Zaandam, The Netherlands – WoodWing Software, an innovation leader in the areas of cross-media and tablet publishing, today announced that the Frankfurter Rundschau, a German daily owned by the media group M. DuMont Schauberg, is publishing its daily iPad app with WoodWing's Digital Magazine Tools.

Tablet-compliant media experience
The app offers a fully tablet-compliant, very reader-friendly user interface. In portrait mode, it focuses more on the text, while in landscape mode, the app offers all multimedia features such as images, interactive graphics, audio and video. Hotspots and scrollable text columns enable readers to capture comprehensive information even in landscape mode. The readers can also access the Frankfurter Rundschau news ticker from within the app. Additional features will be introduced in the next few weeks.

Eric Dauphin, Head of the Online Department at Frankfurter Rundschau, said, "The app offers the readers a comprehensive selection of content from the print edition, presented with a visually appealing magazine look. The app delivers the newspaper experience in a new dimension."

Use of HTML5
The app also provides readers with interactive puzzles such as Sudoku and the popular new Straits. These are implemented based on HTML5 as widgets and can be played directly within the app. The corresponding technology is available as part of version 1.4 of WoodWing's Digital Magazine Tools.

Adaptation to demanding workflow of a daily newspaper
By using WoodWing's Digital Magazine Tools, the editors in the newsroom decide which stories from the print edition will be published on the iPad. The app also provides the reader with content created especially for the iPad, such as iNews, introducing gadgets and offering news from the world of digital media. The digital edition is created by a dedicated layout team, while the photo editor collects additional images that will appear only in the iPad app.

"It's been a challenge to adapt the production of a daily iPad app to the processes of a daily newspaper, characterized by very tight deadlines and high actuality," Dauphin said. "WoodWing's iPad solution fits perfectly into our existing production environment, so we were able to map the workflow very well."

WoodWing's solution has been integrated into existing infrastructure
The content for the iPad App is passed directly from CoreMedia, the existing content-management system used by Frankfurter Rundschau, onto WoodWing's content management application Content Station, which is part of WoodWing's iPad publishing solution. Thanks to the open character of all solutions provided by WoodWing, the integration was a snap.

The iPad edition of the Frankfurter Rundschau is available on the eve of the day of publication of the print edition and can be downloaded from the app's built-in kiosk feature. Currently, customers can download individual issues. An optional subscription model is in the works.

WoodWing's iPad publishing solution ideal for daily iPad issues
"Our iPad publishing solution has proven several times that it's ideal even for the demanding workflows in the newspaper field and the creation of daily iPad issues," said Erik Schut, President of WoodWing Software. "We are pleased that Frankfurter Rundschau, one of the most respected German dailies, has chosen our iPad solution."

During the development phase of the iPad app, the team at Frankfurter Rundschau was supported by A&F Computersysteme AG, based in Switzerland, one of WoodWing's Gold Authorized Solution Partners. Urs Felber, Managing Director of A&F, said, "We have already assisted several clients in the creation of their iPad apps. The setup for the production of the daily iPad app of Frankfurter Rundschau, however, was a particular challenge. We are pleased that we were able to contribute with our know-how to this success."

The Frankfurter Rundschau is published by the Druck- und Verlagshaus Frankfurt am Main, owned by the media group M. DuMont Schauberg. Circulation-wise, it's the largest subscription newspaper in the German Rhine-Main region and one of the leading quality newspapers in Germany. Its online site, www.fr-online.de, reaches 956,000 unique users and generates 13.3 million visits.

WoodWing at IFRA Expo 2010 – presence also at accompanying events
WoodWing will be exhibiting its cross-media publishing solutions, including the Digital Magazine Tools, at booth A1640 at IFRA Expo 2010, taking place from October 4-6 in Hamburg, Germany. In addition, Hans Janssen, CEO of WoodWing, will lecture on "E-Reading Opportunities" at the Media Port in hall A1 on Monday, October 4, at 2 p.m. Along with a representative of Frankfurter Rundschau, Janssen will explain the production of a daily iPad app. Janssen will also be speaking at the 3rd International E-Reading & Tablet Conference on Tuesday, October 5. More information can be found on the Web at www.woodwing.com/ifra.