Archive for the ‘Newspaper Apps’ Category
SAN FRANCISCO, CA and LONDON, Apr 30, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) –
PressRun, an industry leader in tablet publishing solutions and the
company behind award-winning iPad magazines for BBC, BMJ, and Time
Inc., announced today that the PressRun-developed Metro Tablet
Edition app, the digital version of the world’s largest free
newspaper and the third biggest newspaper in the U.K., has been named
App of the Year at the 2012 Newspaper Awards.
The prominent U.K. Newspaper Awards are dedicated to newspaper and
news media production, honoring excellence in printed and digital
media. The App of the Year award was open to all UK and international
newspaper apps for iPhone, Android and iPad platforms. The apps
nominated for the award, which included the digital versions of
several high-profile publications, were judged on the technical
innovations used in the design and implementation of the app, the
commercial and business model for the app, and facts and figures
illustrating the success of the app. Based on these criteria, Metro
Tablet Edition was selected as the winner.
The Metro Tablet Edition app was built upon PressRun’s industry
leading digital publishing platform that turns print into truly
interactive tablet experiences. The app allows users to read a tablet
version of Metro cover to cover in a visually attractive format and
offers several interactive features, including a ‘Window on the
World’ photo gallery, news videos, film trailers and music samples.
Available for free download from the App Store (SM), the app
currently has a 5-star customer rating.
“We are very excited that Metro Tablet Edition has been recognized by
the Newspaper Awards for this high honor,” said Shaun Barriball, CEO
of PressRun. “While our clients and their customers have long been
pleased with our cutting-edge digital publishing solutions, this
prestigious award lends even more credibility to the value and
capabilities of the PressRun platform and further sets us apart from
the competition.”
Linda Grant, Managing Director at Metro, commented: “The team and I
are really proud to see our tablet app receive this industry-wide
recognition. We’re always looking to innovate in the mobile arena and
provide tech-savvy urbanites with relevant and engaging digital
products for their busy urban lives.”
“The growth of our mobile offering, both on tablet and phone,
combined with the success of Metro.co.uk and increased readership of
our newspaper — a mobile product in its own right — supports our
ambition to continue our development of our mobile and digital
products and as such extend the appeal of our leading brand.”
About PressRun
PressRun is an easy to use tablet publishing platform
for magazines, newspapers, journals and catalogues — delivering a
proven, superior user experience. PressRun apps are used by over 9
million people worldwide. Clients include The BBC, Time Inc., British
Medical Journal, Advance Internet and Haymarket. So if you want great
app reviews then visit pressrun.com to learn more.
About Metro
Metro is the UK’s leading urban media brand, experienced
across print, mobile, web, social and events. 1.4m copies are picked
up every weekday morning across 50 UK cities. Read by 3.6 million
readers, with its Tablet Edition boasting 500,000 downloads, Metro is
the number 1 choice for urbanites, 18-44 year old, professional
workers in urban areas.
Note to editors: Trademarks and registered trademarks referenced herein remain the property of their respective owners.
Media Contact:
Jeanne Achille
The Devon Group
New York Metro Office: +1 (732) 706-0123, ext. 11
London Office: +44 (0)207 917 1832
jeanne@devonpr.com
SOURCE: PressRun
mailto:jeanne@devonpr.com
Copyright 2012 Marketwire, Inc., All rights reserved.
Financial Glossary
Words used in this article:
Sitting alone at Mission Diner, nursing a cup of coffee while waiting for an omelette on a sunny weekend afternoon, my friendly server did that most wonderful of things: she offered me a newspaper.
Granted, I work in newspapers, so I may be a bit biased, but it warms my heart to be offered a paper while lingering in a cafe.
It’s not like I was lacking in choice of diversions. In this age of technology, I had choices. Lots and lots of choices.
I could have reached into my man purse and pulled out my iPhone to read the newspaper in one of my myriad newspaper apps. Or, I could have swiped through the virtual pages of the Herald’s iPad edition, also within easy reach in my man purse. Instead, I cheerfully accepted the newspapers offered to me by my server. It just seemed … right.
I’m part of that strange in-between generation of readers (and journos) where both print and digital seem equally familiar. For breaking news, I turn to the web or the iPhone, where sites and apps like the Herald’s have stories long before the evening newscasts. For evenings on the sofa or while commuting to the office on the Ctrain, I appreciate the feel of the iPad for newspaper reading.
But to accompany an omelette brunch at a funky little diner in Mission? It was a no-brainer. The intoxicating smell of the ink and newsprint mingling with the steam wafting off my coffee … it was heavenly.
