Engadget

News Corp buys Skiff e-reader platform, invests in online journalism

Joseph L. Flatley — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:14:00 EST

When Rupert Murdoch was asked whether or not News Corp would be launching an e-reader of its own, he answered: "I don't think that's likely." It seems that what he meant was: "Why bother? We can just buy Skiff." And for good measure the world's second largest media conglomerate has just launched something called Digital Journalism Initiatives (which is responsible for News Corp's new business efforts in premium digital journalism) and dumped some money into Journalism Online, LLC -- the startup that Steve Brill and co. founded to try and figure out how, exactly, news organizations can keep afloat these days. But don't worry: you're not likely to see a Fair & Balanced e-reader just yet. Apparently, the purchase merely covers the platform and intellectual property. Which leads us to our next question: why is this man smiling? PR after the break.

Continue reading News Corp buys Skiff e-reader platform, invests in online journalism

News Corp buys Skiff e-reader platform, invests in online journalism originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Skiff partners with Samsung to deliver e-stuff, someday

Thomas Ricker — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 07:23:00 EST

After a flurry of announcements in December and January, things have gone quiet in the Skiff camp as Hearst prepares to launch its publisher-focused Kindle Store competitor. Now in addition to its massive Skiff Reader and apps for Palm WebOS devices, MIDs, and yes the iPad, President Gil Fuchsberg announced at CTIA that Skiff and Samsung would partner to deliver electronic newspapers, magazines, blogs, and books across "a range of Samsung devices." Specifically, Gil called out the Android-based Galaxy S with that impressive 4 inch, Super AMOLED display. But unless Samsung's wrapped up some kind of exclusivity (which we doubt) then we should see a generic Skiff app for any Android device appear in the Android Market. Now how about a launch date Skiff for something, anything. Pretty please, with an Eclair on top? Read the full transcript of the partnership after the break.

Continue reading Skiff partners with Samsung to deliver e-stuff, someday

Skiff partners with Samsung to deliver e-stuff, someday originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Mar 2010 07:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Kindle for iPad and tablets makes the scene

Thomas Ricker — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 02:38:00 EST

It must be getting close to April 3rd because the iPad news is hotting up. Today we get our first glimpse at Amazon's free Kindle app for the iPad. We've also got a Barnes & Noble iPad app on the way, courtesy of a report in the New York Times, that has been completely redesigned by a team of 14 developers working since January to allow for custom fonts in multiple colors and quick page turns with finger swipes. The Kindle app, meanwhile, features a redefined core screen and reading experience, slow page turns, and new ways to view your eBook library. One view, pictured above, presents your books as large icons against a silhouetted figure under a tree -- the sun changes position in accordance to the time of day. Of course, the app also gives you access to the Kindle bookstore (assuming Apple approves) and saves your reading position so that you can pick up any Kindle app (or device) and continue reading right where you left off.

Fortunately, Amazon's Kindle App will be targeting tablets beyond the iPad. We're also hearing that Skiff is almost certainly headed to Apple's tablet, and we suspect as many competitors as possible given the plethora of devices demonstrated to us at CES. So seriously, we ask you, in an age where content is king, are you really going to buy an eReader dedicated to a single store?

Update: The Barnes & Noble app, not the Kindle app, is being worked on by a team of 14 developers.

Gallery: Kindle for iPad and tablets makes the scene

[Thanks, Jason D.]

Kindle for iPad and tablets makes the scene originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Mar 2010 02:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Amazon pulled Macmillan titles due to price conflict -- confirmed (update: they're back!)

Thomas Ricker — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 04:06:00 EST

Macmillan's US CEO, John Sargent just confirmed that Amazon pulled its inventory of Macmillan books in a powerful response to Macmillan's new pricing demands. Macmillan offered the new pricing on Thursday, just a day after Apple announced Macmillan as a major publishing partner in its new iBookstore -- a revelation that certainly factored into the discussions along with Skiff and other emerging e-book distribution and publishing models. During the meeting with Amazon in Seattle, Sargent outlined what he calls an "agency model" that will go into effect in early March. Under the terms offered, if Amazon chose to stay with its existing terms of sale then it would suffer "extensive and deep windowing of titles." Amazon's hardball response was to pull all of Macmillan's titles from its Kindle site and Amazon.com by the time Sargent arrived back in New York.

