Graphic.ly has just released their app for Android phones,, opening their comics to an audience of 22 million, according to the PR which you can read below.
Looking for digital comics from the world’s leading publishers on an Android powered phone or device? Look no further, because today Graphicly opens their library of more than 2,000 comics to the 22 Million people worldwide using Android phones or tablets with the release of their Digital Comics application for Google’s mobile platform.
This milestone release marks Graphicly’s first entry to the growing and exciting Android marketplace and makes the more than 150 publishers currently available on Graphicly’s other applications available to a whole new audience. Publishers available include Marvel Comics (which is only distributed on Android via Graphicly), Archaia Entertainment, Archie Comics and BOOM! Studios and many others in offering a wide range of comics and graphic novels to the Android community.
“Like our community, we are firm believers in the explosion of the Android market” said Micah Baldwin, CEO of Graphicly. “Being the first to provide Marvel Comics on the Android platform is a perfect example of that belief. This application is only the beginning of the expansion of our relationship with Google, which began as a launch partner with the Chrome Application Store.”
The new application features a full storefront from which users can purchase comics, as well as the ability to sync with their current Graphicly comics library (containing comics purchased from Graphicly’s desktop, Web or iOS apps), giving users ultimate freedom to read their comics anywhere on any device. To optimize reading for the handheld devices’ form factor, the application will support ‘Graphicly View’ (a panel-by-panel reading experience) as well as full-page and pinch-to-zoom modes. Further, comic books can be both streamed and downloaded to users’ phones to ensure reading regardless of users’ connectivity. In addition to buying and reading comics, the Graphicly community is connected through a vibrant social stream, allowing for users to share their activities with friends and find what books are most popular.
Graphicly Comics for Android is compatible with devices running version 2.1 and higher and is available for download in the Android Marketplace and at http://graphicly.com/
I wonder if there’s a site that’s keeping up with each device, what publishers you can read on that device, and through which services you do so. It seems to change so often.
As they say, “I’ll bite”.
I downloaded the application onto my Evo 4.
In two different sessions, I bought Archive #611 and The Harlem Shadow #1.
I read both books without syncing them. Archie over 3G and The Harlem Shadow over Wi-Fi.
As you would expect, the 3G connection yield sluggish page turning. The pages filled in like pieces of a puzzle. Over Wi-Fi, the page turning was fast enough not to impact the reading experience.
I don’t know if it was the difference between color (Archie) and black and white (The Harlem Shadow), but I found myself zooming into the pages of The Harlem Shadow while the Archie was readable to me at the standard screen size.
Why these two books? I wanted to try something that I would not normally buy, or perhaps even see, on paper.
What I’m waiting to find out is will Graphicly e-mail me when Archie #612 and The Harlem Shadow #2 become available. The “new issue notification” feature seems to me to be an important part of the digital comics ecosystem.