I’m a digital evangelist through and through, but I can’t help but hope print editions are around long enough for my grandchildren to be able to drop crumbs between stories while peanut-buttering a slice of future-toast.
At brunch, the iPad stays in the bag.
Ive been writing these posts for the last couple of years, usually always before WWDC, as mini roundups of what I, my colleagues, and readers want to see in the next iOS release. However, as releases go on it gets harder and harder to put together lists of major features Id like to see in the next iOS.
Thats because iOS has now become a fairly developed OS capable of doing most of what youd ever need it to do. I mean, remember when multitasking or copy and paste were the big feature requests? What about improved notifications? Wireless sync? Folders?
All thats been done.
The list I present now features a few big items, but many of the suggestions are small features that would really tidy up the OS and make it more usable. Thats not to say I dont think iOS wont continue to innovate, but those major innovations and brand new features will most likely be something Apple will surprise us with and not something that many people could have guessed beforehand. This list also doesnt take software features that would require hardware upgrades into account, like a mobile payment system.
So heres the list of what I hope to see in iOS 6. And when youre done reading it, Id love for you to add your own feature requests to the list in the comments below.
1. Expand Siris capabilities and open up the Siri API.
This is probably the biggest request on anyones wish list. When Siri debuted in iOS 5 on the iPhone 4S, it was easily the most touted new feature. However, after the novelty wore off iPhone 4S users quickly divided into two camps: those that do use it and those that dont. Im one of the guys that do. However, thats not to say there isnt room for major improvements to Siri, or as I call it: the most underdeveloped feature on the iPhone.
Now to be fair to Apple, Siri is still a beta feature, so its unfair to really judge it as if it has been completed in Apples final vision. It will continue to evolve over time, and heres what I hope it can do in iOS 6:
Apple needs to expand Siris capabilities. The easiest way to do this would be to open up Siris API to third-party developers. Once Apple does this, thats when the power of Siri will really shine. Imagine being able to say Skype my brother, Tweet @TUAW rocks, Shazam this song, or Record my weight in LoseIt.
Those are just some simple examples, of course. If Apple were to open up Siris API it would be the developers who could really make Siri the killer feature. However, given the server requirements it takes to run Siri queries and the fact that its still in beta, its unlikely Apple is going to open Siri to third-parties any time soon. If they dont, I at least hope theyll add more features in-house, including things like asking for local movie times, telling the camera to take a picture in 10 seconds, and turn by turn directions.
Another thing Apple could do to improve Siri without opening it up to devs is adding the ability to toggle system services, including turning Bluetooth, Wifi, Personal Hotspot, and Airplane mode on or off. Also commands like Go to TUAW.com would be nice instead of the current way of navigating to a website via Siri by having to say search for TUAW and then clicking on the website in the search results list in Safari.
2. Multiple users (on iPad).
Let me state that multiple users on an iPhone would be ridiculous, but on an iPad I think it makes a lot of sense. Phones are personal, but iPads are shared a lot in homes. It would be great if iOS 6 adds user support to the iPad. After all, itd be nice to let my niece use my iPad without worrying shell accidentally delete an important email.
There was a time when multiple users on an iPad wouldnt have made sense from a practical point of view. After all, if each user stored all their photos and videos on the iPad, it could quickly fill up the hard drive. But with iCloud and iTunes Match — and their no doubt continued expansion — multiple users are much more feasible as each user could access all of his or her documents and media right from the cloud.
3. Facebook integration.
I use Twitter 10x more than I used to because of its integration with iOS 5. Its so nice to be able to tweet a photo or a web link right from Photos or Safari without having to switch to the Twitter app.
Given that Im a bigger Facebook user than Twitter user, I hope Apple adds system-wide Facebook sharing to iOS 6. This isnt an original feature request, and its actually appeared in in-house betas of iOS before, but never actually included in public releases. The fault here, of course, probably lies with Facebook more than Apple. Apple generally likes to protect their users information as much as possible while Facebook, well…they want as much as that information as they can get. Until Apple and Facebook can work something out, Im afraid we wont see system-wide Facebook integration. Thats really a shame, more so for Facebook than Apple because, as Ive said, iOS 5s Twitter integration has got me using that service a lot more than I ever would have.
4. Auto-hide an empty Newsstand.
I first suggested the idea of a Newsstand-type app years ago before Apple finally introduced it in iOS 5. Magazines are a natural fit for the iPad, after all. However, while Newsstand is welcome by some, for others its like the houseguest that just wont leave.
