NYT gets in bed with Microsoft to deliver e-content

Alexander Turcic · 04-29-2006, 11:28 AM

Here is a tantalizing piece of news from the New York Times, reporting that the newspaper will partner with Microsoft to work on the Times Reader, an e-book software that will make reading news digitally a lot more like flipping through a paper. According to CNet,

The new software, which uses the Windows Presentation Foundation engine built into Vista, maintains the look of the New York Times' print edition using the same fonts, but aims to capture some of the flexibility that software can enable. The software allows for the inclusion of hyperlinks within the text, as well as the ability to play multimedia or annotate a story with comments. The content can be stored on the PC for offline viewing, but can also be updated continuously when a computer is connected to the Internet.

The software won't be limited to the New York Times. By end of summer, other newspapers and magazines will be able to download developer kits to work on their own Vista onscreen reader editions. It's only too bad that most dedicated e-book readers wouldn't run Windows Vista.

Related: TeleRead's take on how this partnership notches up the battle between Microsoft and Adobe. Also, check out this speech transcript when Times Reader was announced at the annual meeting of the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

rlauzon · 04-29-2006, 12:44 PM

Soooo... The NYT, in a bid to stave off irrelevance, is partnering with Microsoft to create what basically amounts to a closed, proprietary web browser that can cache pages when attached to the Internet - oh, and can add annotations.

Wow. I am just so enthused about this "innovation" from Microsoft and NYT.

NYT would be better off partnering with AvantGo (which I think they already are for handhelds) to create an open HTML viewer for eBook readers.

Bob Russell · 04-29-2006, 12:51 PM

It's all about the revenue streams. As subscribers to paper versions fade, they want to be as exclusive and controlled as possible to maximize their sales. Unfortunately for consumers, that means.... well, we all know about that, don't we?!

04-29-2006, 11:28 AM	#1
Alexander Turcic Fully Converged Posts: 12,730 Karma: 71589 Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Switzerland Device: Sony Portable Reader	NYT gets in bed with Microsoft to deliver e-content Here is a tantalizing piece of news from the New York Times, reporting that the newspaper will partner with Microsoft to work on the Times Reader, an e-book software that will make reading news digitally a lot more like flipping through a paper. According to CNet, The new software, which uses the Windows Presentation Foundation engine built into Vista, maintains the look of the New York Times' print edition using the same fonts, but aims to capture some of the flexibility that software can enable. The software allows for the inclusion of hyperlinks within the text, as well as the ability to play multimedia or annotate a story with comments. The content can be stored on the PC for offline viewing, but can also be updated continuously when a computer is connected to the Internet. The software won't be limited to the New York Times. By end of summer, other newspapers and magazines will be able to download developer kits to work on their own Vista onscreen reader editions. It's only too bad that most dedicated e-book readers wouldn't run Windows Vista. Related: TeleRead's take on how this partnership notches up the battle between Microsoft and Adobe. Also, check out this speech transcript when Times Reader was announced at the annual meeting of the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

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04-29-2006, 12:44 PM	#2
rlauzon Guru Posts: 957 Karma: 1059 Join Date: Jan 2005 Device: Opus/System76 Starling	Soooo... The NYT, in a bid to stave off irrelevance, is partnering with Microsoft to create what basically amounts to a closed, proprietary web browser that can cache pages when attached to the Internet - oh, and can add annotations. Wow. I am just so enthused about this "innovation" from Microsoft and NYT. NYT would be better off partnering with AvantGo (which I think they already are for handhelds) to create an open HTML viewer for eBook readers.

04-29-2006, 12:51 PM	#3
Bob Russell MobileRead Editor Posts: 4,923 Karma: 24061 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: Sony PRS500, Treo 700p, Dell x50v, Lenovo X61t	It's all about the revenue streams. As subscribers to paper versions fade, they want to be as exclusive and controlled as possible to maximize their sales. Unfortunately for consumers, that means.... well, we all know about that, don't we?!