattle Post- Intelligencer newspaper. Unsurprisingly, (given the newspapers location) it has chosen to use Microsoft software for the pilot project.
Once the content is received, readers can view the material without being connected to the Web, Hearst said it may use the software to provide downloads of its other newspapers and magazines. It claims that the download will "take no more than two minutes".
Earlier this month, Hearst announced a partnership with Verizon Wireless to provide a mobile version of its "Jusr Seventeen" magazine for wireless subscribers.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Hello, Hello
Hello Magazine has opted for Zinio as its digital publisher and has announced that the new version will be available online as soon as the weekly magazine is published in print. This version is searchable, saveable and can be bought by the issue or through an annual subscription.
How quickly will OK! follow suit ?
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Its a World of Property
Outbound Publishing's flagship title "World of Property", has launched a digital version, using parent company Johnston Press proprietary reader.
Called ePaper, the reader is obviously optimized for newspaper print rather than glossy magazines, and hence the effect is somewhat grainy and hard to read. I also found the zoom in and out feature clumsy and some of the links were dead.
More work needed.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Sony gets emagazine from Dennis
Sony is rolling out an email marketing campaign in conjunction with Dennis Publishing as part of a wider push for its Sony Vaio laptop.
The campaign centres around a digital magazine which has been created for the purpose of promoting the Sony Vaio laptop to 400,000 readers on Dennis Publishing's subscription database.
The digital magazine includes voxpops, demos, an interview with David Weeks, the UK marketing manager for Windows Vista, and editorial content from PC Pro magazine.
The campaign centres around a digital magazine which has been created for the purpose of promoting the Sony Vaio laptop to 400,000 readers on Dennis Publishing's subscription database.
The digital magazine includes voxpops, demos, an interview with David Weeks, the UK marketing manager for Windows Vista, and editorial content from PC Pro magazine.
No monkeying around with Dennis
Against the trend of men's lifestyle print magazines, digital men's magazine Monkey, the first of its kind, recorded a debut audit of 209,612 for January, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations Electronic figures released today.
The results for Monkey, launched in November by Dennis Publishing, are not directly comparable to the measurement for print editions. Dennis Publishing said the ABCe result was twice its original target of 100,000 and meant the magazine had a rapidly growing audience of 18- to 30-year-old males.
The results for Monkey, launched in November by Dennis Publishing, are not directly comparable to the measurement for print editions. Dennis Publishing said the ABCe result was twice its original target of 100,000 and meant the magazine had a rapidly growing audience of 18- to 30-year-old males.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Project Celia is just for girls..
NatMags is to become the second magazine publisher to produce a stand-alone digital magazine with the launch of a weekly fashion and entertainment e-zine for teenage girls, developed under the name Project Celia.
The as-yet unnamed magazine, which could adopt CosmoGirl! branding, will launch by the end of March.The publisher has teamed up with Ceros, the software company behind Dennis’ digital men’s magazine Monkey, to produce the magazine, which is currently in test phase.
Each issue will run to at least 35 pages and will target 13 to 19-year-old girls with fashion, music, film and TV content with a humorous tone, rounding up content from websites such as YouTube and inviting readers to send in clips.As with Monkey, it will be e-mailed for free each week and will have a variety of rich media ad formats, including display ads with embedded content, advertorials, sponsorships and bumper ads that bookend video clips.
Cosmo Girl! will be one of several teen magazines posting a drop in the latest ABC figures, out this week, and the new format aims to extend NatMags’ reach among an audience that spends increasingly more time online.Jan Adcock, Cosmopolitan and Cosmo Girl! group publishing director, said it would sit alongside the print and web editions of Cosmo Girl! to offer a variety of ways to reach teenage girls.
“Teenagers are restricted by their parents to how much time they can spend online each week, so we want to offer them a filter of the best of the web,” said Adcock.Celia Duncan, editor of Cosmo Girl!, is developing the project, which will have a seven-strong editorial team. An acting editor for Cosmo Girl! is being sought.A publisher for Cosmo Girl!, cosmogirl.co.uk and Project Celia is also being recruited to replace Di Roach, who left at the end of last year to study for an MBA.