The problem with Newsstand is that it takes up a space on your screen even if you dont have a subscription to a periodical. Now I realize why Apple did this: they wanted to encourage people to check out subscriptions. But unlike the iBooks, iTunes, or App Store apps, you dont need the actual Newsstand app to search for or buy magazines and newspapers. Thats because Newsstand isnt actually an app, much less a store, at all. Its just a glorified folder that holds specific types of apps — newspapers and magazines. Magazine and newspaper apps can all be found in the Newsstand section of the App Store and could still be found there even without the Newsstand folder (remove iBooks, on the other hand, and youll have no access to the iBookstore on your iOS device).
What Im proposing is that the Newsstand folder remains hidden until you download a subscription. As soon as you download even one, its app appears in the Newsstand folder on your homescreen. But when you delete all the subscriptions inside your Newsstand folder, the folder disappears as well.
5. Multitasking gestures for iPhone.
With iOS 5 Apple introduced four- and five-finger gestures on the iPad. Using four or five fingers you can pinch to reveal the homescreen, swipe up to reveal the multitasking bar, or swipe left or right to move between apps. Those gestures made the iPad infinitely more pleasurable and organic to use.
I suggest Apple bring multitasking gestures to the iPhone. Three finger pinch to homescreen; three finger swipe up to reveal multitasking bar; and three finger swipe left or right to switch between apps.
6. Improved Notification Center.
Improved notifications were a big request before iOS 5, and Apple hit it out of the park when they completely revamped notifications with the introduction of Notification Center.
However, as good as Notification Center is, it could still use some improvements. First, it could use more widgets, specifically on the iPad. Theres no built-in Weather or Stocks app on the iPad, but it would be nice if Apple would at least give you the option of showing the weather forecast and stock quotes in Notification Center on iPad for unitys sake (see #7). Another nice feature would be a timer widget that shows up in Notification Center so you dont have to tap through to your Clock app to see how much time you have left for that cake to get done cooking in the oven.
A final improvement to Notification Center: clearing notifications takes a couple of awkward taps in a narrow corner of the notifications header. Instead it would be much more intuitive if you could swipe right, then tap a standard big red delete button to remove a notification.
7. Weather, Stocks, and Clock for iPad.
Unity is nice. And iCloud could keep stock quotes, weather locations, and alarms in sync across devices. Nuff said.
8. AirDrop for iOS
Pre-iOS 5, many people clamored for a Finder app to store files on the iPhone. Apples answer was simpler: iCloud. However, while iCloud is a great way to keep your documents in sync across your devices, it doesnt really help when you want to easily share a file with someone else.
Enter AirDrop for iOS. Select a file, select the Share button, tap AirDrop to see a list of AirDrop-enabled iPhones, iPads, and Macs in your area, then select the device you want to share with. This would work great for sharing something as simple as a virtual business card or as large as a video or Keynote presentation with other people. Extra points if the AirDrop interface had cool GUI animations where you could just slide a file from one iOS device to the next.
9. Quick access to toggle Bluetooth, WiFi, and 3G on and off.
Yeah, some people toggle their Bluetooth a lot. Right now it takes five steps. Apple could always move the Bluetooth setting to a first-level heading in the Settings app, but if youre a power toggler and are constantly turning Bluetooth on and off (or 3G or Wifi) it might be nice to have quick access to these settings in another way. Here are a few ideas how Apple could do it:
- Siri — (as mentioned earlier) Turn Bluetooth Off. Done.
- Swipe the dock to the right — The dock in iOS doesnt do anything when you swipe over it. Apple could easily enable left or right swiping of the dock to reveal quick-access toggle buttons for wireless services behind in.
- Swipe up at the bottom of any screen — Just like you can swipe down from the top of any screen to reveal Notification Center, Apple could enable up-swiping from the bottom of any screen to quickly reveal wireless service toggle buttons.
- Add Bluetooth to the multitasking bar — This of course is the most obvious answer. Just like you can adjust the volume or screen rotation lock from the multitasking bar, Apple could easily add a Bluetooth toggle button there too.
10. Universal passcode locks for apps.
Right now its up to the developer to include a passcode lock option for an app. It would be nice if Apple could add a Passcode Lock Center in Settings where you could choose to set not only a passcode for your iPhone or iPad, but also apply the same or different passcode to any app of your choice on your device. More security is always nice.
11. Multiple signatures in Mail.
Sometimes you want to send emails with different signatures. Right now iOS only lets you have one signature — and its either attached to every email or its not. Give us multiple signature options, including the ability to include or exclude signatures right within each email composition window.
