Archive for the ‘Digital Magazines & Newspapers’ Category
Kindle Fire Newsstand will offer over 400 full-color magazines & newspapers no comments
One area in which the Nook ebookstore has enjoyed an advantage over the Kindle Store is digital magazines. B&N has had not only a larger variety of digital magazines available, but thanks to the Nook Color B&N’s magazines are faithful reproductions of the paper versions with all of the color that readers expect when reading a typical magazine. Kindle magazines are usually optimized to be read on e-ink devices and contain relatively few of the graphics found in their paper counterparts.
The days of B&N’s supremacy at the digital newsstand may be numbered. Amazon announced today that over 400 full-color magazines and newspapers will be coming to the Kindle Fire Newsstand. To promote the launch of Amazon’s tablet and its accompanying newsstand full of colorful new publications, Conde Nast is offering Kindle Fire customers a free three-month trial of 17 of its digital magazines until March 31, 2012.
I am a big fan of the way in which mags are presented on the Nook platform. It remains to be seen if the full-color digital magazine reading experience on the Kindle platform matches what B&N has developed over the time it has had the Nook Color in play.
Possibly Related Posts:
Nook scores a Real Simple exclusive deal no comments
Recently, after Amazon signed a deal with DC Comics to bring the publisher’s graphic novels to the Kindle Store exclusively for four months Barnes & Noble, in a fit of retaliatory pique, told DC to pack up its toys and go play somewhere else — a bunch of DC’s paper edition graphic novels were removed from B&N’s stores and presumably won’t be welcome back until the exclusivity deal with Amazon is finished. 
Today B&N announced an exclusivity deal of its own. For a limited time the digital version of the bestselling magazine Real Simple will be available only at the Nook Newsstand.
Real Simple is one of Time Inc’s 21 magazines, which the publisher promised would all be available digitally on all of the major platforms by the end of the year. Some of Time’s digital magazines are already available at the Kindle Store and the paper editions are all available at Amazon. Will we now see a tit for tat removal of these by Amazon in reaction to this deal? I don’t think so.
I have to say that I’m generally not a big fan of this type of exclusivity deal. Forcing consumers to buy a particular brand of hardware if they want to access a particular media franchise does not strike me as being very consumer friendly. I deliberately try not to let this type of marketing strategy force my own buying decisions. Yes, I would like to watch Avatar 3D at home, but the fact that I will have to buy a Panasonic player to do so is, in my book, a major mark against that company’s products.
The Kindle Store gets a lot of exclusivity agreements, and I’ve written about a number of them here. When it comes to digital publishing this type of tactic does seem less of an issue, probably because most of us by now have some sort of device on which we can access any of the major ebookstores’ wares via an app if we don’t have their actual ereader. It also helps if the period of exclusivity is brief, which seems to be increasingly the case.
Possibly Related Posts:
Amazon and Hearst Corp expand business relationship no comments
Amazon announced today that it and Hearst Corporation have expanded their business relationship and have “entered into an expanded, multi-faceted consumer marketing, e-commerce and content relationship.”
Amazon will become Hearst’s single-largest third-party seller of print subscriptions for its magazines via digital channels and will work with Hearst in e-commerce. The deal gives Amazon customers access to content from one of the world’s largest publishers of monthly magazines and provides Hearst access to Amazon’s growing and evolving e-commerce platform.
"Hearst is one of the world’s leading diversified media companies and we are delighted to work with them on this multi-pronged deal," said Steve Kessel, senior vice president, Kindle.
David Carey, president, Hearst Magazines, commented: "This bridge between one of the best platform and technology companies and our premier media and content company gives Hearst and Amazon a launching pad to take both our businesses to the next level. Amazon values exceptional content and we are excited about the possibilities. We look forward to working with the Amazon team."
To date, Hearst has sold more than four million magazine subscriptions via the Internet and expects to increase its sales via this expanded agreement.
Amazon needs to juice up the magazine selection at the Kindle Store’s newsstand for its incoming tablet. Presumably we will now see Hearst’s magazines offered there. Hopefully when the Kindle Tablet is released Amazon will not only offer digital magazines that are optimized for the Kindle ereaders as it now does, but will also offer versions for the tablet that are faithful reproductions of the print editions. Otherwise B&N or Zinio will remain my first choices for digital magazines.
