Newspad Makes El Periódico Interactive

Jim Nagel

A group of readers of El Periódico de Catalunya , Barcelona's largest newspaper, can now browse, personalize, and structure their own newspaper on a tablet-like computer called Newspad. The easy-to-use device automati cally updates news content overnight by encrypted broadcast transmissions such as Direct Video Broadcast satellite.

Newspad , developed by Acorn Risc Technologies (Cambridge, U.K.), is built around Acorn's 32-bit Arm7500 processor. It has no controls other than an on/off switch. Thanks to a touchscreen overlay, users can browse contents and navigate information paths with their finger. Newspad can handle full-motion video an d 16-bit audio besides traditional newspaper graphics and text. The principal applications running on the device are Macromedia Director Player and Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) interpreters.

Content can also be transferred via the Internet, using a one-way protocol (in contrast to the bidirectional protocols HTTP, FTP, or Gopher). System designers from Acorn say that in future Newspad could also carry a small FM receiver to collect trickle-feed updates, such as traffic flashes, localized news, weather reports, and advertising. A personalized filter downloads only the kinds of material that the user has specified.

---

Not As Easy to Carry to the Bathroom

photo_link (16 Kbytes)

Acorn's Newspad: The future of electronic newspapers?