Macmillan claims that its new model is meant to keep retailers, publishers, and authors profitable in the emerging electronic frontier while encouraging competition amongst new devices and new stores. It gives retailers a 30% commission and sets the price for each book individually: digital editions of most adult trade books will be priced from $5.99 to $14.99 while first releases will "almost always" hit the electronic shelves day on date with the physical hardcover release and be priced between $12.99 and $14.99 -- pricing that will be dynamic over time. So when Steve Jobs said that Apple's and Amazon's prices would be the same, he was almost certainly referring to the $12.99 to $14.99 e-book pricing originally rumored by the New York Times -- not the $9.99 price that Amazon customers have been enjoying so far. Funny how Jobs, the man who once refused to grant the music labels' request for variable pricing on digital music so that Apple could maintain a low fixed $0.99 price per track, is suddenly the best friend of a new breed of content owners. Guess the old dog just learned a new trick, eh?

Update: Amazon has conceded, but not willfully. It has decided to give the consumer the option of paying too much for a bestseller, and frankly, that's the right thing to do. Let 'em vote with their wallets, we say. The full response is after the break.

Continue reading Amazon pulled Macmillan titles due to price conflict -- confirmed (update: they're back!)

Amazon pulled Macmillan titles due to price conflict -- confirmed (update: they're back!) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 31 Jan 2010 04:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Skiff and Marvell announce Skiff Reader Develop Kit in a bid to rule the e-world

Thomas Ricker — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 10:23:00 EST

We've been hearing a lot about Marvell lately driven, in part, by the rapid growth in e-reader devices. Now it's teamed up with Hearst's ambitious venture, Skiff, to create the Skiff Reader Development Kit (RDK) designed to allow manufacturers to quickly create inexpensive reading devices using Marvell's Armada System-on-a-chip with integrated electronic paper display controller. Naturally, the RDK includes built-in software support for the Skiff eReading service and digital storefront. Interesting, very interesting. It's becoming clear that Skiff's approach to toppling Amazon's early e-reader / service juggernaut is to flood the market with devices hooked into a compelling value proposition for publishers and content owners and then ultimately (sometime later this year), consumers. Hold tight kids, this could be Apple (Amazon) vs. Microsoft (Skiff/Hearst) all over again.

Skiff and Marvell announce Skiff Reader Develop Kit in a bid to rule the e-world originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 10:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Skiff e-reader hands-on: watch out Amazon

Thomas Ricker — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 12:53:00 EST

Ready for your Kindle alternative? Skiff might be it. Might. We had a chance to sit down with the team to go hands-on with the 11.5-inch e-Reader. As a device, the near final prototype was big pushing an impressive 1,600 x 1,200 resolution -- enough to stuff an entire page of the New York Times up front including advertisements and still maintain readability. Mind you, it's not an exact reproduction, content has been modified to account for advertisements which, for better or worse, are part of the Skiff publishing model. Fortunately, we found it impossible to differentiate between the locally served ads and those you're already accustomed to seeing inside your favorite newspaper. But as far as competition goes, Skiff isn't hedging its bets on a single device -- this is a publishing platform. As such, Skiff showed us a total of four different devices accessing its content: a color e-reader prototype as well as Skiff apps running on a Palm Pre, Viliv MID, and of course the Linux-based black and white e-reader launching sometime this year. They even promised an iPhone app as you'd expect with synchronization across all your devices (at least as many as the DRM will allow). Skiff tells us that an Android device is also in the works.