Possibly Related Posts:
Interactive auto ads in digital magazines more effective than print ads no comments
According to Affinity’s American Magazine Study, consumers are more likely to take an action — such as visiting an auto manufacturer’s website or going to a dealer for a test drive — as a result of viewing an auto ad in a digital magazine rather than after viewing traditional print ads.
On average, consumers are 42% more likely to take an action as a result of an auto ad delivered via a magazine app than those appearing in print. This according to Affinity’s VISTA Service, which measures the effectiveness of both traditional print ads and magazine ads delivered through iPads, Zinio and other mobile platforms. In addition, digital magazine readers are almost three times as likely to visit a dealer, and almost twice as likely to visit a car maker’s Website, as a result of exposure to an ad in the electronic issue of a magazine. When it comes to brand building, digital magazine readers report that they are 44% more likely to have a favorable opinion about an automotive brand after seeing the advertiser’s digital magazine campaign.
As would be expected, the study also finds that including interactive multimedia in an ad makes the experience more enjoyable and educational. Consumers are also much more likely to consider the advertiser more innovative if interactive elements are included in their ads. 87 percent of the readers polled in the study reportedly believed that interactive auto ads "enhanced their overall magazine reading experience."
* * *
A few factoids from Affinity’s AMS Spring 2011 study:
- Print magazine readers are 46% Male and 54% Female
- Digital magazine readers are 49% Male and 51% Female
- Digital magazine readers tend to have a somewhat higher average income (70.4 K vs 63.5 K for print readers) and are a little younger (39.8 years old vs 46.4 for print).
According to Affinity’s metrics the 10 most popular magazines are:
|
Top 10 PRINT Magazines: |
Top 10 DIGITAL Magazines: |
| AARP the Magazine | ESPN the Magazine |
| People Weekly | People Weekly |
| Better Homes and Gardens | Food Network Magazine |
| National Geographic | WebMD the Magazine |
| Reader’s Digest | Time |
| Good Housekeeping | Money |
| Time | Fortune |
| Woman’s Day | Sports Illustrated |
| Family Circle | Forbes |
| Sports Illustrated | TV Guide |
The most recent AMS also finds that dedicated ereaders are most popular with Boomers, Tablets are most popular with Gen-Xers and Millennials prefer smartphones. Not sure where I fit in — I love all three devices.
Possibly Related Posts:
Publishing not the only industry to be affected by digital reading no comments
According to RISI, a research firm specializing in the global forest products industry, media tablets (in which category RISI includes e-ink based ereaders)
are becoming a ubiquitous mass-market consumer product around the world faster than any previous consumer technology device. This has repercussions not only for publishers and brick and mortar bookstores as consumers switch away from reading dead-tree books to ebooks, but for the paper industry as well.
A new RISI study, citing such recent developments as a Morgan Stanley survey that found 42% of US tablet users plan to cancel their newspaper subscriptions and Amazon’s announcement a few months ago that it now sells more Kindle books than pbooks, predicts that the publication paper market could see significant impacts on demand by as soon as 2012.
The study, The Impact of Media Tablets on Publication Paper Markets, finds that by 2015 the use of paper for publishing in North America will fall by 12-21% compared to 2010 levels — which were already low thanks to the recession. Over the next 15 years RISI expects the use of paper in books and periodicals could fall another 40-50%.
RISI expects European paper markets to be similarly affected, but perhaps to a lower degree — thanks to fragmented media markets and a slower tablet adoption rate (so far, anyway).
Just speaking from my own experience, I have happily (sorry paper industry)
canceled all of my paper magazines and newspapers and re-subscribed to the digital versions. The only exception is Wired, to which I get free access to the iPad version along with my paper copies (which I don’t need and give to a neighbor).
I don’t have time to keep up with all of my mags and they were starting to make obnoxious piles in my office. I still don’t have time and they now pile up on my ereaders, but at least I’m not tripping over them. I actually get to read my magazines more in digital format because I always have them with me for when I have a couple of minutes to kill.
Incidentally, Ziniotoday announced that its iPad app is now one of the top 3 grossing iPad apps. In 52 countries Zinio’s digital magazine app for iPad is the number one news app. The Android version of the Zinio app was released a couple of months ago and Zinio says it has 300,000 installs so far.
Possibly Related Posts:
Time Inc. to launch tablet editions entire portfolio no comments
Time Inc. today announced that by year’s end its entire portfolio of 21 U.S. titles would be available in tablet editions. This would make Time the first major US magazine publisher to have all of its titles available on all leading tablet platforms, with product specifically designed for the tablet format.
