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The Labor Day weekend is both the end of summer, and the end of the summer experiments in first iPad app development. One app released over the weekend is for the Columbus Dispatch, an interesting cross between a straight replica edition and an RSS reader.
Also, just to show that TNM isn't completely obsessed with the new tablet products, tomorrow TNM looks at the progress the old RBI trade titles are making on the web -- it's a mixed bag.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Tomorrow at TNM: the new Columbus Dispatch new app is a cross between a replica edition and an RSS reader
Will piracy of print publishing begin to increase as more publishers adopt paywalls and digital publishing solutions?
A year ago the New York Times pusblished an article on the rise of book piracy -- a form of digital piracy all too familiar to music and film producers. Now, a year later, and with the iPad joining the Kindle
Book publishers are easy targets for e-pirates as most books convert easily into PDFs. These PDFs can then be read on the user's computer, or now on tablets. A PDF of a book is essentially a Kindle edition -- exact replicas that offer the ease of electronic reading (font control, zooming, and the like).
→ The unique layouts, animation and video content of Mac|Life's new iPad app makes the product less susceptible to electronic piracy.
But now that the iPad is well established, and more tablets are about to be released, the issue is of print piracy is spreading. NPR's All Things Considered recently ran a piece on the issue as it relates to sheet music.
But as newspaper and magazine publishers begin to construct paywalls, and as they begin to launch replica editions of their publications for tablets and smartphones, they, too, could become targets for the pirates.
Most music and print pirates, unlike DVD pirates, are not sharing content for financial gain. But the effect on publishers is still the same. Nonetheless, there are a couple things a publisher can do to lessen the effects of print piracy.
First, one can continue to pursue an advertising model online, rather than build a paywall. The Times (UK), for instance, would be a natural target of any print pirate now that they have put their website behind a paywall.
But many want to pursue a paid model online so the next logical thing one could do is to not pursue a replica edition strategy for mobile and tablets. By simple producing an exact edition, one would be creating a product that will not differentiate itself from a shared PDF version.
The New York Times received a lot of flak for its first iPad app as it severely limited content; quite a number of iPad owners expressed disappointment in the app. But one thing the app did do was to re-imagine layouts for the new tablet. Because of this, it created an unique product less easily copied.
The problem with most replica editions is that the publisher pursuing this strategy is not thinking through the user experience of the reader. A PDF based copy of their newspaper or magazine is produced to be read on a device with a three inch screen, seven inch screen, or nine inch screen -- are all these experiences the same? Just visualize your own magazine or newspaper if the print edition came in three different sizes.
Because of this, designing native solutions seems desirable if trying to optimize the reader experience. But the side benefit to this approach is that this new product is less easily pirated. Who would want to read a replica copy of a print product on an iPad if a product specifically designed for that device were available instead?
Zinio releases branded iPad app for Sporting News Today; a digital magazine that wants to be print
Please tell me this isn't the Sporting News iPad app I've been waiting all summer for? Like the kid (supposedly) said, "say it ain't so, Joe".
Back in early May I interviewed Jeff Price, publisher of Sporting News about his new Sporting News Today strategy. The publication had been working with Zinio to create a daily online digital magazine but now Price had begun charging for access and with the launch of Apple's iPad was telling me that a branded app would eventually appear. This new branded app would still involve working with Zinio, but now his magazine would have a video partner, CineSport, which would bring in sports highlight content to both the website and this branded app.
And so the wait began. Finally, over the Labor Day weekend the Sporting News Today branded app appeared and, it is sad to report, it is no different than the same product that has been in the Zinio digital newsstand these past few months -- no video content, the same print look.
And the worst thing is that after stepping up and buying the latest issue inside the app I was horrified to discover that the issue sent to me was dated Sunday, September 6 and contained as its first story a preview of the Boise State - Virginia Tech game, a game played yesterday (Boise State dramatically won the game in the final minute.)
App details:
Free iPad app
$0.99 per issue
or $2.99 per month
Print design
Minimal interactivity
(Looking in the Zinio newsstand now I see that today's issue has now been made available, a few hours late if you are a commuter, but OK if you live on the West Coast. The latest issue is promised to be available by 6 AM each morning -- but is that 6 AM ET, or 6 AM PT? Is this the source of the problem?)
