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iPad apps: news and magazines
Apple's done a pretty good job convincing the old media that the iPad will save their industry, so we've taken our time trying out the launch titles in the App Store -- it's plain to see that different publishers have radically different ideas about how you're supposed to buy and consume their content, and everything from pricing to UI is currently up in the air. But while the apps we've seen so far are definitely intriguing, we haven't seen any silver bullets yet -- and to be perfectly honest, in several cases we wondered why an app was preferable to an iPad-optimized web site, or even (gasp) a paper subscription. Let's run down the launch lineup, shall we? Update: We added in NPR and Zinio by popular request, check 'em out below!
RIM launching $150 million VC fund for mobile apps
Following the lead of Google and Apple in providing a hefty chunk of some sort of funding up front for app developers, RIM is teaming up with RBC and Thomson Reuters to provide a $150 million fund to invest in "mobile applications and services." Interestingly, RIM isn't limiting those apps and services just to the BlackBerry, and instead the fund is designed to "advance the industry." The fund will be open to companies from all over the world, and sounds like it'll be open to pretty much any type of mobile application or service developer that plans on kicking ass in its respective field. We're curious as to how BlackBerry slanted the fund will end up being, but hey, it's their money, so we really couldn't complain either way.
