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Nintendo UK launches digital magazine, Nintendo Extra
Nintendo fans in the UK may have lost their ability to peruse Nintendo-related news and features via the printed page when the Official Nintendo Magazine shut down last month, but now there's a digital magazine to take its place. Dubbed "Nintendo Extra," this new branch of the Nintendo UK site features articles based on several key company franchises, including Pokemon, Mario Kart, Pikmin and The Legend of Zelda. Before you get too carried away however, most of the content included in this first issue of Nintendo Extra is quite short, and few articles amount to more than advertisements for their respective game. There is some noteworthy content however, including tips on getting the best time in Mario Kart 8 and an interview with Legend of Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma (though the questions - such as "Who are Link and Zelda?" - aren't exactly what you'd call "hard-hitting"). So maybe "digital magazine" isn't quite the way to describe Nintendo Extra - perhaps "digital pamphlet" or "brochure" might be better. But hey, a digital whatever-it-is is better than nothing, right? [Image: Nintendo]
Newsweek to drop print edition after December 31st, gives the digital future a warm hug
It's no secret that print media is on its way out, as many regional and niche publications have had to either find a path through the digital wilderness or fold completely. We're still not used to national publications facing that ultimatum, though, which makes Newsweek's fresh decision to drop its print edition after December 31st both unusual and a bellwether. Anyone still yearning for the magazine's content after the presses stop will have to turn to the purely digital Newsweek Global or its The Daily Beast sibling, no matter how attached they are to the outlet's 80-year history with paper. The explanation for the cutoff remains a familiar story: print readership is dying on the vine and expensive to maintain, while web and tablet adoption is growing quickly enough that Newsweek believes it can make the switch without taking a long-term financial hit. Whether or not the transition works, it's evident the periodical knows its identity must be wrapped around an online presence -- figuratively, not literally.
Next Issue brings its all-you-can-read magazine store to the iPad, plans start at $10 a month
The last time we heard about Next Issue, the all-you-can-read magazine store was launching on Android, with an iOS version said to be coming soon. Three months later, the startup's made good on its promise: the storefront is now up and running on iOS, with an iPad app live in the US App Store. If you're not familiar with the way Next Issue works, it's angling to be the Netflix of digital magazines, with a monthly subscription getting you unfettered access to a library of 39 titles. In brief, the fees break down to $10 per month for all the monthly and bi-weekly mags, and $15 if you want all that plus access to tabloids and other weeklies. One last thing: the free app is just the magazine reader; you'll need to download the apps through Next Issue's browser-based store. Now, if you're wondering what sorts of magazines will be represented in that list of 40-some-odd titles, know that every bigwig in magazine publishing is on board: Conde Nast, Time, Hearst, Meredith and News Corp. That means the The New Yorker is included, as are Esquire, GQ, Vanity Fair, Sports Illustrated and Popular Mechanics. In an interview, a company rep told us that Next Issue Media hopes to double the catalog by year's end, as well as ink deals with additional publishers. The biggest caveat, it seems, is that content providers have the prerogative to make a title available on one platform but not the other, so don't count on the iOS and Android apps offering identical selections. Feeling a bit tentative? The company is offering new customers a 30-day free trial, and we've also got not one, but four (yes, four) demo videos after the break.%Gallery-160005%
Adobe upgrades its Digital Publishing Suite with iPhone viewer, improved social media features
Between rolling out Creative Suite 6, Creative Cloud and a new video platform for broadcasters, Adobe's been mighty busy lately. If that's not evidence enough that the outfit is making good on its promise to restructure around digital media, hear this: the company just announced a slew of enhancements to its Digital Publishing Suite (DPS), which Conde Nast and others use to format magazines for mobile devices. For starters, publishers now have a way to tailor content specifically for the iPhone, just as they can for the iPad, Kindle Fire and Android tablets. So far, we know Conde Nast will be using this tool to build a modified edition of The New Yorker, though Conde Nast hasn't announced when it will become available for download. Meanwhile, art departments used to working in InDesign can now take a single a layout and repurpose it across multiple devices. Similarly, DPS is now integrated with Adobe Edge, which means publishers can create HTML5 animations and then easily port them over to their digital editions. Moving on, SocialSharing is exactly what it sounds like: it promises to make it easier for people reading these magazines to share stories using built-in email, Twitter and Facebook functionality. Getting more granular, a new font rights policy means that once a publishing company buys rights to use a certain font, it won't have to pay additional per-usage fees every time someone downloads the app. Lastly, Adobe announced that Meredith, the company that brings you (yes, you) Better Homes and Gardens, Parents and Fitness will also begin using the platform to create digital editions. Hold onto your britches, kids.