I can only assume that this isn't what the publisher meant by a branded app. This version of Sporting News Today is a digital only publication that is trying very hard to pretend its a printed magazine. Layouts are designed as if this were a printed publications, with ads positioned exactly like a print publication, and two-page spreads appearing in landscape mode. (As I wrote at the end of my look at the National Geographic Magazine app, there is no such thing as a two-page spread on a tablet. There is only one screen, so there can only be one page.
The app does contain Zinio's good pinch and swipe navigation. My only complaint would be that once you zoom in the pages can tend to bounce around like a drunken sailor.
← Sporting News Today: the digital magazine
that wants to be a print magazine.
If this is the final look of this app it would be hugely disappointing. If, however, the branded app has launched without the addition of video content, and without a new design then it is a shame from a marketing standpoint.
Apps hit the iTunes store when launched, and unless successful immediately fall off the first page of the app store pretty quickly. It is important to get this part right.
Update: I've just received an e-mail telling me my "September 6th issue is here!" Thanks guys.
Update 2: Sporting News has released a press release concerning the new app. It states that the video content from CineSport that can currently be seen on the Sporting News' website "will be available within a few weeks from launch". Big mistake, in my opinion. An app only launches once, unless you create a substitute app, so launching without the added content seems like a marketing mistake.
Nonetheless, I think sports fans will appreciate seeing the branded app. The sports apps for the iPad from both ESPN and Sports Illustrated are certainly lacking at this point (why hasn't ESPN launched a dedicated app for EPSN 360 for the iPad, for instance? The college football season has already begun and I would have thought that an app for that product would have been a no brainer.)
But I still wonder why someone would create a digital-only product that tries so hard to look like a print product.
National Geographic magazine opts for taking the middle road; going with a branded app from a digital newsstand
The term "middle of the road" is usually used when describing music that is not offensive, and very boring. MOR, as it is often written, isn't quite "bubble gum" but it is not taken very seriously, either.
This is the approach, I suppose, of the new National Geographic Magazine app for the iPad. Created by Zinio, this free app is essentially a promotion piece for buying the magazine through Zinio's digital newsstand. The user downloads the app and immediately gets a few pages of the latest issue to entice them to buy the real thing -- though the first issue is free after registering with Zinio.
Is this a blatant attempt at bait-and-switch? No, I don't think so myself, but lots of iPad users who are writing reviews inside the iTunes app store seem to think so as the app is getting quite a number of one-star reviews.
(It is sometimes hard to judge the sincerity of both the five-star and one-star reviews inside the app store. But one way to get a better feel about a reviewers judgement is to click on their name to see their other reviews -- for instance, are they all one-star? all five-star? An example would the very first review on this app. The reviewer has all five-star reviews, and all magazines -- very strange. The next guy only shows two reviews -- a one-star review for this app, and a five-star review for the Zinio app. Make of that what you will.)
Replica apps must be a nightmare for art directors. You spend all that time making your layouts fit the confines of the printed page and then when you see the magazine on an iPad suddenly the whole experience is lost.
The National Geographic Magazine app is a good example. If you are reading an article in portrait mode and flip to the next page you may end up landing on the first page of a photo spread such as the one at left. In landscape mode one immediately sees the layout as it was originally designed. But in portrait mode the layout does not work. The same is true in reverse: landscape mode in a replica edition is great for two page spreads that contain large pictures, or designs that cross the gutter, but when the digital page contains text from an article on one side, and an ad on the other, the whole experience is ruined by pinching and zooming in and out.
What many publishers and developers are failing to grasp is one simple rule: there is no such thing as a two-page spread on a tablet -- it is just one digital page.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Mac|Life releases killer tablet edition; iPad app includes live Twitter feed, commenting; built by B3 Publishing
What was old will be new again. I will try and remember that as the years go by and tablet publishing really takes off.
