Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Microsoft and The New York Times have introduced software that will allow readers to download an electronic version of the newspaper and view it on a portable device.
With Windows Vista, which will be available in January, virtually any newspaper, magazine or book can be formatted into an electronic version and read online or off. The software will allow The Times to replicate its look fonts, typeface and layout more closely than it does on its Web site.
Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, and Arthur Sulzberger Jr., publisher of The Times, presented the prototype Friday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Newspaper Editors.
Newspapers have been trying to develop a stronger online presence as readers and advertisers continue to move to the Internet. The new software is intended to make it easier to read an electronic version of a paper and allow readers to download multiple papers and magazines to take with them.
The Times said that it would charge advertisers to appear on the new version of the newspaper, Times Reader, but that it had not decided whether to charge readers for the service. For the demonstration on Friday, The Times was downloaded onto small tablet computers, about the size of a hardcover book. But this printlike version of the newspaper could also be downloaded onto a home computer or a laptop. The electronic paper is displayed in columns, and it formats itself to fit any size screen.
(C) 2006 International Herald Tribune. via ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved
