Outlook not positive for this edition

Just come across "Australian and New Zealand Outlook", which is somewhat amusingly touted as a cutting edge publication for the internet age.

Few problems with this -

(i) The design ; looks like its been put together by a five year old

(ii) Pagesuite - why use this as a platform ? I find it clunky, slow to load and very unfriendly in certain browsers.

(iii) News - how can you do an up to date monthly ? Its an oxymoron given things like paper.li, Flipbook etc

Really must do better - this is just print publishing on a different platform

Can Amazon turn E Books mainstream ?

Interesting piece on how the launch of a cheaper Kindle could introduce a new audience to the ebook format ?

Study says people read e-books slower than print

The debate over e-reading versus traditional printed material continues to rage on. Many folks seem to be of the view that reading on a screen just isn’t the same experience as relaxing with a book.

Yet change always comes eventually, and others ask whether the success of the iPad might help cement the status of the e-book market. Sony certainly thinks that the printed word is on the way out, and in five years time, e-books will be more prevalent.

Read more

Adobe launches digital magazine viewer

Adobe officially launched its digital viewer technology for developers on Tuesday. The software complements Adobe's recently announced Creative Suite 5 collection of design and development applications.
Publishers using CS5 can build digital magazine layouts that contain the same design elements as those in periodicals found on news racks, while also containing interactive capabilities associated with online publications. "It’s safe to say that if you are already working in InDesign CS5, you’ll be well on your way to producing a beautiful digital version of your publication," David Burkett, VP and general manager of creative solutions for Adobe, said in a statement.

Adobe plans to make its latest viewer software available on as many hardware platforms as possible, including smartphones and the emerging market for slate computers like the Apple iPad. The strategy is similar to the company's approach with its PDF format for business document creation. The PDF viewer is widely available at no charge for multiple platforms, while Adobe sells tools for creating documents.
Wired magazine, a Conde Nast publication, built its recently released reader application for the iPad using Adobe's latest technology. The Wired reader, available through Apple's App Store for $4.99, lets readers watch video and slideshows, view 360-degreee images and rotate content in vertical and horizontal modes. Another feature made possible through Adobe technology is touch-based navigation.

From Information Week

Premier Guitar iPhone App Strikes a Different Chord

Among the torrent of magazine branded mobile apps in recent months it is hard to find new ideas. But just when you are about to yawn at the next me-too mag app, something a bit different actually comes to the fore. Guitar enthusiast book Premier Guitar has worked with digital magazine creator Texterity to make a novel hybrid of magazine facsimile and mobile Web site. The free, ad-supported app shows its two faces at the main menu, which has a carousel of covers for the October 2009 – March 2010 issues sitting atop a scroll of the latest news, reviews and videos from the Web site. The user can browse or search the print archive or dip into the latest content dynamically served from the brand.

In the magazine view, the issues are reproduced page for page, but thumbnails on a bottom rail let you navigate quickly to a page. The reader can use the typical multitouch tap, pinch and spread gestures to zoom and move the page or use the handy pop-up menu that can highlight any hot links on a given page or let you scroll through the issue’s Table of Contents to get a more mobile friendly version of any article. There is also a cross-issue and single issue search function for finding that content you vaguely recall from a previous month.

The more dynamic news, review and video content is piled into a standard scroll that uses tabs to toggle among the major content types. You can also comment on articles directly in the app itself. The articles are nicely formatted for the iPhone screen, with an oversized image introducing the prose and hot links to Web sites mentioned in the review. Some of the reviews have downloadable audio that demonstrate the product. The Premier Guitar app politely keeps you in its own embedded browser to show these landing pages. Alas, it did not perform as politely with the banner ad for music vendor Jammit. That ad kicked us out of the app and into the Safari browser, albeit after asking permission.

The video trove is surprisingly deep and helpful. Many of the video are how-to's and demos of popular products.

Having been developed by digital magazine maker Texterity, Premier Guitar demonstrates a platform approach to mobile apps. Like the digital magazine format that preceded it, the app puts a premium on the archiving value of digitizing the print media. It gives the user access to a library, not just an issue or the latest feed of online content. In full, the app works well as a kind of resource that maps well for an enthusiast book like Premier Guitar. These are the sorts of magazines that hobbyists keep as reference. This app makes that experience portable in a way that could be genuinely useful to the musician in the music store or on the road.

