The National, now on Kindle

We interrupt this blog to bring you a word from our sponsor -- which also happens to be a pretty interesting bit of media news. The National newspaper is

. The electronic version will be delivered wirelessly to the device as it hits newsstands, and, as is common on the device, you can try it out for two weeks for free before you commit.

Unfortunately, this experience is not yet available to UAE residents, though rumblings are getting ever-louder that the Kindle is indeed on its way to this market. The TRA said last year that it is negotiating with Amazon to work out the digital copyrights to make the Kindle available here. Meanwhile, UAE residents who bought their Kindles elsewhere can use them on Etisalat's wireless service, according to a

by The National's David George-Cosh last month.

All this is good news for The National, which from the beginning has been a very design-heavy newspaper. Last year, it won 22 awards from the Society of News Design, making it  the most awarded newspaper in the region. The Kindle allows the paper to translate this talent into the digital realm, which will be a key element of newspapers' survival in the increasingly digital world.