Here comes the e-tablet at a subscription price.
(Visit http://www.newsandtech.com/whats_new/article_a042946a-eb6a-11df-bce8-001cc4c002e0.html)
Full text from News and Technology magazine;
News International will launch a digital paper before year-end that's available only on tablet computers.
The paper, called The Daily, will cost $1 per week, Murdoch told the Australian Financial Review in an exclusive interview.
AFR said that Murdoch believes he needs a circulation of 800,000 to make The Daily financially viable, but that he's optimistic about the growth of tablet computers.
"I believe every single person will eventually have one, even children," he told AFR.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Getting better all the time
Plastic Logic, the backbone of the e-reader, e-tablet and other future platforms for content, is growing.
(visit: http://paidcontent.org/article/419-plastic-logic-gets-second-chance-with-russian-funds-to-make-business-re/)
Full text by Robert Andrews:
E-reader maker Plastic Logic may finally have benched its long-awaited, first-generation monochrome Que tablet this August after 18 months of delays - but could a second life be on the cards?
See more of our latest coverage.
The firm says it’s taking “a significant investment” from Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies (Rusnano) to make a factory in Russia for a second-generation device.
Plastic Logic, spun out of England’s Cambridge University in 2000, has long worked on using polymer transistors in electronic displays, creating a low-energy, low-quality tablet screen. Its website says it had already taken over $200 million in venture funding. But the Que, slated for launch in January 2009, faced delays and was overtaken by the high-colour iPad and even the Kindle, before the firm conceded an eventual launch would be worthless.
The company says it will maintain its Cambridge R&D facility, its Mountain View HQ and its Dresden factory but will open a second production centre.
In the joint funding announcement, Plastic Logic boasts about its plastic electronics IP, which it says has “many economic, manufacturing, form factor and environmental benefits, and will ultimately replace traditional silicon semiconductor glass-based display products in a variety of devices in the future.”
That may sound like Plastic Logic is merely touting some of its work-to-date for other uses. But it’s also being specific about a new reader: “The display is at the core of Plastic Logic’s first commercial consumer electronics product, a next-generation electronic reader for business that is currently under development.”
The pair say the new factory will be “capable of producing hundreds of thousands of units a month”. Right now, that kind of place at the tablet table may look optimistic for Plastic Logic.
But it has been in this technology’s space for a decade and, though it has been Apple’s, and not its own, technology which has lit the blue touch paper under this new opportunity, the enthusiasm shown by the likes of News Corp (NSDQ: NWS) toward the form factor means that there may yet remain a significant share to be won with the right product.
Robert Andrews
@robertandrews
Nov 9, 2010 6:15 PM ET
Share
(visit: http://paidcontent.org/article/419-plastic-logic-gets-second-chance-with-russian-funds-to-make-business-re/)
Full text by Robert Andrews:
E-reader maker Plastic Logic may finally have benched its long-awaited, first-generation monochrome Que tablet this August after 18 months of delays - but could a second life be on the cards?
See more of our latest coverage.
The firm says it’s taking “a significant investment” from Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies (Rusnano) to make a factory in Russia for a second-generation device.
Plastic Logic, spun out of England’s Cambridge University in 2000, has long worked on using polymer transistors in electronic displays, creating a low-energy, low-quality tablet screen. Its website says it had already taken over $200 million in venture funding. But the Que, slated for launch in January 2009, faced delays and was overtaken by the high-colour iPad and even the Kindle, before the firm conceded an eventual launch would be worthless.
The company says it will maintain its Cambridge R&D facility, its Mountain View HQ and its Dresden factory but will open a second production centre.
In the joint funding announcement, Plastic Logic boasts about its plastic electronics IP, which it says has “many economic, manufacturing, form factor and environmental benefits, and will ultimately replace traditional silicon semiconductor glass-based display products in a variety of devices in the future.”
That may sound like Plastic Logic is merely touting some of its work-to-date for other uses. But it’s also being specific about a new reader: “The display is at the core of Plastic Logic’s first commercial consumer electronics product, a next-generation electronic reader for business that is currently under development.”
