Digital Magazines: Bonnier Mag+ Prototype

Interesting to see some ideas here that didn't make it into the iPad. With the iPad being the only real option on the market for reading digital magazines at the moment, I'm waiting to see what rival options will come out on the Windows or Android platforms. With no Flash support on the iPad it rules out a lot of the magazines available out there on sites such as http://www.digitalmagazinedeals.com which limits the titles you can view. I'm hoping for a well priced Windows 7 based alternative that will offer full Flash support.

chris, July 20, 2010

Where can I get one?

Beverley, July 5, 2010

I'm deeply impressed by your concept, even more so as you've forestalled most of the iPad-concepts (let's hope that Apple hasn't patented "rubbing" yet). It'd be interesting to see analogous approaches to "classical" book-reading. What I would appreciate as an "add-value" dimension, is a creative way of linking the content to additional pools of information. This may be the web but may also be redactional content that would boost the value of the digital publications.

Frank Kastenholz, May 4, 2010

It is great! I like these things. I think it is the right way to go.

fab, May 3, 2010

uh...wow...you just blew my mind.

trish sierer, April 23, 2010

A great solution for news and media. Love the interface and lack in buttons. Would be nice to see this sort of technology run into websites as well. If its on the Web for public use I hope you will use real pages and real text(search engine friendly).

Randy Z, March 16, 2010

This seems extremely smart and hopefully magazine publishers will take note.

jennifer in sf, March 14, 2010

Nicely thought out demo and conceptually a step forward from existing options. Firstly relating to some other points made on digital format magazines: Something that is constantly bounded around when discussing digital format magazines is that the current solution i.e online page turner is unnatural and out of place but I tend to disagree. From a technical point of view it is clumsy (slows the interaction) and is not necessary, but from a magazine readers/publishers point of view we have found the mental step from reading one of the millions of printed magazines by turning the page to an animated page turner is much smaller than going straight into a vertical blog or web format. It's an evolutionary step that is educating people and clients that it is possible to have a their printed magazines and brochures online without a massive change to how they interact or extra costs for redesign to a different format. Any small company can currently do this with very little outlay and have the expanded distribution capability, novelty and impact desired while saving money on printing costs and keeping up with the times. I know this is a conversation on the product in the video but I feel the point is relevant as they are brushed aside in the presentation as not effective. They are in fact vital to the development of e-reading and the product being presented here. Specifically relating to the demo: An idea that I think could be considered to make the best use of the technology and one that fits within the natural magazine experience as well as the current web trends is the ability to quickly establish if an article is of interest or to skip it by reading a standfirst or first paragraph. We all do it while reading magazines and websites so it should be possible with e-readers. As I envisage it the standfirst could appear over the editorial image as shown but then if you choose to read the article the rest of the text should expand by touch from this to a full page of text rather than the vertical scrolling format. It gets a bit tiresome reading 4-5 word lines for very long and with in depth articles of say 3000 words it is very unlikely someone will stick with it. If you expand out to a properly scaled full text page you can still have the magazine features such as quotes and inline images and start the article with the glossy interface . Everything else, swiping pages, warming/heating up the content (especially like this term...very new media) subtle content overlays etc are fantastic

Ewan Rowden, March 11, 2010

Great work, no doubt about it. And as far as I can see from the number of articles the flood of compliments and positive evaluations seems unending. Accept mine as well, still although it may seem that print is on it's way out the door, I wouldn't be so quick to assume that. Although so many print publications are closing their doors, I think there is a real advantage for certain print pubs to really succeed. For many consumers, there's still something much more convenient and relaxing about having something in print and not just holding a computer or other device. I think magazines that really have the chance to succeed are ones that offer a strong web presence, but offer print subscriptions with unique content that isn't on the web.

Helen Burns, February 22, 2010

I forgot to add: The idea of foldable is excellent. A3 folding into A4 would be great for the average magazine, but perhaps a little OTT for anything smaller than a brief case. However A4 folding into A5 would be a great substitute for paperback novels. You would wouldn't have to match screen edges pixel-for-pixel because even on paper double page spreads rarely line up properly, so you can simply treat them as two pages as part of the overall sequence. USB ability to download existing formats: PDF*, ODT, via a USB would be vital. *Remember that PDF files are heavily embedded and "hard wired" to the format in which they were created, so reading an A4 page on an A5 pad, may require some real time reformating when opening the file, else the text may be too small for many people.

