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Orange Trials Mobile E-Newspaper Reader With Le Monde Et Al

By Robert Andrews - Fri 18 Apr 2008 05:41 AM PST

Orange in France is testing a concept mobile digital newspaper and ebook reader. Like an Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) Kindle minus the keyboard, Read&Go uses touchscreen to navigate a custom UI but is both WiFi- and 3G-enabled. It has 1Gb storage (enough for 200 newspapers) and comes with 30 ebooks preloaded. Five French papers are involved in the trial - Le Monde, Le Parisien, Les Echos, L’Equipe and Télérama - and books including city guides and novels come from Feedbooks, Médiatoon and Mango. More after the jump...

Content is updated every hour between 6am and midnight and Orange would like to use geolocation to embed ads. Some 150 users will test the device over two months. Orange is still seeking testers at its DreamOrange.fr site, where they will have a forum to share use cases. Though some newspaper execs still dream of “the iPod of newspapers”, it’s questionable whether people will really want a dedicated e-newspaper reader separate from their mobile handset - but then, that’s what trials are for. Release

Posted in: Countries, UK & Europe, France, Media, Newspapers, Technologies/Formats, eEditions

Tags: read&go;, orange

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2 Responses:
  • From Reader Fri 18 Apr 2008 01:34 PM

    What a stupid idea.

    Why not just open my laptop and browse the internet with news thats updated constantly! Why not get it on my iPhone or web enabled PDA?

  • From Benz Sat 19 Apr 2008 05:54 AM

    Not as stupid as trying to read a novel on your laptop. Or an extended news article. Laptops are great for “browsing” news and information, as you point out. But I still think they’re crap when it comes to extended reading. I’ve been using a Kindle for a while now and while it’s flawed, it shows promise. It’s much easier to read than a laptop screen. It doesn’t need to boot up. And it’s designed for navigating through books. Laptops and cell phones aren’t. Not everyone will want or need one. They certainly won’t replace online as the best source of breaking news. But I think people who like to read vs. browse will find them useful ...

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