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A 'monkey selfie' movie might be on the way
Proving that Hollywood will try anything once (and 17 times if enough people watch it), there might be a movie on based on the infamous "monkey selfie" headed our way. Conde Nast Entertainment has bought the life rights for David Slater, the photographer who found himself in a legal battle over a selfie a macaque took in 2011, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Conde Nast usually develops movies based on articles from its publishing arm's magazines like The New Yorker and Vanity Fair, so this is a slightly different step for the company.
Amazon’s Echo Look taps into Vogue and GQ for style help
Magazines are constantly looking at ways to bridge the gap between their paper-based and digital audiences, especially with an ecommerce slant, which has demonstrated its potential in a number of innovative areas, including augmented reality. Now, Condé Nast fashion bibles Vogue and GQ are experimenting with content on the exclusive Amazon Echo Look, which is basically Alexa with a camera (and is only available to purchase by invitation at this stage). From February 19, readers can take a selfie with the Look, send it to the app and get a host of celebrity and fashion content in return, some of which they can buy through the app, with Condé Nast getting a cut of the sale.
HTC's Vivepaper is a VR magazine stand
HTC has unveiled Vivepaper, an app that lets Vive users check out interactive, VR content from publishers like Conde Nast. After you don the headset and scan a physical AR booklet, you can peruse a virtual magazine and load up 360-degree videos, 3D content, audio and other content. The passthrough "Chaperone" camera enables augmented virtual reality (A-VR), letting you be in the virtual world and touch physical objects (the booklet) at the same time.
Google Play starts selling movies, TV shows (single episode or full season) and magazines today
The Android Market became Google Play to focus on how it pushes media, and now it's adding a few new options. On stage at Google I/O 2012 the company just announced it's adding support for the purchase of movies, as well as TV shows by episode or by season, and even magazines all available today. That's in addition to the existing apps, movie rentals, music and books. Oh, and look, Google just introduced a new tablet that you can use to access all of that content. We'll keep an eye out for an exact list of all the new media partners, although mentioned on stage were magazines including Hearst, Conde Nast and Meredith long with TV networks Disney / ABC, NBC Universal, Sony Pictures and Paramount . Check out our Google I/O live blog for even more details as they're announced, and look after the break for video introductions. Check out our full coverage of Google I/O 2012's opening keynote at our event hub!
Next Issue Media launches on Android, $15 a month for access to 32 magazines
If you've taken issue with your usual choices for buying magazines on your tablet, be it pay-per-issue or per-subscription, you're not alone. If you'll recall, it was nearly a year ago that Next Issue Media launched the preliminary version of its "Hulu-meets-magazines" app on the Galaxy Tab, and it's finally ready to release this physical newsstand alternative officially. After raking in a slew of deals last November, its Android 3.0 app is now available -- users can fork over a monthly fee of $10 to access all of its monthly and bi-weekly content, while an extra five bucks adds in weekly content, essentially giving you access to every publication on offer. Singular subscriptions are also available for two to 10 bucks, and you'll currently have a choice of 32 mags from the likes of Car and Driver to The New Yorker. Interestingly, TechCrunch notes that NIM plans to get the app over to iOS "soon" -- it'll surely be interesting to see how it competes with Apple's own Newsstand. You'll find more info at the via links below, and you can flip over to the source for details about a 30-day trial offer.
Conde Nast to track iPad readership
It's been two long years for advertisers working with Conde Nast and their digital magazines. Until now, the publication has provided advertisers with only minimal details on its digital readership. An AdAge report suggests this is all about the change. Because of the newness of the medium, Conde Nast had to develop new tools and new ways to gather significant data from iPad, Kindle and Nook readers. The publishing company has ironed out some of the kinks and is ready to provide regular data on: the magazine's paid tablet subscriptions and single-copy sales during the reporting period the number of readers that actually opened the issue's tablet edition, including print subscribers using their complimentary digital access the total number of times that readers opened it and the time that readers spent with it The is welcome news to advertisers like Robin Steinberg, Executive Vice President and Director of publishing investment and activism at MediaVest, who said, "There is no doubt this is not only a good move but the right move."
Next Issue Media strikes deals with more Android tablet makers ahead of full launch
After launching its digital newsstand for the Galaxy Tab earlier this year, Next Issue Media is now looking to expand to other Android tablets, as well. The company, which was founded by a quintet of publishers including Conde Nast, Hearst and Time Inc., has just signed partnerships with a slate of slate manufacturers, including Motorola, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba, along with Verizon Wireless. Next Issue Media didn't specify which devices would support its app, but it did take the opportunity to announce new digital magazines, like Car and Drive, Coastal Living, ELLE, Golf and Real Simple. The goal is to have a full 40 titles by the end of the year, ahead of its full-fledged launch in 2012. Turn past the break for more details in the full PR.