There are glitches to be sure. The app failed several times to download some material, and generally the format depends on downloading magazine issue data as needed, so there can be some lag. Like most platforms that are designed for multiple partners, this mobile digital magazine model does not have some of the branding panache of Esquire or GQ’s custom-built iPhone solutions. Nevertheless, this is a different approach to the art of mobilizing the magazine experience that blends real-time and print in a way that is less dazzling than it is workmanlike, serviceable and usable.

The app also demonstrates how some of the design and digitization disciplines introduced over the years by digital magazine platforms can be put to good use on the emerging smart phone and tablet devices. Texterity uses a platform for portable devices that does not depend on the Flash technology that continues to be incompatible with both the iPhone and iPad environments. It plans to extend this approach to a range of mobile devices.

Cue the jokes

Best of luck Chris

Snookered, a free monthly digital magazine aimed at all levels of snooker and pool players, is to launch in August

It will be presented as a digital turning page magazine and be distributed via email and mobile as well as being available at a yet-to-launch website and through social networks.

Snookered is the brainchild of Chris Haill, who has commercial publishing experience from roles including ad manager on Quantum Business Media's Pub Food magazine and inserts manager for Future Publishing.

Haill said: "Cue sports in this country are huge. Over five million play in some sort of capacity every week. I wanted to bring about a lifestyle/cue sports publication for a mass audience."

Snookered will be delivered to 250,000 email addresses, including around 180,000 members of snooker and pool club chain Riley's, which will also take advertising in the magazine.

Editorial will be "humorous, edgy and informative" and include consumer product news pages covering the latest mobiles, gadgets, games, films and music.

The target audience is 18- to 50-years-old and in the ABC1-C2 demographics.

Haill created the company D&C Media to publish Snookered and has already set up a Snookered Facebook group to promote the magazine.

Zinio Launches Ad Network for Digital Magazines

The world of digital advertising takes another step forward today. Zinio, the San Francisco-based company that publishes digital versions of over 1,900 publications for reading on the computer and iPhone, is launching the first cross-publisher ad network for digital magazines.

More

Microsoft unveils new Slate Pc ahead of Apple

Attempting to hijack the hype created by the rumoured launch of Apple's iSlate later this month, Microsoft and HP have announced a new product, the HP Slate Tablet PC, at CES.

The tablet will transform into an interactive eReader using Blio reader software. This will allow embedded videos and create audio books using text-to-speech technology.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1241300/HP-Slate-unveiled-Microsoft-just-Apples-tablet.html#ixzz0bw4XsvUP

Amazon Kindle DX to be available in the UK

Amazon has announced that it will sell the Kindle DX e-reader in the UK from January 19th.

The DX is the bigger version of the Kindle, with a larger 10 inch display, and more memory, which enables it to hold twice as many books – 3500 to be precise.

The price is $489, which translates to £306, and that’s before any import fees are added. So you’re looking at more like £350 plus, which makes it quite a pricey device.

It can be ordered directly from Amazon

Skiff unveils e-reader for newspapers, magazines

US company Skiff released details Monday of its upcoming electronic reader, a device slightly bigger than Amazon's largest Kindle designed for reading newspapers and magazines in addition to books.

The Skiff Reader features an 11.5 inch (29.2-centimeter) screen, about two inches (five cms) larger than that of the Kindle DX, and is also the thinnest e-reader to date at just a quarter of an inch (0.63 cms), according to Skiff.

Skiff, which is backed by US newspaper and magazine publisher Hearst Corp., said wireless connectivity for the device, which weighs just over one pound (0.45 kilograms) will be provided by Skiff partner Sprint Nextel.

Skiff did not announce a price for the device, which will be available starting later this year in Sprint stores across the country and online.

Unlike the Kindle, which is geared mainly for book readers, Skiff said its device is the "first e-reader optimized for newspaper and magazine content."

"The Skiff Reader's big screen will showcase print media in compelling new ways," Skiff president Gilbert Fuchsberg said in a statement.