Cosmogirl.co.uk will relaunch at the end of this month.
The as-yet unnamed magazine, which could adopt CosmoGirl! branding, will launch by the end of March.The publisher has teamed up with Ceros, the software company behind Dennis’ digital men’s magazine Monkey, to produce the magazine, which is currently in test phase.
Each issue will run to at least 35 pages and will target 13 to 19-year-old girls with fashion, music, film and TV content with a humorous tone, rounding up content from websites such as YouTube and inviting readers to send in clips.As with Monkey, it will be e-mailed for free each week and will have a variety of rich media ad formats, including display ads with embedded content, advertorials, sponsorships and bumper ads that bookend video clips.
Cosmo Girl! will be one of several teen magazines posting a drop in the latest ABC figures, out this week, and the new format aims to extend NatMags’ reach among an audience that spends increasingly more time online.Jan Adcock, Cosmopolitan and Cosmo Girl! group publishing director, said it would sit alongside the print and web editions of Cosmo Girl! to offer a variety of ways to reach teenage girls.
“Teenagers are restricted by their parents to how much time they can spend online each week, so we want to offer them a filter of the best of the web,” said Adcock.Celia Duncan, editor of Cosmo Girl!, is developing the project, which will have a seven-strong editorial team. An acting editor for Cosmo Girl! is being sought.A publisher for Cosmo Girl!, cosmogirl.co.uk and Project Celia is also being recruited to replace Di Roach, who left at the end of last year to study for an MBA.
Cosmogirl.co.uk will relaunch at the end of this month.
Zinio to be acquired by equity company
INVESTMENT COMPANY GILVEST LP HAS acquired electronic publisher Zinio Systems, the companies will announce today. Financial terms aren't disclosed; Richard Maggiotto, CEO and president of Zinio, will continue to head the company.
Zinio, which offers a downloadable electronic reader, currently distributes more than 1,200 digital magazine titles, including TV Guide, Men's Health, Black Enterprise and Penthouse.
Maggiotto said that later this year, Zinio intends to roll out a new version of its downloadable electronic reader as well as a browser-based reader. The new product will make content "much more accessible and much more discoverable" by consumers, he said. For instance, with the upcoming reader, consumers will more easily be able to preview magazines and browse through their pages before purchasing them. The new reader also will be compatible with both Macs and PCs, said Doug Carlson, who manages Gilvest.
Zinio, which offers a downloadable electronic reader, currently distributes more than 1,200 digital magazine titles, including TV Guide, Men's Health, Black Enterprise and Penthouse.
Maggiotto said that later this year, Zinio intends to roll out a new version of its downloadable electronic reader as well as a browser-based reader. The new product will make content "much more accessible and much more discoverable" by consumers, he said. For instance, with the upcoming reader, consumers will more easily be able to preview magazines and browse through their pages before purchasing them. The new reader also will be compatible with both Macs and PCs, said Doug Carlson, who manages Gilvest.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Playboy on CD
Playboy is digitising every piece of its content.
Every story, every picture, that has been in the magazine since it was launched by Hugh Hefner in 1953 – including the famous nude picture of Marilyn Monroe that ran on the cover of the first issue – will be accessible on DVD later this year.
All 630 issues of the magazine are to be transferred on to six discs – one for each decade – which will be available for $100 each. It is believed to be the first time that a magazine known for its sex and nudity has been digitalized.
Just after the announcement, Playboy’s website was inundated for stories and pix of Anna Nicole Smith, the sexy pin -up girl, who died mysteriously in Florida last week and has been making headlines every since.
Playboy has for some time had a website, but no archival system. Old copies of the magazine, if anyone wanted to look up an article or picture, were until now only accessible in bound volumes.