Mic, February 11, 2010

Please, please, please! See the true potential of this device! You now have a screen display technology that uses next-to-no power. It doesn't need back-lighting, and it's readable outdoors--If the computer dies, the screen stays locked on the last image so you can keep reading. OK, so it won't be fast enough for gaming machines, but let's have a decent super-low power laptop that only has to write changes to the screen, not all the data all the time, that allows for Office Productivity Suites with 12 or more hours (user-exchangeable)* battery life, meaning you can take your laptop to lectures and seminars without having fight for the seat nearest the power outlet because you know your battery won't last *AA NI-MH that can be changed in a hurry and don't suffer shelf decay like toxic Lithium batteries. And if you have the packet of recharged spares with you, the laptop can be "locked" into it's current logic state, the batteries changed, and then "unlocked" and it will continue as though nothing has happened. Here is what looks like a highly enviro-friendly product, and it's full potential isn't even being considered. I'm never going to buy one of these products for casual reading in a car or bus, unless it's wrapped in plastic so I can puke all over it--but on a train or plane, the ability to interact, compile my own documents, spreadsheets, and even dreaded databases using minimal power and hopefully sub $100 market, will give current PC manufacturers something to think about. Put a TYPIST QUALITY keyboard on it and you'll give those same manufacturers a real kick up @$$. If you were to release this technology as a Standard plug-in PC screen, I would buy it. I don't need high-speed page changes (video, etc.) and I certainly don't need processor-wasting page "transitions". The PC just has to write the new data to the screen as quickly as it can, and if there's a slight raster delay, I can live with that. There is so much potential: + Slower-than-Video PC monitors + Dedicated eBrowsers + Almost-zero-power laptops + A4 size panel beside the phone for leaving erasable notes that run on a CR2032 for 12 months--You've just saved a ream of paper! + Creditcard sized version that collects receipts from cash registers saving more paper. + You could have driver's license, registration, credit card, medical records etc., all on the one card over which YOU have control, not the Govt. If I can rattle off those ideas in only a few seconds, think how much more unrecognised potential is out there!

Mic, February 11, 2010

A very interesting set of ideas. I defoinitely agree that the old "WIMPS" derived UI is inappropriate for device predominantly aimed at reading. I'm looking forward to seeing some "real" hardware & software incorporating some or all of your ideas!

Peter, February 10, 2010

Brilliant, lovely work. It makes the Kindle look like the "pong" of digital readers. I hope you folks have the stamina to hold fast as the magazine publishing industry catches up to you-- it will be some time before many are able to adapt to such a dramatic new approach to digital media. Be strong!

Denise, February 6, 2010

Just one comment: a foldable ebook reader (like a magazine) allows for a larger screen (think TV screens), while still keeping it portable. Proposing a non-foldable ebook reader is like printing the text in magazines on one side per sheet of paper.

Peter, February 5, 2010

Brilliant! Just and an awsome concept! First Id like to say dont mind the iPad that is really nothing special and Apple are expensive to deal with. Run with your own concept and the rest will follow you. Or go with apple until you can develop your own concept. There are plenty of tablett computer makers that probably can make this idea come to live in less than a year. Although it wont be perfect until oled displays becomes cheep. There is even a Swedish one that may be able to help you, JLT. About the concept, I would love to have somekind of "pocket" mode with the two pages of text next to eachother perhapps one bigger and one smaller but not all texts are ment to just skim over. Some texts are ment to be read cover to cover and for that you need a "pocket" mode.

Joacim, February 3, 2010

Concept + everything else - excellent. However, the big problem with digital reading are the dreaded 'walls of text'. Writers/contributors should adopt a different style of writing for digital reading. Less words and more emphasis on visual thinking - many BBC articles and others from The Times contain a visual when describing e.g. how to receive 3D TV in the home. Attention spans are diminishing. People want fast access to the 'guts' of an article. This is where interactivity comes in - i.e. 'drilling'. Interactive mind maps and timelines (NOT Flash!) are the way to go. Why? Well, 4 out of 5 elements of an article may not interest me but I'd like to focus up on No.5. With a mind map I can gain/retain contextual overview and access quickly my target element - WITHOUT having to wade through walls of text to locate my particular area of interest. Thus, writers for virtual readership have to adapt away from traditional methods of expression and embrace or at least experiment with the above.

jonathan, February 3, 2010

Hi, This idea is lovely, great video. I would like to introduce to you "www.digitalnewsagent.com", we are a small business and website that is continually developing ideas for the distribution of digital versions of magazine, books and newspapers since 2005. Any further info please email me at anthonyburden@digitalnewsagent.com. Kind regards, Anthony Paul Burden Managing Director Digitalnewsagent.com Digital Media Management Limited

Anthony Paul Burden, February 2, 2010

Sara Öhrvall. It´s a great work! What Do you think about the way we design magazine or newspapers? It will be changed? Do We need to change our way to design the print edition in order to use them at Tablet? Or are separate ways?

