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News Corp and Apple set date for The Daily launch: February 2nd
The Daily, News Corp's iPad-specific news"paper," is living up to speculation about an early February inauguration with the announcement of a launch event on February 2nd. CEO Rupert Murdoch is explicitly mentioned on the invite, though Apple's presence will be fulfilled by Eddy Cue, presumably a late draft-in to substitute for his company's CEO, Steve Jobs, who's currently out on medical leave. Even without the great Apple orator, we expect the arrival of the first tablet-only news outlet to be a significant event, so we'll be strapping on our liveblogging gear and heading out to the Guggenheim Museum for a looksie. You'll join us in spirit, won't you?
Guardian iPhone app debuts, subscription available to UK customers
The Guardian has released a brand new version of its iPhone app on the App Store, this time featuring a subscription model for UK customers. Lots of publications have been trying to get Apple to approve a subscription model for apps, but The Guardian went ahead and did it themselves, offering up a six-month subscription to the content for £3, or a full year subscription for £4. The full app will still have content even without the subscription, but the subscription offers features like offline browsing and search, as well as some extra audio and video content. Americans can still download and use the app for free, and while it has all of the subscription features unlocked, the app is populated with ads. Interesting model for The Guardian, but theirs is a big organization, and the app is probably just a line item somewhere in a gigantic budget. If the subscription model works well for them, it could influence both Apple and other publications in terms of how they appear on the App Store.
'The Daily' iPad newspaper set for launch, according to sources (update)
The good old Associated Press has a couple of good old unnamed sources pinpointing the launch of The Daily -- the first iPad-only newspaper venture -- as January 19th. They even name the location as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Rupert Murdoch's News Corp is the company making this leap into the unknown (do people even care about news anymore?) and he is specifically named as a presenter at this alleged event for next week, to be joined on stage by Apple's Steve Jobs. An ancillary little note is that journalists are said to have already been hired in bureaus across the country, including the big news-spinning markets of New York and Los Angeles -- which makes all the sense in the world given the widespread expectation that the news app they'll be working for will launch by the end of this month. Update: Did we say the end of this month? Looks like The Daily's more likely to debut in early February instead -- News Corporation confirmed to All Things D that the iPad news service has been delayed, and an unnamed source says that it will be "weeks, not months" before we see it emerge again.
Tribune's Mosaic app brings elegant media aggregation to Windows 7 tablets, soon to Windows Phone 7
Tribune is hardly the first media monolith to try something like this, but the more the merrier, right? And for once, a company's out to provide an elegant, useful news aggregator for a platform not named iOS. Mosaic is a fresh piece of software, designed to pull together news and information from all sorts of sources onto Windows 7-based tablets. At least, that's what we're guessing. According to the official press release, it'll be available for use "with Microsoft's Windows 7 Mobile-based tablets" starting on January 31st, and unless the folks in Redmond have yet another OS up their sleeve, we're guessing they simply mean Win7 slates. Furthermore, a companion app for Windows Phone 7, iPad and Android will be following shortly, and it sure sounds as if both versions will be completely gratis.
Survey finds iPad negatively affecting print media
Bad news for members of the newspaper industry that expect to use digital media to save their print editions. A recent survey from the Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI) shows that iPad owners are more likely to read news on their iPad than a printed newspaper. RJI surveyed over 1,600 iPad owners and asked them about their usage habits, especially as it concerns reading and news consumption. Not unexpectedly, 84.4% of iPad owners primarily use their iPad to follow breaking news and current events. As a result, newspaper subscriptions, once the staple of the newspaper industry, are being cannibalized by the iPad. Slightly more than 30% of iPad owners do not subscribe to a newspaper, preferring to consume news on their tablet device. Of the 931 respondents that have a newspaper subscription and read an hour's worth of news each day on their iPad, more than half (58.1%) intend to cancel their newspaper subscriptions within six months. A growing 10.7% have already canceled their subscription and have switched to iPad-only reading. This is not the first time we have seen similar headlines. James Murdoch, head of News Corp's Asian/European operations, confirmed that iPhone and iPad apps were "much more cannibalistic" than websites when it came to newspaper subscriptions. This deleterious effect is seen even at big-name websites like the Wall Street Journal and the Times of London. While this trend may ultimately curtail print editions, it also creates a new distribution method for those newspapers willing to move out of their comfort zone. Several large newspapers, including the WSJ, The New York TImes, and the London-based City A.M., are making that transition and have released iPad apps. Those that have not embraced the iPad may be encouraged to adopt this medium when Apple rolls out support for subscription-based pricing, a feature expected to debut in iOS 4.3. [Via Macworld]
The Guardian announces subscription-based news app, is rumored Newsstand looming?