From now on anyone who wants information on say Norman Mailer has only to type in his name and pull up every reference to the American writer in the magazine since Playboy was launched.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
World's oldest newspaper goes digital
For centuries, readers thumbed through the crackling pages of Sweden's Post-och Inrikes Tidningar newspaper. No longer.
The world's oldest paper still in circulation has dropped its paper edition and now exists only in cyberspace. The newspaper, founded in 1645 by Sweden's Queen Kristina, became a Web-only publication on Jan. 1. It's a fate, many ink-stained writers and readers fear, that may await many of the world's most venerable journals. ``We think it's a cultural disaster,'' said Hans Holm, who served as the chief editor of Post-och Inrikes Tidningar for 20 years. ``It is sad when you have worked with it for so long and it has been around for so long.''
Queen Kristina used the publication to keep her subjects informed of the affairs of state, Holm said, and the first editions, which were more like pamphlets, were carried by courier and posted on note boards in cities and towns throughout the kingdom. Today, Post-och Inrikes Tidningar, which means mail and domestic tidings, runs legal announcements by corporations, courts and certain government agencies - about 1,500 a day according to Olov Vikstrom, the current editor. The paper edition was certainly not some mass- market tabloid.
It had a meager circulation of only 1,000 or so, although the Web site is expected to attract more readers, Vikstrom said. The newspaper is owned by the Swedish Academy, known for awarding the annual Nobel Prize in Literature. But it recently sold the publishing rights to the Swedish Companies Registration Office, a government agency.
Despite its online transformation, Post-och Inrikes Tidningar remains No. 1 on a ranking of the oldest newspapers still in circulation compiled by the Paris- based World Association of Newspapers. ``An online newspaper is still a newspaper, so we'll leave it on the list,'' WAN spokesman Larry Kilman said.
The world's oldest paper still in circulation has dropped its paper edition and now exists only in cyberspace. The newspaper, founded in 1645 by Sweden's Queen Kristina, became a Web-only publication on Jan. 1. It's a fate, many ink-stained writers and readers fear, that may await many of the world's most venerable journals. ``We think it's a cultural disaster,'' said Hans Holm, who served as the chief editor of Post-och Inrikes Tidningar for 20 years. ``It is sad when you have worked with it for so long and it has been around for so long.''
Queen Kristina used the publication to keep her subjects informed of the affairs of state, Holm said, and the first editions, which were more like pamphlets, were carried by courier and posted on note boards in cities and towns throughout the kingdom. Today, Post-och Inrikes Tidningar, which means mail and domestic tidings, runs legal announcements by corporations, courts and certain government agencies - about 1,500 a day according to Olov Vikstrom, the current editor. The paper edition was certainly not some mass- market tabloid.
It had a meager circulation of only 1,000 or so, although the Web site is expected to attract more readers, Vikstrom said. The newspaper is owned by the Swedish Academy, known for awarding the annual Nobel Prize in Literature. But it recently sold the publishing rights to the Swedish Companies Registration Office, a government agency.
Despite its online transformation, Post-och Inrikes Tidningar remains No. 1 on a ranking of the oldest newspapers still in circulation compiled by the Paris- based World Association of Newspapers. ``An online newspaper is still a newspaper, so we'll leave it on the list,'' WAN spokesman Larry Kilman said.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Perooz this...
Read magazines on your iPod.....
For some people, this will be too much work. But for young men, interested in hot cars or hot women, this may be useful. Perooz.com offers free downloads of magazines, movie and video game trailers, and new music for hand held devices including the iPod , Sony PSP, and Zune as well as Palm Treo and Blackberry models. The magazine pages (they're actually images which, on the video iPod, are transferred to "Photos" folders) are certainly readable if you’ve got nothing else to do while standing in line at the post office. Content offerings include GQ, Car & Driver, Maxim and Stuff. The site says tech, news, and business content are "coming soon."
Friday, January 12, 2007
Book publisher buys digital
HarperCollins has bought a stake in NewsStand, whose LibreDigital unit creates digital versions of books. Brian Murray, group persident of News Corp's HarperCollins, will join NewsStand's board of directors.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
TV Guide goes digital
TV Guide has joined the majority of television shows it writes about--and gone digital.
