Zinio, LLC Launches Rich Media Version of Digital Magazine Reader


Technology Review Magazine Adds Animation, Sound, Video To Each Issue

Brisbane, CA (April 21, 2003) - Zinio, LLC, the market leader at delivering magazines in digital form for major publishing partners, today announced the launch of Zinio Reader 1.4 -- enhancing interactivity with digital magazines through animation, video and sound. The only desktop software that delivers a full magazine reading experience to computer screens, Zinio is now the first to bring complete integration of rich media, including music, movie trailers and television commercials into magazines. As part of the launch, Technology Review and Design News magazines are delivering digital issues with rich media in editorial content and advertising.

Digital magazine readers are now able to launch rich media directly from the page using industry standard media -- offering an engaging reading experience and a new, compelling way for advertisers to reach customers.

"The latest version of the Zinio Reader represents the future of magazines for readers, publishers and advertisers," said Mike Edelhart, President and Chief Executive Officer of Zinio, LLC "We know digital readers love interacting with their magazines. A survey we conducted last year found 79% percent of Zinio users click on URL links in ads. Now, readers will have a richer palette of interactivity to enjoy. Editors will have new capabilities to deliver news and entertainment. Advertisers will be able to reach out to audiences in a compelling new fashion."

"The integration of rich media to our digital edition brings our readers a fully interactive experience. Technology Review editorial, enriched by audio, video and animation, literally leaps off the computer screen and allows us to communicate the inner-workings of new technology even more clearly. Additionally, the creative opportunity for advertisers is limitless. Ads can now be customized to include animations, catalogs, games or videos. Together, the two provide our core audiences with the kind of experience we know they want and will use," said Bruce Journey, President and CEO of Technology Review.

As part of the launch, digital issues of Design News will include rich media in its editorial content, as well as in advertisements, including multimedia in the news and features sections.

"Design News now offers readers an unparalleled interactive experience where they are able to view firsthand the complex technologies we cover and grasp how it can fit into their own designs," said Russell Piersons, VP and Publisher, Design News. "We're also able to add even more value to URL links, providing advertisers a way to track and measure activity in a way that hasn't been done before."

Since March 2002, Zinio has delivered more than 4 million digital magazines to 400,000 customers in 200 countries. Zinio currently delivers more than 50 titles, including BusinessWeek, Motor Trend, Harvard Business Review and PC Magazine from 30 leading publishers. Major partners include McGraw-Hill, Primedia, Technology Review Inc.,
Ziff-Davis, Reed Business Information and IDG.

The rich media enabled Zinio Reader 1.4 supports the following assets from any page in a digital magazine:

  • Animated GIFs
  • Macromedia Flash 5/6
  • Video:
    • MPEG1, MPEG2, QuickTime 5/6 (.MOV), Windows Media Video (.WMV, .AVI)
  • Streaming video
    • via web browser
  • Audio:
    • MP3, Windows Media Audio (.WMA, .AVI)

Rich Media At Play In Digital Magazines
Rich media can be embedded by the publisher within digital magazines in one of two interactive modes, auto-play and manual-play. Auto-play media plays automatically when the reader turns to the page and is ideal for animations, or short video and short audio.

Manual-play requires the reader to take action. When a page containing a manual-play media asset is displayed, the Zinio rich media icon flashes three times to alert the reader that interactivity is available, and then disappears to leave the original look and feel of the magazine intact.

The icon reappears if the reader rolls over the media with the mouse or zooms in/out. Manual-play mode is used by publishers for interactive media, such as Flash, or long-playing video and audio clips. It brings these elements to digital magazines without altering the look and feel of the magazine page.