AppleInsider reports that, on Thursday, The Guardian announced it will be replacing its current app with an all new version "soon." Although the current version of the app will continue to work (but eventually be discontinued), the new app is to introduce The Guardian's award-winning video, reader comments on articles, improved live blogs and landscape reading. Jonathon Moore, the mobile product manager for The Guardian wrote, "We'll be launching the new app globally for the first time and although we can't confirm exactly when it will be available, we're working towards a pre-Christmas release." However, the more interesting side of this story is that the new app will be subscription-based, costing £2.99 for six months and £3.99 for a year. Although Moore didn't indicate that the new app's pricing structure had anything to do with any changes in the way the App Store delivers news content, it certainly does coincide with the rumored December 9th (or thereabouts) press event -- supposedly announcing an App Store news subscription service (featuring Steve Jobs as well as News Corp's Rupert Murdoch introducing The Daily -- unless it has in fact been delayed). Publishers have been seeking a better way to deliver their content on the App Store for some time now. Is the much-speculated App Store Newsstand (perhaps similar to the iBookstore) about to be introduced in time for the holiday season? We're holding out for December the 9th!
USA Today talks about converting its iPad app to HTML5 for the Google TV
The Android market may not be accessible from Google TV devices just yet, so webapps are where it's at for now, and USA Today is one of the ones bookmarked by default. For those wondering about the development of such apps to ease viewing on TV screens, it has a blog post detailing some of the technology used and features available, for example to switch from column to column. If you're using Chrome or Safari you can pull up the page on a computer and have a look as well.
Apple prepping App Store subscription payments for News Corp's upcoming 'The Daily' pub?
John Gruber of Daring Fireball has synthesized some of the swirling rumors about Rupert Murdoch's latest News Corp venture: The Daily, an iPad / tablet-specific publication that will cost real US money dollars. Add in a touch of his own sources and it's a pretty interesting story, particularly when it comes to the future of publications and other "recurring" services on iOS devices. Gruber says that his sources (and he makes sure to clarify that his sources on this particular bit aren't from Apple) say Apple is brewing up a new billing option for apps to allow for subscription payments through the App Store. That sounds kind of boring, but the lack of real automated payment has held back some publishers. Right now a user has to knowingly tap an in-app purchase every time they want to continue their subscription, instead of letting that monthly payment float into the back of the consciousness where publications want it, and Apple also restricts app builders from getting their payments outside of the Apple ecosystem. Word is that there could be an Apple event within the next few weeks to announce all this, though it seems a stretch for Apple to rally the troops for just subscription payments and a new pub that flaunts them. Maybe they'll throw in a Verizon iPhone just for kicks!
The Daily: Murdoch's iPad newspaper is like 'The New York Post Goes to College'
We don't usually find our latest tech news in Women's Wear Daily yet the publication seems to have scooped Rupert Murdoch's plans for a tablet-only newspaper called The Daily -- news now seemingly confirmed by the New York Times. Scheduled for release early next year, The Daily is expected to cost 99 cents per week (about $4.25 per month) for an electronic paper published seven days a week by a 100-member strong newsroom staffed with "twentysomething" talent led by a former managing editor from the New York Post. According to the sources speaking to WWD, It'll be written with the "sensibilities" of a tabloid and the intelligence of a broadsheet focusing on national news. In other words, it's said to be like "The New York Post Goes to College." A beta is expected by Christmas before hitting the iPad "and other tablet devices" sometime in early 2011.
FT subsidizes employee iPads, wants them to keep up with the times
You know tablets have officially become a mainstream craze when even the reserved, serious types over at the Financial Times start splashing subsidies around to stimulate their ownership. We've just heard that a $480 purse of gold coins will be extended to any FT workers who decide to purchase an iPad or another tablet between now and the end of June 2011, reportedly in an effort to help the paper's staff become "expert and experienced in using them." We already knew the FT, which happens to have its own iPad and Galaxy Tab apps, saw slate devices as an important piece of the puzzle that is our future, and this move cements that attitude in place. Paper's dead, long live electronics-filled plastic.
