NY Times, Microsoft Build Vista App

The New York Times has joined up with Microsoft to build a new standalone application for reading the newspaper's content on a PC. The tool, called Times Reader, was unveiled Friday in prototype form and takes advantage of the Windows Presentation Foundation that will ship in Vista.

Specifically, Vista's WPF display technologies will enable Times content to be automatically adjusted for any screen size, with users able to customize font size and content relevance. The application will utilize the same font styles as the print edition of the New York Times.

“The Times Reader is a great next step in melding the readability and portability of the newspaper with the interactivity and immediacy of the Web,” said New York Times Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. The program can be used online and offline by downloading stories to the local computer.

Microsoft aided in the development of Times Reader, which it hopes will serve as a starting point for other organizations looking to take advantage of the new capabilities coming in Windows Vista. The Redmond company plans to publish a software development kit in the near future for the purpose.

“The Times Reader is a powerful example of how companies can use software to forge new types of customer connections that span beyond the browser to the desktop and mobile devices,” said Microsoft chairman Bill Gates.

A free download of the Times Reader is expected to be available in the coming months. Although Microsoft has back-ported the new Windows Presentation Foundation to XP, the application will likely require Windows Vista Beta 2, due out at the end of next month.

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