WIRELESS AND MOBILE NEWS

Skiff has signed a multi-year agreement with Sprint (NYSE:S) to provide 3G connectivity for Skiff's dedicated e-reading devices in the United States. Plans are underway to have Skiff readers available for purchase in more than 1,000 Sprint retail locations across the U.S., as well as online.

Skiff, LLC  announced plans to launch a new consumer e-reading service platform in 2010 that will deliver enhanced content experiences to dedicated e-readers, as well as to multipurpose devices such as smartphones and netbooks. The Skiff service and digital store will feature a comprehensive selection of newspapers, magazines, books and other content from multiple publishers, uniquely optimized for wireless delivery to devices and delivery via the Web.
Skiff, formerly known as FirstPaper, specializes in the delivery and presentation of newspaper and magazine content, as opposed to other platforms that focus primarily on e-books and plain text. Newspaper and magazine content delivered by Skiff will feature visually appealing layouts, high-resolution graphics, rich typography and dynamic updates. These capabilities will allow more newspaper and magazine publishers to successfully migrate their premium content to the fast-growing e-reading channel, while preserving the key design qualities that help publications differentiate themselves and attract subscribers and advertisers.

"Skiff's goal is to connect publishers and marketers with consumers," said Gilbert Fuchsberg, president of Skiff, which has offices in both New York City and Palo Alto, Calif. "We will accomplish this by delivering engaging reading experiences that consumers will value and a business model that respects publishers' needs."

"Navigating new digital technologies is extremely challenging for publishers, which is why Skiff exists--it will give publishers a strong partner that can help them succeed in e-reading," said Kenneth A. Bronfin, president of Hearst Interactive Media. "Skiff will offer publishers a way to participate across the full value chain, from shaping publication design to selling advertising to maintaining subscriber relationships, so that they can better control their destiny as e-reading expands."

Skiff has been incubated as a separate company by Hearst Corporation, which has a long and successful track record of identifying, investing in and supporting promising new technologies and platforms for content and advertising. Examples of Hearst early-stage investments include Netscape; XM Satellite Radio; Sling Media; and E Ink Corporation, the company behind the novel "electronic paper" display technology used in most e-book devices today.

Skiff is engaged with newspaper, magazine, book and other publishers in the U.S. and around the world and has completed successful trials among consumers to demonstrate the technical execution of its end-to-end service platform.

Skiff Ecosystem

To enable the Skiff service platform and ecosystem, Skiff has assembled a set of world-class device, connectivity, retail distribution, and advertising partners:

Devices

Skiff is working with major consumer electronics manufacturers to integrate Skiff's service, digital store and specialized client software into a range of innovative devices, the first of which will be unveiled soon. As part of this initiative, Skiff has partnered with Marvell (NASDAQ: MRVL), one of the world's leading semiconductor companies, to help create the world's first "system on a chip" for e-reading. This innovative component will enable manufacturers to accelerate the development of high-performance e-reading devices.

"Skiff signifies a new era in live content distribution--anywhere, anytime, even any size delivery of high-quality text, images and graphics, all tailored to the always-on demands of today's consumers," said Weili Dai, Marvell's co-founder and vice president and general manager of the company's Consumer and Computing Business Unit. "Marvell is proud to be a key silicon partner behind this new paperless publishing revolution."

By supporting a variety of device makers, and through the development of complementary applications for major smartphone platforms, Skiff will make it easier for publishers to distribute content and advertising broadly across multiple devices from a range of manufacturers, an increasingly important goal as the e-reading market continues to grow.

"Sprint has more than 10 years of experience in provisioning non-Sprint-branded devices to operate on its networks," said Dan Dooley, president of Sprint Wholesale Solutions. "This strategic partnership with Skiff is an unprecedented collaborative opportunity bringing together the power of the Sprint 3G network and the expansiveness of Sprint retail distribution with a dynamic new vision of e-readers."