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New York Post blocks iPad access through Safari browser, hopes you'll pay for a subscription instead
Well, that's one way to make people pay for puns. The New York Post, that bastion of fair, balanced, and not-at-all sensationalistic reporting, has blocked iPad owners from reading its stories through the tablet's Safari browser. If folks want the full spill on Hugh Hefner getting ditched at the altar, they'll be prompted to download the iOS app, which requires signing up for a subscription starting at $6.99 on a month-to-month basis. Setting aside News Corp.'s hubris for a moment, what's odd about this is the number of workarounds Rupert Murdoch & Co. left us cheapskates. You can still read the site on a desktop browser or a phone, including an Android one. Basically, then, News Corp. is strangling web access, but only for a select group of readers. That's a stark contrast from other content providers (even the News Corp-owned Wall Street Journal), which have been more platform-agnostic. Then again, there's the dim possibility that News Corp. targeted the iPad in an effort to re-brand the Post as a glossier sort of tabloid, à la The Daily. To which we say, that's some wishful thinking there, Rupe.
The Daily generated 800,000 downloads, $10 million loss in first quarter of operation
It's still too early to pass judgment on News Corp's daring venture into tablet-only newspapers, The Daily, but at least we now have an idea of how much it costs to get a project like this off the ground. Having spent $30 million developing the concept before launch, the company's latest quarterly reports indicate another $10 million loss was incurred on the early operations of The Daily. That's resulted in 800,000 total downloads of the iPad-only app, though a breakdown of how many of those were just trying out the free trial and how many have stuck around for the paid version hasn't been forthcoming. News Corp stresses that The Daily is still a work in progress, one that we've heard may also be making its way onto Android tablets, and looks very much committed to seeing its plan through to the end. So if this digital-only, subscription-paid news idea fails, it won't be for lack of trying.
The Daily coming to Android tablets this spring?
Been sick with jealousy over all those people reading The Daily on their iPads? Well, it looks like that could all end some time soon if AllThingD's PKafka has heard correctly. Apparently, News Corp's tablet-only magazine / newspaper will be heading to Android this spring (or some time in Q2). Considering the team has gotten quite a bit of help from Apple on the development side (word is Apple also rushed to help them fix some of the early bugs) and was the first to use Apple's new subscription service, that does seem a bit quick, but we're certainly not complaining about more apps coming to those Honeycomb tablets. We just hope the random crashes and slow load times are fixed by then.
Mel Martin: The Daily through the eyes of one journalist
I've spent most of my life in the news business, both in reporting and management. Given that, something like The Daily is of high interest to me, both as a new media observer and as a voracious news consumer. From where I sit, The Daily looks pretty good. It's attractive, has some depth and has a varied mix of news. The creators clearly understood that providing news in the digital age isn't just about moving static content to a tablet, but using the features the tablet includes to enable video, audio, animation and graphics in a way simply not possible with something delivered on a piece of paper. I think the pricing is right. At $0.14 an issue, versus Time Magazine at $5 an issue, it seems a reasonable toll. If I were the New York Times, Washington Post or others planning expensive web editions, Rupert Murdoch, CEO of News Corp, just ruined my day. Today feels a bit like the day in the 80s when I first saw a CD-ROM filled with thousands of text files. It was something different that had the power to change the way we consume information. I'm just as excited to see how media companies will respond to The Daily. Apple is finally helping the process along by allowing subscriptions from the App Store. This way, more media companies will join the battle for subscribers. It isn't clear what kind of money Apple is extracting from publishers, and we don't know for sure Apple is giving media companies subscriber information, but I think it is likely Apple will report something -- we just don't know what. The change of terms in the iTunes Store, released today, says that Apple may ask for permission to provide some of your personal info to publishers for marketing purposes. The new terms aren't very specific as yet, but it's clearly a change from the old policies that is enabling things like The Daily to go forward.
Steve Sande: A first look at The Daily
I haven't read a newspaper since the Rocky Mountain News went belly-up a few years ago, and I'm not a fan of broadcast or cable news at all. So Rupert Murdoch (at right, during this morning's press conference) and his minions at News Corp have a long way to go to impress someone who pretty much gets all of his news from RSS feeds, occasional peeks at news websites, and Twitter. I downloaded The Daily for free a few minutes ago and will be reading it for the next two weeks courtesy of Verizon, but the big question is whether or not I'll continue to read the iPad-only newspaper after that point. At first glance, The Daily appears to be a good "national and international news source." As noted during this morning's press conference, it uses the capabilities of the iPad to the max. As the inaugural editorial mentions, "Modern technology has given us more ways to tell stories than ever before -- words, pictures, audio, video and interactive graphics. The Daily will deliver them all." Indeed, The Daily even provides such TUAW staples as app reviews, with direct links to the App Store. But before you stop reading TUAW, realize that we cover "nothin' but Apple." With The Daily, you'll get opinion pieces on Bollywood as well... The Apps & Games section of the The Daily included a video today about The Oregon Trail moving to Facebook, and you can flip to the News section with a tap or two and watch a video piece about the uprising in Egypt. There's also a daily video update that is available from the carousel page with links to the top stories. You tap on the video to go right to a featured story. Click read more (below the gallery) for the rest of my first impressions. We'll have more impressions from other TUAW writers later today. %Gallery-115577%
The Daily now available in the App Store
As of this writing, Rupert Murdoch and team are taking questions from the press during The Daily's launch event, and the app itself is now live in the App Store. The long-anticipated app was finally demonstrated and released earlier today. Verizon is sponsoring a free two-week trial period for all customers. After that it will cost US$0.99 per day week or 39.99 per year. We'll have more on The Daily throughout the day, so check back often.
The Daily iPad 'newspaper' launches, $.99 weekly or $39.99 per year
Rupert Murdoch's iPad-only magazine The Daily, once described as "The New York Post Goes to College," is now a go. Launched at a New York event this morning, it pledges to offer "the best of traditional journalism" with "the best of contemporary technology" like 360 degree photos and, naturally, lots of fancy multimedia content that is all pushed directly to the iPad every day. It's priced at $.99 per week or $39.99 annually and launches today, unsurprisingly with Egypt taking the "cover" image. The team behind the new-age zine showed off plenty of that technology, including a magazine-like reading interface, letting you flip through pages, and a "carousel," that gives you a higher-level view of the pages for easier browsing. The Daily also includes audio versions, with professional voiceover so you won't have to worry about GPS voice, plus video overviews of all the content if you just don't have time for reading or listening. You can share stuff you like on Twitter or Facebook and others will be able to read those stories for free via the web -- but not all the content, naturally. The site will offer app reviews and features with links right to the App Store. Sports fans get full schedules and news updates for the teams they like. Again, The Daily launches today, and we're told that the first two weeks will be courtesy of Verizon. Good on ya, VZW! Update: It's now available in the App Store.
Live from The Daily launch event, with Apple's Eddy Cue
Is the future of media an iPad-exclusive daily newspaper that's delivered automatically overnight using a new subscription service? We're here at the Guggenheim Museum in New York for the launch of News Corp's The Daily to find out -- and Apple's VP of internet services Eddy Cue is scheduled to join Rupert Murdoch on stage, so things could get interesting. Join us, won't you?
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?
'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.
News Corp's 'The Daily' pub to hit iPad in January?
We heard News Corp's "iPad newspaper" The Daily was on track for release in early 2011, but AllThingsD is hearing something more specific -- week of January 17th, in fact, with the caveat that the launch plans have "moved around a couple of times in the past few months." From what we've gathered previously, The Daily will be published daily (surprise, surprise) and cost 99 cents per week (about $4.25 per month) and might leverage a new App Store subscription payment system that could be announced at an Apple event. So... nothing definitive, really. Got that? Good.
"Daily" iPad newspaper to launch January 17
Rupert Murdoch's iPad-exclusive publication, The Daily, is rumored to arrive on January 17. All Things Digital's Peter Kafka quotes "multiple sources," saying "News Corp plans to launch the publication by the week of January 17." The Daily is the much-rumored, iPad-only publication from News Corp. Murdoch has supposedly worked closely with Apple and Steve Jobs himself during the app's development. It was rumored that the app would be revealed at a December press event that was to feature Jobs, Murdoch and an overview of the alleged "newsstand" feature that many believe will introduce in-app subscriptions to the App Store. Kafka notes that The Daily will supposedly sell for US$0.99 per week, and that the extensive staff Murdoch has assembled will produce lots of video and other gee-whiz tech goodies for Daily readers to enjoy. That rumor of a December release turned out to be a dud, so don't get yourself all excited just yet. We'll know soon enough.
Mac App Store launching on December 13th?
It's no secret that the Mac App Store is launching soon. Jobs himself said that it would go live "within 90 days" back when the iOS-inspired App Store was announced on October 20th -- that's mid January, if the timeframe is carried to its fullest extent. Now we have AppleTell citing an "inside source" claiming that Apple is trying to launch the Mac App Store before Christmas, specifically targeting December 13th while telling developers to have their software ready by Monday, December 6th. Unfortunately, the Mac App Store also requires an OS update to end users to which MacRumors reminds us that the new OS X 10.6.6 has already been seeded to developers. So yeah, that's a pretty aggressive timeline if true and could possibly be kicked off by a press event that would also birth Apple's rumored recurring subscription billing model in support of Rupert Murdoch's The Daily digital newspaper.
News Corp plays coy about iPad-exclusive publication, suggests 2011 launch
You've probably heard us mention the upcoming iPad-exclusive publication "The Daily" coming soon from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. In fact, you have likely also read about the fact that it had been delayed until 2011. Well, now we have a maybe/sorta/kinda confirmation of the publication itself, as News Corp.'s chairman and chief executive Jon Miller let it slip that if The Daily does in fact exist, we should indeed expect it to launch in the first quarter of 2011. Speaking to the Business Insider's Ignition conference, Miller said that the iPad blew their minds, and it was a game changer for his industry. With Richard Branson launching his iPad-only magazine Project last week and The Guardian announcing a new subscription-based news app just yesterday, News Corp. might want to speed up the release of its potential publication as well. I would think Mr. Murdoch wants to be at the front of this trend and not somewhere in the middle, right?
Daily iPad publication reportedly delayed until 2011
The Financial Times (FT) is reporting today (subscription required) that Rupert Murdoch's forthcoming iPad publication, The Daily, may be delayed until 2011. Quoting "people familiar to the project," FT says that the joint venture between News Corp and Apple is likely to debut next year. Neither Apple or News Corp supplied FT with a comment. You've got to wonder if the issue of in-store subscriptions is holding up the works, or if the rumored December 9th launch date was overly optimistic to begin with. The article goes on to suggest that The Daily will cost US$0.99 per week and will be similar to a mid-market tabloid (think The New York Post or the UK's Daily Mail) in style and tone. Murdoch notes that they'll need to sell 800,000 regular subscriptions to keep the wheels turning. While an ambitious project, The Daily won't be the first iPad-exclusive publication from a major name. Richard Branson's Project debuted today, and Gourmet Magazine was recently reborn as Gourmet Live for iPad. [Via Electronista]
Richard Branson's iPad-only Project magazine to debut Tuesday
Mega entrepreneur Richard Branson is set to release his iPad-only magazine, Project, tomorrow. That's Jeff Bridges on the cover, no doubt talking Tron inside. This issue seems to focus on pop culture, with articles about a French record label and a new super car from Jaguar teased on the front cover. Plus, the official blog has stories about gadgets, clothing, internet culture and movies. That's about all we know, really. There's no word on pricing, navigation, business model, etc. We'll find out soon enough. One can only assume that the super-competitive Branson is thrilled to have delivered an iPad-only publication before Rupert Murdoch. You can watch a brief (and we mean brief) teaser video after the break. [Via 9to5Mac]
Richard Branson launching Project magazine for iPad
It must be "iPad publishing by billionaires" week but I think they forgot to notify me so I could prepare my own app. British entrepreneur Richard Branson, owner of Virgin Atlantic airlines and the burgeoning commercial space travel program Virgin Galactic, will formally announce next Tuesday that he is releasing an iPad-specific digital magazine named "Project." Just the other day media magnate Rupert Murdoch announced his plans for a News Corp iPad app, "The Daily," which is rumored to have a press event introduction on December 9th featuring Mr. Murdoch and Steve Jobs himself. Could the announcement of these two major publications be a foreshadowing of Apple announcing newspaper subscription plans for the iPad? While Virgin has dipped its toes into the app creation business before with Flying Without Fear, "Project" will cover entertainment, travel, business, design, and international culture. Will Virgin Atlantic now replace their seat-back media centers with iPads? Velcro the iPads to passengers to avoid any zero-G incidents during space flight? We'll find out soon enough. [via Engadget]
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.
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?