12. Safari Top Sites.
This isnt so much a feature Id like to see on the iPhone, but I think it would rock on the iPad. This is also a holdover from my last iOS wishlist. Ever since Apple introduced Top Sites for desktop Safari, Ive used them as my primary way of getting to my favorite sites. I love how they give me a graphical representation of when a site has new content on it, and its much better for the layperson than updates through RSS feeds. Enabling Top Sites in mobile Safari would make it much easier for users to navigate to their favorite sites and know when those sites have new content (something web clip icons cant do either).
13. Ability to select default mail, calendar, and Twitter clents.
Yeah, this is a long shot, but Im adding it to the list because so many people have requested it. Do I see this ever happening? Nope.
14. Styled Text APIs.
This is also another holdout from a previous wishlist and its something I hope Apple implements this time around, again, for developers sakes. While there are many great word processors available for iOS, Pages on the iPad is still the best. Why? Because its got an incredibly rich set of styled text features. Apple hasnt made the styled text APIs used in Pages available to developers, so if developers do want to use styled text in their apps, they basically need to write all that code from scratch. If Apple decides to open up the styled text APIs used in Pages to other developers, well see some great productivity apps coming out later this year.
15. Improved cursor navigation.
I originally didnt have any suggestions for improving iOSs text entry or onscreen keyboard, but then I saw this concept video by YouTube user danielchasehooper. The concept is simply brilliant and would make cursor navigation much, much easier on the iPads large screen where text entry fields are generally further away from your fingers than on the iPhones screen.
Youd think that Samsung would know how things work in the Android world by now. If you announce a very popular app as an exclusive on your upcoming device, you should know that thats not going to be the case. Android users arent that great at waiting for things to come their way. In the case of Flipboard, the digital newspaper, thats exactly whats happened. Samsungs next Galaxy device hasnt even hit the market, but already the APK for Flipboard is available for download through unofficial channels.
Flipboard was supposed to enjoy a period of exclusivity on the Galaxy SIII, but one enterprising developer who already has his hands on a GSIII has extracted the APK via one of our favorite apps, AirDroid, and posted it over at XDA for your downloading pleasure. If Flipboard isnt enough for you, though, the dev is also working on pulling out a few of the Samsung software enhancements, such as S Voice, so stay tuned to the source link if youd like to monitor developments on that front. For those unfamiliar with Flipboard, its one of the best digital newspaper apps around. Previously an iOS exclusive, Flipboard is similar to Google Currents and Pulse News, but with a bit more polish. The extracted APK should work on most devices. However, according to user comments it has a some FC issues on Honeycomb tablets. It worked great on both my G2X running CM9, and Acer A500 running AOKP. Give it a shot on your device and let us know in the comments if it worked for you.
Setting up the app is as simple as picking topics that you want to read, just like Pulse. The APK seems to be an early build, as there doesnt appear to be a widget yet, which was something that was announced for the public release version. That could just be my devices, though, as a scattered few have reported that they can get the widget view.
Download
When it comes to consuming newspapers on an
iPad, Ive long preferred PressReader to individual newspaper apps (like, say, USA Today and my local Detroit Free Press). With the latter, Im just sifting through headlines. But PressReader makes me feel like Im actually reading the paper, mostly because it provides a picture-perfect digital reproduction of the real thing.
Now its letter-perfect as well. PressReader 3.1 has been optimized for Retina displays, meaning newspapers viewed on the new iPad look nothing short of dazzling.
In case youre not familiar with it, the app lets you subscribe to the digital editions of more than 2,000 national and international newspapers — great for news junkies and folks who want to keep up on whats happening back home.
Before this update, a full-page view of any given paper looked nice, but you couldnt really read a story without zooming in on it (or tapping to engage PressReaders slick SmartFlow view). But thanks to Retina-optimized goodness, text looks so crisp that you can easily read without zooming. (OK, maybe not easily — text is still pretty small at that level — but its just so sharp.)
Much as I like tabletized newspapers, I like magazines even better. So Im totally stoked about the newly updated Zinio, which has also been endowed with Retina support.
Zinio provides access to mags that dont have their own standalone app editions, including titles like
Car Driver, Macworld, Mens Health, and Newsweek.
Like PressReader, Zinio provides full-page scans of the source material. And, like PressReader, a Retina-optimized Zinio is a much improved Zinio. A full-page Esquire article on Sofia Vergara, for example, looks sharp enough to read without zooming (though, lets face it, theres going to be some zooming in a story involving Sofia Vergara — there are pictures, after all).