"This is consistent with Skiff's focus on delivering enhanced reading experiences that engage consumers, publishers and advertisers," he said.

Skiff said its black-and-white touchscreen e-reader will feature next-generation "metal foil" e-paper technology from LG Display.

It said the thin, flexible sheet of stainless-steel foil is a step up from the "fragile glass that is the foundation of almost every electronic screen."

Magazines get ready for Tablets

After letting the Internet slip away from them and watching electronic readers like the Kindle from Amazon develop without their input, publishers are trying again with Apple iPhones and, especially, tablet computers....

Click here for the full article

Its too late (to Emigrate)

A reminder of how tough publishing in print is at present comes with the news that 3 publications targeting the emigration market have all closed this month.

Firstly, Sussex-based Consyl Publishing went into administration this week. They published two newspapers for Australia & New Zealand and claimed

"The newspapers are produced in this country and are distributed all over the UK. Each month we have
5000 printed of each title, with 2000 of these going to individual addresses. We also send copies of both
newspapers to library reading rooms where they are very well received."

This is somewhat at odds with information furnished by the liquidators, who say

"Further to our recent telephone conversations please be advised that from what I can tell there are

57 Names and addresses on the subscription list for the New Zealand Outlook and
110 Names and addresses on the subscription list for the Australian Outlook

167 names and addresses in total on the subscription list."

Hmmm.

Secondly, Emigrate Magazine has sadly migrated to the hereafter after just 8 issues. Published by the Johnston Press (-£450,000,000 debt and counting)- its final issue contained a pyrrhic speech by editor Paul Beazley who celebrated its editorial integrity, but oddly not the complete absence of readers which accounted for its closure.

The same company also closed its digital magazine - World of Property - which rather shot itself in the online foot by charging ludicrously low amounts for advertising ; thus making advertisers suspect no one was actually reading it.

Looks like they were right.

News Corp to join forces with rivals to launch digital newsstand

News Corporation is to join a consortium of magazine publishers to launch an online store selling digital versions of their titles.

The Murdoch-owned company will launch a joint-venture this week alongside Time Warner’s Time Inc, Condé Nast, Hearst and Meredith Corp enabling readers to purchase titles from the publishers in a variety of digital formats, according to reports.

The publishers are working together to sell their titles across a number of platforms such as ereaders and mobiles.

Time Inc's "Manhattan Project" Is A Tablet Magazine

The magazine business is hurting just like all print publications. And even if their Websites are popular, they generate one tenth the ad revenue of the print side. Since last summer, Time Inc has been working on a "Manhattan Project" to create a digital magazine for the new breed of color tablet computers soon to come to market. (Condé Nast is also working on a similar concept). Today, I got a sneak peak at a demo of the tablet magazine designed for Sports Illustrated....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/02/AR2009120201826.html

IPC creates digital magazine for digital photography

With newsstand sales nosediving, its no wonder that publishers are increasingly turning to the digital magazine model.

IPC are the latest, with Better Digital Photography promising a massive 2 million reach with bespoke versions of the publication provided to some of the biggest and best retailers of photographic equipment in the UK – including Warehouse Express, Dixons, Park Cameras and PhotoBox – to be distributed via their databases.

The quarterly interactive e-zine is aimed at beginner to intermediate level photographers and features a raft of interactive elements including galleries, instruction, equipment reviews and video.

Condé Nast Officially Announces Its Digital Magazine Initiative

Well someone thinks the Apple tablet is coming...

CONDÉ NAST UNVEILS INITIATIVE TO BUILD DIGITAL MAGAZINES

Company Announces Strategic Initiative with Adobe to Create Authoring Tools

Company is also in Discussion with Hewlett Packard

NEW YORK, November 19, 2009 -- Condé Nast announced today a plan to develop magazines for the next generation of digital devices.

"We have formed a strategic alliance with Adobe to collaborate on creating technologies that will allow the company to design and produce a new generation of digital magazines," said Charles H. Townsend, President & CEO of Condé Nast.

One of the first products of this strategic alliance with Adobe will be a magazine application built on the Adobe AIR runtime. Adobe AIR lets developers use proven web technologies to build rich Internet applications that run outside the browser on multiple operating systems. The application is expected to be deployable to an array of devices from laptops and netbooks, to future generation smartphones, to the first electronic color slate devices due next year.