Swamped with interviews, reviews, errands, personnel business and more, I have avoided the iTunes store the past couple of days, instead depending on other sites to learn what new media apps have been released. A couple of days ago the first iPad app from Mac|Life, the Future US owned magazine, debuted in the iTunes store. Finally getting around to downloading it yesterday I noticed that it had shot up to number one in its category -- pretty impressive, something must be going on.
Then I opened the app and immediately said to myself "hold on there".
Ever have that feeling of deja vu, or feeling like you immediately know something you shouldn't? That hit me like a ton of bricks.
I quickly did a search to see if could learn more and found a video on YouTube -- you can see it below. The video was posted by Ken Balthaser, and if that name rings a bell it may be because you grew up in this business around the same time I did.
Balthaser Studios was launched in 1998 and it created a legendary Flash site that took hours (it seemed) to load using the then-standard dial-up Internet connection. But once it starting playing the site was a revelation.
(The original site is still online to see -- here -- but I think the original sense of discovery is lost in this modern era of web animation and broadband Internet speeds. I wrote about this all back in April when discussing the death of Flyp Media.)
One of the brand names associated today with Balthaser is B3 Publishing, and this Mac|Life app shows they still are producing interesting things. (The company is also working with Zinio, according to its website.)
The Mac|Life Tablet Edition is a free app that has already been downloaded 63,000 times by iPad users in the first week of its release, according to Kate Byrne, Vice President of Technology and Active Groups, Future US, who is also the publisher.
{Background: Mac|Life's latest BPA shows a bit more than 136,000 copies are in distribution, with a rate base of 130,000. The magazine changed its name from MacAddict to Mac|Life in early 2007.}
← Editor's Letter page with embedded video.
Left: Kate Byrne, publisher
Right: Paul Curthoys, editor-in-chief
The new app is also enjoying considerable promotion from Apple: it is currently the first app displayed in the New & Newsworthy section of the iTunes app store. It is also still showing up on the first page of new free apps in the News category, though by the end of this weekend it will probably fall off that first page.
There is no question that this app deserves its success. It contains some nice animation (that I'm afraid is hard to capture for you), as well as incorporating live Twitter feeds. The tablet edition also allows readers to provide feedback throughout, encouraging readers to give their feedback to the editors and writers, and to give their own ratings of products seen inside the tablet edition.
User feedback inside iTunes has been very positive. "This is how you make a Magazine App,' wrote Steve Gary inside iTunes. "What a wonderful revolutionary way to experience the magazines. Well done guys, and keep them coming!" wrote Preston McClay.
"Reading some of those reviews puts a smile on my face," Byrne said yesterday. They would make me blush.
"This is only just the beginning," Ken Balthaser wrote me late yesterday. "Once they develop the technology to 'build once and publish everywhere', you will start to see a lot more custom curated digital content and not just print replication -- more evolved Lean in/Lean back and depth/density of information in a Rich digital experience."
"We wanted to do something different with this version of Mac|Life than what other applications are doing," Neil Balthaser, interactive director at Balthaser Studios and B3 Publishing, is heard to say in the YouTube video. "We wanted to do something that recognizes that the iPad both can grab and send information, and we wanted to mix the strength of the Mac|Life print magazine with what the modern Internet today does very well which is to provide for interactivity, participation, and immediacy."
The tablet edition is being promoted as a special edition, and appears to be being sold that way. "We’re calling this initial free app “Issue Zero” and we’re asking you, loyal readers and curious newcomers alike, to take this app for a spin and tell us what you think," the magazine states in its iTunes description.
Before talking more about advertising (after the break), here is the video from Ken Balthaser:
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Later this morning: a look at the new Mac|LIfe iPad app, and then it's off for the Labor Day holiday weekend
Preview: first thing tomorrow this morning I'll have a post that looks at Future US's very nice iPad app for Mac|Life. Mac|Life Tablet Edition is a free special edition app that incorporates commenting and live Twitter feeds. It currently tops the charts of free news apps.
It was created with the assistance of B3 Publishing. Yes, the Balthaser boys are back with a vengeance.
Then it will be off for the Labor Day holiday weekend. But check back occasionally as I'll probably post something this weekend or Monday.
