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Daily Update for March 28, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Report: Newsstand apps for the iPad generate about $70K per day
A report from Distimo suggests iPad Newsstand apps are generating US$70,000 per day for Apple and its top 100 participating publishers less than six months after the category debuted in iOS 5. Not surprisingly, the top grossing apps are The Daily, the NY Times for iPad and The New Yorker Magazine. Though it pales in comparison to some categories like Games which generates millions of dollars in revenue, the growth in the Newsstand category is a sign that magazine and newspaper apps have potential, especially on a tablet device like the iPad.
Apple's Newsstand application aiding digital magazine sales, says 'I told you so'
There's no doubt that the digital magazine's road to success has been a bumpy one. The original -- and still the main -- idea was to push content creators and publishers forward in the paperless era, but there's been many doubters and fallen soldiers in the process. While Apple hasn't been the only outfit looking to bring the magazine to the small screen, the introduction of the Newsstand app in iOS 5 aimed to give digitized publications a place to shine on their own. According to AllThingsD, the shelf isn't just a real estate hog on your springboard, it's actually helping to boost sales; Popular Science alone has seen an uptick in subscriptions on the order of 11,000 since the app launched, and signs of slowdown are nowhere to be spotted. PopSci's results may not be found in every publishing house, but it's as solid a sign as any that the tactic may be working. Hit the source link for that whiz-bang chart action.
Popular Science sees boost from Apple's Newsstand
Apple's Newsstand app, which premiered on iOS devices with the release of iOS 5, was designed to improve the sales of newspapers and magazines by giving publishers their own virtual shelf space in a highly visible app. Several other publications have already touted their success stories with Newsstand, and now Popular Science is joining the chorus. The magazine, which is undoubtedly popular with the tech crowd, published cumulative subscription numbers recently. As reported by AllThingsD's Peter Kafka and visible in the chart at the top of this post, PopSci not only saw a leap in subscriptions the second week of October -- coincidentally the time when Newsstand was launched -- but since that time has been capturing new subscribers at a faster rate. The numbers are courtesy of Mag+, the tablet publishing arm of PopSci publisher Bonnier. Kafka notes that he personally uses the New York Times app less often than he did before it moved to Newsstand, and would like to be able to pull items off of the Newsstand shelf so that they're closer to other items that he uses quite often. How about you, TUAW readers? Do you find that you read magazines and newspapers more or less often now that many have moved to Newsstand, or do you avoid Newsstand at all cost? Leave us your opinions in the comments.
Engadget Distro now available on Android Market and iOS Newsstand!
Since we first launched Engadget Distro on the iPad, we've received endless requests (seriously, we're still counting them) for three things: an Android version, iOS Newsstand integration and a fount from which infinite knowledge pours from. We've promised to work on two of the three, and it's time we delivered. We're pleased to announce that Distro is now available for most Android tablets; a list of minimum supported specifications is after the break, but if you're using Android 3.x or above, you should be golden. And for those of you iPad owners longing to see Distro on Apple's Newsstand, we're there too. So, follow the appropriate link below, and get your download on. And, while we can't guarantee you'll be seeing us on your TouchPad anytime soon, the developments don't stop here. On a personal note, we're super excited to be expanding Distro, and we can't wait to hear back from the folks who will be diving in now that it's in a few new places. Enjoy! Distro on the Android Market Distro APK (for sideloading) Distro on the iTunes App Store
Study shows iPad owners read more magazines
The iPad is the perfect tablet for consuming magazines. It's the right size and its interactive features can make a magazine come to life. The Association of Magazine Media realizes that and asked 1,009 mobile magazine readers about their experience reading digital magazines. Not surprisingly, most respondents wanted more -- more electronic newsstands, more magazines, and more issues to read. In an age of digital entertainment which includes streaming movies, music and TV, it's encouraging that over 90 percent of respondents said their consumption of magazines has stayed the same, or even increased, since buying a mobile device. In fact, a majority (over 60 percent) expect their digital reading level to increase in the future and want even more magazines in digital format. Besides wanting more content to read, over 80 percent of digital consumers want to archive content for later viewing as well as share this content with friends or family. A majority (70 percent) also enjoy videos in their magazines, but want the clips to be one-minute or less. It's an interesting survey that suggests magazines are not dying, but have to learn to adapt to the needs of a growing number of digital customers. [Via Electronista]
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.
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.