The digital edition of TV Guide was launched earlier this week by electronic publisher Zinio Systems, adding the title to a list of more than 400 magazines that the company now sells and distributes worldwide.
TV Guide's digital version contains all of the magazine's print elements, including celebrity coverage, program reviews and recommendations. The magazine also covers trends in the TV landscape and gives readers behind-the-scenes looks at broadcast, cable and syndicated shows, and new DVDs.
Since switching its format from digest-form to full-size and cutting its base ad rate by two-thirds, TV Guide has seen its circulation tumble almost 60% to roughly 3.8 million. But Zinio's president and CEO Rich Maggiotto says the digital version's immediacy will please the magazine's readers. "I believe our readers will love the features and functionality that are available in this new medium," adds Ian Birch, editor in chief of TV Guide and chief content officer of Gemstar-TV Guide International.
"With TV Guide's digital edition, readers will be able to have a truly interactive experience with the magazine," Maggiotto says. "The availability of this insightful content in a digital format will allow for up-to-date information and news about the shows and stars covered in their articles."
The digital edition of TV Guide was launched earlier this week by electronic publisher Zinio Systems, adding the title to a list of more than 400 magazines that the company now sells and distributes worldwide.
TV Guide's digital version contains all of the magazine's print elements, including celebrity coverage, program reviews and recommendations. The magazine also covers trends in the TV landscape and gives readers behind-the-scenes looks at broadcast, cable and syndicated shows, and new DVDs.
Since switching its format from digest-form to full-size and cutting its base ad rate by two-thirds, TV Guide has seen its circulation tumble almost 60% to roughly 3.8 million. But Zinio's president and CEO Rich Maggiotto says the digital version's immediacy will please the magazine's readers. "I believe our readers will love the features and functionality that are available in this new medium," adds Ian Birch, editor in chief of TV Guide and chief content officer of Gemstar-TV Guide International.
"With TV Guide's digital edition, readers will be able to have a truly interactive experience with the magazine," Maggiotto says. "The availability of this insightful content in a digital format will allow for up-to-date information and news about the shows and stars covered in their articles."
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Gathering pace...
US digital publisher NXTbook Media reported a 254 percent increase in sales and 359 percent more traffic to its digital magazines in 2006. Additionally, the number of pages viewed per NXTbook increased nearly 10 percent.
NXTbook CEO Michael Biggerstaff said in a statement that the amount of video streamed from the company’s digital magazine editions increased to hundreds of gigabytes per month. “We're streaming the amount of video each week that we saw in the entire year of 2005," he said.
Interesting. Particularly the amount of video being served - which is undoubtedly down to broadband usage increasing worldwide.
NXTbook CEO Michael Biggerstaff said in a statement that the amount of video streamed from the company’s digital magazine editions increased to hundreds of gigabytes per month. “We're streaming the amount of video each week that we saw in the entire year of 2005," he said.
Interesting. Particularly the amount of video being served - which is undoubtedly down to broadband usage increasing worldwide.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
In your dreams
Every now and then, I get a press release that is really worth sharing with the outside world. And this one really takes the biscuit.
Its from a company called MTomic, who have patented.... wait for it.... a marketplace for content and digital collectibles where users can buy, sell, trade, swap and resell digital items at 'buy it now' prices or auction.
And how does digital content become "collectable" ? Well, MTomic have evidently developed a system that "wears" the relevant content.
Why bother ? Listen to this gem from the company's CEO.
"If your ringtone is this week's No.1 hit it's old news by next Monday - unless it has a unique feature or is a key item in a Collectible Series. Then it's cool and sought after. It lives on as a Digital Collectible that can be traded or treasured!"
Nurse, the screens !!
Its from a company called MTomic, who have patented.... wait for it.... a marketplace for content and digital collectibles where users can buy, sell, trade, swap and resell digital items at 'buy it now' prices or auction.