Nook Newsstand getting Condé Nast publications (except Vogue)
After all of our tablet stories, the first question people ask is "But will it run Vogue?" Fortunately for all of you who are desperate to strike a pose and let your bodies move to the music, it won't be long now. Condé Nast is bringing 17 of 18 titles to Nook Tablet, the only omission being Vogue; which is coming in early 2012. Until then, you'll be able to enjoy the rest of the publisher's stable including Glamour, GQ, Teen Vogue and The New Yorker from the end of November. You can purchase individual issues or an annual subscription, print subscribers will get the digital edition free of charge and anyone who does pay will get a fortnight's trial. The only downside to the trial is that it's significantly shorter than the three months offered by the same publisher on the Kindle Fire. There's plenty more details after the break, where we've got a press release all waiting for a closeup.
Amazon bringing 400 magazines, newspapers, flame retardants to Kindle Fire
It's been a busy week for the Kindle Fire. First came news that Amazon would be bringing Facebook, Hulu and "several thousand" other apps to its forthcoming tablet, and now, we've got confirmation that hundreds of magazines and newspapers are on their way, as well. Yesterday, the company announced that more than 400 "full-color" titles will be available on the Kindle Fire Newsstand, including Us Weekly, The New Yorker and Reader's Digest, among others. Users who subscriber before March 1st, meanwhile, will be able to access a full 17 Condé Nast titles for free, as part of a three-month offer. Amazon is also promising plenty of interactive editions with built-in video and audio, which you'll be able to check out for yourself next week, when the Fire begins shipping. For more details, check out the full press release after the break.
Conde Nast Britain gives subscribers free iPad access
Condé Nast Britain has begun to provide existing print subscribers with access to equivalent digital editions on the iPad at no cost. According to an article published on the UK Association of Online Publishers website, Apple's Newsstand app has increased the issue sales of British GQ by 94%, Wired UK by 169%, and Vanity Fair by a whopping 245% over the average sales per day in September. Digital Director of Condé Nast Britain Jamie Jouning said that "Our existing readers will benefit from the ease of access to subscribe, while the prominent inclusion of our brands in Newsstand will allow an even higher level of 'discoverability'. Ultimately this should lead to greater subscription growth." The magazines take advantage of the feature of Newsstand that automatically updates digital editions in the background as new issues are published. Vogue will be adding a digital edition at the beginning of December, after having two very successful iPad editions in the past.
Condé Nast sees iPad subscription boom with Newsstand
One of the more unsung apps available on the iPad with iOS 5 is Newsstand, Apple's portal for newspapers and magazines. While many iPad users seem to be unaware of the app and its purpose, publisher Condé Nast is reporting that subscriptions for the digital editions of its titles have jumped 268 percent since Newsstand was released on October 12, 2011. Single copy sales are also seeing a boost with Newsstand, as the publisher noted a 142 percent gain over the previous eight week period. Condé Nast currently publishes Allure, Brides, Glamour, Self, GQ, Golf Digest, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair and Wired on the iPad, with Condé Nast Traveler, Bon Appétit, and Vogue expected to join the collection by the first part of 2012. This is great news for Newsstand and for publishers dabbling with electronic editions. Condé Nast reported last month that digital circulation of all of its titles had reached 500,000 readers, with 225,000 of those subscribers receiving the magazines only in digital format. Hearst, a competitor to Condé Nast in the magazine publishing field, reported last month that paid digital downloads of its titles had topped 300,000. Adobe has touted that their Digital Publishing Suite will soon provide support for Newsstand, so expect to see many more of your favorite magazines on the iPad soon.
Big publishers to provide fuel for Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet?
So, word on the street is that Amazon's got an Android-based tablet in the works that looks like a PlayBook and will probably be called the Kindle Fire. But, until now, we didn't know what kind of content would be available on this new Kindle with a color screen. According to All Things D, Bezos' baby has been blessed by Hearst, Conde Nast and Meredith publishers in time for the slate's unveiling later this week -- giving users access to magazines ranging from GQ and Cosmopolitan to Car and Driver and Wired. Evidently, Amazon's taking around a 30 percent cut (not unlike the competition in Cupertino) of slate-based subscriptions, with small variations depending upon the magazine. With these latest leaked tidbits, we're beginning to wonder what details are left for Amazon to reveal on Wednesday -- a little mystery adds to the anticipation, after all.
