Cool App: PressReader

Are you a voracious reader? Especially of newspapers and magazines? Tired of using RSS readers? Miss your local newspaper on the road? PressReader might be the perfect answer for you. PressReader is an app that you can use to download and read the world's most popular newspapers (from 95 countries in 54 languages) on your favorite mobile device. When we checked, there were about 2150 publications. And not just snippets of the newspaper, but the entire thing... ads included. You are basically reading a complete digital replica of publications, which in some cases is before the printed editions hit the newsstands. Every article, advertisement, crossword puzzle and cartoon is presented in its original context.

It is actually quite simple to use. You can search for your favorite newspapers or magazines by country or by language, download the one(s) you want and voila. Kick back with your cup of coffee and browse through the papers. Nothing can replace the feel of paper in through your fingers, but this is probably the next best thing. And the coolest part is that you can view it on pretty much any device out there... Android smartphone? Check. iPad? Check. iPhone? Check. Blackberry? Check. The newspaper is interactive too, with its clickable links, phone numbers etc. You can also have the app read an article for you. Unfortunately only in a male's voice :) A caveat though, from what we tested, the reader function only worked on English publications (on non Apple versions). Here are some of the other features of PressReader:

1. Flipping pages like you’re reading a real publication
2. The ability to pan, zoom or rotate pages, articles and photos
3. Navigating publications using thumbnails or table of contents
4. Opening full articles in easy-to-read text views
5. Listening to publications using on-demand audio
6. Searching online across titles and selecting the titles you wish to download

In closing, PressReader does work as well as it looks. It does come at a price though. To start off you can download a trial version for free, but regular usage requires a subscription. You can pay as you go or sign up for a monthly subscription. As far as we are concerned, it is totally worth it.

For more information on pricing or to read more about PressReader, visit their site. In the meanwhile, click here if you are interested in downloading the app for your device.