NewspaperDirect comes to the Kindle, Sony

[Nate the great]

In two announcements released yesterday and the day before:

NewspaperDirect Inc., the world leader in multi-channel newspaper and magazine content distribution, is making its entire library of more than 1,400 full-content newspapers and magazines available on the Amazon Kindle (and the Sony Reader) e-reader. Kindle users who subscribe to PressDisplay.com.com can now download any of the titles currently available on the world’s largest online newspaper and magazine kiosk, and read them in their entirety.

A subscription to www.pressdisplay.com is required. The free option seems to be somewhat useful, but I'd rather use calibre (more capable, less cost).

********
I feel the need to inject a little reality here. There is no mention of DRM or the respective ebookstores. Without these details I must conclude that this is actually a non announcement. The Kindle and Sony Reader are as compatible with NewspaperDirect as they were a week ago.

Also, why would anyone announce support for the Kindle without OTA downloads? What kind of nonsense is that?

[Mike L]

NateTheGreat,

Thanks for posting this.

I considered subscribing to my local paper on this service when I gave up buying the print edition. The layout and navigation is far superior to other mechanisms for reading on-line news. And the cost is a lot less than buying a traditional newspaper.

One of the things that put me off was that there was no obvious way of cancelling a subscription once the free trial period was over. It seems that they keep your credit card details on file, then automatically renew as the subscription period expires. Obviously, there must be some way of opting out, but I was nervous of the fact that they weren't open about how to do it.

I ended up getting the same newspaper via RSS feeds, converting to Kindle format in Calibre, and reading it on a laptop in the Kindle For PC app. The layout isn't as good, but it's free and requires no commitment.

[pthwaite]

Mike L
You just email them and they cancel it. I used to use it with the DR1000, but as they don't have a MAC version that exports to the readers, I gave up using it despite numerous requests.

[pauli]

Just tried the "Export to eReader" option. It actually looks rather nice...
The new PressDisplay software can export a newspaper in ePub, Mobi or their own *.np format. Pictures and such are optimized for screen size depending on the device type.

Their is "social" DRM: your username/email is printed on the second page of the document. **make that: in every header of each page**

Only problem I see is that, they must parse the text from the original pdf file they received from the original newspaper. If you export it in the *.np format you preserve the original layout.
A big plus for the epub/mobi export is that the filesize is much much smaller: typical 2-4 MB versus typical 20 - 40 MByte for the *.np format

[HansTWN]

the question is -- does it look exactly like the newspaper, as newspaperdirect does?

[Spectrum]

My local library subscribes to newspaperdirect which I can access from home using my library card. I will explore if I can export to my Sony PRS-505.

PressReader provides a superior newspaper and magazine reading experience on Sony Readers:
- All original content (including photos and images) is presented in a familiar newspaper layout.
- Sony’s touch-sensitive screen and gesture-driven interface is fully supported.
- Additional intuitive navigation controls are built in, including thumbnails and cross-linking within multi-page articles.
- Tables of content support foreign-language publications.
- Scheduled downloads of titles are available via USB.

Sony joins a growing list of devices already supported by PressDisplay.com, including PCs, Macs, smartphones, iPhones, iPod Touch and BlackBerry devices, IREX digital readers and, soon, Interead’s COOL-ER.

[Mike L]

Originally Posted by pthwaite

Mike L
You just email them and they cancel it.

Thanks, Howard. I'll remember that if I ever decide to give it a try.

[Gameboy213]

Originally Posted by pthwaite

Mike L
You just email them and they cancel it. I used to use it with the DR1000, but as they don't have a MAC version that exports to the readers, I gave up using it despite numerous requests.

Exactly. I was excited about this as well as I do use the Application on my Mac and my blackberry. I hoped this would allow using it on my sony 505 as well, but there is no export version for Mac as you say.

Does nothing for me.

[derek80]

I signed up last night as I thought I'd try this out for about a month to see if I like it. The service includes The Hollywood Reporter, which is what ultimately what made me sign up as I'm a bit of an entertainment news junkie. THR charges $19.95/month for a digital subscription, so for half the price I get a version I can actually read on my PRS-300.

I thought the layout was well done. With each paper page there is a small image of the actual page highlighting the article you are reading and then there are hyperlinks to continue stories that continue on later pages.

I like that I can also access the Edmonton Journal and the Globe and Mail among others.