App review: Wall Street Journal Tablet Edition for Android
We'd always thought this was going to be the year of Android tablets, but until the day Google gives its full blessing for the tablet form factor, the market will still be lacking in apps that make good use of the extra screen estate. Funnily enough, today the Wall Street Journal took a leap of faith and pushed out an Android version of its tablet app, just in time to ride on the Samsung Galaxy Tab's first wave. In many ways, WSJ's Android app appears to be a slimmed down version of its iPad equivalent. Once logged in with a subscription account, users are greeted by the same start screen for choosing your papers, which are automatically downloaded at launch. Naturally, once the papers are on your device, you can read them regardless of internet connectivity, and you can save your favorites to a dedicated area there for quick access as well. More after the break. %Gallery-107209%
Wall Street Journal releases Android Tablet Edition app, phones need not apply
Given that the first truly respectable Android tablet just came out, the Wall Street Journal is timing its Tablet Edition app release pretty much perfectly. It aims to offer a faithful reproduction of the printed version of the paper while augmenting it with full-screen video, market data, customization options, and the ability to save articles for offline reading. $3.99 will net you a week's worth of access on both Android and iPad Tablet Editions along with subscriber privileges on WSJ.com. The app itself is free, so if you have a Galaxy Tab just hanging around (it doesn't work on phones, we've already tried on a Desire Z) you can give it a test-drive -- it's certainly what we intend to do, check back later for our impressions!
Amazon deal could affect Apple's publishing efforts
Amazon has just backed down a bit on its newspaper publishing program for the Kindle service, and it's possible that it happened as a result of pressure from Apple itself. Amazon has announced a new plan for newspapers and their content that would give them a full 70% royalty split, a deal very similar to the ones Apple is making with all kinds of content developers lately. Originally, Amazon had contracted various newspapers around the world to provide content to its Kindle service under a much more restrictive plan, but as we've reported here before, Apple is now trying to do the same thing for iPad, and that is likely giving newspaper content creators some leverage against Amazon's original agreement. Under the terms of the new agreement, it may even be possible for newspapers to submit their content to both Amazon and Apple, and that was previously not possible before. That means that next January (when Apple is expected to introduce a second version of the iPad), we may finally see an Apple-run way to get newspapers and even blogs on the device, perhaps through iBooks or another brand new app. This is all speculative, at this point -- right now, all we know is that Amazon has moved towards a more Apple-like deal in terms of sharing newspaper content. But it certainly seems like a deal to bring more newspapers to the iPad is coming soon.
Amazon to enact 70 percent revenue share for Kindle newspaper and magazine publishers
Magazine and newspaper publishers are about to get a larger piece of the Kindle pie -- 70 percent, to be exact. That's what Amazon's now offering, in an effort that's clearly aimed to attract more periodicals to the service. Only catch is, all versions of the periodical have to work for all version of Kindle, in all geographical regions where the publishers has the rights to distribute -- a small price to pay, especially since it keeps the customer base pretty wide open. Interested parties, you probably already know where to look.
NYTimes for iPad app delivers entire newspaper for free... until 2011
Remember that New York Times Editor's Choice app that hit right alongside the iPad's launch? Hello, overhaul. NYTimes for iPad was just unleashed today, with many describing the results as an ideal newspaper-to-tablet port. The primary difference? This is the entire New York Times, delivered to your iPad free of charge (assuming you're a registered member of the site, which can also be accomplished for no charge). The new app brings over 25 sections of content to readers, but the glorious fun is sure to be short lived; The Times is planning to launch a pay model next year, and after that wall goes up, the app will also require a paid subscription. Enjoy it while it lasts, we guess.
London newspaper City A.M. coming to the iPad
If you aren't a Londoner, this news probably won't excite you that much. However, if you make the daily commute on the tube like the five million rest of us (well, 4,999,999. I work from home), a regular part of your morning is browsing though the City A.M. newspaper -- a staple of daily London business news. I've been reading the paper daily for the last three years, and I get irked when I walk to a tube stop and find the City A.M. bin empty. Well, no more! A little birdy told me that City A.M. is hard at work on a full-blown iPad edition. "We're working on a series of apps, including for the iPad...should be ready in the next few months. The iPad will include a digital reader with an exact replica of the print product, as well as html news updates." It's unclear at the moment if the City A.M. iPad app will be free like the print edition or a paid app. Either way, now fellow Londoners will never have to be worried about missing an issue -- or using the print edition as an umbrella on those rainy mornings.
