VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 16, 2013 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd., publisher of the Toronto Star, has launched a novel product bundle designed to grow its subscriber base and boost revenues. The promotion, which pairs a subscription to The Star ePaper with the Kobo Vox™ eReader, is powered by NewspaperDirect's (ND) SmartEdition technology and a Star-branded PressReader application.

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The two-for-one play, a strategy pioneered by cable TV and wireless operators, is a first for a Canadian newspaper publisher, and is of particular significance because the Toronto Star is Canada's most-read and highest-circulation newspaper. Of the more than 2,300 publications available on ND's PressDisplay.com aggregated service and companion application, PressReader (which is available for iOS, Android, Windows and BlackBerry devices), the Toronto Star consistently ranks in the top ten titles read daily, worldwide.

"Paywalls are becoming a popular way for publishers to offset lower online advertising revenues, but it's only half the equation," said Nikolay Malyarov, vice president of publishing and legal affairs at NewspaperDirect. "Our publishing partners recognize that focusing on core competencies is a proven strategy for managing costs, which is why more than 1,000 of them have chosen SmartEdition technology for their digital editions and PressReader for their applications. This strategy not only saves them money, it adds value to their bundles, giving readers all the quality content of the printed edition, enhanced with powerful digital features, on their device of choice."

Numerous other publishers around the world are partnering with ND on successful bundling projects that leverage SmartEdition technology and introduce new and convenient ways for subscribers to access all the enhanced printed content in an immersive and engaging way. For example:

• The Philadelphia Inquirer andPhiladelphia Daily News were two of the first newspapers to bundle their replica editions with an Android-based tablet
• Honolulu Star-Advertiser bundles print subscriptions with website access and SmartEdition-powered Print Replica
• The Boston Globe offers print subscribers access to its branded PressReader app so they can access advanced features such as on-demand narration of the entire edition while driving to work
• The Globe and Mail's Globe2Go ePaper service was awarded the gold medal at the 2012 Canadian Online Publishing Awards for "Best Digital Replica" and is offered to Globe Unlimited subscribers at a discount
• The Irish Times bundles its ePaper with full-week print subscriptions

TheToronto Star ePaper makes the full content of each printed issue available to Web users in an engaging and feature-rich reading experience that includes replica and non-replica reading modes, bookmarking, article sharing via email or social networks, on-demand audio, a picture gallery, article printing and commenting. The Toronto Star is also using ND's SmartEdition technology as the foundation for the publisher's "Classroom Connection" Newspapers in Education (NIE) Program.

For the Kobo Vox™ edition, the Toronto Star utilizes ND's PressReader for Android application, which gives subscribers the flexibility of reading the entire colour edition online or offline, plus high-performance rendering and advanced digital features that include:

• Two modes of reading — high-definition replica and "SmartFlow" tablet-optimized presentation
• SmartZoom, which automatically positions the zoomed-in view to the beginning of an article.
• Article sharing by email or through Facebook and Twitter
• On-demand narration of articles
• Instant posting of articles to cloud-based clipping services Evernote and Instapaper

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 multichannel content distribution and monetization, and is the chosen partner of more than 3,000 publishers from 100 countries.

NewspaperDirect's flagship application, PressReader and its companion online service, PressDisplay.com, deliver the most authentic newspaper and magazine reading experience on PCs, Macs, smartphones, eReaders and tablets running iOS, Android, Windows and Playbook operating systems. Today, millions of tablets come preloaded with PressReader from a growing list of leading manufacturers including Acer, ASUS, HTC, Kobo, Microsoft, RIM and Samsung. For more information, visit PressReader.com, facebook.com/pressreader, Twitter @pressdisplay, and youtube.com/user/pressdisplay.

SmartEdition, powered by PressDisplay technology, offers publishers a fully customizable digital edition platform with powerful and proprietary back office reporting and analysis tools (Reading Map, Ad Value Map) that help them optimally manage their content and advertisers. NewspaperDirect provides full hosting, payment acceptance, customer service management, and technical support.

PressDisplay.com, PressReader and SmartEdition are trademarks or registered trademarks of NewspaperDirect Inc. All other trademarks and registered trademarks belong to their respective owners.

Media Contact: Tim Cox, NewspaperDirect, 650-369-7784, tim@zingpr.com

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SOURCE NewspaperDirect