International e-reading conference 2008

Le Monde's digital division has developed a demo e-reader with a Korean manufacturer. Tests finished last week. The French daily has designed a larger interface than the Readius to enable consumers to scan across text as they would with a normal newspaper.

Dao Nguyen, general director of Le Monde Interactif, has to remain tight-lipped on specific details of its arrangement and its roadmap. The fact that a newspaper company has gone on its own to design a device for its own product is a first in this area.

Nguyen says, "We know our target market well. We already have a strong base of subscribers that receive our e-edition and it’s a question of time before we can transfer this."

The Kindle and the iLiad are well suited for book consumption, and Le Monde claims there is a gap because there has yet to be an e-reader designed purely for newspapers.

– Joe Thompson and Kerry J. Northrup