I do find it irksome that theres no accommodation for print subscribers of any given magazine. Even if I already get the dead-tree edition of, say, Mens Health, Im still on the hook for $29.99 annually (or $4.99 per issue) if I want its digital counterpart. Maybe those are the publishers rules, but thats one reason Im partial to the likes of Entertainment Weekly, Time, and Wired — all of which offer standalone app versions of their magazines that are free for subscribers.
However, none of those periodicals are Retina-optimized — yet — meaning they dont look anywhere near as good as the stuff you get from Zinio.
And there are sample articles you can read without subscribing to anything, so if you have a new iPad and youre curious, Zinio is definitely worth a look. Good way to show off that pricey-but-impressive screen.
Looking for more Retina-optimized apps? Check out Jason Parkers 11 apps that will look great on the new iPad. And, of course, if youve found any especially good show-off apps, Id love to hear about them in the comments.
The Nokia Lumia 900 might be the best Windows Phone so far, but it’s still no match to the iPhone or the high-end Android smartphones, according to initial reviews of the device, which is due to go on sale April 8. If there’s something going for the Lumia 900 though, is the price: the 4G LTE phone will cost just $100 with a two-year ATamp;T contract, which is half of what you would pay for the latest iPhone and up to a third of some 4G Android phones.
The Lumia 900 is easy on the eye, my colleague Ginny Mies said in her PCWorld review. A single injectable polyurethane matte-plastic build gives it a sturdy feel and the material is soft to the touch. The 4.3-inch display is slightly curved, showcasing the beautiful Windows Phone 7 interface, and the 8-megapixel camera takes nice indoor photos when lighting is bright, and great photos when the sun is shining. For its price, she found the Lumia 900 would be a good match for those who are not big fans of Google products, especially if they already use Bing or SkyDrive, giving the phone four stars out of five.
But when you start comparing the Lumia 900 with the iPhone 4S and high-end Android smartphones, the phone has just too many drawbacks, Walter Mossberg found in his All Things D review. He was underwhelmed by the battery life, the (mobile Internet Explorer) browser and the still-limited number of apps available (70,000) compared to rivals (600,000 for iOS and 450,000 for Android). Mossberg also puts down the content ecosystem, with fewer magazine and newspaper apps available, as well as no way to buy TV shows or movies directly from the phone.
“Unfortunately for Nokia, a pretty face cant solve everything,” explains Steve Kovach in his Business Insider review. “From a design standpoint, the Lumia 900 is easily the most unique-looking smartphone out there,” he notes, but the 800×480 pixel resolution screen quality “is just plain ugly” compared to the iPhone 4S’ 960×640 resolution. He concluded the Lumia 900 is “not a bad purchase if youre on a budget. But if you dont mind spending an extra $100, youre honestly better off with an iPhone or high-end Android phone like Samsungs Galaxy S II.”
Kevin C. Tofel was more positive about the Lumia 900 in his GigaOm review. Although it uses a single-core processor when most competitors have been featuring dual-core power for a couple years, he notes the Nokia is “snappy in apps and navigation.” “Where it lacks in terms of application breadth, it makes up for with desirable Microsoft services,” Tofel said regarding the lower app provision, and he “can’t think of a better Windows Phone to try out or buy.”
In her ArsTechnica review, Casey Johnston found the battery life on the Lumia 900 to be solid, and the phone “is more than competent, and a better choice than many Android phones out there for the same price.” She notes that drawbacks are the speaker, which is a little quiet; its mediocre camera performance; and the browser, which “makes the non-mobile Web look kind of ugly.”
Edward C. Baig says the Lumia 900 is a bold comeback move in his USA Today review: “Against the iPhone and Android, Nokia faces formidable competition. But with an attractive price, refreshing operating system and a growing supply of apps, Nokia may be well on the way to crafting a compelling comeback story.”
Sam Biddle echoes many of these thoughts in his Gizmodo review too, saying “the Lumia 900 is a phone that every single person should consider owning.”
Courtesy of Tech RepublicTech Republic also has a few interesting observations after they cracked open a Lumia 900: it’s bigger and heavier than the competition, it has less on-board storage and less battery life than competitors, and the screen is good, but not great.
Wrapping up his The Verge review, Joshua Topolsky notes: “I really wanted to love this phone. But while the hardware — at least externally — delivers, the phone as a whole does not.”
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If you have an iPad, moving your media consumption to digital has many advantages. The convenience factor alone makes it worthwhile, as you can have a whole library worth of books, newspapers and magazines within easy reach. If you have an internet connection handy, you can easily download new stuff to read on the fly once you burn through your existing collection, and most digital versions of magazines and newspapers include extra content like photo slideshows, embedded video, and links to extra content. The iPad’s 9.7in screen and light carry weight (not much heavier than a typical magazine) also makes it the perfect size to consume print media on, and for many newspaper and magazine titles, you can get free access to the digital version if you’re already a subscriber to the print edition.
