Actually Sunday newspapers compete with life in today’s world. Most major European newspapers have long given up on their Sunday editions (some because of distribution issues) as the day of rest has become the day of making up for lost time. The same is true here in the U.S. and newspapers have tried gimmicks (like product bundling) and promos (free subscription trials) to curb the steady decrease in Sunday circ, but my Sunday newspaper more resembles the local PennySaver than journalistic comfort food.

Beyond lifestyle changes, the Sunday newspaper has been doomed for a while. Never known for its news oomph (early deadlines, skeletal weekend staffs), the Sunday paper was once the home for big feature stories, special reports and a slick color magazine insert. With staff reductions, competition from other media (read: webzines) and rising costs, those showcase elements are all but disappeared. At this point, the only distinctive feature of a Sunday newspaper is its load of Free Standing Insert ads (which are themselves dwindling) and, if you live on the east coast, the lack of late sports scores.

The right move is to nuke the Sunday paper which will be a tough one to swallow but makes financial sense. Heck, I’d take all the Sunday content and bundle it into a TV show (web and on air) that reads like a local “60 Minutes” or CBS’ “Sunday Morning.” An act of heresy? Perhaps. But the times are a changin’, so it’s about time for newspapers to change with them.

There’s more: the device will have two screens. A top screen, the reading pain, is an e Ink display and will not come with a web browser (E Ink based-browsers offer a notoriously poor web experience). The bottom TFT screen will be a color display and is powered by the Android O/S which, Barnes and Noble says, allows for optimum navigation and user experience in a small space on a mobile device. . The bottom window will be for shopping but also will support Android apps, however any apps that require web access will have to use WiFi support as 3G service is available only for book-related transactions (which keeps bandwidth costs down for B&N). Barnes and Noble will also facilitate synching of all content between The Nook, smartphone apps and Barnes and Noble’s desktop ereading software.

Anyway you slice Barnes and Noble’s announcement, The Nook is a game changer for the current market and one that will force Amazon’s hand even with Amazon’s recent release of an international Kindle. Regarding loaning ebooks you can lend Nook to Nook, as well as Nook to other Barnes & Noble eReader-enabled devices (such as iPhone, iPod touch, select Motorola and Blackberry smartphones, PC and Mac.) Just as with a physical book, the lender will not have access to the book during the two-week period (or earlier if the person you loaned it to returns it sooner). Banres and Noble plans on fully leveraging its retail presence by offering Nook owners special in-store content such as book previews. By encouraging Nook users to browse and shop with their devices in Barnes and Noble stores, these early adopters become product evangelists (not to mention demonstrators).

By supporting e.pub, the International Digital Publishing Forum’s open ereading format, consumers have a wider range of choices than with Amazon’s Kindle which supports Amazon’s proprietary DRM, .azw. with only the Kindle DX supporting PDF. Consumers also can borrow books from public libraries who offer digital lending programs as the vast majority of libraries support .epub and .pdf with their tittles.

Because of its rich set of features, retail merchandizing possibilities and open format support, The Nook not only impacts ereaders in the market (Kindle, Sony Reader) it takes some of the luster off of such pending ereaders as Plastic Logic’s Que and the new wireless iRex. The next move in the ereader space belongs to Amazon. That sound you heard was the air being let out of the Kindle’s tires. Amazon is now forced with the decision to be pragmatic and support the open .epub format or risk being locked out of the market.

Playing the speculation game, here are some thoughts:

*Barnes and Noble is launching a device because it wants to flex its bricks and mortar book retailing muscles by having a device it can sell in its more than 770 retail stores in the U.S. and Canada giving it first-mover advantage in that area. B&N circa 2009 is as much a lifestyle shop (complete with Starbucks coffee bar, comfy chairs, Muzak 2.0 and WiFi) as a bookstore, so it may be a suitable early-adopter environment to peddle a gizmo that most consumers have not even seen. No matter how powerful and global Amazon’s aspirations are, they remain solely an online merchant and an ebook reader just may be the sort of device that has to be seen to be sold.

*Barnes and Noble is trying to to gain additional traction for the .pdb book format is supports. That’s a bit of a long shot because no other devices other than the upcoming Irex support that format. It is possible, but not likely, that B&N will announce .epub support with its new device.

*Barnes and Noble, in offering a wireless device allegedly powered by Android will somehow bring Google to the ebook device wars just as a number of carriers (T-Mobile) and handset manufacturers (Motorola) have in the cell phone space. What would that mean? Certainly it could be a preemptive shot at Apple whose Apptab is not slated for release until Q1 2010 thus missing the 2009 holiday retail rush.

