YUDU Media Launches YUDU Education: The First OS-Agnostic Digital Textbook Publishing Platform

LONDON, Oct. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Online publishing pioneer YUDU Media today announced the launch of its new YUDU Education, the first digital textbook publishing platform that enables educational publishers to seamlessly digitize, optimize and deliver multimedia textbooks for ubiquitous access on tablet, laptop and desktop computer.

With YUDU Education, publishers can quickly and easily create rich, engaging digital textbooks that students can access on iPad, Android and Windows tablets, or any Mac or Windows PC, inside and outside the classroom. In addition, YUDU Education also allows students and instructors to annotate, bookmark and take clippings of content, and even integrate supplemental materials, all of which are instantly synchronized to the YUDU cloud for access on any device.

"YUDU Education solves the biggest challenge of the Bring-Your-Own-Device era for both publishers and students—cross-platform access," said YUDU CEO Richard Stephenson. "Students may need to read and take notes on a Windows PC in the classroom, but then want to pick up where they left off on their iPad at home. Or, perhaps the school provides iPads for classroom use, but the student has an Android tablet, or maybe a laptop, at home. With most publishing platforms, this is impossible. YUDU makes it possible."

YUDU Puts Publishers in Control
YUDU is the first system that puts the needs of publishers and students first, providing access to content from anywhere on any device and enabling publishers to sell directly to a broader audience.

Amazon, iBooks and other platform-specific systems lock publishers into a singular OS, forcing them to recreate content in order to offer it on multiple devices. Plus, these systems put the platform operator in control of the customer relationship, preventing publishers from accessing valuable consumer data.

In addition to providing ubiquitous access, YUDU Education puts publishers in control of their own content without having to build their own high-end digital publishing platform. And, unlike other digital textbook platforms, YUDU allows publishers to maintain a direct relationship with the customer.

"In Ireland, around 10% of all new middle school students are using a device to read textbooks," Conor O'Sullivan, Education Technology Manager at Folens, said. "While a majority of students are using iPads, there are a number of Android devices and there are also schools running with Windows netbooks. YUDU has been able to provide us with a system, which caters for all three. As a mainstream publisher, it is important that we can provide our educational content on every type of device for all students, it would cost us a fortune to build this type of platform ourselves."

Digital Publishing Made Easy, Affordable
YUDU's self-service web-based portal makes it easy for publishers to publish rich interactive books in a matter of minutes. First, simply upload an existing textbook in PDF format. Once YUDU digitizes the content, publishers can add animations, videos, hyperlinks and more. Once complete, just click "Publish" and the digital textbook immediately appears in the publishers' YUDU digital store. Edits, revisions and updates can be made at any time and published immediately—no more waiting for the platform provider to make the changes and published the revised edition.

"YUDU Education makes it easy and affordable for publishers, school districts and students to keep up with the rapid pace of technology and protect their investment with a future-proof solution," Stephenson said. "With YUDU, you don't have to worry about committing to a specific device or operating system that might be gone tomorrow."

Rather than a per-book sales fee that penalizes publishers for being successful, YUDU Education pricing is based upon the number of pages published, making administration simple and maximizing revenue. An annual maintenance fee ensures continuously updated technology to accommodate the latest OS upgrades on every platform.

Optional modules are also available for in-book testing, teacher management and customization that allow teachers to edit notes within the textbook and share with the entire class. The YUDU platform is exceptionally easy for teachers to use with an intuitive interface through a simple YUDU app download.

YUDU Education is built upon YUDU's well-established technology that's been trusted by some of the world's top publishers, including Weldon Owen, Random House, HarperCollins, McGraw-Hill and Folens. The global platform supports virtually any language, giving publishers the ability to deliver native-language editions anywhere in the world.

To see a video demo of YUDU Education and get more information, visit http://yudu.com/education.php

About YUDU Media
YUDU is a digital publishing support service provider, offering the YUDU Cloud Publishing Platform, which enables digital publishing for iOS, Android, Windows and Web. YUDU is a trademark of YUDU Media Corp. in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE YUDU Media