Business

Panorama takes another step forward in the world of multimedia information with the launch of “Tag”, an innovative technology designed to access extra content using mobile devices.

In the issue on newsstands tomorrow, Friday 28 January, Panorama will provide all of its readers with the new Tag code, which is fast and easy to use and makes it possible to connect much more rapidly to the web, superseding the previous QR technology exclusively introduced by Panorama in 2009.

The weekly edited by Giorgio Mulè is consequently pursuing, for the first time in Italy, a new form of multimedia content integration.

Following the debut of QR, AR “augmented reality”, VIP™ (Video In Print) and 3D the Mondadori newsmagazine confirms its commitment to innovation by continuing to experiment new ways of integrating the printed page with new digital technologies. And Panorama continues to push back the frontiers of news and information by embracing the broadest range of technological platforms.

Advertisers have also decided to bet of the innovation proposed by Panorama with the Tag technology and, in the next issue, four clients – IBM, Edison, Ecolamp and Kangra – will try out the new system inside the spaces dedicated to them.

Tag is a simple colour code that is easy to use and makes it possible to see video clips or access information of any kind. All you need to do is to capture the code with the lens of a smartphone or similar device and the multimedia content (video, audio and surveys, etc.) will appear on the display.

The software to read the Tag system is unique and works with all mobile devices with a camera and web connection. Installation is automatic and free: just send an SMS with the message “Tagme” to the number 320 20 41 711, or use the browser on your device to access http://gettag.mobi/ and follow the instructions.

Readers of Panorama will find all the necessary information for installation in the next issue of the weekly (and in all subsequent issues).

Focus, Italy’s most widely read monthly is celebrating its eighteenth anniversary with a big event to be held at the Rotonda della Besana in Milan, as part of the big exhibition 2050. Il Pianeta ha bisogno di te (2050. The planet needs you), organised in partnership with London’s Science Museum.

Published by Gruner+Jahr/Mondadori and edited by Sandro Boeri, Focus is Italy’s biggest-selling monthly. It is aimed at a qualified target of people who are curious and interested in discovering the world. Over the years Focus has established itself as an authentic unbounded guide to knowledge. The breadth of the subjects it covers (medicine, geology, archaeology, biology, astrophysics, mathematical and physicals sciences, nature and technology) clear, accurate and rigorous exposition and a use of spectacular and high-impact images are among its distinguishing features.

“Thanks to its unique formula, that combines scientific rigour with simple language,” underline Giacomo Moletto, managing director of Gruner+Jahr/Mondadori, “the magazine’s success has made it a leader in Italian publishing with more than 6 million readers and a circulation of almost 500,000 copies. The Focus brand has become so well known that it has recently been successfully “exported” also to television on the national channel Italia Uno in prime time: further proof of the title’s popularity,” concluded Moletto.

There has also been an excellent response from advertisers: in the period January-December 2010, in terms of pages sold for the monthly, Mondadori Pubblicità recorded an increase of 22% compared with 2009.

This evening’s event will be truly spectacular, thanks to the “transformation” of the Rotonda into a sort of special issue of Focus, with the façade of the church acting as an interactive cover for the magazine.

Guests will be entertained by amazing sets and exciting projections that play with the infrastructure, both inside and outside, of the building, but, above all, they will be able to share a really special moment when greetings will be delivered from space from the astronaut Paolo Nespoli. The special guest star of the event will be DustBot, Italy’s “Wall-E” which has been designed to interact with people.

The mobile advertising campaign of iPad applications by Edizioni Piemme, whose catalogue of titles available from Apple’s Appstore will reach eleven titles by Christmas, has been launched on Mediamond websites. In details the campaign has been planned on the Mondadori web and mobile sites held by the advertising sales agency, accessible on the iPad.

The focus of the initiative will be on some of the most successful titles of Edizioni Piemme, such as Storie da ridere and the bestseller Nel Regno della Fantasia of the popular children’s character Geronimo Stilton’s; Il cacciatore di acquiloni by Khaled Hosseini and the autobiographical A un passo dal baratro by Paolo Brosio.

“We are delighted to be able to promote our applications on the Mediamond network,” declared Laura Donnini managing director of Edizioni Piemme.
“It is the first campaign for our mobile applications and we believe that the launch of the applications of our books will certainly benefit in terms of visibility and downloads,” she concluded.