The pair say the new factory will be “capable of producing hundreds of thousands of units a month”. Right now, that kind of place at the tablet table may look optimistic for Plastic Logic.
But it has been in this technology’s space for a decade and, though it has been Apple’s, and not its own, technology which has lit the blue touch paper under this new opportunity, the enthusiasm shown by the likes of News Corp (NSDQ: NWS) toward the form factor means that there may yet remain a significant share to be won with the right product.
Robert Andrews
@robertandrews
Nov 9, 2010 6:15 PM ET
Share
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Hope
Hope springs eternal.
Visit http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/nov/08/the-independent-i-sales
Independent's i 'selling 125,000 copies'
Cut-price paper's circulation has dropped off since launch and staff are feeling the strain of producing it, according to sources
Mark Sweney
guardian.co.uk, Monday 8 November 2010 09.16 GMT
The Independent's cut-price spin-off i is thought to have attracted average daily sales of about 125,000 copies, with circulation thought to have halved since launch.
Staff on the paper have been working "extreme and unsustainable hours" since the launch, according to the National Union of Journalists, which is planning to lodge an official complaint that the launch was "recklessly" planned and executed.
Alexander Lebedev's 20p weekday daily launched on 26 October with a flurry of media coverage helping to drive paid-for sales of about 180,000, according to several sources. However it is understood that sales have steadily fallen away, with numbers thought to have dropped to under 100,000.
It is early days for the paper and daily sales are likely to be volatile until circulation settles.
Industry sources estimate average daily sales at between 125,000 and 150,000, with the majority picking the bottom end of the range.
"The sales have dropped off and they are trying to work out if the numbers at the beginning or its current figure reflect its appeal," said one source. "I'm sure they will be optimising their distribution model, analysing which areas and which newsagents are generating more sales, and moving copies away from areas where they are generating fewer sales."
"Wholesalers give competitors the percentage of copies that are returned but they don't tell them how many copies we distribute in the first place," said Andrew Mullins, the managing director of the Independent, Independent on Sunday and the London Evening Standard. "As a result, any numbers being talked about are purely conjecture as they do not know how many copies we have printed and distributed each day. Our numbers will remain confidential for the foreseeable future, but we can say that sales of the Independent at £1 are unaffected."
The stress of the launch, both for staff and for the Independent's balance sheet, has become starkly clear, with pay negotiations now linked to the performance of the i.
At a meeting of the Independent's National Union of Journalists chapel earlier this month members passed a motion complaining about their workload since the launch.
"The chapel is concerned about the extreme and unsustainable hours expected of some staff to produce i, and fears the problem is likely to persist due to management's reckless planning and execution of the project," the NUJ said. "Members are clear that everyone fully supports the success of i. However, members explained that they are not prepared to put up with extreme hours becoming the norm."
The chapel voted almost unanimously in favour of holding a ballot for industrial action – 105 for with one against and two abstentions – over the failure to conclude a pay deal for 2010.
The launch of i has been backed with 100,000 giveaways, about 55,000 of those thought to be targeting the London market. Before launch the longer-term target was for a combined circulation for both i and the Independent of 400,000.
The Independent has a total net circulation of 182,000, with about 89,000 sold at full rate, meaning the i needs to get to well over 200,000 copies to achieve this goal. In addition the aspiration is for i to be successful enough to have a completely paid-for customer base.
• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000.
Visit http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/nov/08/the-independent-i-sales
Independent's i 'selling 125,000 copies'
Cut-price paper's circulation has dropped off since launch and staff are feeling the strain of producing it, according to sources
Mark Sweney
guardian.co.uk, Monday 8 November 2010 09.16 GMT
The Independent's cut-price spin-off i is thought to have attracted average daily sales of about 125,000 copies, with circulation thought to have halved since launch.
Staff on the paper have been working "extreme and unsustainable hours" since the launch, according to the National Union of Journalists, which is planning to lodge an official complaint that the launch was "recklessly" planned and executed.
Alexander Lebedev's 20p weekday daily launched on 26 October with a flurry of media coverage helping to drive paid-for sales of about 180,000, according to several sources. However it is understood that sales have steadily fallen away, with numbers thought to have dropped to under 100,000.
