Skiff, formerly known as FirstPaper, has issued a press release about a new e-reading platform it is planning to bring to the market next year. Skiff was created by an arm of the Hearst publishing empire, but has been “incubated as a separate company” according to the press release. (We previously covered FirstPaper in April, 2008.)
The press release is light on details and heavy on glittering generalities, but Sling is planning a platform that “will deliver enhanced content experiences to dedicated e-readers, as well as to multipurpose devices such as smartphones and netbooks.” The content is to include newspapers, magazines, and books from multiple publishers.
Skiff is working with Sprint to provide Kindle-like 3G connectivity for dedicated reader devices, and with semiconductor company Marvell to create “the world’s first ‘system on a chip’ for e-reading.”
Do we need yet another e-reading platform? Whether we do or not, it appears we are going to get one. It remains to be seen what features will differentiate Skiff’s from the rest.
