Kindle Review – Kindle Fire Review, Kindle 4 Review

January 4th, 2010 Update: Hearst has revealed the details of its Skiff Reader and here’s my preliminary Skiff Reader review based on the details revealed so far.

WSJ has the scoop on the Skiff Reader and Service from Hearst -

Publisher Hearst Corp. plans to launch next year a service called Skiff to sell digital subscriptions to newspapers and magazines.

Skiff is also developing an e-reader of its own design with the help of an electronics maker, and has signed a multiyear agreement with Sprint Nextel Corp. to provide wireless service

There has been talk for a long time about Hearst working with a company called First Paper LLC on a service and device to take on the Kindle. Today, they announced the Service will be called Skiff and, as rumored, will also include a dedicated Skiff eReader.

Hearst bill Skiff as – ‘for Publishers and by Publishers’. Guess Publishers like that more than ‘of the people, by the people, for the people’.

Details on the Hearst Skiff Reader

Here are the most interesting things about the Skiff eReader and the Skiff service -

1. Will target a variety of devices.
2. Aims to provide a format that is more like a newspaper or magazine and more visually appealing on eReaders and electronic devices. 
3. Publications include Hearst’s own newspapers and magazines and other newspapers (undisclosed).
4. Built as an alternative to the Kindle Store.
5. Aims to wrest control of the digital reading experience for Publishers.
6. Skiff service includes a digital storefront and a back-end system for publishers. 
7. There will be a dedicated Skiff eReader.
8. The Skiff Reader is being developed in secret (in collaboration with an unknown manufacturer).
9. Multi-year agreement with Sprint-Nextel for wireless service.
10. Sprint will sell the Skiff Reader in its stores.
11. Has been in the works for 2 years.

Skiff already has a full technology system and products Publishers can use – built by a team of 75 full-time employees split between New York and Palo Alto.

Skiff is sufficiently different from Kindle and a separate initiative from the Magazine Grand Consortium.

Skiff will aim to re-create the newspaper layout and have frequent updates throughout the day. It will work on eReaders, netbooks, the iPhone and some other devices (not disclosed yet).

Skiff is sufficiently different from the Kindle to make you wonder what else they have planned.

The slightly strange news is that the Skiff Reader initiative is completely separate from the Grand Consortium of Time Inc., Conde Nast, Hearst, and Meredith Corp. that is building a common digital storefront.

Hearst hopes the consortium will work with its new reader and service.

Is the Skiff Reader a threat to the Amazon Kindle?

Will write a Kindle Vs Skiff Reader post to contrast the two and assess the danger to the Kindle. At the moment it does seem a risk.

Hearst’s Skiff Reader and service is a step in the right direction for Publishers - it might very well help them to create their own channel and achieve self-sufficiency. If nothing else Skiff gives Publishers a bargaining chip.

Filed under: eBook Reader Devices Tagged: | skiff ereader, skiff reader