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Publishers across the globe adopt the iPad tools from WoodWing

Wednesday 09. June 2010 - Publishers from Italy, Switzerland, Japan and Australia are launching their Digital Magazines

In conjunction with the launch of the iPad outside the U.S., publishers across the globe are launching Digital Magazine Apps using WoodWing’s tools.

WoodWing’s Digital Magazine Tools enable publishers to easily create beautifully designed and compelling content for the iPad in almost the same way they produce content for print. These tools are an extension of WoodWing’s Enterprise publishing system. The content is being distributed through a customer-branded Reader App.

New iPad titles using WoodWing’s tools
In Switzerland, the supermarket chain Coop launched Coopzeitung essen&trinken as an extension to its weekly publication, providing readers with information about new products, recipes and instructional videos. It instantly ranked No. 1 in Switzerland.

In Italy, Conti Editori launched AutoSprint, which – as the name suggests – is a publication all about fast cars. Telefono Azzurro, an association committed to the protection of child rights, introduced Azzurro Child Digital.

Earlier this month, a couple of new iPad titles were introduced, including the Japanese newspaper giant Mainichi launching a photography magazine called photoJ, which also achieved the No. 1 ranking. The Australian publisher ACP launched APC Magazine, an influential monthly computer magazine.

“Managing the content on the iPad with the WoodWing solution is simpler than the use of the CMS of our homepage. The digital magazine is created directly on the layout workstations, therefore we can design and produce the iPad version of the Coopzeitung completely on our own,” said Matthias Zehnder, Editor in Chief of Coopzeitung.

“I was surprised with how easily we were able to integrate the WoodWing technology into our existing magazine production processes and workflow,” said Tony Sarno, Managing Editor at APC. “By avoiding the development, debugging and testing that comes with unproven iPad production platforms, we were able to easily beat our competitors to the App Store.”

“We’re very pleased to see these new titles appear on the iPad, after the kick-off with TIME Magazine, which has already published 10 issues since their go-live two months ago,” said Erik Schut, President of WoodWing Software. “Now that Apple ‘s tablet has become available outside the U.S., many renowned publishing houses want to be available on the iPad as soon as possible. There is a big advantage to being in the iPad App Store early, as competition is still relatively low. We’re glad that our iPad solution is picked up not only by magazine publishers, but by newspapers, non-profit organizations and corporate clients, as well.”

Efficient Process
Unlike other systems that require users to finish the print publication before shipping it off to a conversion or editing tool, WoodWing’s Digital Magazine Tools enable publishers to create content in tandem with their print publication, using exactly the same software, skills and staff. This saves resources and money.

Publishers can create a Digital Magazine once and publish it on various devices, as well. Only the Reader App to display the content on a specific device is different; on the creation side, there’s no difference. Reader Other Apps for future tablet devices will become available.

Feature-packed
“The latest v1.2 release of our tools is already feature-packed. Besides the basic functionality like slide shows, video, links and Web elements, we now offer hotspots and in-app-purchase with a built-in library,” Erik Schut added. “Short term, we will further extend the Reader App with functionality like sharing to social media, subscription support and additional interactivity. But also features like bookmarks, widgets, more advanced advertising functionality, commenting, and statistics are on our roadmap for the coming months.”

The iPad becomes an essential channel for publishers and marketers
Apple has already sold more than 2 million iPad devices worldwide, making it an indispensable new publishing channel. For the first time, publishers can deliver a reading experience of the same level as in print – or even exceed that – on a true mobile device. A Digital Magazine on the iPad is the perfect line extension for any established publishing brand. The iPad is the gate for new target groups and opens new opportunities for the ad business.

Polls show that a Digital Magazine for the iPad will be embraced by readers. A study conducted by comScore found that 68 percent of 25-34-year-olds and 59 percent of 35-44-year-olds say they are willing to pay for news and magazines specially formatted for e-readers.

Availability and additional information
WoodWing’s iPad tools are available now.