And how does digital content become "collectable" ? Well, MTomic have evidently developed a system that "wears" the relevant content.
Why bother ? Listen to this gem from the company's CEO.
"If your ringtone is this week's No.1 hit it's old news by next Monday - unless it has a unique feature or is a key item in a Collectible Series. Then it's cool and sought after. It lives on as a Digital Collectible that can be traded or treasured!"
Nurse, the screens !!
Monday, December 18, 2006
Dazed. And Confused ?
The dear old Grauniad is finally on the case with digital magazines.
In this week's "Organ Grinder" piece, Jemima Kiss admits "Actually though, I confess I'm warming a little to the concept of digital editions, at least for fashion mags."
God loves a sinner...
Find the piece here.
In this week's "Organ Grinder" piece, Jemima Kiss admits "Actually though, I confess I'm warming a little to the concept of digital editions, at least for fashion mags."
God loves a sinner...
Find the piece here.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Electronic Ink
Design News has an interesting piece on electronic ink - and how it could possibly save newspapers.
Have a look here
Have a look here
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Cosmetic Surgery Answers issue 2 free to download
Excite Publishing has today released issue 2 of Cosmetic Surgery Answers, the first magazine in the UK to deliver independent and trusted advice on cosmetic enhancement – absolutely free.
Available from http://www.cosmeticsurgeryanswers.co.uk/, the magazine offers a range of features, advice and expert opinion. This issue contains ; a definitive guide to fillers (including Botox and Restylane), all you need to know about liposuction, rhinoplasty and nasal surgery, surgery in Prague, and the latest information on trends and pricing.
The content of the magazine has been written by a number of leading experts in cosmetic treatment as well as a team of respected newspaper and magazine journalists. The interactive abilities of the magazine means that readers can quickly navigate to the section of their choice and in future issues will be able to view streaming video and audio clips.
John Weir, Cosmetic Surgery Answer’s publisher, says “The fantastic response to our first issue has seen over 15,000 readers download the magazine. This demonstrates not only the latent demand for an independent, authorative publication on cosmetic surgery, but also the potential of digital magazines.”
Cosmetic Surgery Answers is available to download from the website, http://www.cosmeticsurgeryanswers.co.uk/
Available from http://www.cosmeticsurgeryanswers.co.uk/, the magazine offers a range of features, advice and expert opinion. This issue contains ; a definitive guide to fillers (including Botox and Restylane), all you need to know about liposuction, rhinoplasty and nasal surgery, surgery in Prague, and the latest information on trends and pricing.
The content of the magazine has been written by a number of leading experts in cosmetic treatment as well as a team of respected newspaper and magazine journalists. The interactive abilities of the magazine means that readers can quickly navigate to the section of their choice and in future issues will be able to view streaming video and audio clips.
John Weir, Cosmetic Surgery Answer’s publisher, says “The fantastic response to our first issue has seen over 15,000 readers download the magazine. This demonstrates not only the latent demand for an independent, authorative publication on cosmetic surgery, but also the potential of digital magazines.”
Cosmetic Surgery Answers is available to download from the website, http://www.cosmeticsurgeryanswers.co.uk/
Monday, November 06, 2006
VIV is Live !!
A new women's magazine has launched in the US. Whilst this is not at all unusaual - at least 30 were launched in 2005 - this one is different in the sense that it is digital ONLY.
Hurrah. At long last someone has had the balls to put out a digital only magazine in the women's sector and it looks absolutely great. It contains rich media files, including flash demos, provided by Zinio, but perhaps the best thing is the little "Viv" button on every page, which allows you to set up the pages as interactive.
Great vision, and I hope it does well.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Hot Prospect
Current affairs magazine Prospect has unveiled a digital edition through Exact Editions.
A trial issue of the current affairs magazine is available to read on exacteditions.com, and those who subscribe will be able to read back copies from January 2005 onwards.It will be available on the same day the magazine is published in print and is an exact replica of the offline version.
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