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Libby is making it easier to access magazines for free with a supported library card
Libby is getting some updates that should make it easier to read the likes of 'The New Yorker,' 'Rolling Stone,' 'Bon Appetit' and 'Wired' for free.
Flipboard’s Storyboards are a new way to curate and share across the internet
Flipboard has started rolling out a new curation tool that encourages users to narrow in on a topic with only a couple of relevant links.
Apple offers three-month News+ trials through Black Friday weekend
Apple Music has long had three-month free trials, but what if you want to give News+ a similar dry run? You can -- but only if you act quickly. Apple is offering a three-month trial to News+ to American and Canadian users who sign up through Black Friday weekend. That's much longer than the usual one month, and should give you a considerably better feel for what it's like to read magazines and newspapers on your Apple devices.
Apple to shut down Texture on May 28th now that News+ exists
You knew Texture wasn't long for this world once Apple News+ arrived -- and sure enough, the end is in sight. Texture has warned subscribers that its all-you-can-read magazine service will end on May 28th, 2019. You'll have a month-long free News+ trial (the same as for anyone else) to see if the new service scratches your itch. However, there's one main problem: many of Texture's subscribers can't make the jump.
Apple may relaunch its Netflix for magazines service in the spring
Apple may launch a new version of Texture, a magazine subscription app it bought in March, in the spring. However, publishing executives are reportedly wary of including their products in the service and potentially losing revenue to Apple's all-in-one model.
YouTube bans videos that sell guns and accessories
Gun videos may be a thing of the past on YouTube, with the Google-owned company updating its policies on firearms-related content. Videos can no longer sell guns or accessories via direct sales or even have links to sites that sell them. Videos also cannot have instruction on manufacturing firearms or associated items like magazines or silencers.
Apple buys Texture, the 'Netflix of magazine plans'
Apple's bids to promote digital magazines haven't always been fruitful (remember The Daily?), but it's about to give them another boost. The company has acquired Texture, the Netflix-style magazine subscription service that gives you access to a host of publications for a flat monthly fee. Apple wasn't specific about its intentions for the Texture team, but the deal reflects its commitment to "quality journalism from trusted sources." It also noted that the buyout gave it an "impressive catalog" of magazines -- the connection to major publishers (Conde Nast, Hearst, Meredith and News Corp) may be as important as the service itself.
'W Magazine' shows how fashion is embracing augmented reality
The fashion world loves augmented reality. From Gap to Nike, brands are trying to find different ways to integrate the technology into their retail experience. Now W Magazine, one of the most prominent fashion publications, is treading a similar path with a new AR-powered issue. Done in partnership with The Mill, a visual effects production studio, the magazine's Sept. 2017 Collector's Issue features an interactive, computer-generated image of Katy Perry on the cover. At first glance, it seems like a traditional magazine, but that changes when parts of it come to life when viewed through the lens of a smartphone or tablet. For W Magazine, it's about using tech to keep its print publication modern.
Amazon offers UK Prime members a free, rotating e-book library
While Amazon offers a variety of Prime perks for Britons, it can often take a while for some of them to make it across the Atlantic. Take, for example, Prime Reading: a "free" book subscription that launched in the US last October but is only now coming to the UK. Unlike Kindle Unlimited -- which offers unrestricted access to over a million books, magazines and audiobooks for £8 a month -- Prime Reading is bundled with Amazon's annual subscription and delivers a rotating selection of popular e-books, magazines and short content.
Google Play Newsstand now shows stories based on your interests
If you're a heavy user of Google's news reader, get ready to bear with some big changes: today, the company gave Newsstand a complete overhaul. The updated app takes a step back from the categorically organized feed the app is known for to focus on creating an experience specifically tailored to the interests of the user. The idea is to create a more personal experience that factors in local news, personal interests and the day's major headlines.
Scribd adds unlimited access to 'New York' and 'Time' magazine
Last summer Scribd axed romance novels because it couldn't afford them. Business has apparently stabilized because now it's adding magazines to the fold. Not those types of magazines, though. Starting this month, what's being added to the subscription-based reading service is unlimited access to publications Bloomberg Business Week, Fortune, Money, New York, People and Time. The magazines are a value-add and won't bump the existing $8.99 monthly fee, according to Wall Street Journal.
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.
Amazon Singles Classics brings stories from magazines to Kindle
If you're looking for some new reading material on your Kindle or inside Amazon's reading app, you're in luck. The online retailer announced Singles Classics: a collection of essays and stories from "well-known authors" that were published in "top magazines and periodicals." In fact, some of the selections will be available digitally for the first time. The articles are priced at $0.99 and up, but Kindle Unlimited subscribers are privy to the content at no extra charge.
UK tech and gaming magazines are banding together
It's no secret that most magazines are struggling to retain, never mind increase their readership. The medium isn't dead, far from it, but the ever-growing competition online is forcing publishers to rethink what they print. The latest strategy is, unsurprisingly, to create scale through consolidation. Future PLC, the company behind Edge, T3 and MacFormat, as well as the more online-oriented TechRadar and GamesRadar, is now acquiring its fellow magazine maker Imagine Publishing. The deal is worth £14.2 million ($21.1 million) and will be settled entirely through shares.