Satisfaction was also expressed by Davide Mondo, managing director of Mediamond, who said, “Our product portfolio is clearly the ideal platform for the realisation of an application advertising campaign. With the tools we have available we have designed an immediate communication campaign that focuses on the interests of the users that visit Mondadori’s digital properties,” he concluded.

Edizioni Piemme has a consolidated leadership in children’s book publishing, with a market share of 18% (Source: Nielsen November 2010), thanks to the success of the “Il Battello a Vapore” and “Geronimo Stilton” brands, as well as its successes in the fiction, non-fiction and religion sectors for general readers.

Mediamond, the joint venture between Mondadori Pubblicità and Publitalia ’80, was set up in 2009 for the sale of advertising on the web. Mediamond’s portfolio is made up of a network of 30 titles that every month reach more than 8.4 million users and 710 million page views, which represents a 35% coverage of internet users.

The joy of knowledge,from history and medicine to technology and sport.

From Thursday 16 December 2010, Italia 1 will broadcast in prime time “Focus Uno”, a programme made in conjunction with the popular science monthly Focus, published by Gruner+Jahr/Mondadori and edited by Sandro Boeri, which is aimed at those who want to discover and know more about the world we live in.

Italy’s most widely-read magazine makes its first move into television with a new and revolutionary programme that deals with a huge range of interesting issues, including technology, science, history, sport, nature, health, sex, the animal kingdom and much else. An endless and fascinating overview made with reportage, first-hand accounts, astounding internationally produced documentaries and exclusive documents.

There will also be a large number of features produced in-house dedicated to the most extravagant and amusing curiosities.

Presented by Giulio Golia, “Focus Uno” is a new format that maintains the popular and authoritative style of the magazine Focus, and follows the same editorial line: to inform, discover, ask daring questions, provide comprehensible answers, and broaden knowledge while also being entertaining.

From puncturing myths about sex, to the most bizarre deaths explained from a scientific point of view; from unexamined aspects of human behaviour that we take for granted, to the most innovative and original aspects of the world of insects; from the infinite range of unexplained phenomena, to metropolitan legends about the food that we eat and our daily lives, to unique and extraordinarily spectacular natural events; and from the most innovative and creative proposals from the world of renewable energy, to extraordinary images from the world of animals and their natural habitat.

As well as documentaries on the most surprising and varied subjects – personality disorders, lightning, space as seen from a satellite, hyper-technological cars – and features on the new frontiers in the prevention and most recent developments in medicine and pharmacology.

So, don’t forget to tune in from Thursday 16 December 2010 to Italia 1 in prima time for four episodes of “Focus Uno”.

Focus Uno is a programme by YAM112003, produced in association with the popular science magazine Focus for ITALIA 1. Editorial supervision for features of a medical-scientific nature is provided by Intermedia.

Mondadori has accepted the invitation to Italian companies in the paper and printing sector made by Greenpeace to join in the fight against deforestation with a commitment to define a gradual shift to the use of FSC-certified paper (from sustainably and responsibly managed forests) in the production of books. “Forest-friendly” paper will be used for some prestigious and high-quality literary series, such as: Strade Blu and Oscar Spiritualità by Edizioni Mondadori, Einaudi Stile Libero, Wellness by Sperling & Kupfer and, in children’s books, some of the Geronimo Stilton, Scooby-Doo and Flambus Green series published by Piemme.

“I am extremely proud of the commitment that Mondadori made to help build awareness through the Greenpeace campaign,” stated Riccardo Cavallero, general manager of the Mondadori Group’s trade books area. “The reason why Mondadori has decided to accept Greenpeace’s invitation is that it well help us to operate in an increasingly more sustainable and responsible way in the market, and it will allow us also to offer to our readers a concrete opportunity to make a conscious purchasing decision in favour of the environment.”

“Mondadori’s decision,” claimed Chiara Campione, head of the Greenpeace Forest campaign, “is a first and much appreciated step, especially given the quantity of paper consumed by the company. We hope that it will be followed by others, so that in the short term we, as readers, can be sure that we are not helping to destroy a part of a tropical forest every time we buy a book.”

The new Donnamoderna.com community is now bigger and has opened its doors on new horizons: from today it is even easier to share and keep up to date with ad hoc advice about all sorts of things and to create your own blog, publish photographs and videos, chat and take part in forum discussions and write private messages to your contacts.

All this has been made possible thanks to an upgrade in the functionality and a simplification of the interface: with a clean and clear layout that highlights the issues of the day and the topics to be discussed in the forums and in the chatrooms, and the immediate identification of the other members of the community with whom you can make friends and exchange ideas and opinions. Also: users can easily update their profile, inform other members about what they’re doing and any other things of interest.

