Readers of the Toronto Star get a unique ‘double play’ package when they subscribe to the Canadian daily.

The product bundle – designed to grow its subscriber base and boost revenues – includes a subscription to e-paper with a Kobo Vox e-reader.

It is powered by NewspaperDirect's SmartEdition technology and a Star-branded PressReader application.

The two-for-one play, a strategy pioneered by cable TV and wireless operators, is a first for a Canadian newspaper publisher, and is of particular significance because the Toronto Star is Canada's most-read and highest-circulation newspaper. Of the more than 2,300 publications available on ND's PressDisplay aggregated service and the companion PressReader application, the Star consistently ranks in the top ten titles read daily, worldwide.

Elsewhere, the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News were two of the first newspapers to bundle their replica editions with an Android-based tablet, while the Honolulu Star-Advertiser bundles print subscriptions with website access and SmartEdition-powered Print Replica. The Boston Globe offers print subscribers access to its branded PressReader app so they can access advanced features such as on-demand narration of the entire edition while driving to work

The Globe and Mail's Globe2Go e-paper service was awarded the gold medal at the 2012 Canadian Online Publishing Awards for ‘best digital replica’ and is offered to Globe Unlimited subscribers at a discount. The Irish Times bundles its e-paper with full-week print subscriptions.

The Toronto Star e-paper makes the full content of each printed issue available to web users in an engaging and feature-rich reading experience that includes replica and non-replica reading modes, bookmarking, article sharing via email or social networks, on-demand audio, a picture gallery, article printing and commenting.

The Star is also using the SmartEdition technology as the foundation for its ‘classroom connection’ Newspapers in Education programme.

For the Kobo Vox edition, the Toronto Star utilises ND's PressReader for Android application, which gives subscribers the flexibility of reading the entire colour edition online or offline, plus high-performance rendering and other digital features.