France Telecom's E-Reader Experiment

Its Read & Go device shows one way e-readers could become a distribution channel for newspapers and other frequently updated print media

by Matt Mabe

This summer more than 100 volunteers took to France's crowded trains, cafés, and beaches with a serious assignment: to lug around and read enormous stacks of popular newspapers, magazines, and books. But the job wasn't as cumbersome as it sounds, because all the publications were compressed into a digital gizmo, called Read & Go, that is no larger than a hardback novel.

The trial of the prototype will wrap up this month, and by 2009, France Telecom (FTE) aims to start distributing the Read & Go in conjunction with a subscription-based news service of the same name. For a monthly charge similar to a mobile service plan, customers will receive an over-the-air stream of aggregated content from a wide assortment of information sources. Alongside the articles will be ads that help defray the cost of the service.

It's the latest development in the emerging product category known as "e-readers." For many years, overhyped digital books enjoyed scant success. But more recent entrants, including the popular Amazon (AMZN) Kindle and the Sony (SNE) Reader, are starting to catch on. Now, through the marriage of devices and service plans, e-readers could become an important distribution channel not just for static books but also for more frequently updated newspapers and other print media.

Sharing the Subscription Fees

That's a thrilling possibility for publishers slammed simultaneously by declining print ad revenues and rising costs for paper, printing, and postage. Unlike on the Web, where most news organizations have been forced to give away ad-supported content for free, they'll receive a cut of the subscription fees for Read & Go. (France Telecom won't disclose the terms yet, nor what it expects to charge for service or the device.)

The Read & Go device was developed by a Dutch company called iRex, which unveiled its own e-book, the iLiad, in 2007. Compared with earlier such devices, it has an easier-to-read screen that looks more like paper. The company also says it has optimized the gizmo to make downloading newspapers far simpler than on alternatives such as the Kindle or Sony Reader.

Read & Go will be available exclusively in France, providing users with up-to-date versions of major French publications, such as Le Monde and Le Figaro, through France Telecom's Orange cellular network. "These are for people who are strongly addicted to reading all newspapers," says Paul-François Fournier, France Telecom's senior vice-president for online and advertising. "It will amplify newspapers' audiences and their ad revenue."

Fournier stresses that France Telecom is not entering the news business. "We want to partner with the newspaper industry," he says. "We are not writing the articles or publishing content. We are just enlarging the means by which readers can access that content."

Plastic Logic's Flexible Screen

France Telecom and iRex aren't the only European companies making waves in e-readers. Britian's Plastic Logic grabbed headlines on Sept. 8 when it showed off a prototype product at DEMO, a showcase for hot startups attended by Silicon Valley's digerati. With a flexible screen the size of a sheet of paper—analysts say it's larger and easier to read than the Kindle—the Plastic Logic device is being touted as the perfect tool for reading newspapers on the go.