The community content, which is immediately recognisable on the homepage, ranges from fashion to health; gossip to psychology, and from beauty to the world of mothers. And of course ample space is given to the expert opinions: whether they are wedding planners, psychologists or fashion assistants, always careful not to disappoint the curiosity and expectations of everyone.

Donnamoderna.com met with a group of bloggers who were given a preview of the beta community. Reactions and feedback were positive and constructive: “I think that the new Donnamoderna.com community gives one the freedom to express one’s own personality and style thanks to tools that are simple, clear and easy to use,” said Sara Dania, the blogging mother from www.smamma.net. Emma Tracanella, the blogger of 365.caramellamenta.net, claimed that: “The new community is intuitive, easy and gave me all the news and allowed me to satisfy my curiosity about a range of things.”

The high level of appreciation among users of the site can also be seen from audience figures that continue to confirm Donnamoderna.com as the leader among Italian sites for women with a monthly average of 3,100,000 unique users and 40 million page views (source: Nielsen Site Census, October 2010).

There has also been a positive response from the world of social media with more than 92,000 fans on Facebook and more than 10,000 followers on Twitter.

In addition to e-books, a series of interactive applications for the iPad are now available for some of the titles in the children’s catalogue. These apps area exclusively available from Apple’s App Store, starting on 11 November. Geronimo Stilton is the first protagonist of this operation, which involves some of the most popular titles.

Funny stories

Some of the titles in the series will be sold in a digital format containing the full text as well as extra content. The digital version of the books include a complete audio version of the stories, with the voice of Geronimo Stilton and the other characters from the world of Topazia. The application’s main menu also offers the following functions: write, underline, highlight, make brief notes on the page, write on notepaper, cancel, place bookmark, record brief audio tracks.

But above all it is the extra content that makes the app so much fun and engaging for younger users.

Character profiles. Every time a new character appears in the story, an icon on the side of the text indicates that there is a profile of the character.

Games. At the beginning of each book there are 4 games, such as “find the hidden detail”, “identify the differences”, “find the right shadow” and “find the intruder”.

Outline images to be coloured. In the text, on the side of some images an icon indicates the same image in a black and white outline form that the reader can enlarge and colour, using a palette of colours that appears on the screen.

From the menu it is also possible to access the online catalogue of Geronimo Stilton apps available for the iPad and to send an email to friends, inviting them to join the fun with the range of Geronimo Stilton interactive applications.

The application, developed by Enhanced Press, can be used on the iPad and is downloadable from the App Store. Follow this link: http://itunes.apple.com/it/app/id398491904?mt=8. New titles will be available for sale every two weeks.

In the Realm of Imagination

The bestsellers of Geronimo Stilton come to the iPad, in a version to be read, listened to and …touched! The application provides the complete text of the book that can be flicked through, page by page, or listened to by activating the audio with the voices of Geronimo and his friends.

The pages, that are already full of exciting words, will surprise young readers with the numerous animated images, that provide sound effects and the possibility of interacting by dragging certain objects on the screen.

Over 300 pages of full-colour illustrated text as well as 50 pages with a glossary of imaginative words; more than 150 multi-touch animated images with sound effects; animated presentations profiles of all the characters of the Compagnia della Fantasia and partial audio of the story.

The application, developed by Simplicissimus, can be used on the iPad and is downloadable from the App Store. Follow this link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id400428205?mt=8.

The Geronimo Stilton cartoons

Finally, an application has also been created to read the cartoons of Geronimo Stilton in a digital format: cartoons can be viewed in their entirety in the portrait mode (vertical) or enlarged in the landscape mode (horizontal).

The main menu of the application allows users to write, underline, highlight, make brief notes on the page, write on notepaper, cancel, place bookmark and record brief audio tracks.

From the menu it is also possible to access the online catalogue of Geronimo Stilton apps available for the iPad and to send an email to friends, inviting them to join the fun with the range of Geronimo Stilton interactive applications.

Soon there will also be an interactive iPhone application for the cartoons of the popular editor of the Eco del Roditore.

The application, developed by Enhanced Press, can be used on the iPad and is downloadable from the App Store. Follow this link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id400088098?mt=8. New titles will be available for sale every two weeks.