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.
Hearst Corp. signs on to sell its magazines through iTunes, bringing more O to the iPad
Esquire, Popular Mechanics, and O are not just for your local bookstore's magazine rack any more -- assuming you still have a local bookstore and that it is still large enough to own a rack. Hearst Corporation, the force behind those printed 'zines, has become the first major publisher to terms with Apple, so those very publications will soon be on iTunes. Starting with their July editions you can subscribe for a seemingly quite reasonable $1.99 monthly, though the annual option of $19.99 seems like less of a bargain. (You can get a year of Popular Mechanics on pulp for $12.) This is just a small sampling from Heart's back catalog, but the company is promising more are coming soon, leaving us wondering just how we're supposed to fill out our Cosmo quizzes without a pen.
Playboy releases not-so-discreet 250GB 'cover to cover' hard drive
Well, you can finally throw out that trunk in your grandfather's garage. Hugh Heffner's legacy has taken a cue from National Geographic -- in an arguably non-horrifying way -- and partnered with publisher Bondi Digital to release a (presumably Seagate-branded) 250GB external hard drive packed with every issue of Playboy released since 1953. Its $300 asking price is roughly four times what you'd pay for a fresh G-rated 250GB drive today, but compared to a 57-year subscription, the digital vault is certainly a bargain. In contrast to their trail blazin' efforts with the iBod though, thanks to the prominent placement of the brand's iconic bow tie-wearing bunny and name, there's no chance of using this device for practical tasks such as backing up TPS reports at the office. Like the decision to phase out DVDs in favor of VOD however, the move does prove the magazine isn't afraid of staying abreast of today's content consumption trends. Next stop, Nook Color?
iPad apps: defining experiences from the first wave
There are now over 1,348 approved apps for the iPad. That's on top of the 150,000 iPad-compatible iPhone programs already available in the App Store. When Apple's tablet PC launches, just hours from now, it will have a software library greater than that of any handheld in history -- not counting the occasional UMPC. That said, the vast majority of even those 1,348 iPad apps are not original. They were designed for the iPhone, a device with a comparatively pokey processor and a tiny screen, and most have just been tweaked slightly, upped in price and given an "HD" suffix -- as if that somehow justified the increased cost. Besides, we've seen the amazing potential programs have on iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile and webOS when given access to a touchscreen, always-on data connection, GPS, cloud storage and WiFi -- but where are the apps that truly define iPad? What will take advantage of its extra headroom, new UI paradigms and multitouch real estate? Caught between netbook and smartphone, what does the iPad do that the iPhone cannot? After spending hours digging through the web and new iPad section of the App Store, we believe we have a number of reasonably compelling answers. Update: Now includes Wormhole Remote, TweetDeck, SkyGrid, Touchgrind HD, GoToMeeting, SplitBrowser, iDisplay, Geometry Wars and Drawing Pad.
