The Kindle

Publishing giant Hearst -- which has announced plans to sell or close the Seattle P-I and the San Francisco Chronicle -- has developed a new electronic reading device that is expected to debut later this year, reports Fortune.  The new device is interesting for Seattle readers, not only because of its implications for the future of the Seattle P-I but also because the device could compete with Amazon.com's Kindle. The Kindle already offers electronic versions of some of the top newspapers in the country, including The New York Times, LA Times and The Seattle Times.

Here's more on what the device would look like from Fortune:

Insiders familiar with the Hearst device say it has been designed with the needs of publishers in mind. That includes its form, which will approximate the size of a standard sheet of paper, rather than the six-inch diagonal screen found on Kindle, for example. The larger screen better approximates the reading experience of print periodicals, as well as giving advertisers the space and attention they require.

Given the evolving state of the technology, the Hearst reader is likely to debut in black and white and later transition to high-resolution color with the option for video as those displays, now in testing phases, get commercialized. Downloading content from participating newspapers and magazines will occur wirelessly. For durability, the device is likely to have a flexible core, perhaps even foldable, rather than the brittle glass substrates used in readers on the market today.

At a panel discussion on the future of newspapers earlier this week, I suggested that media companies could partner with Amazon.com and its new Kindle device. The idea would be to distribute a newspaper-branded Kindle to subscribers, with a boot up screen that took them to their local news source. Silicon Alley Insider reported last month that it would be cheaper for the The New York Times to distribute a Kindle than to deliver a physical newspaper to its subscribers.

It appears that Hearst is headed in this direction, with Fortune reporting that it plans to sell the devices to publishers and then take a percentage of the revenue from any content sales. Publishers will be able to set their own branding and payment system, according to Fortune.

"That's something you will never see Amazon do," an unidentified source tells Fortune. "They aren't going to give up control of the devices."

Bill Richards at Crosscut and Dong Ngo at Cnet have speculated that Hearst may be working with Plastic Logic, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based company that has raised more than $200 million in venture capital. Plastic Logic announced deals with the Financial Times and USA Today earlier this month.