Santiago, February 1, 2010

Gimme!

Don, January 31, 2010

Yes, it looks cool and I would buy it. However - I wonder if people were involved in the design process who actually READ articles? And I am not talking about these kind of "infotainment articles" which consist mainly of some nice images and a few lines of text. It just caught my attention that all your examples of articles showed many big pictures and just a very small column of text. Try to read a very long text on such a display.... Maybe you could include the option to seperate between images and text and show a number of columns next to each other. Or just have one much bigger column. Another point: I am not sure if this has already been included - I would like to see the ability to use only certain elements of articles. As of now - as far as I have understood your concept - you can recommend whole articles. But it would be cool to be able to highlight certain paragraphs of a text (or check out a link later) and save them automatically to your "notepad". Something else I would like to see - the amazon alike "if you like this article then you could be interested in this article" function. Well, just wanted toshare some of my first thoughts with you. Overall, this is quite impressive and I am looking forward to seeing it live.

Tom, January 31, 2010

Has anyone noticed the date of this post? Way before the Apple iPad launch! This concept can now be realised within months. All Bonnier needs is to write app, which shouldn't be too difficult or costly as the new Apple iPad SDK has most of the UI elemnts in place. I can't wait to read magazines on my iPad. Bonnier, you are on to a winner, don't let this concept die!

Sarumbear, January 29, 2010

I wonder if this concept will work with the iPad? It will be fantastic to see a demo now with what the iPad can do...

Randy, January 28, 2010

I was a little ambivalent to tablet and e-reader devices before I saw this. I'd seen a Kindle but wasn't very impressed. I've shared this video with a lot of people because it captured my imagination. I've been a heavy consumer of magazines over the years and this had made think about the chances designers could take with a format like this. Also it makes me wonder about the disposable nature of magazines as well. I've had to toss so many mags that I felt were little pieces of art because collections get heavy and that's the first thing to go during a move. I'd imagine the back issue potential for a lot of publications could be quite lucrative. I really like the idea of having one device and endless content.

Jearold, January 25, 2010

Cool!! Me parece genial. :)

berni, January 25, 2010

Really nice prototype, and you can tell you spent some time thinking about the interaction part without being distracted by current limitations in hardware. In a week we'll know what Apple will release (iSlate, iPad - http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/01/20/apple_sees_tablet_as_one_d...) and how that relates to this. Let's hope the future is just around the corner! Regards, Joakim Technology Pioneer, Bisnode

Joakim Skog, January 21, 2010

I love seeing the opportunities that this has! Working in the magazine industry, I really wonder what the future is going to hold. One thing that did click in my mind, is usage beyond a magazine. I can't imagine how fun it would be using a larger screen (less portable, obviously) and accessories such as pens, paint brushes, air brushes, etc. that would benefit a designer. How cool would using programs like Photoshop or Illustrator be then?

Dan Nisbet, January 20, 2010

finally.

maht, January 18, 2010

I’m very impressed. This could be the start of user friendly reading experiences combined with good design and a smart use of multi media. Not only magazines, but also e-books, especially informative e-books can benefit from this new concept. Using audio, film and animation can contribute to the reader experience, good design and optional use are the key words instead of minimalising the use of multi media . I’m interested how this will effect the traditional A to Z page turner magazines and books and how traditional publishing companies will react. I would like to know when the beta version is available.

Jack Klein, January 15, 2010

A brilliant and inspiring video. Once I get my band magazine up and running on http://www.unibands.co.uk/ I'm hoping that devices like this will be able to read them and interact with them in this way. HTML still has a lot to offer, so it'd also be nice to use existing technologies to improve interoperability. Can't wait for this kind of tech. It's already (kind of) here with the iPhone but this seems to offer so much more.

