Digital Publishing

SMIL. It's AZARDI 11

AZARDI 11 has been released. This is a major feature upgrade. It can be downloaded from azardi.infogridpacific.com.

AZARDI 11 has significant changes in the reading interface and now matches AZARDI Cloud Reader (aka AZARDI Online). It supports SMIL Audio overlays in ePub3. There is a demonstration SMIL audio ePub3 on the resources page. This is the full  A Christmas Carol  by Charles Dickens, with some interesting highlighting patterns including single word, phrase, sentence and paragraph.

EPUB3 UNLEASHED - AZARDI Online

EPUB3 UNLEASHED is now available for viewing in AZARDI Online. This release includes MathJax to make MathML available on all browsers and platforms.

Fixed layout becomes platform neutral when delivered from AZARDI Online. All of the interactive goodness in EPUB3 UNLEASHED is easily accessed directly from your favourite standards-compatible browser. Remember if you are using IE 6-9 you will need the Google Frame plug-in to make it work. Tablets are targeted for the Beta release.

To view EPUB3 UNLEASHED in AZARDI Online, go to azardi.infogridpacific.com/azardi-online.html. Scroll down to the section Infogrid Pacific Demonstration Specials.

AZARDI Online Alpha Release

Infogrid Pacific is pleased to announce the Alpha release of AZARDI Online. A demonstration is available at  azardi.infogridpacific.com.

AZARDI OL, like its sibling AZARDI Desktop, is an ePub reader supporting ePub 2, ePub 3 and when appropriate specific HTML5 packages. AZARDI OL is the first Reader in the AZARDI family to support SMIL Audio Overlays.

AZARDI OL is designed to allow the distribution of all ePub content on all platforms and devices which have standards compliant browsers, using virtually any screen size.

Just a quick first page warning to save time. Check out the browser compatibility advice.

AZARDI 8.1 Released

An update has been released for AZARDI. This is a small feature upgrade and bugfix release. The full version is available from the AZARDI site. If you have AZARDI 7 or 8 installed this will update automatically next time you open the reader.

We have also included a 64bit deb package version for Linux in this release.

The new features are:

AZARDI 8 Released

AZARDI 8 is now available at azardi.infogridpacific.com. This is the first release with auto updating. Mac and Linux will silently update. For those with AZARDI 7, Windows 7 may ask for permission and show an unsigned/unknown publisher box.

This is a relatively low-key upgrade. We have a lot more features planned for the next release based on requests and recommendations from users, and to address the demands of digital content.

Understanding FX1 - Content Organization Overview

 

Critical to any XML strategy is control of the tagging vocabularies and how and where they are used. IGP:FoundationXHTML (FX) is strictly classified more or less in consonance with the primary XHTML content type deconstruction; but is refined to address publishing specific structures as well as boring ol' web structures.

FX has no root document type tag such as book, article, play, etc. The document type or genre is handled by metadata for any particular assembly of content. The reason for this is content reuse doesn't need the overhead of if/how/when; a book section can be mixed with a learning module or with how-to topic.

With document type relegated to metadata, the most important structural components become sections in all their interesting glory. For primary content reuse, the section is the most dominant semantic unit of content. This post outlines the primary FX classification structures and we will go into each one in more detail in follow-up posts.

Cloud computing for SM Publishers

The challenges for Small and Medium publishers needing new digital publishing strategies are a business model, developing or licensing appropriate software and providing the supply service infrastructure.

The alternatives are develop it yourself,  take on some Software as a Service option if something appropriate is available,  a fully outsourced services to a third party, or license software and do it yourself.

Here at Infogrid Pacific are firmly of the belief that publishers need to retain control of their digital content. This empowers the publisher to exploit all content instantly for new business opportunities as they arise, or are created. All of our products and licenses promote and reinforce that position.

We are aware that there are still many publishers who just want the digital distribution, or digital fulfilment problem to "go away" and are prepared to have the job of looking after their digital assets managed by a service provider. We therefore provide SaaS licenses to other organizations so they can operate these services, but we ourselves do not buy into the publisher's business model so there is no conflict. Our risk management licensing model addresses the software cost issue, so that leaves the final problem, how does an SM publisher deliver the services.

A new option that is now very real, affordable and is really a game changer for SM publishers is cloud hosting. It's a game changer because a relatively small operation can project very large Internet solutions and presence very affordably. "The Cloud" for Small and Medium publishers is the subject of this post. It includes practical implementation examples with real budgets.

Digital Publishing 2011

I had an enforced sabbatical from my ePub and XML blogs from October 2010 until present due to work commitments. The two old blogs are technically oriented and have ended their natural life. Using ePub and Publishing with XML are now put out to the bottom pasture, and they will be sent to the Knacker's yard later this year.

So assuming the publishing industry is getting its head around the coarse weaving of ePubs and Kindle e-books for device limitations, and starting to play with the embroidery of enhanced ePubs; the publisher problem for 2011 is what next? Is digital publishing just sending these "digital assets" to some e-retailer?

For me the subject for 2011 is digital publishing strategies; with the focus on practical implementation of the digital content fulfilment strategies the visionaries espouse. That means getting digital content under control and delivered to consumers with the required business model; whether it is selling, lending, subscribing or some other permission map. In the context of this blog, it also means doing that with the IGP digital publishing products.

2010 was the year that digital publishing became a painful reality for trade publishers. Sales volumes are big enough to matter, and like all things IT, confusion, opinions, options and maybe opportunities, are everywhere. Digital content is old hat in academic and education publishing in various forms, but going through a revival.

The publishing noise of 2010 was definitely about trade books, ePub and devices.2011 is shaping up as the year publishers need to get real digital content business strategies up and running. That means more than just shipping an e-book to Amazon or Google books where all content of any quality is relegated to the $9.99 e-book proletariat.

Currently there are very few usable and affordable digital business strategy options available for publishers, especially Small and Medium size publishers. Digital publishing choices, options and strategies is the focus of this blog. It just so happens to be the exact point of the plot where Infogrid Pacific rides in on a white horse.