There’s a good chance that you’ve already used the iPad’s web browser for accessing a news web site. This is your best option if you want to see the same layout of the news site that you currently get from a desktop browser, and it’s also the best format if you want to see an overview of all of the latest stories across the different news sections. The other advantage is that sites are typically completely free to access. However, if the site uses Flash for embedded videos, like SMH, you won’t be able to play them through the iPad’s web browser, and news sites don’t usually include all of the content that’s available through the print version, like supplements, crosswords and cartoons.
This is where discrete apps for individual newspapers come in handy, offering an iPad-optimised layout that makes navigation between the different sections a lot easier, as well as providing multimedia content that’s easily viewed on the iPad. The only downside is that newspaper apps charge a monthly subscription fee to access them. The Daily and Sunday Telegraph are available together in a single app and costs $7.49 a month to access, while The Australian costs $12.99. SMH is currently free, but Fairfax is expected to start charging for access shortly. Various international newspapers offer iPad apps as well, such as Washington Post, which is also offering free access for a limited time.
Another option for accessing newspapers is using PressReader, and if you’re a news junkie that likes to read multiple newspapers a day, this is definitely your best option. This app lets you access over 2,000 newspapers from around the world in their native layout, taking advantage of the iPad’s pinch-to-zoom feature for zooming in and out of the pages to read the text. PressReader lets you download seven issues for free, after which you can download individual issues at US99c each, or go for an unlimited download monthly subscription for US$29.95. While it uses the classic broadsheet layout for each newspaper, PressReader offers a few digital conveniences like a section navigation bar at the bottom of the screen, a mini browser that lets you navigate through the newspaper using thumbnails of page, and a Smart Flow view that re-formats the page in landscape format so you don’t have to zoom in to read each story.
iOS 5 introduced Newsstand for downloading magazines and newspapers on either a per-issue or a subscription basis, including our very own APC. Most of the content on offer is magazines. The price per issue is typically cheaper than buying the print version – especially for overseas mags, as you don’t need to pay the importing fee that newsagents charge for international magazines – and the advantage of Newsstand is that you get a notification as soon as a new issue is available for download.
Many of these magazines were discrete apps before Newsstand debuted, and while they’re still technically discrete apps, Newsstand groups them all together and lets you pay for all of your magazines through iTunes, saving you from having to hand over your credit card details to individual publishing houses. The digital extras vary between magazines, but you can expect things like embedded audio and video content, extra images you won’t find in the print version (including 360-degree views that you can rotate with your fingers), the ability to jump to different sections quickly, and clickable links.
Another repository for magazines is Zinio. The price for both Zinio and Newsstand publications is typically the same, although Zinio appears to have a much larger selection of popular magazines, and it’s also easier to navigate through what’s on offer, as it splits the catalogue up by categories. In Newsstand, you can only browse through the New amp; Noteworthy section or do a search for that specific magazine title. Worse, since Newsstand magazines are technically apps, the search function in the Newsstand store looks through apps as well, making it harder to find what you’re looking for.
The final piece of the puzzle is books. Apple has its own iBooks app for reading books bought through iTunes, and it has a decent selection of popular, Australian and classic literature. Apple’s bookstore is a lot easier to navigate through compared to Newsstand, as it has its own discrete section that’s separate to apps where you can browse through top charts, categories, featured books and authors.
For the biggest selection at the cheapest prices, however, you can’t go past Amazon Kindle. The fact that it’s available for all of the major smartphone and tablet operating systems adds to its appeal, as it means you’re not locked into using an Apple device in order to have access to your eBook library in the future. The Kindle app for the iPad doesn’t let you buy eBooks directly from within the app – instead, you have to either use the Kindle Cloud Reader or buy books through the Safari browser and then download them separately through the Kindle app. Another eBook reader app worth checking out is Kobo – like Kindle, it’s available for a variety of platforms.
Last week Apple started rejecting apps that access the Unique Device Identifier (UDID). Developers knew this was coming, but no date had been set for the official rollout. If youve found yourself wondering what the heck a UDID is, or more importantly, if this change is going to affect you in any way, weve got your answers.
The UDID is a unique alphanumeric number attached to your iOS device. Every single iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch has one. Its pretty simple to track down your own. Attach your iPhone to iTunes, click on the Summary tab, then click on serial number and it changes to the UDID number. The Wall Street Journal revealed that apps often send your UDID to several databases without your knowledge and since then the privacy of app usage has been in the spotlight. Up until iOS 5, your UDID was freely available to developers, but Apple warned that after iOS 5.1 was released, theyd start rejecting apps that collected this number.