Unfortunately, as a Kindle competitor, Skiff was not willing to discuss the extent of their content partners nor the number of publications (blogs, magazines, newspapers, and book categories are listed on the store) that will be available at launch. Nevertheless, the Skiff Store, we've been assured, will be full with plenty of subscription content and even a few apps like Sudoku and crossword puzzles. A la carte access to content will be available as well.

Multimedia is also a differentiator with content augmented by full motion video available in the Skiff apps (seen running on the Viliv). In fact, the app immediately reminded us of those iSlab content demos seen floating around the intertubes. Even the black and white e-reader was capable of playing back audio embedded in an issue of Esquire. Skiff was not willing to discuss their plans for text to speech with us today, however, we did learn that you can print documents to the Skiff over the network as a quick and easy way to move content to the device.

The navigation buttons on the Skiff e-reader are not yet final and Skiff is still tweaking the touchpanel. Nevertheless, a small round dimple flanked by a pair of buttons and side-mounted "big wheel" coupled with the touchscreen interface were up to the task. The UI looked reasonable for skimming through large publications such as the Sunday edition of the New York Times and offers a search mechanism that works device wide or within the content you're viewing. Finger swipes applied to the resistive touchscreen worked as expected: swiping a finger left or right results in page turns while swipes up or down will increase or reduce font size, respectively.

The launch will be US only at this point although international content will be available. Unfortunately, Skiff wouldn't allow any pictures or videos, we'll get those when we can.

Skiff e-reader hands-on: watch out Amazon originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 12:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Skiff Reader is largest yet, will be hitting a Sprint Store near you

Tim Stevens — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 12:46:00 EST

Amazon's Kindle DX may be big, but it's not the biggest any more. The Skiff Reader is here to take that crown -- despite being a mere quarter inch thick. It packs a 1600 x 1200 11.5-inch touchscreen (finger and stylus) that, as you can see from the above screenshot, should do much better justice to magazine and newspaper layouts than we've yet seen from an e-ink-based reader. That's exactly the sort of advance Hearst was promising when it first mentioned the device last month. Skiff includes 4GB of on-board storage (just over 3GB is available for content) with SD card expansion, and there's a 3.5mm headphone jack for tunes and, hopefully, text-to-speech. Content can be side-loaded over a mini USB jack or delivered via WiFi but, more importantly, 3G is also on offer thanks to Sprint, who will also dedicate some space in its retail stores to sell the thing when it launches sometime this year. Price? That we don't know.

Gallery: Skiff Reader press shots

Skiff Reader is largest yet, will be hitting a Sprint Store near you originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 12:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Hearst launching Skiff distribution system and Kindle competitor 'by publishers, for publishers,' thinks you'll want it too

Tim Stevens — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 07:41:00 EST

Despite all the problems with the Kindle -- poor PDF support, low-contrast screen, Orwellian fears -- it makes for a mighty-fine reading experience for users. From a publisher's perspective it stinks, with Amazon reportedly sucking down 70% of a sale's proceeds. Hearst Corp. (owner of the Houston Chronicle, Oprah Magazine, and many others) wants to set things right. For two years the company has been developing a digital content publishing and distribution service called Skiff, and it's nearly ready for its christening. Publishers will be able to render and ship their content to a number of devices, including the iPhone, but Hearst is also working on its own Kindle competitor that will be the flagship of the Skiff system (we've created an artist's mock-up above). Skiff promises better graphics and better layouts of digital content, which is encouraging, but it'll also allow the easy injection of advertising into paid content -- something we're less happy to see making the transition over from print. As rumored many publishers are said to be signing on soon, with Sprint providing connectivity. That's great, but will you be coming aboard?

Update: We have a few more details courtesy of the official press release, most interesting being news of a partnership with Marvell to develop a system on a chip for e-readers. Given that Spring Design's Alex and the Entourage Edge are both using Marvell chips, we wouldn't be surprised to find they've both been given a berth on this new venture. Also, Skiff is confirmed to be launching sometime in 2010.

Hearst launching Skiff distribution system and Kindle competitor 'by publishers, for publishers,' thinks you'll want it too originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 07:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments