We’re pleased to announce that Igor Smirnoff, NewspaperDirect’s Vice President, Digital, is a featured panelist at this year’s BlackBerry World, the largest annual gathering for the BlackBerry ecosystem. Igor will outline the business opportunities that RIM’s current and future products, including the upcoming BlackBerry 10 smartphone, represent for publishers.

Igor is participating in a media panel at BlackBerry World 2012: “Quality Profitable Opportunities for Publishing Partners on BlackBerry.” The panel discussions will cover several areas, including: development options, how to work with publishers, and providing a compelling user experience. NewspaperDirect has long been a supporter of the BlackBerry platform, and recently launched an updated version of its flagship news app for mobile devices, PressReader for BlackBerry® PlayBook™ OS 2.0.

Event/panel details:

• BlackBerry World 2012
• Media panel: Quality Profitable Opportunities for Publishing Partners on BlackBerry
• Wednesday, May 2, 2012, 9:00 a.m.
• Tampa Room

Igor has been with NewspaperDirect since 2003 and is a recognized expert in the formulation of effective cross-platform and multichannel strategies for leading publishers around the world and focuses on the development of the company’s newspaper and magazine publisher network, partnerships with mobile and tablet device manufacturers, as well as with major telecom operators and software companies. Today, working closely with 2,200 publishers in 96 countries, as well as many market partners, he is actively involved with the development of an industrywide strategy for migration of publishers’ printed business into the digital realm.

Will you be attending Publishing Expo UK this week in London?

If you are, don’t miss NewspaperDirect’s VP, Publishing and Legal Affairs, Nikolay Malyarov, alongside other key players from the media, advertising and marketing sectors, provide pointers to publishers wondering whether to “go native” or jump on the HTML5 bandwagon.

Featured in the Three Way Tag: Apps vs. E-Books vs. HTML5 panel discussion moderated by Graham Duffill, managing director of The Digital Publishing Company, Nikolay and the other panelists will discuss the challenge publishers face as they develop and manage distribution of digital newspapers, magazines and books across several mobile platforms. The panelists will examine the choices publishers face as they consider developing either ‘native’ apps or HTML5-based Web apps, and will offer opinions on which is the best long-term strategy for different types of publishers.

Nikolay will offer his views on the pros and cons of both native apps and HTML5-based approaches, and assess their relative merits in the contexts of both user experience and technology maturity.

Don’t miss out on the intriguing debate. You can take in the discussion on Tuesday February, 28, 2012 at 12:20pm,.

Cheers,

Michael