Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Partners with NewspaperDirect to Deliver “Super App” for iPad

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The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is now available as a complete digital replica of the printed edition, combined with breaking news from the newspaper’s website, in the form of the new ArkansasOnline for

By combining the best of PressReader technology with news alerts and multimedia content, we have created the next generation of a mobile news application that will set a new benchmark in the industry.

Vancouver, Canada (Vocus/PRWEB) January 31, 2011

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is now available as a complete digital replica of the printed edition, combined with breaking news from the newspaper’s website, in the form of the new ArkansasOnline for the Apple iPad. The groundbreaking ArkansasOnline app is available to Arkansas Democrat-Gazette subscribers at the same time the print editions are delivered to homes in Arkansas.

The ArkansasOnline iPad app is based on PressReader technology from NewspaperDirect, which partnered with the paper’s development team to produce a “super app” that combines a digital replica of the daily printed edition with the online edition’s live news feed, photos and soon, video. It also offers PressReader’s advanced digital features, such as the ability to:

•     Flip pages as if they are reading the printed publication
•     Pan, zoom or rotate pages, articles and photos, and view them in stunning clarity
•     Easily navigate publications, using thumbnails or tables of contents
•     Open full articles in an easy-to-read text view
•     Sit back and listen to the publication, using on-demand audio
•     Share articles by email

“We believe this will be a valued product for our subscribers,” said Democrat-Gazette Publisher, Walter Hussman. “Working with NewspaperDirect, we have been able to provide the newspaper everywhere, in any format, giving more value to those that pay to read our content. This iPad app delivers a great format, the original newspaper, on a device that makes it very easy to read and completely portable for an anytime-anywhere read of the latest news from Arkansas and beyond.”

Online reviews of the ArkansasOnline app have been positive:

Well Done! *****
Quite well done - highlighted articles feature is nice. I almost missed the headphone symbol - having the articles via audio is a bonus. Really nice to have my paper on my iPad - no more ink on the finger tips. Good job - although this is my first day using, every thing seems to work well - loaded quickly, etc. All positive from my perspective.

This app nearly justifies buying the iPad *****
Great app. I haven’t read a print version in two weeks. This version doesn’t get lost or wet.

Fantastic!!!! *****
Now I won't miss my morning paper while traveling. Format & graphics are beautiful. Many thanks!!

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has been a publishing partner of NewspaperDirect since 2003. Its titles are available through NewspaperDirect’s Print-on-Demand network as well as on PressDisplay.com and its companion offline application, PressReader. This latest development represents an important evolution in the company’s digital product strategy and is NewspaperDirect’s first implementation of a “super app” edition using PressReader technology.

“We are honored to work with the Democrat-Gazette on this breakthrough application for the iPad,” said Alexander Kroogman, CEO of NewspaperDirect. “By combining the best of PressReader technology with news alerts and multimedia content, we have created the next generation of a mobile news application that will set a new benchmark in the industry – one that we will replicate for our other publishing partners to help them increase audited circulation and monetize content across multiple distribution platforms and channels.”

The publisher of the Democrat-Gazette, WEHCO, in partnership with NewspaperDirect, will be developing additional iPad apps for their other publications and rolling out more than 35 titles to PressDisplay.com and PressReader in the next few months, including seven magazines.

Online resources for additional information
NewspaperDirect corporate video and blog.
Follow PressDisplay and PressReader on:
Facebook (facebook.com/PressReader)
Twitter (@pressdisplay)
and YouTube (youtube.com/user/pressdisplay)

About the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Arkansas’ Largest Newspaper, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, covers the state with its daily publication and website, ArkansasOnline.com. The Democrat-Gazette is owned by WEHCO Media, which operates other newspapers, magazines and cable companies throughout Arkansas and in other midwest and southern states.

About NewspaperDirect Inc.
NewspaperDirect delivers the world’s newspapers and magazines to millions of readers the way they want to receive them — in print, online, or on their mobile device, tablet or eReader — wherever they live, travel, work or play. With the most innovative digital publishing technology in the industry and the only zero operational-cost business model, NewspaperDirect is recognized as the world leader in multi-channel content distribution and monetization, and is the chosen partner of more than 1,750 publishers from 93 countries.

Media contact:
Tim Cox, ZingPR, tim(at)zingpr(dot)com, +1-650-369-7784

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