Next Issue, the Netflix for magazines, reborn with a fresh design and new name
For those who haven't heard of it, Next Issue is best described as the Netflix of magazines: It's an app that, for a monthly fee, gives you all-you-can-read access to a large library of digital magazines. It first launched on Android in 2012 and eventually made its way to the iPad and Windows devices, although it's been ages since it received any substantial updates. That changes today, however: The app is relaunching with a new look, new features and even a new name -- it's called "Texture" now, thank you very much.
Flipboard users can upvote their way to a better home feed
Flipboard gives you lots of different ways to find interesting reads. You can choose specific topics, publications, users and magazines, all of which contribute to your main "Cover Stories" feed. The problem is that when you see something you don't like, it's hard to remove it without unfollowing one of these broader sources completely. To solve the problem, Flipboard is introducing a "fine-tune" option that lets you give any article a thumbs up or thumbs down. Depending on your feedback, Flipboard will automatically reduce or increase similar stories in your home feed. Better yet, your feedback will trigger a list of topics that Flipboard thinks are relevant to the article, giving you further control. You can also mute the publication entirely if you're not happy with their editorial style.
Magzter launches "all you can read" magazine subscription for $9.99 per month
Ever heard of Magzter? It's a digital magazine store and newsstand with a current customer base of about 24 million users. Today the company took a shot at other magazine providers like Zinio and Apple's own Newsstand by announcing the launch of Magzter Gold, which provides unlimited access to over 2,000 magazines for US$9.99 monthly. Also included in that fee is access to thousands of books and comic titles. To make it easier to figure out what you're going to consume out of that smorgasbord of words, Magzter Gold also has a new user interface to make content discovery less of a hassle. The new interface can "algorithmically tailor the reading experience for individual users based on their interests and interactions with in-app content." Magzter is a free download and a universal iOS app. Those magazines can also be viewed from your Mac or PC web browser. You can get a look at all of the available Magzter Gold titles at this link to see if there are enough to pique your interest. If there are only a handful you'd really want to read, you can always get Magzter Gold Lite, which offers unlimited access to five titles per month (including all back issues).
Google Play Newsstand gets a redesign and new magazine view
Google is working its way through all its apps and updating them in anticipation of the release Android L. Next on the list is Play Newsstand, which most obviously is getting a Material Design facelift. That means a card based UI with bigger images and lots of transitional animations. But a visual revamp on its own isn't particularly exciting. The best news is that the reading experience for print magazines has been revamped. Until now reading a magazine meant scrolling around a PDF version of the print editions, with a few notable exceptions that had "interactive" editions. Now, you'll actually be able to browse a list of articles in the issue and open them up in a format that's much more phone friendly. You get clean easy to read text, without having to sacrifice the big images. Newsstand is also getting much more fine grained control over the topics in the explore section. So instead of just Food & Drink, you can get articles dedicated to vegetarian cuisine or the paleo diet delivered straight to your phone. The new version of Google Play Newsstand will be rolling out on Android over the next week. iOS users will probably have to wait a long while...
'Computerworld' ends its print run, becomes a digital-only magazine
After nearly half a century Computerworld is ending its existence as a print magazine. Next Monday the final issue of the stalwart publication will be circulated on processed wood pulp. Computerworld won't be going away completely, however, an online version will continue to exist. It's a story that is becoming increasingly familiar. Countless magazines and newspapers have closed up shop as print has suffered what can only be described as a long and slow death spiral. But plenty have carried on as digital versions, as publications try to breathe new life into their struggling properties. In addition to the website, Computerworld will launch a digital magazine on August 1st that will be optimized for tablets and desktop PCs. Oddly, it seems the initial version will neglect truly mobile formats. Now all that remains to be seen is if one of the oldest computer magazines in the world can survive the continued evolution of the publishing world.
Future publishing restructure resulting in loss of 170 UK jobs
Restructuring at magazine publisher Future will result in the a loss of over 170 jobs in the UK, the publisher reported in its half-year financial results (ending March 31, 2014). Known for gaming publications like OXM, PC Gamer, CVG and Edge, Future announced its global plans to "refocus and simplify" at the beginning of the month. Future reported an increase in its normalized UK revenues by two percent to £41.5 million ($69.4 million), which accounted for 85 percent of the group's total revenue. Its normalized U.S. revenue was down 14 percent for the half-year to £7.3 million ($12.2 million). Part of Future's plans involves the sale of the company's sport and craft properties to Immediate Media for up to £24 million ($40.1 million). The sports magazines include Procycling, Cycling Plus and Mountain Biking UK, whereas the craft publications in question include both the UK and US Mollie Makes magazines, The Knitter and Simply Knitting. [Image: Future PLC]