Android-based Samsung Galaxy Tab gets a European launch date of mid-September, in Asia and the U.S. later
Waiting around for an Android-based tablet that can compete with Apple's iPad has been a frustrating experience as manufacturers tout their hypothetical products but never reveal an actual release date. Samsung put an end to all that by previewing their new tablet at IFA 2010 in Berlin yesterday.
Even iPad owners have been eagerly awaiting real competition for the iPad knowing that the only way they will get improvements to their tablets -- things like a front-facing camera to use FaceTime, for instance -- is if a real competitor arrives on the scene.
That time, at least for Europeans, will be mid-September, the time D.H. Lee, head of Samsung Mobile global sales says the manufacturer will appear there. Buyers in Asia and the U.S. will apparently have to cool their jets a while longer, though I can't imagine Samsung would want to miss the holiday season with this new device.
For a good rundown of the specs I would recommend this post, but the basics are that the seven inch screened device will run Android 2.2 (Froyo) for now, but will be upgraded to 3.0 in due time. The tablet will have a front-facing camera, as well as a 3 meg rear camera. The device is lighter and smaller than Apple's iPad, which means users may well use that rear camera, though frankly the fact that every cell phone now comes with a camera makes having one on your tablet less necessary -- though it could be useful in some video chat scenarios.
Spec-wise, Samsung seems to have built a competitive package, that is for sure. Its weakness, though, may end up being its sales strategy. Samsung's carrier partners will be the ones selling the device, whereas Apple depended on its web store and own retail stores (along with Best Buy) to conduct sales. Because of this strategy, pricing is currently unavailable. (Does this mean that this will be a subsidized product -- that is, a cheap to buy tablet that will require a data plan? The Guardian article on the preview speculates that the tablet may use a "two SIM" solution where the tablet will share a SIM card with a cell phone. Not a bad solution, assuming one wants to buy a cell phone from that carrier -- plus, this could limit any discounting of the tablet since the cell phone would get the discount.)
It appears unlikely that Apple will introduce an updated version of its orignal iPad until next spring, though there have been rumors -- so far with little evidence -- that a smaller seven inch model may be launched. So far most of the Android competition rumored or previewed has been at this small size. While consumers may like the smaller size for portability and game playing, media professionals, I would think, would prefer a larger pallet to work with. Desiging for a nearly ten inch screen has to beat designing for a small screen. On the other hand, since there is currently no competitive Android tablet attracting the attention of media app developers, moving from the smartphone screen to a seven inch screen might mean some developers simply develop one Android app for both.
The obligatory video demo:
TNM navel gazing
Here are a few website stats web publishers might find interesting;
1) Readers of this site are almost evenly split in their browser use: Firefox accounts for about 28 percent of all readers, while Safari comes in second at just under 27 percent. Internet Explorer, which used to be the dominate browser a few years ago is used by just over 21 percent of TNM readers, and Google's new Chrome browser now accounts for just under 21 percent.
My guess is that Safari accounts for this high a percentage because it is the browser found on both the iPhone and iPad, as well as Macs. I am also pretty sure that the amount of iPhone and iPad app reviews here has some influence over that number. If I owned an Android cell phone and only wrote about apps found on that platform I'm sure the numbers would be different.
2) But this site definitely does attract a disproportional number of Mac users -- 35 percent of TNM readers are using the Mac OS. A further 11 percent are reading TNM from their iPads or iPhones.
I find the iPad number pretty impressive -- almost 8 percent of all readers find TNM through their iPads.
But overall, TNM's readership numbers are nothing to brag about. This site was condemned to being one of many websites hidden from view thanks to a decision Google made many months ago when they decided not to categorize this site as a news site. It was a silly decision then, and it still is based on the interviews and stories written here. But no matter, this site was clearly never going to be a commercial venture.
Talking an old fashioned approach to New Media, newspapers remain hesitant to announce new apps
Back in the days when print newspapers used to compete head-on with another local newspaper, publishers were always tight lipped about their plans to launch new sections, or new features. But they word would get out anyway because their sales teams would be all over town spreading the word, selling ads.
Today, most newspaper staff members have no clue when their own paper will launch a new mobile or tablet app. Tight lipped execs apparently think that letting the competition know they are about to launch an app will somehow be self-defeating. It is a hilarious remnant of a by-gone era -- as if it were possible for a paper to get wind of another's plan for an app and then would be able to quickly develop their own.
This story, written by Michael Calderone, as well as interviews I've conducted with several newspaper managers brought this to the forefront. According to the Calderone story, the Washington Post is set to launch an iPad app in "the coming weeks". The app is described as "highly anticipated" (his quotes are in the original). I don't know if Calderone was being snarky or not, but describing anything the Post does in mobile of tablet as "highly anticipated" would have to be satire.
The Washington Post company has been late to the mobile game, having released its first iPhone app in early March of this year, and no iPad app appeared for Newsweek until the property was about to be sold.
But the real issue here is that just like the web, much of the early efforts in mobile and tablet magazines are being done in the dark, without the full participate of the staffs -- editorial and sales.
One reason for this is fear -- fear that advertisers have lost interest in their products. I know from experience that it used to be the case that either I, or when I was in management, one of my reps were go out and talk to advertisers about new products. If the advertiser was excited the rep might get a commitment to participate right there and then. Then the rep would report back and the project would get going in earnest, knowing that there would be ad support. What used to be the best way to create a new section? Sell out the back page position right at the start.
Now apps are created without ads, and without the staff even knowing the thing is coming down the pike. I just don't see the business strategy of this approach.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Little in Apple event to get publishers excited; Apple TV will be running iOS, but no new app store on the horizon
For publishers just trying to get their heads around mobile media applications, let alone tablet applications, the thought that Apple might introduce a new TV product that will accept media apps must have been a scary thought. But Steve Jobs, while introducing a new Apple TV, never mentioned applications for the big screen, and so media app developers can rest easy knowing that, for now, the iPhone and iPad will keep them busy enough.
Today's Apple media event centered on introducing a complete refresh of the iPod product line in time for the holiday shopping season. Apple CEO Steve Jobs did not disappoint in this area, introducing three new versions of the iPod shuffle, iPode nano, and iPod touch. Each has either a new design or feature set. For publishers, the iPod touch is the most important product because users can download apps from the iTunes app store. The new iPod touch will have a front facing camera in order to take advantage of Apple's new FaceTime feature, extending WiFi based calling even further. It is now only a matter of time before the iPad gets the same front-facing camera, as well.
Developers now have a date when the iPad will get its operating system update: November. It is then that the popular tablet will get multi-tasking, folders and (something new) wireless printing. Of course, thanks to Epson, both my iPhone and iPad already can print wirelessly, but it's good to see Apple will build this right into the OS. One thing Jobs didn't mention was whether the user would need a printer capable of doing, or if the device would interface with a home computer.
The Boston Globe goes mobile with release of its own real estate app and first iPad app -- more on the way
With the release of its own iPhone real estate app, as well as its first paid app for the iPad, this is a good time to speak to Lisa DeSisto, general manager of Boston.com and chief advertising officer for The Boston Globe, about the paper's mobile strategy.
Released two weeks ago, the iPhone app Boston.com Real Estate got an update this morning, as the developers added iAd support. Similar to the New York Times' real estate app released earlier this year, this app delivers searchable home listings, allows users to browse listings by neighborhood, and helps buyers find homes nearby that are for sale, using the iPhone's location-aware technologies. The app also includes the real estate RSS feed, bringing in articles and slideshows
"When the New York Times is your parent company you get access to a lot of their people and technology, so it made it easy for us to launch it here," says Lisa DeSisto.
Because this is the second iteration of this particular application, users will find the free app stable, easy to use, and quite functional. The original NYT app got it right the first time, so this one is just as useful.
"The business strategy behind the app is two-fold: the first one is about the realtors who have their listings on Boston.com -- hundreds of realtors have their listings on Boston.com -- so for us, this was just another distribution channel for them," DeSisto said in an interview yesterday afternoon.
Users will be able to find open homes near their present location, and preview homes in advance to see if they wish to actually visit them. The hope is that realtors will see this new app as a great marketing tool -- a way of making their listings work harder.