The first big confirmation that the rejection process has started came last week when Tweetbot was rejected. But does any of this matter to the casual user? Lets start by taking a look at what information apps had before, what they have now, and what theyll have to do to work around the new rules.
The Main Use of UDID in Most Apps Was to Track Data
The main reason behind Apples blockade of apps that access your UDID is that up until now, apps have collected the number without permission from the user. Since each number is unique it means developers and ad networks can verify you own an app based on that number. Lets take a look at how that information was often used.
The UDID means nothing on its own. Think of it like a drivers license number without any other info. However, when its put into a database it can be used to track app statistics. This tracking data is the crux of how ad networks work. A number of ad services (usually used for free apps) track the data and other apps you have installed on your iPhone based on your UDID and they use that data to target ads. Your number can be stored in a database and the database cross references the other apps you have installed. For instance, if you have a particular game installed, a shopping app, and a few newspaper apps, ad companies can extract a general idea of you from a marketing perspective.
Depending on how the database works, your UDID might also be attached to a username, password, and social network login. If that information is being sent unencrypted it could be easy to access this information. Its technically just a number but if its put together with a database of other information it becomes the glue that holds all that information together.
Its also a way for developers to track your usage of their apps, setup game networks, and store a few simple settings. For instance, a UDID might be linked to a set of notification settings or as verification for login information. Its also used in place of login information for a number of multiplayer game networks. If youve ever played a multiplayer game that didnt use Game Center and you didnt need to create a profile, it might have been going off your UDID.
Are Users Even Going to Notice a Change?
The only change youll notice is a few minor inconveniences with apps. For instance, in Tweetbots case, its a simple push notification setting:
Why did we use UDIDs? We used them only for our push notification services in order to be able to match up a given device to its push notification settings. This allowed us to restore push notifications settings after Tweetbot was deleted and re-installed. With this new change in place this is no longer possible, if you delete and re-install Tweetbot youll have to setup your push notification settings again.
Most other apps rely on UDID to track equally insignificant data or as a kind of user token to verify settings. Ad networks, however, are a completely different story. As mentioned above, ads that track purchases across multiple devices are the primary uses for UDID. For the user, this change could mean youll be asked to agree to give your ID away when you download ad-supported apps. It also means some apps may require you to create new login information since they cant access your devices number.
However, with the integration of iCloud and GameCenter, settings configurations like the one mentioned above for Tweetbot shouldnt be an issue. Most apps are able to store settings in iCloud and save your data that way. As a user you likely wont notice much of a change in the core functionality of any apps. If you are asked for access to your UDID and you care about privacy, take a second to consider if you want to hand that information over or not. Photo by Marco Arment.
The changing fortunes of the publisher of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News encapsulate the
long-term decline in the newspaper industry.
Originally purchased by a group of private investors for $515 million in June 2006, Philadelphia Media Networks buying price first tumbled
to $139 million in October 2010, when it was acquired in a bankruptcy auction by a group of investors led by Alden Global Capital and Angelo, Gordon amp; Co — then plunged to just $55 million in the
latest transaction, when it was bought by another group of investors, led by Lewis Katz, a 70-year-old local businessman.
The deal, which was agreed to this week, also provides a capital
infusion of $10 million for continuing operations. Even so, the $65 million total represents an 87% decline in the value of the company since 2006.
Part of this shrinkage can be attributed to
the divestment of certain assets, including its office tower, sold last year for almost $23 million. But the main factor is the steep, continuing decline in the newspaper industry, due primarily to
the loss of print ad revenues.
While the company doesnt report financial results publicly, a report in the Philadelphia Inquirer noted that a company spokesman recently
justified a new round of layoffs with the admission that the kind of revenue we have been generating has not been enough to sustain the personnel we have.
CEO Greg Osberg will be
staying with the company, but its not clear whether the new owners intend to carry on with some of Osbergs innovative programs revealed last year. In June 2011, Osberg said that the
company would begin marketing a relatively cheap tablet-style reader using Googles Android operating system — the Arnova 10 G2 tablet — bundled with digital subscriptions to its newspapers.
Under one plan, consumers can pay $129 for the tablet plus a one-year subscription to three newspaper apps, which costs $12.99 every four weeks. Under another plan, consumers pay $99 and get a
two-year subscription to the apps for $9.99 every four weeks.
