This article was published on April 9, 2012

Digital Newsstand PressReader gets a new iPad app, and rolls out instant translation in 12 languages


Digital Newsstand PressReader gets a new iPad app, and rolls out instant translation in 12 languages

The collation of news and other media content from multiple sources is perhaps one of the most notable changes ushered in by the digital age, whether it’s through apps such as News Republic, digital newsstands like Zinio, or simply Google News.

Now, with millions of (new) iPad users tapping the impressive Retina Display of Apple’s third-generation tablet, NewspaperDirect has released a pretty chunky update of its PressReader digital newspaper and magazine app, introducing a slew of new features that make its 2,000 digital titles even easier on the eye.

Just to give you a quick synopsis of the company, NewspaperDirect delivers an extensive selection of the world’s major titles to millions of readers – in print, online, and on mobile devices. PressReader is its companion offline application for what is one of the world’s biggest newsstands, PressDisplay.com. PressReader delivers an authentic multi-platform newspaper-reading experience on PCs, Macs, smartphones and tablets, and it lets you hold a digital edition of your favourite publication and read it from cover to cover, similar to its printed counterpart.

As of last week, PressReader’s iOS app is optimized for the Retina Display resolution on the new iPad, with pages, text views and images rendered at 264 pixels-per-inch, resulting in a much cleaner display.

“The new iPad is a dream come true for people who enjoy the wealth of newspapers and magazines that PressReader has to offer,” says Alex Kroogman, CEO of NewspaperDirect. “The breathtaking resolution of the new iPad Retina Display means that we can render razor-sharp text, at any zoom level. Our new SmartFlow technology really shines at high resolution, and the integration with the best clipping applications like Evernote raises the bar for every other news app out there.”

Indeed, both Evernote and Instapaper clipping integrations have been introduced with this latest version of PressReader, enabling any article to be captured (clipped) and synced across devices. Articles can also be emailed or shared using Twitter or Facebook.

“Clipping Web pages is one of the most popular ways of saving information in Evernote,” added Seth Hitchings, VP of platform strategy, Evernote. “PressReader does a beautiful job of extending this functionality, making it easy for users to read and clip newspaper and magazine articles on their iPads. The Evernote integration is seamless, and the clipped content can be searched and read in Evernote on any computer or mobile device.”

Perhaps one of the most impressive roll-outs in this new version is the inclusion of instant translation, which enables entire publications to be translated (instantly!) in up to twelve languages.

Whilst the latest updates apply to the iOS app, PressReader is also available on Android, BlackBerry (PlayBook) and Windows.

New users will receive 7 free publications from a pretty broad selection of titles, including The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer, National Post, The Globe and Mail, The Guardian, Daily Mail, International Herald Tribune, The Irish Times, ABC, La Tribune, Le Monde, India Today and more.

In terms of pricing, most individual newspapers and magazines available through PressReader can be procured for $0.99 (USD) per issue, or downloaded in conjunction with a paid subscription on PressDisplay.com, which offers access to the world’s press starting at $29.95/month.

Meanwhile, check out PressReader’s new promo video below, which demos these new features:

PressReader

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