Scribd is trying to become a universal e-reader with plans to launch a “send to mobile” feature later this month.
Their Web site allows people to post and read both amateur and professional content, often formatted as pdf or PowerPoint files. Scribd claims some the 10 million documents are stored on their site and it attracts between 40 and 50 million readers each month.
Scribd CEO Trip Adler told Wired that the company plans to offer apps for the Android OS, iPhone and other devices by late March. these apps will synchronize with Scribd on other platforms — so you could leave off reading a long document at your desk and pick up where you left off on your iPhone.
The company claims that 10 million documents have been published on the site to date, including non-copyrighted and amateur content as well as for-pay content from publishers like Simon & Schuster, Lonely Planet, O’Reilly, and the Chicago Tribune.
Scribd’s mobile deployment has two parts to it, according to C/Net.
First, Scribd will have compatibility with as many devices as possible, including Amazon’s Kindle, Apple’s iPhone, and Windows Mobile devices. These options materialize when people click on the new send button. iPhone users will be able to get Scribd documents sent to them as an SMS or e-mail.
Secondly, an array of native, device-specific apps is available. In the iPhone’s case, this will let users store local copies of Scribd documents right on their phone. Currently, Scribd’s send-to-mobile tool simply sends along a link to the PDF, which then needs to be downloaded in order to be read on the device.
Scribd calls itself a “social publishing company,” with about 50 million monthly visitors. Traffic is growing about 10 percent per month, said Tammy Nam, vice president of content and marketing.
Zinio Dynamic Design from zinio on Vimeo.
Another San Francisco company, Zinio (above) sells electronic versions of magazines and books online, and last month released an iPhone and iTouch application, which quickly became the top free news app in the iTunes store. The company has an app for Android-based phones in beta.
