Zinio has officially launched its new Z-Pass digital magazine subscription service after being in Beta for the last four months. Creating a Z-Pass is simple and flexible. Customers choose three magazines from over 300 of the most popular titles among Zinio’s 5,500+ digital library, including Car and Driver, Surfer, Maxim, Cosmopolitan, and Food Network Magazine for $5 per month. Additional magazines can be added to a Z-Pass for just $1.50 per title. Premium titles, including Star and The Economist can be added for an additional fee. Z-Pass customers can change its magazine line-up on demand, swapping the Z-Pass titles up to 3 times per month.
Right now Z-Pass is only available in the US and should see an international launch in July. The service right now is only web-based, so you will have to take out a subscription on the main Zinio site. The company plans on rolling out updates to the Blackberry, Android, and iOS apps in the next few weeks.
“It’s never been a better time to be a magazine lover,” says Michelle Bottomley , President of Zinio. “Access to the world’s best magazines for one low monthly price allows anyone with a mobile device to always have their favorite reads with them at the touch of a finger. Zinio is passionate about connecting the world’s best content with avid readers and Z-Pass removes the price per magazine barrier.”
“Z-Pass is an innovative way for readers to keep up with their favorite magazines and discover new ones,” says Chris Wilkes , Vice President, Hearst Magazines App Lab. “Zinio has long been a great partner to Hearst, and we believe that Z-Pass will help bring our brands and content to an even wider audience.”
Michael Kozlowski is the Editor in Chief of Good e-Reader. He has been writing about audiobooks and e-readers for the past ten years. His articles have been picked up by major and local news sources and websites such as the CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and Verge.