As far as I can tell there is no DRM other than what pauli mentioned of your name and email being inserted into the header, so there shouldn't be any DRM-compatibility headaches.

[Gameboy213]

Originally Posted by derek80

I signed up last night as I thought I'd try this out for about a month to see if I like it. The service includes The Hollywood Reporter, which is what ultimately what made me sign up as I'm a bit of an entertainment news junkie. THR charges $19.95/month for a digital subscription, so for half the price I get a version I can actually read on my PRS-300.

I thought the layout was well done. With each paper page there is a small image of the actual page highlighting the article you are reading and then there are hyperlinks to continue stories that continue on later pages.

I like that I can also access the Edmonton Journal and the Globe and Mail among others.

As far as I can tell there is no DRM other than what pauli mentioned of your name and email being inserted into the header, so there shouldn't be any DRM-compatibility headaches.

How did you get it on your reader? Using the press reader application on a PC and transferring using usb?

[derek80]

In response to Gameboy:

When you sign up for the subscription, you can view the full newspaper in your web browser. You select a newspaper and it confirms that you want to use one of your credits to view the full paper. You don't have to use the external pressdisplay program unless you want to download the newspaper to read offline.

Viewing the newspaper in the web browser is kind of like using a PDF-viewer. To download to your e-reader, you click on the floppy icon (save as) to choose to download as an e-reader file. It asks you which type of reader you have - Sony, Kindle, Aluratek Libre, and a few others are listed - and then it formats it for that reader. For the Sony reader it simply creates an EPUB. You then save the file to wherever you want on your computer and then load it to your reader by USB (though I guess you could just save the file directly to the applicable folder in the reader if it is hooked up by USB, but I haven't tried that yet). I assume the procedure would be the same for the Kindle since you can save it as a Kindle-readable file.

[Gameboy213]

Originally Posted by derek80

In response to Gameboy:

When you sign up for the subscription, you can view the full newspaper in your web browser. You select a newspaper and it confirms that you want to use one of your credits to view the full paper. You don't have to use the external pressdisplay program unless you want to download the newspaper to read offline.

Viewing the newspaper in the web browser is kind of like using a PDF-viewer. To download to your e-reader, you click on the floppy icon (save as) to choose to download as an e-reader file. It asks you which type of reader you have - Sony, Kindle, Aluratek Libre, and a few others are listed - and then it formats it for that reader. For the Sony reader it simply creates an EPUB. You then save the file to wherever you want on your computer and then load it to your reader by USB (though I guess you could just save the file directly to the applicable folder in the reader if it is hooked up by USB, but I haven't tried that yet). I assume the procedure would be the same for the Kindle since you can save it as a Kindle-readable file.

Thanks for that! I have been a press display user online, my mac and blackberry for about 3 months so I am familiar with the software.

It wasn't until today that the export to reader option showed up..... although I only see it on the web based press display not the mac reader software.

I just tried two papers with success. Not sure if I like it better than the offerings from Sony directly, but the 30 a month fee for unlimited is definitely cheaper than the Sony prices. Although no Wall Street Journal.

I want the NYTimes too.

[Mitchll]

I contacted pressdisplay regarding the availability of Mac to Sony reader usage and received this response. It does work well under windows.


Dear Mitchell,

Thank you for your email.

Newspapers export to eReader devices is not supported on PressReader application for MAC, at this time. Presently, this feature is only available in PressReader for Windows version.

Please note that the PressReader for MAC is in Beta stage of its release and does not include some features. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Kind regards,


Pressreader creates a Epub file which was easy to transfer to my reader.

[davidspitzer]

I tried it on the dr1000 and it was pretty good - full pages in all thier glory simply tap to zoom in and the pan around


on the kindle thought navigation is a fail it takes several clicks to get to the next page link and the navigation overall is hinky

[Gameboy213]

Originally Posted by Mitchll

I contacted pressdisplay regarding the availability of Mac to Sony reader usage and received this response. It does work well under windows.


Dear Mitchell,

Thank you for your email.

Newspapers export to eReader devices is not supported on PressReader application for MAC, at this time. Presently, this feature is only available in PressReader for Windows version.

Please note that the PressReader for MAC is in Beta stage of its release and does not include some features. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Kind regards,


Pressreader creates a Epub file which was easy to transfer to my reader.

Just use the web version and you can export as Derek80 thought. Not perfect but works for now.