Also worth pondering is which carrier would join B&N to power its new device (which has received FCC approval)? I believe the smart money is on Verizon who would love to counter AT&T’s win with Amazon in being the carrier of choice for its new international Kindle.

This is one rumor that, if brought to fruition, will benefit consumers. The new B&N device will almost certainly be priced lower than any Kindle and perhaps even lower than Sony’s $199 ereader. B&N may be able to take a major hit on the device if it can use it to 1) provide uplift in sales in its retail stores 2) bundle a book club with the gadget 3) get some cost and channel support from a wireless carrier partner.

All of this speculation is interesting save for the .pdb support. If the new B&N device offers a format that is not supported by any other fixed device (I tried putting a B&N download on my format agnostic Astak EZReader and was foiled) then perhaps we’re right back where we started. A device Tower of Babel that is reminiscent of beta vs VHS.

Oh, did I forget to mention that the new Kindle “global edition” will be powered by AT&T. That large groan you heard was from Sprint, Amazon’s current wireless partner who powers the mysterious “Whispersync” for current Kindle owners. AT&T  has a network of global partners who come together to provide AT&T customers (somewhat costly) global cell phone reach. The difference here is that Amazon foots the bill for the bandwidth (at least they do upfront) used to download books. In the case of downloading newspapers (which are larger files sent daily), the cost is transparently passed on to consumers who pay about $10 per month for each newspaper subscription.

Looking at this announcement through Amazon’s eyes, this announcement has (at least) three missions here:

Ward off the growing list of competitors (iRex, Sony, Plastic Logic) who have announced or plan to announce new ereaders that come complete with wireless partners and who have their sights set on international distribution.

1. By gaining a dominant position in ereader sales, establish its proprietary ereader document format, .azw as the standard for the ebook market as it battles against .epub, the open global ebook standard.
2. Take some of the steam out of the hype out of Apple’s non-announcement of a tablet device. The latest “public rumors” indicate that a device will be in the market at the end of Q1, 2010. Having the Kindle, which is priced about half of the rumored Apple tablet price, into global channels before the first Apple tablet hits the market would be a strategic advantage to Amazon. Publishers may be pragmatic and lend greater support via more titles to a lower priced globally distributed device than a rumor no matter how cool.

But, things are not that easy. Even a lower cost, globally supported Kindle does not deliver a viable newspaper or magazine experience. Also, powerful global carriers such as BT, Vodafone, Telecom Italia, Orange, Telia, etc.. will not be satisfied with revenue sharing deals with AT&T in supporting its network for Kindle downloads; shortly, we will see major carriers outside the U.S. forge relationships with ereader manufacturers for local or inter-regional support (pan European, for example) as well as retail channel support.

Amazon’s announcement indicates the company is well aware of the market dynamics that threaten its dominance. Will Amazon have the tactical prowess to remain a market leader supporting a proprietary ebook format and offering a device that is a non-starter for newspapers and magazines? At this point, the answer is no, but Amazon often forces us to expect the unexpected, so stay tuned.

Back when I made my living as a reporter, we called such reports the byproduct of a slow news day which generally coincided with a Friday (the day this story dropped). Just mentioning Hulu in a news story will get you a certain amount of lineage (real or web) even if the story is far-fetched.

A lengthy list of holes can easily be poked into this notion, but let’s just focus on a few:

1. Time’s Ann Moore has previously stated magazines won’t work on a e-reader (Kindle or other) unless it offered a color screen. Last time I checked no current e-reader or even one officially announced supports color.
2. If Apple comes out with a tablet in 2010, it would break the color barrier (so to speak) but the smart money says that Apple will want to take control of magazine distribution via iTunes. Many magazines publishers already have applications in the iTunes store; how difficult will it be for them to enhance those for the tablet?
3. Speaking of an Apple tablet, if it launches, its price point will likely be aimed at early adopters rather than fans of People and Cosmo.
4. Magazines have been unable to sell digital editions (with such able partners as Texterity and Zinio); one wonders what marketing brainstorm will allow them to do better in this channel?
5. Let’s not even approach the subject of formats. While the book world is battling over setting .epub as an industry standard, there’s no mention in this report of what sort of format would be deployed to create basic or even “enhanced” magazines that feature audio and video.

