New York Times & Microsoft to launch Times Reader

At the American Society of Newspaper Editors convention, The New York Times and Microsoft Corp. unveiled a prototype of a new PC-based software application for news distribution called Times Reader which will be available for download in the coming months.

Times Reader will takes advantage of Microsoft Windows Vista to enhance the online and offline reading experience of The New York Times. The New York Times reports about this “onscreen reader software that will make reading news digitally a lot more like flipping through a paper.”

A Microsoft press release details what is special about the Times Reader.

“the Times Reader enhances the onscreen reading experience through Windows Presentation Foundation, Microsoft’s advanced display technology in Windows Vista. The text in Times Reader is displayed in columns and formats to fit the size and layout of any computer screen and enables readers to customize the display according to personal preferences, such as font size and content relevance. The Times Reader also uses the same font styles as the printed newspaper, extending the strong brand identity of The New York Times.”

Blogging is increasing and more sites are offering rss feeds to make their content available to more readers in rss aggregators and news reading software. Times Reader, a tool from such big brand names should be interesting to look out for.