The New Yorker has sold 20,000 annual paid iPad subscriptions
The New Yorker has sold more than 20,000 annual paid iPad subscriptions since Conde Nast overhauled its iPad magazine strategy in May. 20,000 readers are now subscribed to the annual US$59.99 iPad-only edition of the quintessential news, social, and literary magazine while every week another 5,000 people buy single issues of the magazine for $4.99. While this is good news for Conde Nast, it also reflects heavily on The New Yorker as a magazine and speaks to its digital distribution strategy. Of all Conde Nast's iPad magazines, The New Yorker has achieved the highest subscription rates by eschewing the interactive and sometimes annoying eye-candy content and navigation other digital magazines have been using in their apps. As The New York Times points out, "The New Yorker, a magazine that has always been heavy on text, took a different tack from its peers. Instead of loading its iPad app with interactive features, the magazine focused on presenting its articles in a clean, readable format." In other words, even on a device like the iPad, the content and skilled editorial decisions of a magazine seem to matter more than distracting visual flair like page curls, flips, and transitions. Pamela Maffei McCarthy, The New Yorker's deputy editor, told The New York Times, "That was really important to us: to create an app all about reading. There are some bells and whistles, but we're very careful about that. We think about whether or not they add any value. And if they don't, out the window they go." Good advice.
UK GQ subscribers will get iPad version for free
Conde Nast has told Pocket-lint that UK subscribers to its print edition of GQ will get the iPad version of the magazine for free. Currently the UK GQ Magazine iPad app is a free download, but users have to pay £2.40 per issue. However, Conde Nast is working with Apple to bring annual subscriptions and more a la carte options to the UK edition of GQ on the iPad. When it does, subscribers to the print edition will get the iPad edition for free. Conde Nast's decision to give the iPad edition of its magazine away for free to subscribers mirrors the decision by Time, Inc to give away its iPad editions to annual print subscribers. While iPad editions of magazines are starting to catch on, it looks like the magazine publishers have realized that current print subscribers wouldn't be happy if they had to pay for the digital editions of the same magazine they already get in the mail.
Wired, GQ in-app purchase subscriptions launching today
Condé Nast has officially launched subscriptions today for iPad editions of Wired and GQ. The Wired and GQ apps are free, and readers can buy either single issues at US$1.99 a pop or a full year for $19.99 through in-app purchases. The subscriptions automatically renew until you cancel them, so if you're curious about the magazine and don't want to be billed monthly for single issues, buy the subscription and cancel as quickly as possible. Current subscribers to the print versions from the US and Canada can access their digital subscriptions from within the app at no extra cost. Past digital issues of Wired are available for in-app purchase for $3.99, and you'll be able to do the same with back issues of the digital edition of GQ. You can read a full TUAW review of the Wired app here. Show full PR text WIRED SUBSCRIPTION NOW AVAILABLE ON IPAD New York, N.Y. – May 24, 2011 – WIRED is excited to announce that subscriptions for its game-changing iPad app will be available through In-App Purchase on the App Store beginning today. Starting with the June issue, featuring a special report produced in collaboration with NPR's Planet Money on the future of American jobs, WIRED will offer monthly and yearly iPad subscriptions and will continue to offer single issues, all via In-App Purchase on the App Store. Subscriptions to WIRED will be available for $1.99 per month or $19.99 per year. "WIRED thrives on progress across platforms, whether it's in the magazine, on the website, or on the iPad, " said VP and publisher Howard Mittman. "When the app launched last year it was the first to show how interactive and innovative the medium could be. Now, by offering our readers a subscription on iPad, WIRED is poised to lead the digital publishing conversation and reach a wider audience." Current WIRED print subscribers can access iPad editions immediately through their current subscription. Those who would like to purchase new print subscriptions, which include access to the iPad edition for $19.99, may do so at www.wired.com. The WIRED app is available as a free download from the App Store on iPad or at www.itunes.com/appstore. GQ SUBSCRIPTIONS NOW AVAILABLE ON iPAD New York, N.Y., May 24, 2011- GQ subscriptions for iPad are now available through In-App Purchase on the App Store, it was announced today by the magazine. Beginning with the June issue, featuring Alexander Skarsgård, star of HBO's True Blood, GQ will offer monthly and yearly iPad subscriptions and continue to offer single issues, all via In-App Purchase on the App Store. Subscriptions to GQ will be available for $1.99 per month or $19.99 per year. Current GQ print subscribers will be able to access iPad editions immediately through their current subscription. Those who would like to purchase new print subscriptions, which include access to the iPad edition for $19.99, may do so at GQ.com. The GQ App is available as a free download from the App Store on iPad or at www.itunes.com/appstore. About GQ GQ is the leading men's general-interest magazine, with a monthly readership of 6.6 million readers. It is available in print, online at GQ.com, and as an app at iTunes.com. The magazine is published by Condé Nast, a division of Advance Publications. Condé Nast operates in twenty-five countries and is the world leader in exceptional content creation.
