App Edition Launch Of Anne Frank's Diary

NEWS RELEASE 5 SEPTEMBER 2012

NZ Company Behind App Edition Launch Of Anne Frank's Diary

A New Zealand company, TradeMobile, is driving the technology behind the first release of The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank in app format.

Publishers Viking and Penguin will launch the app edition of the inspirational story of courage and heartbreak on 18 October, with a trailer viewable here.

TradeMobile, established in Wellington five years ago as a mobile content provider, is a a digital multi-media specialist with UK-based operations.

The publishing director of Viking, Venetia Butterfield, says the app for Anne Frank's diary enables readers to go beyond the script by using interactive content to immerse themselves in the story of a teenager hiding from Nazi occupiers in wartime Amsterdam.

"It includes previously unreleased archive material from the Anne Frank Foundation, allowing a deeper understanding of the young writer's emotions and experiences set against the horrors of a world at war," she says.

TradeMobile director, Jen Porter, says the app technology compliments the gravity of one of the most compelling texts of the 20th Century, read by tens of millions since it was first published in 1947.

"By providing contextually relevant audio, video, images and animation, it helps depict Anne's story vividly in its full historical context and brings to life its immediacy in a uniquely personal way," she says.

"With a button touch readers can see original pages of Anne's diary, including her sketches, scribbles and commentaries, or listen to extracts read by Helena Bonham Carter. A screen tap plays videos of those who secretly helped Anne and her family, as well as original radio broadcasts of the time."

The Anne Frank app was created by TradeMobile under its trademarked "Beyond the Story" automated publishing platform, says Ms Porter.

The company also created the app for David Starkey's definitive history of British monarcy, Kings and Queens (link) which included live coverage of the Royal Wedding.

"The publishing platform uses proprietary artificial intelligence and authoring tools to transform books from flat text into fully interactive user experiences," she says.

"We have a long term partnership with Penguin for other book apps, as well as scope for new projects with international publishing houses in the UK."

(Footnote: Co-inciding with the app book launch in the UK, the Auckland Museum is holding an Anne Frank Exhibition until 22 October.)

ENDS

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