For home buyers, a mobile real estate device can be used 'on the road', of course. "You don't necessarily have to be tethered to your computer, you can do it on your phone," DeSisto said.
 |  |  |
The second part of the business strategy, DeSisto told me, is to sell display advertising -- "discrete display advertising, we don't want to overpower your search experience," DeSisto said, "because the primary reason for the app is to put the listings in front of people -- but for businesses who want to reach prospective home seekers (lending institutions, banks, mortgage brokers) it's a great place for them to advertise. So we're actively looking for sponsors for the app."
The app does not currently contain paid advertising, but the addition iAd support to the app does not change the company's ad strategy. “We intend to sell advertising/sponsorship directly," DeSisto said this morning in response to my inquiry, "but also will use networks to fill any inventory that is unsold.”
(As an aside: The app was that since the app uses Google Maps to plot the homes, and so offers a satellite view, as well as the map view. But pins that show the property do not offer a street view, that could be extremely helpful to the home buyer. For instance, putting in the address of the home used as an example above into Google maps shows the user the buildings next to the condo, as well as the rest of the neighborhood. Of course, the listing itself can contain many of these pictures -- just a thought.)
This real estate app is not the only app released recently by Boston.com, and the company has plans for much more.
"We have a plan to introduce, I guess you could call them 'flagship apps', that would be focused more on news content. Then we also want to do some niche apps. So one of the paid apps that we just completed is for The Big Picture which is a photojournalistic blog."
The Big Picture from Boston.com was released on August 25 and costs the user $2.99. It is a revised version of the iPhone app that was originally released back in May, and originally priced at $1.99.
The application takes advantage of the iPad's display size to render the photographs attractively, and I think makes for a better reading experience than the popular web feature. For one thing, since the iPad is more of a leisure-time reading device than the web is, the user will be free to linger over the photographs. The captions are handled a bit differently, as well. On the web, the captions are placed under the photo in a more-or-less traditional way. Here a tap of the finger removes the caption so the photo can be enjoyed without text.
 | |
The application is somewhat similar to the Guardian's own photojournalism app, The Guardian Eyewitness. The Guardian app handles captions inventively and the app, while free, has a single-sponsor -- Canon. (You can read more about the Guardian's app here.)
The Big Picture, however, is more like a blog. Created by Alan Taylor, the blog/app organizes pictures around a central theme. In this way it is more like photoJ, the photojournalism app from The Mainichi Newspapers in Japan.
Interestingly, the question of "why pay" will be asked by some iPad users as the Internet version of The Big Picture remains free online while the app version will cost you $2.99 -- once again free access online may undercut a paid product.
But the iPad version, in my opinion, is a superior reading experience -- and even though you could use the iPad's Safari browser to access the online version for free, it is still not as easy to navigate and enjoy as the app version.
DeSisto appears to share my objections to replica edition apps believing that the media app has to fit the device.
"When you develop your products," DeSisto said, "they have to be developed for the device, so instead of just throwing it (the print product) onto mobile phones we said 'let's take advantage of the kinds of functionality and the kind of experience you have when you are in the mobile world'."
This approach will serve Boston.com well as they continue to release apps for both mobile phones and tablets. And consistent with the idea that content should follow the reader, the company will be releasing Android versions of their apps at some point, as well.
Surprise -- Apple to provide live streaming of event
I can't remember the last time they provided a live stream of one of their events (it was in 2005), but tomorrow Apple will give consumers a look in at their product event in San Francisco.
Of course, there are a few caveats: you have to go to www.apple.com and supposedly have to be on a Mac running 10.6, or an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
"Hey, can anyone get a WiFi connection in here?"
AppleInsider speculates that Apple may be doing this following a WiFi hiccup at its last event where CEO Steve Jobs could not get enough bandwidth in the hall due to all the attendees live blogging the event. This seems like a reasonable move forward.
Products expected to be introduced include a new Apple TV box top that will run iOS, and new iPods. The hope is that there wil be some surprises such as a date for an OS update for the iPad which will add multitasking, folders and the like, a new version of iLife that will add new functionality, and a new business model for the newspaper industry (OK, maybe not the last item).
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