It is a logical marriage of the traditional world of books and the future tied up in eBooks, as DMC Worldwide unveils two lines of eReaders that combine electronic books with social networking and collaborative features to create the online equivalent of a book club.
On the surface, there's not a lot new in the line of eReaders planned by DMC Worldwide; the two series of units feature both b/w touchscreens and color TFT screens in a variety of sizes between six inches and nine inches, some with QWERTY keypads. And the pricing, between $199 and $299, is well within the accepted bounds of the eBook market.
Where DMC Worldwide plans to make its mark is on the social networking front, combining the intimacy of a book club with the advanced features of an eBook. The units will be tied into a social-networking site, thecopia.com, as well as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. The plan is to set up book groups -- either on your own or through a third party -- and then share comments and recommendations on downloaded books.
It's a pretty decent idea; the challenge will be to build up enough momentum to attract readers. The plan is to launch in private beta this month, with a public beta slated for March and full rollout in April. Partners will be the key to making this work, so we're eager to see what DMC Worldwide officials have to say on this point when we see them at CES this week.
Here's the full press release:
DMC Worldwide Unveils COPIA:
An Open Platform for Delivering eBooks, Entertainment Content and a Collaborative Social Experience
TheCopia.com Combines Content, Community and Commerce through Social Networking and Shared Discovery; Broad Lineup of Wireless Devices Introduced to Further the Experience
NEW YORK, Jan. 6, 2010 – DMC Worldwide (DMCWW), a leading enterprise and consumer technology company today introduced COPIA, an open platform that combines content, social networking and e-commerce with an array of wireless e-readers to deliver an experience around shared discovery. The COPIA platform reinvents the way consumers experience content.
The COPIA platform is a hybrid solution for consumers of all ages to experience a completely new way to discover, enjoy, share and purchase books, newspapers, magazines and a wide variety of digital content and a software application engine for OEM brands looking to deliver content across their digital devices including e-readers, notebooks, netbooks, tablets and smartphones.
"Today, eBook content is delivered across one of two typical business models: a vast online store or a social networking service," said Anthony Antolino, SVP, DMC Worldwide. "The COPIA platform is the first of its kind to combine content, collaboration, social networking and e-commerce together to connect people through a collaborative experience. We developed COPIA to allow users to discover and connect to each other through meaningful content regardless of the digital devices they are using. We also created the flexible COPIA engine that enables third-party device manufacturers to awaken existing and new devices to a wide variety of collaborative entertainment possibilities – reading and beyond. The COPIA experience will have a lasting influence on how people engage with and consume content."
In addition to launching COPIA, DMC Worldwide today also unveiled a diverse lineup of e-reader devices. The product offering includes both monochrome e-paper-based touchscreens and advanced color devices designed for rich color content. The devices are designed to extend the collaborative COPIA experience to readers across all genres of content and meet the needs of channel partners including mass market, entertainment, K-12 education as well as higher education.
"No single device on the marketplace today can adequately serve the consumer's ferocious appetite for content consumption," said Ben Lowinger, EVP, DMC Worldwide. "DMC's lineup of devices powered by COPIA matches perfectly to the experience of reading in black and white e-paper or rich media. We've developed the devices after carefully analyzing the needs and expectations of our audience and believe that we've developed both an online and hardware platform for delivering and sharing meaningful entertainment content now and in the future."
TheCopia.com provides its community with a compelling set of intuitive features, including:
- Social Networking Compatibility - Community profiles are linked to existing Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts enabling users to easily share content across social media platforms.
- Collaboration Tools - Students, as well as book groups, can highlight, annotate, and share reading content with those who are important to them. In addition, users can access the most useful annotations from the entire community.
- Multi-Dimensional Browsing Experience - Real-world book browsing simulates how people typically view and select books in a store. Relevant eBook content can also be displayed in various ways for users to browse and find what's most relevant. Content can be browsed by community rating, tags from users or publishers, notations, popularity and price.
- Intuitive Search and Display Features - TheCopia.com makes it simple to find meaningful reading content by offering multiple paths to discovery. Users can easily filter search criteria to pinpoint what they're looking for. Search results are provided in dynamic content views, enabling users to toggle between list views to expanded views, to easily compare across lots of content.
- Personalized Home Dashboards - Each user connects to others via a home dashboard that displays consumed content and personalized reading recommendations from friends.
- Unique Book Profiles - Books are given a social meaning by a community value score that connects to user ratings and reviews. Social recommendations are powered by user feedback and a proprietary numerical system.
- Book Clubs Re-Envisioned - Users can create book groups to discuss and share reading experiences. Users can also set personal data metrics for reading goals, create milestones and set challenges amongst friends to further reading as a social experience.
COPIA will begin its private, limited-invitation beta in Jan. 2010. The public beta will launch in March 2010. The site will offer a compelling array of content relevant to a wide range of ages, interests and genres across best-sellers, popular titles, textbooks, public domain titles, with new content being added daily.
The e-readers will be available for purchase online in April 2010 and at retail by June 2010.
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