Time also announced an agreement with Barnes & Noble to bring its digital editions of Fortune, People, Sports Illustrated and Time to the Nook Newsstand later this month, with the rest of the publisher’s titles to follow by the end of the year.
Time offers its print subscribers the ability to upgrade their subscriptions to include the digital versions at no additional cost. Digital-only subscriptions and single copy digital sales are also available. Four of Time’s most popular magazines — People, Sports Illustrated, Time and Fortune — have been available in tablet editions for awhile, and the publisher says it has sold 600,000 single digital copies of these. The publisher also says that hundreds of thousands of its print subscribers have upgraded their subscriptions to include the tablet editions.
Possibly Related Posts:
Amazon offering free subscription to Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine for Kindle ereaders & apps no comments
Amazon just announced that a free subscription to the digest edition of
Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine is now available exclusively at the Kindle Store. The digest version includes all of the magazine’s editorial content, including book and film reviews, with one free short story.
Fantasy & Science Fiction is a bimonthly magazine that was founded in 1949. According to Stephen King, "This is the best fiction magazine in America. Kindle readers are in luck." The extended version of the magazine is available for $12 per year or $2.99 per issue.
Possibly Related Posts:
NewspaperDirect releases Honeycomb version of PressReader no comments
NewspaperDirect has released a new version of its PressReader app that is enhanced for Honeycomb. The new version is optimized to take advantage of the larger screens of tablets and supports hardware acceleration on Honeycomb-based devices.
NewspaperDirect offers access to more than 1800 full-content newspapers and magazines from 95 countries in 48 languages. Most can be purchased for $0.99 per issue via the free PressReader app. NewspaperDirect also offers monthly subscription plans to its service.
PressReader is available at the Android Market and the Amazon Appstore.
Possibly Related Posts:
Nomad Editions launches Good Dog iPad weekly no comments
Nomad Editions publishes short weekly niche magazines for the iPad. The newest addition to the Nomad family of digital magazines is Good Dog.
Here is a preview of the stories included in the first two issues of Good Dog:
- Art Smith, restaurateur and former chef to Oprah Winfrey, talks about his true passion: a trio of pups. The foodie also shares a recipe for do-it-yourself doggie treats.
- A Japanese architect uses good design to solve bad dog behavioral problems. By analyzing the lifestyles of pets and their owners, he is able to create better homes for all.
- Best-selling author Luis Carlos Montalvan, a disabled Iraq war veteran, explains how man’s best friend can make all the difference, but widespread discrimination against service dogs by businesses proves an all-too-common barrier.
- A former fashion magazine reporter turned her love of photography and canines into an experiment in dog/human portraiture.
- Good Dog road tests dog beds coated with nanoparticles that promise to repel dirt. Do they deliver?
"With our recent successful launch in Apple’s App Store, we are thrilled to offer Good Dog as a strong addition to our roster of diverse digital publications," says Mark Edmiston, CEO of Nomad Editions. "Good Dog appeals to dog lovers everywhere with engaging feature stories and a unique take on canine topics. We look forward to developing and launching more Nomad Editions in the next few months."
"You don’t have to own a dog to enjoy Good Dog," said Editor Sonia Zjawinski. "We’ve got great storytelling and fascinating subjects for anyone." Zjawinski is a regular contributor to The New York Times and co-founder of the pet blog Pawesome.net. She is also a certified dog trainer.
The first issue of Good Dog is available free at iTunes. A subscription is $0.99 per month or $9.99 per year. The magazine, like all of the Nomad Editions, is meant to be read in a half hour or less. The layout is nice and there are lots of photos and links to a couple of YouTube videos.
Possibly Related Posts:
Zinio releases magazine app for Android no comments
Finding the particular magazine you want in a digital format that you can read on your Android tablet just got easier. Zinio has released an Android version of its digital magazine reading app for Android that has over 20,000 magazine titles at launch.
The Zinio Android app is compatible with tablets and other devices running Android versions 2.2 and 2.3 as well as with tablets running Honeycomb. Zinio lets you access your current and archived digital magazine issues across multiple devices and operating systems.
Zinio is also available internationally, with digital magazine stores for several different countries: UK, Canada,
Australia,
Brazil,
Mexico
and Germany.
Users who download the new app by June 15 will get the latest issue of 24 popular magazines for free. Available at the Android Market.
