Following in the footsteps of the successful Amazon Kindle, Hearst Corp. is looking to launch a similar device for magazines in an attempt to capitalise on the growing interest in electronic readers.
Hearst is one of the biggest magazine publishers in the world with titles including Cosmopolitan and Esquire. If you’re more of a niche magazine of newspaper reader though, you won’t miss out as Hearst plans to sell their e-reader devices to other publishers.
This move sets the Hearst reader apart from the Amazon Kindle, as Amazon very protectively has kept full control of the Kindle business model.
This means that in the not too distant future, you could very feasibly turn on your e-reader during your commute to and from work and wirelessly download whichever paper you feel like reading that day.
The Hearst e-reader won’t be as compact as the Kindle, with rumours that the first version will be noticeably larger to accommodate for advertisers’ demands, and to emulate the reading experience of printed magazines and newspapers.
It will be initially released in a black-and-white version which may hit shops as early as this year. A coloured version will follow later.
This e-reader will not only bring magazines up to date in terms of technological advancement, but will also address a downturn in advertising revenue for magazines and an increase in the cost of paper and delivery.
Would you give up your subscription of Evo for the chance to download it instead? Leave us a comment and let us know your thoughts on this new technology.
Source: CNN