Editor&Publisher: Gates, Sulzberger Unveil New Web/Print 'Reader'

[DeepModem Mom]

E&P/AP: Surprise: Gates, Sulzberger Unveil New Web/Print 'Reader'
SEATTLE

Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates told a ballroom full of newspaper editors Friday he's developing "onscreen reader" software that will make reading news digitally a lot more like flipping through a paper.

It was a well-timed pitch, capping the American Society of Newspaper Editors' annual meeting, much of which focused on winning back the growing number of people who no longer subscribe to newspapers.

Gates brought Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., chairman of The New York Times Co. and publisher of the company's flagship paper, on stage to spill a few details about a service Microsoft and the Times aim to unveil early next year....

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Gates said stories and pictures will look much like pages of a newspaper when loaded onto onscreen readers. Instead of scrolling down the length of a page, users would be able to flip from one page to another - say, with the tap of a stylus or the push of a button on the side of a tablet PC.

Tom Bodkin, assistant managing editor and design director at the New York Times, showed off a prototype, demonstrating how it reflows type and images to fit whatever screen they're on - whether a portable device or a desktop. The stories were in newspaper-like columns, on some pages with interactive ads in the corner of the screen....

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002425203