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.

With Europe’s largest mobile expo just a few short days away, the Digital team at NewspaperDirect is pumped and ready to attend Mobile World Congress 2012 held this year in Barcelona, Spain from February 27^th to March 1^st.

The event is especially exciting this go around as we’ll have the opportunity to showcase both current and future developments of PressReader and PressDisplay across our range of platforms at the pavilions, booths and theatres of several of our key technology partners including Motorola, LG, Samsung and RIM!

Just as in previous years, MWC 2012 will look to embrace and celebrate the current state of mobile while taking captivating looks into the future – a fact not lost on eager event attendees.  Last year, MWC attracted over 60,000 individuals from 200 countries to peruse, ogle and admire the latest and greatest technological offerings from over 1,400 companies – talk about a big crowd!  Among them were 2,900 members of the press representing over 1,500 media groups.

This year, we’re delighted to be right in the thick of things. If having access to over 2,000 newspapers from 95 countries on your favorite tablet or smartphone is your thing, you won’t want to miss us! We’d love to meet, chat and provide you with the opportunity to walk away with some really cool swag! Here’s where and when you’ll be able to find us:

Where: Motorola Pavilion – Partner’s Booth

When: Monday February 27^th 15:30 – 19:00 & Tuesday February 28^th 8:30 – 12:15

Each day, Motorola will be running various contests and events. Part of the daily prize packs will include annual access to PressReader & PressDisplay.com!  Get ready to shoot some hoops for your chance to win!

Where: BlackBerry Showcase Theatre (7B42 Hall 7)

When: Tuesday February 28^th at 16:25

Igor Smirnoff, NewspaperDirect’s VP, Digital will take centre stage for a short overview entitled Beyond the Printed Newspaper covering NewspaperDirect and its own mobile offerings, PressReader and PressDisplay. The digital team will be hanging out with the folks from RIM until closing on the 28^th to address any questions you may have. Don’t miss out on your chance for free PressReader for PlayBook access before and after Igor’s overview!

Where: LG and Samsung Pavilions

When: Duration of event

LG and Samsung will be running continuous demos of PressReader on their tablet and smartphone devices in the demo areas at each of their respective pavilions.  If PressReader catches your eye, make sure to ask either an LG or Samsung representative about us – they’ll be happy to point to a member of the NewspaperDirect team floating close by.

We can’t wait to catch up with our partners at the event and we definitely can’t wait to have a chat with event attendees!  Make sure to follow us on Twitter for the duration of MWC using hashtags #MWC12, #PressReader and #PressDisplay.

See you there!

The latest version of PressReader, optimized for BlackBerry Tablet OS, is now available for free download from BlackBerry App World providing PlayBook users with access to over 1,900 full-content newspapers and magazines from 95 countries!

With PressReader for PlayBook, users will benefit from intuitive and easy-to-use features, including the ability to conveniently set up auto-delivery of newspaper and magazine subscriptions, as well as the ability of reading downloaded publications off-line in both portrait and landscape modes.  Other features include:

• Flipping pages as if reading a paper publication
• Panning /zooming articles and images, and viewing them in stunning clarity
• Easily navigating publications using page thumbnails or tables of contents
• Opening full articles in easy-to-read text view
• Searching online across titles and selecting the desired titles for download
• Sharing articles on Facebook and Twitter
• Authorizing PressReader as part of the existing PressDisplay.com subscription

Watch a demonstration of PressReader for PlayBook below:

PressReader for PlayBook is the perfect application for busy professionals who need to stay on top of business-critical news or connect with what’s happening at home when they are on the road,” said Alex Kroogman, CEO of NewspaperDirect. “The BlackBerry brand is popular around the world and so we’re extremely pleased to make PressReader available to BlackBerry PlayBook users who want the most immersive news reading experience on their favorite tablet.

“The robust and growing catalogue of local, national and international newspapers and magazines available through PressReader allows BlackBerry PlayBook users to have instant, portable access to the world’s press every day,” said Tyler Lessard, VP Global Alliances & Developer Relations, Research in Motion.

Now we want to hear what you think! If you have feedback or suggestions, feel free to post a comment here or email us at PlayBook@support.newspaperdirect.com.

Cheers,

Michael