Korea Herald available as e-book

Korea Herald available as e-book

코리아 헤럴드 e북서비스 시작 코리아 헤럴드를 이제 e-북으로 본다. 헤럴드 미디어는 19일부터 코리아헤럴드의 모든 콘텐츠를 e-콘텐츠 사이트‘텍스토어(www.textore.com)’를 통해 제공하고 있다. 헤럴드미디어가 발행하는 국내 유일 석간 경제신문 헤럴드경제, 초ㆍ중ㆍ고생 교육용 영어신문인 주니어 헤럴드도 이르면 4월부터 볼 수 있다. 텍스토어는 시판 중인 삼성전자의 신형 6인치 전자책 단말기(SNE-60)를 통해 서비스하며, 앞으로 아이리버와 네오럭스의 신형 전자책 단말기, 스마트폰, 애플의 아이패드(iPad) 같은 태블릿PC(휴대용 소형PC) 등으로 서비스영역을 확대해나갈 예정이다. 또 7월 까지는 애플의 아이폰, 삼성전자의 안드로이드폰, 삼성-애플의 태플릿PC에도 서비스를 확대할 계획이다. 텍스토어에는 코리아헤럴드를 비롯, 조선일보ㆍ매일경제ㆍ한겨레ㆍ전자신문ㆍ스포츠조선 등 6개 신문과 인기 간행물 150여종, 전자도서 1만3000권 등 다양한 콘텐츠가 들어있다. 단말기만 구입하면 언제 어디서든 와이파이(Wi-Fi) 무선랜을 통해 콘텐츠를 다운로드 받을 수 있다. The Korea Herald is now available in e-book format, making services of the country's leading English-language daily more accessible to a wider range of readers. According to Herald Media, the publisher of the Korea Herald and its sister newspaper The Herald Business, the mobile version of The Korea Herald's webpage is being serviced through Textore (www.textore.com), an e-content provider of 13,000 digital books and 150 major periodicals. The subscription fee to the electric mobile version of The Korea Herald is 7,000 won per month, far cheaper than the print version, which is 20,000 won per month. There is a two month free trial version. "Subscribers to the service can use it free of charge for two months. Now that the service is in an open-ended special promotion period, the subscription service will be available for 4,900 won per month after the initial two-month free trial," said Cheung deck-sang, director of new media. The Textore service is currently available only for Samsung Electronics' e-book reader SNE-60K, which has a six-inch screen, wherever Wi-Fi wireless networks are detected through the device. It will, however, gradually be expanded into the realm of other mobile devices including smart phones and tablet PCs, added Cheung. By April, the media group -- which also publishes The Junior Herald, an English-language weekly magazine for pre-teens -- plans to have the content of both the youth magazine and The Herald Business available on Textore as well. Last July, Samsung Electronics and the country's biggest bookstore, Kyobo Book Center, joined forces to kick-start the growing e-book market, and the SNE-60K is the second e-book reader born at through that partnership, following the SNE-50K. The device is being sold for 420,000 won ($370.90). Other features of the device include bluetooth, MP3 support and hand-writing recognition. Kyobo aims to sell around 15,000 e-readers by the end of 2010. An increasing number of companies see great potential for the e-book market in Korea, as the country has one of the most advanced 3G mobile networks in the world. (danlee@heraldm.com) By Lee Yong-sung