Newspaper & Mailroom
Prepare Yourself for the New E-reading Generation
Monday 10. August 2009 - Long before the Amazon Kindle became a household name, the Hearst Corp. helped finance the research that made such e-readers possible. Hearst is now emerging as a rival to Amazon, and will share its experiences at the 2nd European E-reading Conference, to be held on 1 and 2 October next in Paris, France.
Gil Fuchsberg, President of FirstPaper, the Hearst venture that will soon bring its e-readers to the publishing market, will be one of the most eagerly anticipated speakers at the conference, as there is much speculation about the new device. The conference will also present e-reader trials carried out by the New York Times, Les Echos and NRC Handelsblad, and examine recent developments in advertising, distribution and technical standards for e-readers.
Full programme and registration details can be found here.
The conference is organised by WAN-IFRA, which has invested in e-reading research and testing, and participated in the development of e-reading technologies, since 2003. Stig Nordqvist, Director for Emerging Digital Platforms and Business Development at WAN-IFRA, will share the latest technological discoveries gained from visits to the laboratories of the worlds leading companies working on the e-readers of the future.
The Hearst Group, one of the leading US magazine, newspaper and book publishers, helped finance the E-Ink start-up, and its revolutionary research in the area of electronic ink, beginning in 1998. A decade later, Electronic Paper Displays, including the E Ink Corporations electronic ink, equip Amazon Kindle, iRex, Bokeen, Sony Reader and other major e-readers available on the market.
But back in 1998, Hearsts support seemed visionary. Kenneth Bronfin, a senior executive with Hearst New Media & Technology, had this to say at the time: “The technology to produce electronic paper has many compelling ramifications for a leading media company like Hearst. Ultimately, this novel technology could dramatically change the way we publish our books, magazines and newspapers. We look forward to collaborating with E Ink as they turn this innovation into products that consumers will want and need.”
Today, Hearsts FirstPaper is poised to introduce its own reader, said in press reports to be a wireless, large-format device adapted for the reading and advertising requirements of newspapers and magazines. The company has not released details of the device, but its long experience with the technology is clearly promising.