The initiative, which will first be deployed with Wired magazine, will enable Condé Nast to deliver full-color, high resolution magazines that combine the immersive experience of its award-winning titles with the convenience and functionality of a digitally distributed and internet-connected product.

"This is the next piece of the puzzle for developing our unique magazine content in a digitalized format that will drive the new devices that will hit the market in 2010," said Mr. Townsend. "Our hope is that the product of our work with Adobe will be used widely throughout the magazine industry."

"Condé Nast is home to renowned publishing brands, with magazines and reporting that help drive and hold a mirror to our culture," said John Loiacono, Senior Vice President of Creative Solutions at Adobe. "Our unique collaboration is a natural extension to the commitment that Condé Nast has made to the Open Screen Project and their support for the Flash platform. Condé Nast is trusting Adobe technology to deliver, in digital format, the high design values and visual aesthetic that readers and advertisers expect from them. We're confident that the resulting work will set new standards in visual impact and reader engagement for Wired and other flagship Condé magazines."

The announcement comes as Condé Nast is also expanding development of iPhone applications for many of its brands. Yesterday, the company began selling an iPhone version of the GQ "Men of the Year" issue through the iTunes App store. GQ's December issue is the first consumer magazine to be certified as a replica edition by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), which means digital downloads will be counted in the magazine's paid circulation. Other iPhone applications have been launched by Lucky and Wired magazines, along with several of the company's digital properties, including Epicurious.com and Style.com.

In addition, Condé Nast said it is also in conversations with Hewlett Packard, one of the leading technology companies in the world. "Hewlett Packard shares the vision held by Adobe and Condé Nast for a more compelling way to publish and consume magazine content," said Satjiv S. Chahil, Senior Vice President, Global Marketing, Personal Systems Group, Hewlett Packard. "We are pleased to be involved with them in defining the technologies that will enable this transformation."

The effort with Adobe and the company's discussions with Hewlett Packard are intended to move beyond the current generation of eReader with black and white screens and deliver a full magazine-like experience, with high-resolution color displays. Many current devices do not carry advertising, but in its work for the iPhone and with Adobe, Condé is seeking to create the kind of environment its advertising partners value.

"These initiatives are part of a strategy by the company to extend its iconic brands into the digital world," continued Townsend. "Condé's goal is to create experiences that closely resemble the process of reading its print magazines. The creation of a digital magazine using Adobe’s authoring tools will create reader engagement that matches or even exceeds what it achieves in print."

Magazines on eReaders 'Approaching the Tipping Point,' Says Expert

A recent report issued by research and advisory firm mediaIDEAS projects sales of e-readers to grow from nearly 6 million units in 2010 to 115 million units in 2013, largely due to falling prices and rapidly advancing technology."The E-Paper E-Reader Phenomenon" outlines the dramatic growth of these display devices over the next 10 years into a $25 billion market. Nick Hampshire, who authored the report, told Publishing Executive Inbox that magazine publishers must recognize the looming shift in the way consumers read content and realize that the "e-reader threat" has arrived and actually presents publishers with a real opportunity. The full report is available at www.mediaideas.net.

The E-Reader Revolution Isn't Revolutionizing Magazines

Folio's Harry McCracken on why he doesn't think the Barnes & Noble Nook, the Sony E Reader or even the Kindle aren't the answer to the woes of the magazine publishing industry.

"The magazine lover in me, however, is far more skeptical about the next round of e-book gadgets. The Kindle isn't a very satisfactory magazine-reading device, and there's no evidence that any of its imminent competitors will be great leaps forward for our industry.... "

Here's why:

Trade magazines go digital to beat postal strike

While print publishers (and in particular consumer publishers) are gnashing their teeth in the face of the ongoing postal strike, its a great opportunity for digital firms like Ceros to start pushing BtoB publishers to use their services.

One company already using digital delivery to ensure their readers get copies on time is Media Week, and it surely won't be long before others follow suit.

Kindle is coming to the UK !!

At last - it'll be here on October 19th and I for one can't wait...