Aion magazine pre-orders end March 25
Judging by the number of Daevas running around with black armor dye in recent weeks, it seems as if the denizens of Atreia have been gobbling up the newly-minted Aion Official Magazine at a rapid clip. The publication, a digital-only collaboration between NCSoft and Cranberry Publishing Interactive, is issued monthly and is the only magazine exclusively dedicated to the world of Aion. In addition to the in-game item bundled with each issue, customers who pre-order a year's subscription receive a goody bag that includes a new set of wings, choice of white or black dyes, a pilot hat, and scrolls and potions. NCSoft's community team posted an announcement this morning indicating that March 25 is the last day to pre-order and receive your bonus in-game items.
Cynergy's magazine kiosk concept serves up digital content a la carte (video)
Not that we've never seen Surface-like touch tables interacting with mobile devices before, but now that the whole thing is being repackaged as "the magazine stand of the future" and those trendy tablets are involved, we might as well have a look. Cynergy is demonstrating a seamless method for purchasing digital content from one of these kiosks using your e-reader or tablet pc. It's just a matter of plopping your device -- which already knows your identity and available credit -- atop the display table and then flicking the particular magazine or newspaper you want onto your storage. It looks effortless and all, but it also requires that you have the "custom designed and built" software from Cynergy, which you'll have to pump funds into in order to get the seamlessness going. We don't know how we feel about yet another proprietary ecosystem floating about, but you can make your own mind up after watching the video after the break.
Wired's tablet app goes on show: developed on AIR, heading to the iPad (video)
Mmm, digital magazines. They are the little bites of paid-for content that all the publishers believe we should be deeply enthralled with. Hoping to show us why exactly it is that we should all care (and pay) for prepackaged digital content is Wired's latest and most comprehensive demo of its tablet app on an unspecified 16:9 device. Setting aside hopefuls like the Joojoo and Adam for a moment, it is clear that this is ultimately intended for Apple's iPad -- the device that stands by far the biggest chance of making the digimag concept a commercial success. Interesting choice of development partner, then, as Condé Nast has opted to use Adobe's AIR platform for the underlying mechanics. Adobe promises its Packager for iPhone, part of CS5, will allow devs to easily port AIR apps to run natively on the iPad, but until Apple gives its official assent to the final code, nothing is guaranteed -- and Packager hasn't even officially shipped yet. As far as the app goes, it'll come with Twitter and Facebook integration, and navigation is geared toward the touching and swiping model so prevalent today. See it on video after the break.
Can Apple save gaming magazines?
[SI.com; tablet concept] What do these publications have in common: EGM, Games for Windows, Official PlayStation Magazine, Computer Games Magazine, Tips and Tricks, GMR, Xbox Nation, and Massive? Video games, sure, but all have also perished in the last five years. With the looming announcement of Apple's long-rumored tablet device, there's a chance that gaming magazines may finally be able to stop the bleeding. It's no secret that just about every video game magazine out there is hurting right now -- save for the absurdly colossal Game Informer (its unique arrangement with GameStop provides the publication with a seemingly infinite subscriber base eager to save on used-game purchases and get extra trade-in credit). The magazine world in general has been hit hard by the evaporation of advertising dollars, and gaming publications have been subjected to some of the worst of that storm due to the movement of their traditionally tech-savvy audience away from print and to digital media. However, Apple is rumored to be launching a device that could make magazines cool again and help the gaming print media crawl off its deathbed. The Wall Street Journal reported several days ago on information from anonymous sources that Apple has been in talks with several print media corporations, including Conde Nast, one of the largest magazine publishers in the world, to bring its publications to Apple's long-rumored tablet PC -- expected to be announced tomorrow, January 27, at a press event in San Francisco. The article speculated that Apple has plans to use this new device to redefine print media in much the same way that iTunes and the iPod revolutionized the monetization of music.
Future making Qore-like PS3 product for UK
Future Publishing and Sony UK announced today that it will deliver an "on-console digital magazine" for Europe in early 2009. The thing doesn't have a name, but for all intents and purposes it sounds like Future's US digital magazine, Qore.This would explains why Qore hasn't been available to the European audience since it launched back in June. No word yet if the UK version will have a new host or if Veronica Belmont will be taking lessons from a dialect coach for the gig.