In recognition of the work of the much-loved poet Alda Merini, an offbeat and moving personality who was able to speak directly to people’s hearts, Mondadori is publishing the first anthology that brings together all of the poetry and prose of a leading protagonist of Italian twentieth century literature: Alda Merini, Il suono dell’ombra. Poesie e prose 1953-2009.

From the most intriguing, engaging and well-known of her masterpieces to forgotten pages, this collection is accompanied by an extensive critical and biographical appreciation by Ambrogio Borsani. The early collections of poetry, La presenza di Orfeo, Nozze Romane and Paura di Dio are collected for the first time and the book also includes the more recent and familiar collections, such as Vuoto d’amore, Superba è la notte and her last book, Il Carnevale della Croce, along with a number of rarities. Alongside the autobiographical L’altra verità and Lettere al dottor G., that give an account of a heartbreaking descent into the abyss of an asylum, also her complete short stories are included, from Il ladro Giuseppe to the lyrical sonatas of Delirio amoroso and Il tormento delle figure. A section of biting and highly amusing aphorisms, provide evidence of almost twenty years’ work. The book also features a small number of unpublished poems.

On 2 November, to commemorate Alda Merini a year after her death and to mark the publication of the anthology, Licia Maglietta will give a reading of some of the poet’s work at the Auditorium in Milan (Largo Mahler 1, at 6.30 pm – admittance free).

On Bol.it it is possible to choose from over 90,000 ebooks from Italian and international publishers. The online bookstore offers users the widest selection currently available in our market with more than 5,000 Italian titles made available by the leading publishing companies and distribution platforms in the country. In addition, the catalogue – which features both classics and bestsellers, as well as many new titles published simultaneously with the printed versions – also includes some 85,000 ebooks in English, ranging from great novels to non fiction, children’s books and scientific and professional titles.

To mark the launch of the new ebook catalogue, on Bol.it it is also possible to download for free, in cooperation with Mondadori, the digital version of Il fu Mattia Pascal by Luigi Pirandello.

All of the digital books on the Bol.it store are available in the e-pub or pdf formats and can be used on the most common commercially available tablets and e-readers. A wide selection of the titles in the Italian ebook catalogue is also DRM-free and social DRM, and can therefore also be read on the iPad.

The Bol.it ebook offer operates alongside the already vast catalogue of the internet store, which features a total of 2.5 million products: from ‘traditional’ books, in Italian and English and professional titles, to a large range of multimedia products, including ebook readers, DVD and Blu-Ray films, music, games and gift ideas.

The top ten best selling ebook titles in Italian on Bol.it this week were:

1. Nella testa di Steve Jobs by Leander Kahney (Sperling & Kupfer);

2. La caduta dei giganti by Ken Follett (Mondadori);

3. Inchiesta sul cristianesimo by Corrado Augias and Remo Cacitti (Mondadori);

4. La solitudine dei numeri primi by Paolo Giordano (Mondadori);

5. L’intermittenza by Andrea Camilleri (Mondadori);

6. Non avevo capito niente by Diego De Silva (Einaudi);

7. Il broker by John Grisham (Mondadori);

8. Il bizzarro museo degli orrori by Dan Rhodes (Newton Compton Editori);

9. La strada by Cormac McCarthy (Einaudi);

10. Uomini che odiano le donne by Stieg Larsson (Marsilio).

Guida Cucina, the new Mondadori monthly edited by Laura Maragliano, will hit the newsstands tomorrow, Thursday 28 October, with a host of new ideas for people who love to cook.

This new launch expands Mondadori’s already extensive range of titles in the cookery segment, adding a practical guide designed for readers looking for straightforward and traditional advice and recipes, for everyday lunches and dinners.

For every day of the month, Guida Cucina suggests two easy to prepare menus, with advice about combinations of dishes, accompanied by highly detailed recipes and instructions.

The different sections of the magazine are organised in an original way and published in a small and manageable format (13.9×18.5 cm), at 70 cents. Lunario: provides a mix of news to satisfy readers’ curiosity, such as the Saints days of the month, proverbs, grandmothers’ tips and indications about what to do in the garden and vegetable patch; È tempo di: suggestions based on seasonal produce and their preparation in the kitchen; I giorni: recipes, accompanied by photographs, for everyday lunches and dinners; Le filmate: step-by-step dishes explained with the help of images. And of course l’angolo dei dolci (the desserts corner) and cut-out-and-keep Schede (recipe cards).

The launch of the monthly will be supported by an advertising campaign that will run on the Mediaset TV channels, magazines of the Mondadori Group and with point-of-sale posters.