VIENNA, AUSTRIA (October 11, 2011): [IFRA Expo] Print meets digital: Kooaba AG, a Swiss startup specialising in image recognition, and NewspaperDirect, the leader in multichannel newspaper and magazine distribution, are partnering to connect more than 2,000 printed newspapers in 95 countries to the digital world. Using Kooaba's Paperboy mobile app, readers can snap pictures of full pages or articles of interest in their favorite printed newspapers and share them immediately as PDFs via Twitter, Facebook, e-mail or SMS - or store them for future reference on my.kooaba.com or Evernote. Available for iPhone and Android devices, Paperboy also gives access to additional information like videos or related online content.
The partnership also benefits publishers: "Paperboy can become a valuable tool for publishers in their fight to stay competitive in the face of the digital competition from online or social media," said Herbert Bay, CEO and co-founder of Kooaba. "As the so-called digital natives come of age and more and more consumers turn to the Internet as their primary source for news and information, the publishing industry needs to find ways to keep subscribers and attract new readers. Paperboy can help bridge that gap between print and online, substantially expanding and enhancing the reading experience."
In the first phase of the rollout, the partnership with NewspaperDirect makes newspaper content immediately available within Paperboy in Germany, Switzerland and Austria - for more than 75 additional titles. Among them: the Swiss Neue Zürcher Zeitung, the Austrian Der Standard, and Germany's Der Tagesspiegel. More than 780 US, UK and Canadian newspapers will follow in November. Russian, Asian and other European readers, as well as readers in Australia, New Zealand and all other countries will be able to use the Paperboy app with their local newspapers later in the year. Paperboy is available as a free download at www.paperboytool.com.
How Paperboy works
Introduced in 2010, Paperboy connects printed media to the digital world with one click. All the application's powerful image recognition technology needs is a photo taken by a smartphone camera of an article or page in a newspaper or magazine. Paperboy then matches the photo to the images in Kooaba's sizeable library of printed media or identifies that page or article from NewspaperDirect's inventory of over 2,000 same-day, digital newspaper replicas. Users can then share, email or archive the electronic version on the go, anywhere, anytime or explore related information like videos, images or links to selected topics. Paperboy automatically finds URLs on pages of print publications. In some publications, exclusive Paperboy content is available for pages the display the Kooaba Shutter icon.
Paperboy - a business case
Paperboy allows publishers to offer their readers a new and enhanced reading experience, giving their loyal print readership the opportunity to take the printed newspaper to the digital world and share their favorite articles just as easily as any online content. The application can help create compelling stories across media platforms by enriching articles with digital content, at the same time driving targeted traffic to a publisher's online portals. This will bring readers from print to online, generating a multiplier effect.
Publishers can also open up new revenue streams by reselling Smart Ads, Kooaba's solution for interactive advertisements, offering consumers an immersive brand experience with additional information, for example to support a buying decision, or possibilities for interaction, like reviews or competitions.
Useful information
• Download the press kit: http://www.kooaba.com/static/201110_Press_Kit.zip
• List of available newspapers via NewspaperDirect on the Kooaba Blog
• Visit the website: http://www.paperboytool.com
• App Store: download the Paperboy app for free on iTunes
• Video: watch Paperboy in action on YouTube
About kooaba AG
kooaba AG, a Zurich based start-up company, was founded in 2006 as a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich. Holding various patents, the company is a pioneer in sophisticated image recognition technology that connects the physical world to digital content and was the first to introduce mobile visual search. Its flagship product, Paperboy, is a mobile app that bridges the gap between the static printed newspaper format and dynamic online social sharing utilities. For more information visit www.kooaba.com.
About NewspaperDirect Inc.
NewspaperDirect delivers the world's newspapers and magazines to millions of readers the way they want to receive them - in print, online, or on their mobile device, tablet or eReader - wherever they live, travel, work or play. With the most innovative digital publishing technology in the industry and the only zero operational-cost business model, NewspaperDirect is recognized as the world leader in multi-channel content distribution and monetization, and is the chosen partner of more than 1,900 publishers from 95 countries.
The partnership also benefits publishers: "Paperboy can become a valuable tool for publishers in their fight to stay competitive in the face of the digital competition from online or social media," said Herbert Bay, CEO and co-founder of Kooaba. "As the so-called digital natives come of age and more and more consumers turn to the Internet as their primary source for news and information, the publishing industry needs to find ways to keep subscribers and attract new readers. Paperboy can help bridge that gap between print and online, substantially expanding and enhancing the reading experience."
In the first phase of the rollout, the partnership with NewspaperDirect makes newspaper content immediately available within Paperboy in Germany, Switzerland and Austria - for more than 75 additional titles. Among them: the Swiss Neue Zürcher Zeitung, the Austrian Der Standard, and Germany's Der Tagesspiegel. More than 780 US, UK and Canadian newspapers will follow in November. Russian, Asian and other European readers, as well as readers in Australia, New Zealand and all other countries will be able to use the Paperboy app with their local newspapers later in the year. Paperboy is available as a free download at www.paperboytool.com.
How Paperboy works
Introduced in 2010, Paperboy connects printed media to the digital world with one click. All the application's powerful image recognition technology needs is a photo taken by a smartphone camera of an article or page in a newspaper or magazine. Paperboy then matches the photo to the images in Kooaba's sizeable library of printed media or identifies that page or article from NewspaperDirect's inventory of over 2,000 same-day, digital newspaper replicas. Users can then share, email or archive the electronic version on the go, anywhere, anytime or explore related information like videos, images or links to selected topics. Paperboy automatically finds URLs on pages of print publications. In some publications, exclusive Paperboy content is available for pages the display the Kooaba Shutter icon.
Paperboy - a business case
Paperboy allows publishers to offer their readers a new and enhanced reading experience, giving their loyal print readership the opportunity to take the printed newspaper to the digital world and share their favorite articles just as easily as any online content. The application can help create compelling stories across media platforms by enriching articles with digital content, at the same time driving targeted traffic to a publisher's online portals. This will bring readers from print to online, generating a multiplier effect.
Publishers can also open up new revenue streams by reselling Smart Ads, Kooaba's solution for interactive advertisements, offering consumers an immersive brand experience with additional information, for example to support a buying decision, or possibilities for interaction, like reviews or competitions.
Useful information
• Download the press kit: http://www.kooaba.com/static/201110_Press_Kit.zip
• List of available newspapers via NewspaperDirect on the Kooaba Blog
• Visit the website: http://www.paperboytool.com
• App Store: download the Paperboy app for free on iTunes
• Video: watch Paperboy in action on YouTube
About kooaba AG
kooaba AG, a Zurich based start-up company, was founded in 2006 as a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich. Holding various patents, the company is a pioneer in sophisticated image recognition technology that connects the physical world to digital content and was the first to introduce mobile visual search. Its flagship product, Paperboy, is a mobile app that bridges the gap between the static printed newspaper format and dynamic online social sharing utilities. For more information visit www.kooaba.com.
About NewspaperDirect Inc.
NewspaperDirect delivers the world's newspapers and magazines to millions of readers the way they want to receive them - in print, online, or on their mobile device, tablet or eReader - wherever they live, travel, work or play. With the most innovative digital publishing technology in the industry and the only zero operational-cost business model, NewspaperDirect is recognized as the world leader in multi-channel content distribution and monetization, and is the chosen partner of more than 1,900 publishers from 95 countries.