Amid the rush to provide the newspaper industry’s first iPad apps, one connectivity question is unanswered and, we think, unasked: Will it make phone calls, writes Peter Coleman.
Probably not. The ‘Australian’ devoted half a website report (right) to a comparison between the device variously dubbed ‘an iPhone on steroids’ and its smaller and less powerful stablemate, but somehow left the question open.
No matter. After all, there’s always Skype. And the 140,000 other iPhone apps, most of which will apparently run on the new tablet.
But while the focus of public attention appears to be books – from a store Apple doesn’t plan to launch locally yet – worldwide developers are busy with newspaper applications.
Illustrations of content from the ‘New York Times’ featured prominently at the Apple launch, and the paper’s senior vice president of digital operations Martin Nisenholtz and Jennifer Brook spoke at the event. It seems their team had only started to develop the app shown at the launch three weeks before.
Its ability to save stories, view photos and play video may only be a start, as more sophisticated iPhone apps are already appearing. But more iPad-specific software may not be far behind.
Dutch newspaper software developer WoodWing says it will have tools for the iPad to show guests when its seminar tour opens in New York in March. And Atex says its content management system can already be used for direct publication to e-readers and tablet devices including the iPad.
WoodWing’s Hans Janssen says the Apple device is certain to boost the success of media consumption through handheld devices. “This offers a host of possibilities for publishers to create new sources of income, and it’s our task to provide them with the right tools for that job."
The company says its developments have covered workflow for interactive digital publications, as well as creation of a native iPad app. It launched a customisable iPhone app service for newspapers at IfraExpo in Vienna in October.
President Erik Schut says the iPhone experience enabled creation of an iPad reader app capable of displaying attractive-looking content containing a mixture of text, audio and video, along with intuitive and easy navigation.
The company says it has been “working closely” with key customers on these developments, but WoodWing's Stefan Horst told GXpress that the 'NY Times' was not among them.
The iPad tools will be unveiled on March 3 during the first stop of WoodWing's ‘world tour’, at the Time-Life Building in New York City.
Atex says worldwide e-reader shipment volume is expected to reach 19.76 million units by 2013 – according to a report issued by industry analyst Gartner – a substantial increase from the 3.05 million units shipped in 2009.
It claims ‘out-of-the-box’ functionality to streamline digital content publishing. Depending on the device used, a media company can track the content customers like most and allow readers to leave comments and answer poll questions. A content solution can feed user-generated content back to editors as well, allowing constant interaction with readers.
Head of global product management Peter Marsh says the company has a team dedicated to e-reader and tablet device development.
The new Apple product has a 246 mm touch screen and access to the same applications store as the iPhone and iPod touch. The New York Times reader shown at the launch makes use of the larger screen to improve interactive aspects of the experience similar in some respects to the paper’s latest iPhone reader.
The Times Reader 2.0 calls for a subscription, and its publisher says it will launch a metered pay wall on its website, so charges for iPad content are likely. Payment mechanisms could already be in place, as Apple claims its iTunes store already holds 125 million user accounts with linked credit cards.
In Australia, the topic of pay-for-content is being avoided for the time being. Fairfax Media’s the ‘Sydney Morning Herald’ said News Limited spokesman Greg Baxter would not tell them about its Australian iPad plans – why would it – but its own chief executive, Brian McCarthy was enthusiastic.
"It could prove as important a development for the printed editions of our newspapers and magazines as it will be for our websites,” he says.
“It will allow papers and magazines to be easily read electronically in a format that many readers like while also linking pages directly with breaking news and videos on our websites."