It is early days for the paper and daily sales are likely to be volatile until circulation settles.
Industry sources estimate average daily sales at between 125,000 and 150,000, with the majority picking the bottom end of the range.
"The sales have dropped off and they are trying to work out if the numbers at the beginning or its current figure reflect its appeal," said one source. "I'm sure they will be optimising their distribution model, analysing which areas and which newsagents are generating more sales, and moving copies away from areas where they are generating fewer sales."
"Wholesalers give competitors the percentage of copies that are returned but they don't tell them how many copies we distribute in the first place," said Andrew Mullins, the managing director of the Independent, Independent on Sunday and the London Evening Standard. "As a result, any numbers being talked about are purely conjecture as they do not know how many copies we have printed and distributed each day. Our numbers will remain confidential for the foreseeable future, but we can say that sales of the Independent at £1 are unaffected."
The stress of the launch, both for staff and for the Independent's balance sheet, has become starkly clear, with pay negotiations now linked to the performance of the i.
At a meeting of the Independent's National Union of Journalists chapel earlier this month members passed a motion complaining about their workload since the launch.
"The chapel is concerned about the extreme and unsustainable hours expected of some staff to produce i, and fears the problem is likely to persist due to management's reckless planning and execution of the project," the NUJ said. "Members are clear that everyone fully supports the success of i. However, members explained that they are not prepared to put up with extreme hours becoming the norm."
The chapel voted almost unanimously in favour of holding a ballot for industrial action – 105 for with one against and two abstentions – over the failure to conclude a pay deal for 2010.
The launch of i has been backed with 100,000 giveaways, about 55,000 of those thought to be targeting the London market. Before launch the longer-term target was for a combined circulation for both i and the Independent of 400,000.
The Independent has a total net circulation of 182,000, with about 89,000 sold at full rate, meaning the i needs to get to well over 200,000 copies to achieve this goal. In addition the aspiration is for i to be successful enough to have a completely paid-for customer base.
• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
ONA una
The Online News Association annual event in Washington is fascinating for its breadth and depth. You can watch all the livestream video from the event.
(Go to http://jeffsonderman.com/2010/10/video-watch-the-sessions-from-ona-2010/)
Or you can focus on one of the presenting groups: Treesaver.
(http://www.treesaver.net/)
In their own words:
Treesaver is a new design for the web. It’s made for people who like to read. It’s for great narrative experiences — text and pictures.
Treesaver divides content into pages, automatically adjusting the layout to the size of the screen. It works on any device that has a web browser: Desktop PC or Mac, notebook, netbook, iPad and iPhone. It’s produced with web standards — HTML, CSS and JavaScript. You can embed video or Flash in it, just as you can with any web site. There is no app to download. No plug in to install.
Treesaver provides a cost effective platform for writers and publishers. You get to leverage your existing resources and systems, instead of building and maintaining separate applications for each platform. Plus, it provides a friendlier format for advertising.
For more information, email Roger Black, Filipe Fortes and Jock Spivy, follow @trsvr, or sign up for the Treesaver newsletter:
Now that's getting personal.
(Go to http://jeffsonderman.com/2010/10/video-watch-the-sessions-from-ona-2010/)
Or you can focus on one of the presenting groups: Treesaver.
(http://www.treesaver.net/)
In their own words:
Treesaver is a new design for the web. It’s made for people who like to read. It’s for great narrative experiences — text and pictures.
Treesaver divides content into pages, automatically adjusting the layout to the size of the screen. It works on any device that has a web browser: Desktop PC or Mac, notebook, netbook, iPad and iPhone. It’s produced with web standards — HTML, CSS and JavaScript. You can embed video or Flash in it, just as you can with any web site. There is no app to download. No plug in to install.
Treesaver provides a cost effective platform for writers and publishers. You get to leverage your existing resources and systems, instead of building and maintaining separate applications for each platform. Plus, it provides a friendlier format for advertising.
For more information, email Roger Black, Filipe Fortes and Jock Spivy, follow @trsvr, or sign up for the Treesaver newsletter:
Now that's getting personal.
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