One other issue that cannot be overlooked and that’s a possible claim of price fixing of ad rates if the majority of publishers band together in any sort of venture. Perhaps a long shot, but certainly worth mentioning.

Hulu is a superb exercise in the technology skill it takes to distribute high-quality TV/video content over the web. To date, the company has not been a profit machine and the company is looking at a few new revenue wrinkles such as becoming a white-label online video publishing platform provider (OVPP) for TV networks in the U.K. Magazine publishers would be wise to bet on a future that includes partnerships with companies who have been successful in content distribution rather than follow a path that will end in a financial dead end.

Also notable for the device is that it will be priced at $399, far lower than many of IREX’s previous offerings, and will be available at both Costco and Best Buy in time for the holiday shopping season. Best Buy says it will train its associates on the fine points of e-readers, but Costco is generally a self-service shopping experience, so it will be somewhat of a merchandizing challenge to sell the IREX to a Kindle-conscious consumer.

Barnes & Noble (www,bn.com) is the lead online bookstore partner which is good news up to a point. While Barnes & Noble will have a sizeable selection priced competitively (competitively to Amazon, that is), B&N offers titles in the .pdb (Palm Database) format deployed by Fictionwise, a nine-year-old online e-book, e-tailer B&N recently purchased. The .pdb format is one used by many mobile devices and PC-based readers, but goes somewhat against the trend of adopting .epub as the universal e-book format. Nothing will keep publishers on the sidelines longer than a format/DRM fray. The IREX DR800SG, out of the box supports many formats including .epub. The decision to partner with B&N is a pragmatic one from a business standpoint given B&N’s name and reach. With multiformat support, however, it does not box consumers into a one channel e-book purchasing choice (ala Amazon). Consumers (like me) can even easily download books from their public libraries for free using OverDrive’s Adobe Digital Editions supporting technology and read them on the IREX devices. Choice, not to mention value-priced devices, is what will drive the ebook space.

IREX, a spin-off of Phillips, has the vision and technology chops to be a major player in the e-reader space. IREX could be the first to come out with an affordable color device and may be the device the successfully works with newspaper companies (through some major partners) to offer a reading experience that does more than render PDFS of news pages.

At the same time, that hope is somewhat pinned to a company who has yet to publicly show its cards in the e-publishing space: Apple. Apple is rumored to be launching a tablet in 2010 that will functionally act as an e-reader but there are no details about launch time, 3G partners, publishing partners, and so on. Nonetheless, 65 percent of those surveyed say that Apple will produce and e-reader that will impact the publishing market. Amazon was second with 62% and the Plastic Logic hype machine landed 13% of those surveyed putting them in fourth place behind Sony with 25%.

And now for the news that indicates that while the e-distribution opportunity is strong, its successful implementation is (optimistically) more than a year away: More than half of publishers surveyed see a business model that includes a mix of advertising and subscription. Such a statement shows that there will be lots of experimentation in the next year with patience required from publishers to gather the answers needed to make decisions that resonate with consumers. At this point in their evolution, publishers know time is not on their side and the need for revenue has long since expired. Patience may be a luxury publishers cannot afford. Also in play are retail prices for e-reading devices and the role service providers (AT&T, etc..) will play in supporting the channel from a distribution as well as underwriting perspective. Could AT&T defray some of the device cost for folks who bought an e-reader armed with two years of 3G service (as they are doing with netbooks)?

Net net: as the e-reading market goes through a major shakeout related to devices, formats, hardware, software and business models, the timing couldn’t be more perfect. The future, at least for consumers, should hold a 2010 holiday season where e-readers (priced at about $199) are the must-have gift. Until then, early adopters can knock themselves out.

But here’s the real story for Fast Flip. According to published reports, Google has offered to share “the bulk of the revenue” from ads on Fast Flip’s pages.In addition, Google has responded to several RFPs from newspapers seeking partners in their push for premium content. Google believes its Checkout product is the perfect vehicle for paid content micropayments and subscriptions. Any reason to believe Google is using Fast Flip as a means to cast aside the image as the publisher’s enemy that ended in a still-unresolved settlement with book publishers?

Speaking of books, FF would be a service Google would no doubt offer book publishers who could allow readers to skim through sample chapters and then click a button to buy (download from Google). In order to show the publishing world it is not doing evil in its pursuit of all the world’s information, we are likely to see more services along the lines of Fast Flip aimed less at providing consumers value but more to show publishers a former enemy is truly its friend.