Michael, January 15, 2010

I love it. After viewing several of the comments here regarding video and audio I sensed that that these opinions did not sit well with me. I believe your solution captures the essence of reading. And just because we have other media available does not guarantee an enhanced reading experience. I took a look at the Wired and SI concepts and I didn't care for them, I found the audio and video to be distracting and well.... web like. Even SI's concept with the system sounds of beeps and pages flipping seemed intrusive. In the end, your concept delivers what I am looking for in a reader, a rich layout with simplicity to navigate the contents. That's not to say that some audio and video wouldn't enhance your concept but that they should be minimal and they should delight the reader. After all, if one desires more video and audio then all we have achieved is to create a smaller television or Internet browser once we add in the interactive elements. Studies have clearly shown that once we offer too many choices, then the end result is that consumers decide not to buy the product at all. The business cry of "it's all about offering more choices" is misguided, it should be "it's all about offering simpler choices." Products like the iPod, with it's simple interface and intuitive navigation, will continue to dominate the market because the designer understood what they were delivering. As a purist who believes that less is more, your concept gets top marks and delivers the promise of what an e-magazine should be.

Paul de Zeeuw, January 14, 2010

I don't even care how much would it be. I'd just buy it. It's beautiful, man!

Y Not, January 14, 2010

A very interesting and great service you are developping! Bonnier, be welcome to present it at the National Publishers Conference in Amsterdam, 27 th of may 2010. Public: 500 ceo's and top managers working for publishers in the Netherlands and Belgium. I would like to hear yor opinion on digital reading of e magazines, a presentation of your solution and how your company used the above mentioned feedback of many individuals throughout the world in order to optimize the digital reading solution you are developping. Wim Danhof Chief editor Media Facts Media Business Press Rotterdam, the Netherlands www.mediafacts.nl 0031 - (0)10 289 40 43

Wim Danhof, January 12, 2010

I think your ideas are very good, but in this digital internet age just sticking with the mag. format may not appeal for all types of content, sport magazines I think would much benefit from small video clips of say goals from football matches, cooking mag's, with clips for complicated cooking prep. techniques etc. But the ideas of the thing having a finish to it are good. Also delivery of content is king. People will not spend endless hours on the net looking for content a store button on the device like the Apple App store with content from ALL publishers of books, Mag's, news papers, comics etc will make or break this delivery medium. As will to a lesser degree battery life.

Stephen Vann, January 12, 2010

TOTALLY AMAZING! This got me all exited about reading again. Must say that when I think about it, it was a long time ago that I read something from a book... With my laptop and internet it feels like my interest for paper magazines and books are more or less non existent. With a device like this and buying contents online the possibilities are staggering. Magazine subscriptions, Comics, eBooks, Education books and web browsing. Reading and browsing with a device like this will make my laptop obsolete. I do wish this device was created. And content made available. Hopefully not locked down and limited. I would buy one for sure

Grimmy, January 11, 2010

It's really great, I'm a journalist and it's exactly what we're looking for! I'll buy it, for sure.

Barbara, January 9, 2010

Beautiful, stunning vision. Your team nailed it - every UI/UX thought has been covered. I really hope you all find funding and are able to execute as shown. Regards, b

benjamin, January 8, 2010

What I really like about your prototype is that you're treating "magazine" content as such. You're not trying to add multimedia content on it. No videos or sound. Readers like me want to read and look at the beautiful pictures, and that's it. I felt a bit let down knowing that you're not working on the hardware. The form factor that you chose is perfect. Simple and very neutral. Seems to have an appropriate weight. The color is just right. It also seems durable. Maybe you could try and convince any manufacturer to build something like it? I'd surely appreciate that!

Ricardo, January 8, 2010

This is really sexy. I know I'd keep one of these with me all the time. However, would this hold the same restrictions that webdesign does when it comes to design? Will there be font issues such as licensing as well? If this thing comes to fruition, let me know, because I want it.

Slade, January 8, 2010

This is brilliant. you've realized, or at least conceptualized, a dream of mine. Can't wait to see more. Would love to be a part of it!

Michael, January 6, 2010

Amazing presentation and as big user of print content, just what I would have expected of the sort of experience that I will soon enjoy. One of the virtues in magazine reading that I think was captured by the presentation is the sense of completion that readers acquire when having read a thorough and engaging magazine article. I do think that that sense will be heightened by digital formats. Cannot wait!

Patrick, January 6, 2010

I really like this concept, and for a lot of the reasons that others have expressed. From the side of mobile and content, you've addressed the context of reading (and ironically, also the context of the reading environments). You've also seemed to stay away from the in-motion-urbanite to something a bit more receptable towards several types of consuming contexts. I loved the page layout explainations. That part is sheer genius and something that had me up half the night redesigning one of my websites. You just made sense with how content needs to reflow for protrait and landscape - and even beyond the deivce size. Excellent work all around and thanks for sharing.

Antoine RJ Wright, January 5, 2010

Did he say chewier?