TRVL magazine to donate subscription fees to charities
TRVL is a free electronic travel magazine for the iPad that I raved about in September. The beautiful photography, layout, and typography all make it a standout among the usual junk that passes for e-magazines these days, and TRVL was free, which made it a no-brainer to subscribe to. The magazine creators ran into a dilemma. They wanted readership to grow, and to do that they needed to get TRVL into Apple's Newsstand, where they expected subscriptions to climb by 500% or more. As founding publisher of TRVL Michel Elings noted, "we had been waiting for Newsstand to arrive ever since we heard the first rumors, knowing a free magazine like TRVL would greatly benefit from direct competition with magazines like National Geographic Traveler, which are still charging $4.99 for a single issue." TRVL's software partner, WoodWing, wasn't ready for Newsstand when it launched, and when it finally was ready, it didn't support the free subscription model supported by TRVL. What to do? Well, in a classic example of making sweet, sweet lemonade out of the lemons that life hands you, Elings and Wijnands decided to sell TRVL in Newsstand for $0.99 per month and will be giving all of the subscription money to six charities selected by readers. As a reader, you have an option to donate your subscription dollars to your choice of one or more of those charities. TRVL is the top rated magazine on iPad, and now if you want to read it, you'll be forced to do something good for the world. I know I'll be buying my subscription. How about you?
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.
That hide-the-Newsstand trick? It works
Yes, it works. You can hide Newsstand and it works exactly like those hundreds of posts and tips and videos say it does. We don't know exactly who figured this out -- coverage of the trick is pretty widespread at this point and there aren't exact credits -- but kudos to who did. It wasn't us. (Update: Appears to be from here, and originally discovered by @AnataTenshi Well done.) Basically, there's a tiny bug in iOS 5 that allows you to stick Newsstand into a folder if you catch it just as you're making another folder. It's a little tricky and takes about 5-10 tries on average to get it right. Line up three apps: app 1, Newsstand, app 2. Drag app 1 onto app 2 to create a new folder and then as soon as iOS is getting ready to folder 'em, drag Newsstand into the same group. About 80% of the time, this fails. You get a folder with both apps and Newsstand left out in the cold. When you do, just drag both items back out and start again. But about 20% of the time, Newsstand goes into the folder, and it is for all purposes hidden. So yay. Be aware that the Newsstand item will not be seen in the group icon (see the picture on this post) so if you ever intend to use it, you may have to hunt around in folders to find it. And one more thing: The other tip? About spoofing the lock screen by going through the Camera roll? Doesn't work. Thanks to everyone who tipped us about this Update: Some commenters are warning that you should not attempt to run Newsstand from a folder.
The Guardian comes to the iPad
The British national daily newspaper The Guardian has come to the iPad. The 190 year-old newspaper is celebrating its iPad launch by allowing users access to their first 86 issues (starting on the day you launch the app) for free when they start using the app. After that time, a monthly subscription charge will only be $13.99 for US subscribers or £9.99 for UK subscribers. Six issues will be "printed" a week. Existing subscribers to The Guardian's six or seven day print subscriptions will get the iPad edition for free. Though the Internet edition of The Guardian has an audience of over 50 million readers, the newspaper wanted to make the iPad edition align more closely with the print edition. For that reason the iPad edition will be a once-a-day edition, without the live updating of and blogging on the website. The app itself is laid out quite nicely, with articles arranged into thirteen different sections. The app was designed so that on the front page of each section users only have to swipe a maximum of two times to see all the articles available – a welcome feature since many news apps require so much swiping you forget where in them you are. And since it is part of Newsstand, The Guardian for iPad will automatically download once a day so it's ready for you when you wake up. You can download The Guardian for iPad for free from the US and UK App Stores.
Poll: Have you upgraded to iOS 5?
We've heard plenty of you are receiving various error messages while attempting to install iOS 5, and some of us haven't had much luck either. But have you been able to upgrade? Let us know in the poll below, and jump past the break to sound off in the comments.%Poll-69801%
iOS 5 review
Snow Leopard review Apple: Six million copies of OS X Lion downloaded since launch Auto-suggestion keyboard found hiding inside iOS 5 Now well into its fifth year of life, iOS has always been known for its exceptional polish -- and also, its glaring feature holes. But, just like clockwork, each year since its 2007 debut, those shortcomings have been addressed one by one in a sweeping annual update. In 2008, the platform was opened up to developers giving us the App Store, 2009 saw the introduction of copy and paste -- which we'd argue is still the best implementation to date -- and last year "multitasking" finally made a presence. So what has Apple chosen to rectify in 2011? Well, for starters, notifications gets a complete overhaul with Notification Center, tethered syncing dies at the hands of iCloud and messaging gets a do-over with the birth of iMessage. If you recall, we first got acquainted with iOS 5 in May after downloading the developer preview, but how does the final release stack up? And does it have the chops to compete with the latest from Mountain View and Redmond? After drudging through seven betas, we're ready to conquer all that the final release has to offer, so join us, if you would, past the break.
iPhone 4S was top online buzz generator yesterday
Online marketing and analytics firm Webtrends kept a close eye on the Apple event and announcements yesterday. Not surprisingly, the iPhone 4S was a huge buzz generator for the day, with almost half (585,306 out of 1,223,060) of the total online mentions made about Apple. Excitement or curiosity about Siri followed the iPhone 4S at a distant second place with just 77,220 mentions, followed by the iPod touch announcements. The improved camera in the iPhone 4S also garnered a good amount of buzz -- after seeing the beautiful gallery of photos from the iPhone 4S on the Apple website, I can see why. What got the least amount of interest from the announcements? Newsstand. That seems to mirror the widespread malaise of online newspapers and magazines that will be readable through Apple's portal beginning with the availability of iOS 5 on October 12.
