PressReader is an application by NewsPaperDirect that lets you read a growing list of over 2,300 full-content newspapers from 100+ countries in 55+ languages available through the world’s largest online newspaper and magazine kiosk. I got to know about the App in the middle of a debate on why African businesses haven’t gone paperless yet or rather the prospects of a paperless future on African Chief Executive Officer Business network on Linkedin where Andrew from NewspaperDirect South Africa introduced the Application to us. We immediately requested for a review of the App.
Browser Titles by country
PressReader claims to have over 2,300 full-content newspapers from 100+ countries in 55+ languages including the Wall Street Journal Europe/Asia, The Telegraph, The Guardian, San Francisco Chronicle, USA TODAY International Edition, Cape Times, Cape Times among others. We found a number of newspaper titles but we didn’t find any from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria and most African countries. So i asked Andrew why and he had this to say;
NewspaperDirect are always looking to add titles and in the past we have had some from those countries, but because of general internet instability within Africa (which is obviously getting better now) the publishers had problems getting the files to our HO in terms of the Service Level Agreements set up.
See them as you would in print
With PressReader you will enjoy reading complete digital replicas of your favorite publications, often before the printed editions hit the newsstands! Every article, advertisement, crossword puzzle and cartoon is presented in its original context. We found this a little surprising, but the App actually does that!
Individual articles are a lot more readable with a web-like appearance
Once you click on a story that you want, the App pulls out and formats the article in a more web-like fashion for better readership! What you see for instance in the above screenshot are like thumbnails that you click on for a much appealing content display. This then presents more interactive options like sharing, bookmarking and even listening to a post.
Get your way around with easy navigation
The table of contents enables you to quickly land on whichever section of the publication that you’re reading. It follows the conventional cascading clickable menus similar to what you see on websites or desktop Applications.
Download it to your portable e-reader
This enables supports pushing or downloading content onto any of your portable e-readers such as the Amazon kindle, Nook, Kobo and others.
Conclusion
PressReader is to the traditional Newspapers what Pulse, Flipboard, Google Reader are to online publishers. Now it obviously doesn’t look as attractive the RSS feed aggregators, but Andrew told me the tablet version has a much appealing User Interface.
PressReader is an aggregator of sorts that wants to help mainstream media houses distribute their content through digital channels that users are now more accustomed to.
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