MediaFile

New York Times gets edgy — no, really

By Kenneth Li
February 25, 2008

We didn’t expect this from the Gray Lady. The New York Times, under fire from a dissident investors group for moving too slowly in the digital world,  is test-launching a kind of scrap book for content that lets users move links and text between mobile phones and PCs.

It took 22 hours to develop as part of last year’s London Hack Day contest, where developers were challenged to build something in under 24-hours.  ShifD was built by Michael Young and Nick Bilton from The New York Times Research & Development Group working with a small team of developers, according to the site.

The original idea included support for RFID chips, which would let users with an RFID-equipped cellphone move content to and from an RFID equipped computer.

Suggestion: Give these guys a raise, a budget and a higher profile.

Next up: A widget to fix declining print advertising and circulation revenue.

Beet.TV’s Andy Plesser spoke with the developers, who have a better explanation of ShifD.

Sign up at ShifD.com.

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