CD Evans, January 5, 2010

Hello, being a programmer for a long time in the new media field, I have to say that I had the same feeling watching your concept video has when I used Flash for the first time, and everyone knows what Flash represents today.I think if you can get to the right people and get the right brains to do it, you will start the next digital chapter. It's my believe that in the next 2 years we will witness the interface revolution. The last decade was clearly marked by the hardware push, breaking all the barriers for what we think was impossible.Now that those barriers where shattered by remarkable breakthroughs it's a matter using this, to bring people to use it. Many of the recent keynotes that can be seen at TED talk are about the R&D is being made in the interface department, and you work come in line with this, companies like Microsoft and Nintendo in the gaming department already started to push with the new "sensitive" controls that responds to natural human behavior, that's what I think your project bring to the digital media era, natural behavior, with minimal learning curve. The goal should be to come up with a naturally way to do what we do for decades and use the digital form in a way that the experience gets enhanced and more rewarding for the reader. Keep the good work and fight for your concept, it is a good one!

Pedro Ruivo, January 5, 2010

This is fabulous! I bet it will work with ebooks and etextbooks too. Please include text resizing and a stylus that allows for faster annotations than some of us can manage with a keyboard.

Deb, January 3, 2010

Very exciting, congratulations. One thing this video proves for me is the value of engaging designers in creating prototypes - the content illustrates the finished potential of the product in a way wireframes cannot capture - beauty. The concept itself is admirable (I too have worked a bit with e-reading / e-publishing environments). + the death of pageflip and adoption of digital appropriate manipulations; the lack of interface elements and focus on 'complete editorial package', although the risk here is to undermine that with 'drawing in additional content' etc. Advertisers are bound to get carried away and how will the device manage that content when it arrives - will we be facing the same long winded struggle with formats that mobile web has suffered. This looks closest to a successful (i.e. marketable) alternative to print magazines I've seen - especially if it is a replacement for the print product (you go to a shop and buy a whole new device with the content loaded, or receive updates for that title via subscription monthly etc.) rather than becoming a bloated storage device for all periodical content with all the retrieval issues that that would entail. Lets just see if the tech can catch up? Eternal battery life? Solar charged? Biodegradable? What's the plan?

louise, January 3, 2010

This device is truley a step up from the Kindle-type reader. It's the way I imagine the direction that publisction presentation will go in the near-digital future. A couple of questions: 1. Will wireless (i.e. 3G) interactivity and searches through the web be available? 2. Can the stand alone reader accept video and Flash? 3. Will there be a way for advertisers to track views or hits and reads? 4. What is the proposed development program? Will it be open-sourced (i.e.XML, Java) so any author/e-publisher can relatively easily prepare and post files to the reader? 5. What's the storage capacity? 5. Is this device soon to be avialble? If so what's it called and how can it be ordered? 6. Finally, what's the proposed price point (in US dollars)? Can't wait to get one!

David Robbins, January 2, 2010

I do presume, that the device is assumed to be wireless: 3G and or LTE/4G modem connected - you only need an additional microchip and a tiny SIM-card in your device. I.e. I can as a reader, buy any magazine, paper, book etc. whenever I will, or wherever I will ...

Bo Skeppstedt, January 2, 2010

This is a great approach of the future of the Press. However i do believe that as soon as the digital paper is released on the market (such as itablet from apple or the microsoft equivalent) magazines shouldn't rely on still images rather than motion ones. Magazine's layout should be upgraded. Titles and subtitles could move across the spread. Photographs could be replaced by flash images etc! I do have some ideas, since i'm working at the magazine industry and would be delighted to share it with you!

thanasis, January 1, 2010

I've had a similar idea except there would've had to be a transition where all magazines are online and touch screen computer monitors are more common in households. This is a realllly realllyyyyy cool and innovative idea. I'm guesing you buy the magazines online through this prototype and the data is sent to it and I think that is where the future is headed when it comes to all forms of media. hillumination.blogspot.com

Mister Anderson, January 1, 2010

Lot of excellent comment. Really liked the operation of text across the screen laterally and then vertical on the article. Color is necessary as a magazine context. The device. I would really like a flexible construct rather than a hard object. Maybe pull out sheet. The way many actually read, hold, fold, tilt an actual magazine is not something to be ignored. I often read pretty much through a magazine. I would want a bigger format than the prototype as a final product with capability for older eyes to have larger type but not so truncated a page where using larger type is limiting the experience for me. Eventually, having a device that permits interaction with a range of magazine subscriptions with features shown in the beta would meet my definition for an emag.

hosro, December 30, 2009