Category Archives: Magazines

NowGamer.com takes website to next level

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Video gaming website NowGamer.com was launched by publisher Imagine Publishing on Friday. The site is the first in a series of ‘supersites’ from the company to go live in the next couple of years, according to a release from the group.

NowGamer.com homepage

The clean, easy-to-navigate site was created with Bedford-based technology partner, Evolving Media and, unlike most gaming websites, it avoids a typically overcrowded, hectic layout.

The stand-out thing about NowGamer.com though it allows you create your own personal space of sorts:

NowGamer.com allows you to customise your profile

Users can drag and drop different content widgets around the homepage, ranging from podcasts to previews, and reposition each element according to their interest – or even just delete it if they see fit.

Users can also redefine the content so that it only includes material relevant to the video games platform they use, be it Nintendo Wii or iPhone.

This modern, mature approach is also combined with a wealth of expert knowledge. The people behind the site, from Imagine, have all had a  history in the field of video games journalism, working on titles including SegaPro and 360 in the past. The site is also able to make use of Imagine Publishing’s extensive back catalogue which started in 1995.

Although only formed in May 2005, Imagine Publishing is already responsible for 25 websites and 20 magazines.

ReadWriteWeb: Harper’s Index goes online

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From the ReadWriteWeb (via Martin Stabe) “Harper’s Index, the most thought provoking fun you’ll find on one printed page, is turning 25 years old.”

Harper’s Magazine, launched in 1850 and the Index ‘is the first page that many readers skip to in each issue’, according the RWW.

“To celebrate the Index’s anniversary, Harper’s has put the full index of biting trivia one-liners up on its website for searching and reposting on Twitter.”

And you can follow Harper’s on Twitter too, they’re @harpers.

Full post at this link…

Editors Weblog: The launch of Slate.fr in beta

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Slate.fr, which is the US online magazine Slate’s French edition, had its beta edition on Tuesday, the Editors Weblog reports.

Editors Weblog picks out comments made by co-founder Johan Hufnagel in an interview with Le Figaro about the launch.

Full story at this link…

NME to produce a free online version of its magazine

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NME has teamed up with John Menzies Digital to launch an online version of the popular music magazine, it was announced in a release today.

Online subscribers will receive a free, digital copy of the full magazine by email ‘every week in the run up to festival season’. The campaign aims to target 15-24 year olds who visit the website but do not buy the print version. After the initial offer, readers will pay to receive the email version.

The move builds on the success of NME.com and will deliver the product to an audience that is ‘currently missing out’, NME publishing director, Paul Cheal, said in the release.

“By working with John Menzies Digital, we can get NME – and all it has to offer in print – to a core group of music fans, as well as offer significant added value to advertisers at no additional cost,” Cheal added.

John Menzies Digital launched last summer and offers a range of paid-for magazines for download.

“NME is a huge brand in the music market and one that we are very excited to be working with, Sarah Clegg, John Menzies Digital managing director, said in the release.

“Through this unique initiative with NME we will be able to demonstrate the value of digital content and delivery to consumers who decide to access NME’s print edition via our digital platform. We look forward to seeing the positive impact created through offering the magazine via this new channel,” she said.

García Media: Newsweek’s new approach

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“With the announcement that Newsweek is planning to rethink itself to appeal to a smaller, more elite, but devoted, audience, two themes emerge that are worth considering,” writes Dr Mario R. Garcia.

Firstly, the editor Jon Meacham’s statement that “If we don’t have something original to say, we won’t. The drill of chasing the week’s news to add a couple of hard-fought new details is not sustainable.”

Secondly, that editorially, ‘Newsweek’s plan calls for moving in the direction of not just analysis and commentary, but an opinionated, prescriptive or offbeat take on events.’

Full post at this link…

Neil Thackray: The plight of the business magazine and the rise of the lone blogger

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Neil Thackray has 25 years experience in B2Bs, in senior roles at RBI, Miller Freeman and as CEO of Quantum Business. Most recently, he was CEO of Nexus Business Media, before stepping down a few weeks ago.

He gets off to a good start with his second blog post: ‘Starting a discussion about the future of B2B Media’. He looks at the effects of the internet on niche business to business publications. One effect “has been the result of the phenomonen you are reading now” – the rise of the lone or collaborating bloggers.

Meanwhile, far from business magazines being the ‘bible of the industry’, “they are reduced to being one of many sources of information in a world where reader loyalty is as fickle as a click on a Google search result,” Thackray argues.

Full story at this link…

B2B flight website tries out video blogging with ‘Runway Girl’

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The first video-cast from FlightGlobal.com – the website of various flight B2Bs including Flight International, Airline Business, ACAS, Air Transport Intelligence (ATI) and The Flight Collection – (hat tip: Adam Tinworth).

‘Runway Girl’ aka Mary Kirby starts off optimistically: “the world of in-flight entertainment and connectivity is getting so exciting that it absolutely demands that we start putting a little bit of video down…”

First update: Cingular Wireless and their application to the patent office. She welcomes constructive criticism. It will be interesting to see how much success it has for the publication.

First video below: