On eve of 'The Daily' launch, rival iPad apps offer previews

Posted:
in iPad edited January 2014
Ahead of News Corp's unveiling of The Daily digital newspaper on Wednesday, developers showed off competing iPad apps, including a social news app from The New York Times and a digital book platform from a former Apple designer.



Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation, in partnership with Apple, are set to launch iPad-exclusive publication The Daily Wednesday at 11:00 am EST after overcoming several delays. Rival publishers will most certainly be watching user reception of The Daily, as the digital newspaper is an experimental push for exclusive tablet-designed content.



News Corp's iPad publication could also be the first to implement an iTunes subscription feature that Apple has reportedly been working on. Publishers have pressed Apple for an iPad subscription agreement that would automatically send content to paying customers.



Competitors, however, haven't been idly watching The Daily's development process. The New York Times, in collaboration with Betaworks, is working on News.me, a social news app that will aggregate article links from Twitter streams and link sharing site bit.ly, TechCrunch reports. The approach is worlds apart from News Corp's, which focuses on producing custom content.







Also making headlines Tuesday was Push Pop Press, a startup from former Apple designer and Delicious Monster founder Michael Matas. The startup, which aims to create a "new breed" of interactive digital books, launched a teaser site Tuesday.



After Delicious Library, the first product from Delicious Monster, drew praise for its user interface, Matas joined Apple as a human interface designer at age 19. According to his LinkedIn profile, Matas stayed at Apple for four years, then worked briefly at Nest Labs, before founding Push Pop Press in February 2010.



Another Apple veteran, Kimon Tsinteris, who served as a senior engineer on the iPhone team, is a partner in the startup, according to an All Things Digital report. The startup is reportedly partnered with New York book publisher Melcher Media.



Publishers have been abuzz as millions of new iPad users have taken to viewing content on the device. USA Today executives said earlier this week that the iPad has become a "real positive" for the newspaper and could soon bring about a "much more significant improvement" in revenue.



The Times sparked a minor controversy Monday when it reported that Apple had "tightened restrictions" on its iOS App Store, blocking Sony from releasing an eBookstore app. Apple denied the claim, asserting that the iPad maker had not made changes to its developer guidelines.



"We are now requiring that if an app offers customers the ability to purchase books outside of the app, that the same option is also available to customers from within the app with in-app purchase," said Apple spokesperson Trudy Miller.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 15
    Now I admit I'm new to this, but if a subscription platform was about to appear, wouldn't it have shown up in some of the beta releases? I look at this site for developer inside knowledge and haven't seen mention of that yet... but we won't be able to 'swipe' home pages. That much I've learned. So the cool features are shown or thought of, but don't appear???



    How about a setting for the backlight? 30 seconds is kind of rough if you're still LOOKING at the iPad... It was a lot longer before the new iOS version.



    So now if you're showing a picture to the fam, you have to tell them to keep touching the screen.
  • Reply 2 of 15
    News.me sounds a lot more interesting than The Daily which is unfortunate because The Daily creates their own content.



    Like most people there are more news stories than I have time to read. Using RSS/twitter to follow certain sites, people or topics is a good idea but what I really need is a news app that trawls through a bunch of different sites and presents the stories it thinks I will want to read, as well as the stories my friends or people I follow recommend.



    I've been keeping an eye on Project Emporia, but the Twitter integration in News.me sounds more promising.
  • Reply 3 of 15
    Go, michaelm8000!
  • Reply 4 of 15
    penchantedpenchanted Posts: 1,070member
    I think there is a somewhat negative reaction to The Daily because of presumed editorial bias based on other Murdoch properties. I'm going to take a wait-and-see approach. I think The Daily could prove to be an excellent product or utter crap but I like that they are at least producing their own content and presenting it in a format meant to match the media (well, I at least hope this is the case).
  • Reply 5 of 15
    Gruber on DF did a huge puff piece on the Push Pop Press, which is unusual for him.

    He does have impeccable taste though, so I look forward to hearing more about them in future.
  • Reply 6 of 15
    Excellent learn, I simply passed this onto a colleague who was doing a little analysis on that.

















    viec lam sim so dep
  • Reply 7 of 15
    The article says the Daily App will be sold in iTunes.\
  • Reply 8 of 15
    shaun, ukshaun, uk Posts: 1,050member
    Not seen anything about the rumoured iTunes digital news stand recently. Hope we see something in conjunction with the iPad 2 launch.



    Don't suppose it will look like this French iPad app but would be nice if it did. I hope they're working on an international version...



    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLidG04LZLg
  • Reply 9 of 15
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Shaun, UK View Post


    Not seen anything about the rumoured iTunes digital news stand recently. Hope we see something in conjunction with the iPad 2 launch.



    Don't suppose it will look like this French iPad app but would be nice if it did. I hope they're working on an international version...



    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLidG04LZLg



    To each their own I suppose. To my eyes, looking at a virtual news stand is a hideous idea.
  • Reply 10 of 15
    nceencee Posts: 857member
    Sorry, but for me sitting on my throne - it's the PAPER, newspaper, or nothing



    Skip
  • Reply 11 of 15
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Podesta View Post


    The article says the Daily App will be sold in iTunes.\



    It will. If I open iTunes on my Mac and go the App Store, there The Daily will be.
  • Reply 12 of 15
    Too bad there can't be an app for toilet paper. I hate it when I go to a public restroom and there isn't any, or it's in a big roll outside of the booth. But I've always got my iPod Touch. If only there were an app for that!!!
  • Reply 13 of 15
    eehdeehd Posts: 137member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by penchanted View Post


    I think there is a somewhat negative reaction to The Daily because of presumed editorial bias based on other Murdoch properties. I'm going to take a wait-and-see approach. I think The Daily could prove to be an excellent product or utter crap but I like that they are at least producing their own content and presenting it in a format meant to match the media (well, I at least hope this is the case).



    I said before that I will not be giving my money to NewsCorp. And not because I think that there is a slant on the news coverage (though there really is) but simply because of misleading, sensationalized news headlines. Take a look at this page from BBCNews and look at the headline on the poster frame. I know here in the US, coverage on the Egypt turmoil has been spotty, at best, but Al Jazeera has provided amazing, fair, balance and comprehensive coverage on Egypt thorough its live web feed and plain and simple, Mubarak has not said he will quit. He has said nothing remotely close to that.
  • Reply 14 of 15
    desuserigndesuserign Posts: 1,316member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ncee View Post


    Sorry, but for me sitting on my throne - it's the PAPER, newspaper, or nothing

    Skip



    And for me it's a *real* newspaper (electronic or paper) or nothing. I have no time for any kind of Murdock McNews.
  • Reply 15 of 15
    The company has put lot of efforts to provide games on iPad that matches those played on a conventional playing machine results in increased demand for realistic game controls. Certain games on iPad seem to perfectly be suited for its tilt sensor and touch input, whereas playing other games would be more convenient if standard joystick or direction pads are used.
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