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New Worldreader app for 'dumb phones' hopes to bring ebooks to millions in the developing world

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New Worldreader app for 'dumb phones' hopes to bring ebooks to millions in the developing world

Apr 03 2012

US non-profit literacy agency Worldreader has beta-launched an app for non-smartphones in order to distribute free e-books into sub-Saharan Africa and other parts of the developing world.

The Worldreader app uses cloud-based data compression technology to enable any Java-enabled "feature" phone (non-smartphone) to download e-books and access news websites and Facebook over an ordinary mobile signal.

Worldreader director of digital publishing Elizabeth Wood, said: "These 'feature' phones - or dumb phones - may not look cool, but they are the phones that are used by billions of people in the developing world. We've created the app to give access to books to those who don't have it.

Source: The Bookseller

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