The world’s longest-running photography magazine celebrates over 100,000 downloads of its iPad edition
British Journal of Photography has increased its readership over 12 times with the launch of its bespoke iPad app. Reaching out to a global audience for the first time in its 162-year history, the app has now been downloaded over 100,000 times – a figure which dwarfs the 8000 readers of its niche print edition, which was first published in 1854.
The first paid for edition of BJP’s app hit the Apple Newsstand in December last year and reached the number 1 spot as the highest-grossing app in the UK Photo Video category in iTunes in less than 24 hours. It has now also hit the top 10 Newsstand apps in the US.
The tailor-made app has also met with critical success, included on the List of Best European Magazine Newspaper Apps* alongside titles such as Wired, Mail Online, Metro Tablet Edition and Bild. In December, Apple highlighted the app as “New Noteworthy” within the App Store in iTunes.
Issue 3 (Spring 2012), available from today, is an all-star affair, featuring interviews with some of contemporary photographys biggest stars – including Roger Ballen, South Africas most idiosyncratic shooter, who talks through his journey from documentary to staged photography plus his latest project, a pop video for South Afrikan rap-rave group Die Antwoord. Also featured are Boris Mikhailov, Paolo Roversi, Lise Sarfati, Steve Pyke and Martin Parr.
The BJP app uses the Mag+ platform and also provides an in-depth analysis of the latest visual trends, spotlights on new talent and reviews of the latest technology. Maximising the iPad’s video capabilities, it incorporates unrivalled coverage of the emerging HDSLR video market, bringing together the best from stills photography and motion technology.
Up-to-the-minute live news from BJP-Online is also accessible at the click of a button, and users can share articles via email and social media.
Publishing director Marc Hartog states: Our app has exceeded our wildest expectations , hitting over 100,000 downloads already and growing fast, which is more than twelve times our print readership, the iPad and newsstand present us with an opportunity to deliver our content to a global audience in an environment which we believe readers will see real value in. We had faith that people would pay a premium price for premium digital content delivered in an interactive and immersive environment, and this has paid off with several thousand subscriptions for our iPad edition in just the first few months of launch.”
Issue #3 of the BJP app can be downloaded now through iTunes for £6.99/EUR7.99/$9.99. A 50 page preview is also available to download free.
A six-month subscription is also available at the launch offer price of £9.99/EUR10.99/$13.99.
For more information, video previews and download details, visit www.bjpapp.com
Images available upon request.
-ends-
Notes to editors:
* McPheters Company included BJP’s app in the iMonitor list of Best European Magazine Newspaper Apps. The company’s iMonitor provides detailed evaluation and global tracking of around 3700 apps that are related to magazines and newspapers. McPheters Company is an independent media research company, providing analysis to media owners, advertisers, and ad agencies. In June of 2010, McPheters Company launched iMonitor to provide global monitoring and detailed evaluations of products delivered via the iPad and other tablet devices.
About British Journal of Photography
British Journal of Photography is published by Incisive Financial Publishing Limited as a premium quality monthly magazine, available across the UK and select cities in Europe, North America, the Far East and Australasia. Established in 1854, it is the world’s longest-running and influential photography magazine, defining the future of photographic journalism. It was one of the first photography magazines to launch online, starting
BJP-Online.com in 1997, now reaching more than 100,000 unique visitors per month.
About the App Team
The team responsible for the design and production of the BJP app are now available for full service digital contract publishing, using the Mag+ platform. For more details please contact Mick Moore on: mick.moore@incisivemedia.com
About Incisive Media
Incisive Media is a leading global provider of specialist business news and information, in print, in person and online. The company’s principal markets include financial services, legal and accounting services, marketing services, technology and risk management. Incisive Medias market-leading brands include Accountancy Age, Computeractive, Investment Week, Legal Week, Post, Risk and V3.co.uk. Visit www.incisivemedia.com.
About Mag+
Mag+ (www.magplus.com) is the most flexible and efficient platform for publishing creative content on touch screen tablets. Mag+ premiered on the first iPads in April 2010 with the award winning Popular Science+. It supports dozens of titles in the Apple Newsstand and also has titles on the Android platforms. With its streamlined production system, powerful backend and feature-rich app framework, Mag+ is ideal for anyone — from magazine and book publishers to catalogue marketers and design agencies — wanting to bring beautiful, immersive content to the millions using this new generation of digital devices. Built by the RD task force of global publishing powerhouse Bonnier Magazine Group, Mag+ was spun out into its own company, Moving Media+, in 2011.
For more information, please contact:
Rahila Ehsan on rahila.ehsan@incisivemedia.com or 020 7316 9180