Next Issue Media brings magazine subscriptions to Samsung Galaxy Tabs, but not all of them
It's been a busy month in the world of e-publishing. First, Time Inc. inked a deal to bring magazine subscriptions to the iPad, with both Hearst and Conde Nast following suit. And now, a consortium of publishing powerhouses known as Next Issue Media is looking to expand its tablet-based readership to Android users, as well. Beginning tomorrow, people who bought a wireless-enabled Samsung Galaxy Tab from Verizon will be able to purchase single copies of, or monthly subscriptions to seven magazines from the so-called "Hulu of Magazines," which includes Conde Nast, Hearst, Meredith, Time Inc., and News Corp. Users already subscribing to print editions will receive free digital subscriptions, though they won't be able to purchase both print and digital combo packages (that's on the way). Publishers, meanwhile, will be able to set their own prices and, according to Next Issue CEO Morgan Guenther, will receive "at least" 70-percent of all transactions -- the same percentage that Apple offers. Under this new Android deal, however, all of Next Issue's members will be able to freely access their subscribers' credit card information and other personal data -- something that Apple has steadfastly denied them. Obviously, it's far too early to tell whether or not this deal will give publishers more leverage in their negotiations with Cupertino, as the service will only be available to a small slice of Android tablet users. But Guenther says his organization is planning on releasing more titles for more devices this fall, with at least 40 magazines due out by year's end, along with an app for HP's WebOS.
Conde Nast brings The New Yorker to iPad, seven other magazines by month's end
Yet another print powerhouse is bringing its wares to the iPad, all lining up neatly ahead of Apple's upcoming WWDC. First it was Time, then it was Hearst, and now Condè Nast is joining the fun with very similar terms to the other two. Starting this week with The New Yorker, digital versions will be available for free to current print edition subscribers. For new subscribers it's $5.99 per month or $59.99 a year, which gets you 47 issues. Seven other magazines from the publisher are coming by the end of May, including Wired and Vanity Fair, priced at $1.99 each or $19.99 annually. That matches up perfectly with the earlier announcements, meaning Apple and the publishers seem to finally be getting along. Isn't it nice when everyone gets along?
Conde Nast rethinks its iPad strategy
A few weeks ago, after Conde Nast announced the company was slowing the process of bringing magazines to the iPad due to the ability to deliver the scale advertisers want (ie: iPad magazine sales suck), I wrote that sales of magazines on the iPad wouldn't get better until publishers woke up and realized that not many readers are going to pay $5 to read a single issue of a magazine on the iPad. Many readers agreed with me and, as of today, it appears that Conde Nast does too. The New York Post is reporting that Conde Nast is set to begin selling digital magazine subscriptions on the iPad as early as next week. The New Yorker will lead off the pack, followed by GQ, and then Wired, Golf Digest, Glamour, Vanity Fair, Self, and Allure. Single issues will drop from their current iPad prices of between US$3.99 to $4.99 an issue down to a reasonable US$1.99 an issue. Better yet, yearly subscriptions will ring in at US$19.99. Know what that means? The New Yorker is gonna have me (and probably many others) as a subscriber next week. As for current print subscribers, they'll be able to access the iPad editions of the magazines for free. Other magazine publishers: pay attention. This is how the magazine industry saves itself.
Conde Nast decision exemplifies why publishers need to rethink iPad magazines
Today representatives from Conde Nast told AdAge that they are slowing the addition of any new Conde Nast magazines to the iPad. Why? According to AdAge, Conde Nast feels "conditions aren't quite right yet to deliver the ideal app editions at the kind of scale that advertisers want." In other words, sales aren't stellar. Sales won't get stellar until magazine publishers wake up and reduce the per-issue prices of their magazines by 60-80%. An issue of GQ on the iPad costs $4.99, but the same issue of GQ through a subscription is priced at little more than a buck. Everyone knows magazines don't make most of their money from selling issues to consumers; they make it from ad revenue, and that ad revenue is going to lack big time until more people start buying magazines on the iPad. That won't happen until magazine publishers lower their subscription prices.
WSJ: Google plans a 'digital newsstand' to unite all newspapers and magazines under Android's umbrella
The Wall Street Journal has rounded up its cabal of sources today to present another delicious new battlefield in the struggle between Google and Apple for mobile supremacy. Specifically, it reports that the Mountain View team has approached Time Warner, Condé Nast and Hearst -- three of the biggest publishers of periodicals in the US -- with a view to offering their content through a Google-operated "digital newsstand" for Android devices. The appeal for media companies will be an easier route to monetizing their content, apparently, including the possibility that Google could take a smaller slice of revenues than the 30 percent charged by Apple and Amazon. There's also word of developments behind the scenes at Cupertino, where "several changes in iTunes" are expected to improve the publisher's experience of using the service, including making it easier to offer long-term subscriptions and related discounts. Apple's had nothing to say on the matter, while Google's responded by noting it's always in discussions with publishers and has nothing to announce at this point.
