News4Me to begin trial, but not with E Ink (yet)

Alexander Turcic · 09-22-2008, 05:04 PM

Remember News4Me? It's a project launched by Deutsche Telekom aimed at creating individual electronic newspapers where a user can subscribe to complete issues or to individual sections from differing newspapers. According to latest news (German article), they are about to launch the first trial involving thirty participants from Bonn and Berlin who will be able to read news on a device that is "already on the market." So I guess that excludes the Polymer Vision Readius, which I thought would be an excellent candidate for this project. Instead, it's rumored that Apple's iPhone will be used during the trial. Apparently, Telekom's researchers are still looking for the optimal device. Which the Kindle isn't, they're claimed to have said, due to its "closed operation system" (uhm, Linux, closed?) and inability to deal with UMTS/HSDPA connectivity.

Shaking my head in disbelief, I checked some more, and indeed stumbled over this very recent and revealing interview (German), where Deutsche Telekom project leader Peter Möckel explains that the ideal device would have to have a display comparable to paper size A5, offer very good readability in day light, with long battery life, and cell phone connectivity. Neither the Amazon Kindle nor the Sony Reader would offer the platform architecture they require. Mr. Möckel had little negative to say about the Readius (fueling my hope yet again), but he'd wish for a bigger screen. In the interview, Möckel referred to the iPhone as being too small, though he also said that in the first trials the iPhone would be used to test the aspects of individualized newspaper delivery. If he is right, News4Me will officially launch in Germany next year.

zelda_pinwheel · 09-22-2008, 05:24 PM

it could be really interesting to launch a service like that with 2 subscription models : one, just the articles, and you read on the device of your choice. or 2, articles plus a device (readius ???), and the cost of the device could be subsidised by ads in the subscription... like the cellphone model.

hmm, definitely must keep an eye on the german newspapers !!

BlackVoid · 09-23-2008, 04:37 AM

Mainstream news is useless anyway...

electristan · 09-23-2008, 05:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackVoid

Mainstream news is useless anyway...

that's a very bleak view. I agree you should always find a second source for news there are a lot of good articles and stories written in mainstream news papers.

I really like this idea as i never really read the finance sections in papers.

nesagwa · 09-23-2008, 11:41 AM

Does the title of these threads make anyone else think that News4Me is getting sued or brought up on some charges when they read it the first time?

basschick · 09-24-2008, 01:37 AM

yup - sure did

Quote:

Originally Posted by nesagwa

Does the title of these threads make anyone else think that News4Me is getting sued or brought up on some charges when they read it the first time?

Alexander Turcic · 09-24-2008, 02:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nesagwa

Does the title of these threads make anyone else think that News4Me is getting sued or brought up on some charges when they read it the first time?

Heh, right. I apologize.

Steven Lyle Jordan · 09-25-2008, 12:25 PM

Whatever device they feel is "optimal," they'd probably be better served working out a multiple-device approach... let anyone get a subscription, and use whatever device they'd like (or at least a good range of choices between large and small readers).

09-22-2008, 05:04 PM	#1
Alexander Turcic Fully Converged Posts: 18,171 Karma: 14021202 Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Switzerland Device: Too many to count here.	News4Me to begin trial, but not with E Ink (yet) Remember News4Me? It's a project launched by Deutsche Telekom aimed at creating individual electronic newspapers where a user can subscribe to complete issues or to individual sections from differing newspapers. According to latest news (German article), they are about to launch the first trial involving thirty participants from Bonn and Berlin who will be able to read news on a device that is "already on the market." So I guess that excludes the Polymer Vision Readius, which I thought would be an excellent candidate for this project. Instead, it's rumored that Apple's iPhone will be used during the trial. Apparently, Telekom's researchers are still looking for the optimal device. Which the Kindle isn't, they're claimed to have said, due to its "closed operation system" (uhm, Linux, closed?) and inability to deal with UMTS/HSDPA connectivity. Shaking my head in disbelief, I checked some more, and indeed stumbled over this very recent and revealing interview (German), where Deutsche Telekom project leader Peter Möckel explains that the ideal device would have to have a display comparable to paper size A5, offer very good readability in day light, with long battery life, and cell phone connectivity. Neither the Amazon Kindle nor the Sony Reader would offer the platform architecture they require. Mr. Möckel had little negative to say about the Readius (fueling my hope yet again), but he'd wish for a bigger screen. In the interview, Möckel referred to the iPhone as being too small, though he also said that in the first trials the iPhone would be used to test the aspects of individualized newspaper delivery. If he is right, News4Me will officially launch in Germany next year.

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09-22-2008, 05:24 PM	#2
zelda_pinwheel zeldinha zippy zeldissima Posts: 27,827 Karma: 921169 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Paris, France Device: eb1150 & is that a nook in her pocket, or she just happy to see you?	it could be really interesting to launch a service like that with 2 subscription models : one, just the articles, and you read on the device of your choice. or 2, articles plus a device (readius ???), and the cost of the device could be subsidised by ads in the subscription... like the cellphone model. hmm, definitely must keep an eye on the german newspapers !!

09-23-2008, 04:37 AM	#3
BlackVoid Evangelist Posts: 415 Karma: 510423 Join Date: Nov 2006 Device: Sony PRS-505	Mainstream news is useless anyway...

09-23-2008, 11:41 AM	#5
nesagwa Connoisseur Posts: 55 Karma: 44 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Tampa, FL Device: PocketBook360	Does the title of these threads make anyone else think that News4Me is getting sued or brought up on some charges when they read it the first time?

09-25-2008, 12:25 PM	#8
Steven Lyle Jordan Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,478 Karma: 5171130 Join Date: Jan 2006 Device: none	Whatever device they feel is "optimal," they'd probably be better served working out a multiple-device approach... let anyone get a subscription, and use whatever device they'd like (or at least a good range of choices between large and small readers).