Murdoch plans digital-only paid newspaper for tablets and phones
We can't honestly say whether The Wall Street Journal's laggy iPad rendition was a success at $17.29 per month, but either way Rupert Murdoch's News Corp is gearing up for another try at this whole digital news thing. The LA Times reports that Murdoch is planning an entirely new national publication for the iPad and other devices -- in other words, not just a print-to-digital conversion this time. "Unlike News Corp.'s business-centric Wall Street Journal, the new digital newspaper would target a more general readership, offering short, snappy stories that could be digested quickly," writes the Times, adding that sources say the digital paper could launch by the end of the year. Here's hoping it debuts alongside that Skiff Reader, eh?
TUAW's Daily App: Times for iPad
We posted about Times way back in April of last year. Back then, it was an RSS reader for Mac that organized your feeds into a newspaper-style page, so you could quickly and easily scan and browse a lot of information. Nowadays, of course, the iPad is one of the main devices for consumption of online content, and the team at Acrylic has finally brought that reader over to Apple's tablet (and the 2.0 Mac version is due out soon as well). It doesn't hurt, I'm sure, that apps like Flipboard have made it cool to consume RSS content in a programmatically designed form again. Times is pretty smooth, as you can see on the website. It will seamlessly bring in content from all of your feeds, as well as Facebook and Twitter, and organize them all in an easy to read newspaper/blog format. Unfortunately, it doesn't sync up with the Mac version (or any other readers that you may already have set up), so you'll probably have to rebuild whatever group of feeds you're already reading. And personally, I have the same problem with this that I have with all of these "nice" feed readers; it's cool to see your feeds all prettied up and formatted, but sometimes I just want to make sure that I see important news or hit a certain site first. But that's not the kind of reading you'd do with an app like this anyway. (Since I write for TUAW, a lot of my RSS reading is systematically combing for interesting stories and posts.) As a simple iPad reader that makes multiple feeds pretty and easy to read, Times for iPad is worth checking out if you haven't landed on a good solution yet. It's US $7.99 on the App Store right now.
Aussie newspaper selling out ads for 1st iPad edition
The Australian is busy prepping its iPad app, which will deliver issues of the newspaper to subscribers. Thus far, signing up subscribers has gone well; 3 months worth of ads have also been sold, including to big names like IBM and Toyota. The paper has created an ad package that includes 3 months' worth of category exclusivity on the iPad version, plus spots in the physical paper and online. Developers hope to have video as part of the app at launch, if not very shortly thereafter. One challenge identified by managing editor Grant Holloway has been converting ads from Flash to HTML5. According to Holloway, "...the iPad won't play Flash and a lot of online ads use Flash, so there are a lot of people who are going to have to become very familiar with HTML5. If they've got their head around it, they'll be able to do cool stuff -- better than anything they can do online." It's not exactly clear what he means by 'online,' but he's excited! Call it novelty, but I've read more newspaper articles since buying my iPad than I have in who knows how long. Earlier this week I saw that my hometown paper has hired a development firm to create an iPad delivery system. Now that I live so far away, I can't get the Scranton Times, but I still like to know what's going on. An iPad version would fit the bill nicely. Expect The Australian's app to cost $4.99 per month at launch as "an introductory price." The cost will be reconsidered when version 2 is released. [Via iPad Watcher]
Rumor: Apple's iTravel being previewed in other markets
Last week, Patently Apple got a hint of a new app/service from Apple called iTravel, an official app that would allow you to make and check-in travel reservations with just your iPhone. Apparently it's farther along than we thought, because a new app co-sponsored by Apple in a Montreal newspaper appears to show off the app itself, including an on-screen seat display while checking in, a "My Flights" section for flight tracking, and a "Find Flight" search button. [Mmm, egg. Our Canadian cousins have written in to point out that the app featured in the newspaper ad is not a secret Apple travel app, but is in fact the real world, maple-syrup-and-curling enabled Air Canada app. Demerits to PA and 9to5 for misreading and to us for falling for the mixup. –Ed.] PA suggests this is all being done in time for something called the Travel Distribution Summit on June 17, but I can think of another conference in June that might have Apple showing off new official applications. It's not 100% clear that the app in the ad is a brand new app by Apple, but in addition to the Concert Ticket+ patent that appeared a while back, it's a safe guess that Apple is cooking up some new utility software. We'll have to keep eyes out during WWDC and see what we can find. [via 9to5Mac]