Buried among new Kindles, Amazon introduces its own Newsstand
There's no question that Amazon has Apple in its crosshairs with the introduction of the US$199 Kindle Fire. However, buried in the description of the also-announced Kindle Touch, $99 with ads or $139 without, is a new feature for the device -- a rebranding of its newspaper and magazine offerings, which used to be broken into two separate parts of the Kindle area of Amazon's site. "Newsstand: Shop and subscribe to your favorite magazines and newspapers such as Time, Newsweek, and The New Yorker, from Newsstand. New editions are auto-delivered wirelessly direct to your device the second they go on sale." Does this sound familiar? It should. "Newsstand: A custom newsstand for all your subscriptions. Read all about it. All in one place. iOS 5 organizes your magazine and newspaper app subscriptions in Newsstand: a folder that lets you access your favorite publications quickly and easily. There's also a new place on the App Store just for newspaper and magazine subscriptions. And you can get to it straight from Newsstand. New purchases go directly to your Newsstand folder. Then, as new issues become available, Newsstand automatically updates them in the background -- complete with the latest covers. It's kind of like having the paper delivered to your front door. Only better." While the two newsstands will deliver content in somewhat different manners -- standalone app for Apple vs. dumping on main screen for Amazon -- the common name and marketing will probably be enough to bite Apple's crawl and probably the name of the Kindle Touch itself. Will Apple get into a pissing match with Amazon over its newsstand or the Kindle Touch? Well, they're already engaged in one over the use of the word "App Store." When Apple's injunction against Amazon was denied, the judge agreed that "App Store" is not a generic term, but also stated that Amazon's use did not meet the "likelihood of confusion" threshold required for an immediate injunction. "Newsstand" is a common word first used in 1866 to describe a physical location where newspapers and periodicals are sold. However when it comes to the Internet, it's easy to see Apple arguing that Amazon using "Newsstand," like the term "App Store," will "confuse and mislead customers." Apple and Amazon's day in court over the use of "App Store" is scheduled for October 2012.
French papers team up to oppose Apple's Newsstand
Much in the way that Apple has come to dominate the media shopping experience through iTunes, the company is now aiming to make purchasing of newspapers and magazines much easier through iOS 5's Newsstand. The app is billed as a digital kiosk at which you can buy individual issues and subscriptions of periodicals. A group of French newspapers and magazines is hoping to get their own way by teaming up against Apple. Reuters reports that eight newspapers and publications, including Le Figaro, Les Echos, le Nouvel Observateur and the sports daily L'Equipe, have launched their own digital kiosk to sell issues on the iPad. The group is also negotiating with Apple as a unified front, and has stated that they refuse to sell their products on Newsstand without major concessions. One of the issues that the group has with Newsstand is Apple's 30 percent commission and refusal to share customer information with the publishers. L'Equipe's Xavier Spender said that the publication would "make less money selling a digital edition of the newspaper" than it would with the printed version. The group has signed with Google to sell subscriptions via Android's digital kiosk, since Google charges only a 10 percent commission and allows publishers to set their own prices and capture customer data. The group's digital kiosk is already live at Relay.com and sales of subscriptions will begin in November.
Adobe to support iOS 5 Newsstand
Adobe has confirmed that it will support iOS 5's Newsstand publishing "soon after" the iOS update is released this fall. The company's Digital Publishing Suite works with Creative Suite 5.5 to create publications for the iPad, Android and RIM's PlayBook. Users can expect files created with Adobe's tools to be recognized and downloaded by Newsstand. Plus, apps built with the Digital Publishing Suite can feature push notifications and covers as icons. Again, there's no hard date set for release, but it sounds like Adobe wants everything ready to go soon after iOS 5 is available. Look for it then.
Apple iOS 5 hands-on preview
<div style="text-align:center;"> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/wwdc-2011/apple-ios-5-hands-on-preview/"><img border="1" hspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/06/ios-5-beta-eng-01.jpg" vspace="4"/></a></div> <a href="http://engadget.com/tag/ios5">iOS 5</a> won't be ready for the masses until this Fall, but lucky developers -- and eager tech bloggers -- are able to get in on the action right now. We just got done downloading the 730MB BETA, and have decided to turn our iPhone 4 and iPad 2 into guinea pigs for all the newness. Apple says that there are over 200 new features baked into the updated OS, and we've run through the biggies from Notification Center to Twitter to that oh-so-convenient split keyboard for you -- all you need to do is click after the break.<br /> %Gallery-125567%<br /> %Gallery-125568%
