Friday afternoon app launches and updates: Tribune Interactive launches tablet edition for the L.A Times

It's the Friday before Memorial Day, that means people are wrapping up work and gettin' out of town. I'm heading up to Milwaukee to see the Giants in what was supposed to be a celebration of their World Series win but now feels like a funeral after the horrible injury to their star catcher Buster Posey.

So before heading off for the long weekend let's clear some things off the TNM desk:

Tim Moore has released an update for the latest edition of his tablet magazine. Letter to Jane: Moral Tales is also being discounted - a Memorial Day Weekend Sale – so you if want to download his latest tablet-only magazine it will only cost you 99 cents if you do it now. (Do it now!)

Other updates include Nomad Editions which issued its an update which they say fixes some bugs, has new settings panel, etc.

The Oregonian's app for Homes & Gardens of the Northwest was updated last night, as well. The app description says the app update features general improvements and bug fixes. You can now access the second edition of the newspaper's special section that will appear in print tomorrow.

Finally, the BBC updated its mobile app, that claims to fix some bugs.

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Tribune Interactive released its second iPad app in support of the company's Los Angeles property. Los Angeles Times app for iPad is a free download, and once you have signed into your account or created a new one, content is free, as well.

There is no warning inside the app description that the company plans on charging for the app anytime soon (another winning business strategy from the Tribune Company, right?).

The app description also states that "The LA Times App for iPad works best with iOS v. 4.2+. We recommend upgrading to the latest iOS version prior to using this application."

This gives you a clue that there have already been users who have noticed problems with the app. In fact, an update has already been issued on the app that claims to offer "stability and performance improvements."

But because iTunes has been acting up all day I have been having a problem downloading apps or getting updates. In the end I downloaded this new app directly from the iPad rather than from the version of iTunes on my desktop computer, something a almost never do. It turns out that the version of this app I downloaded was the original release – and boy was it buggy. In fact, I created a video of the app that I even loaded onto YouTube for embedding here. Then, seconds before posting this story I was able to download the app through iTunes and discovered that I didn't have the updated version.

All time producing the video was wasted as I quickly deleted it from the TNM YouTube Channel. So much for Plan A. Plan B was to take some screenshots which is what you see here.

I had a slew of complaints about version one of this app starting with the registration process which didn't seem to work for me, strange navigation in landscape, etc. But it appears most of these issues have been worked out, though it must be said that blaming them on the users iOS sees a bit much since I was experiencing problems with the first version of the app even though my iPad is fully up-to-date.

In the end, the app seems to be performing now and I assume we will soon see one for other Trine Company properties like the Chicago Tribune.

French online news site Rue89 launches its own tablet edition, created using PadCMS digital publishing solutions

Important update below which adds some details from the developer.

Here is a bit of a more in-depth look at the new tablet edition released this week by the French online news site Rue89. The new iPad app, Rue89 avec les doigts, is a free app that gives you compete access to the content.

Rue89 was founded just four years ago by former editors of Libération, the newspaper founded in 1973 by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July. Currently the directeur de la rédaction (managing editor) of Rue89 is Pascal Riché, while Pierre Haski serves as directeur de la publication (publisher), both former Libération editors.

Opening the app one finds that PadCMS is credited with being the developer, while the app description lists Thomas Duc as the "seller" – whether they are one and the same is unknown. The PadCMS website is not much help as no names are mentioned, only a Paris address. But it appears that the company is related to Adyax, which is a company dedicated to open source technologies, and is listed as the "seller" of two other iPad tablet editions, du côté de chez vous and Air le Mag par McDonald's, which believe it or not is said to be "le mensuel culturel des restaurants McDonald’s" – the cultural magazine of McDonald's, really.

In any case, PadCMS's website states that "PadCMS is the first Open Source for digital magazine publishing on an iPad or Android tablets. Totally free, this solution allows any editor to publish magazines on tablets, despite any functional challenges they may present."

Further, the site claims that their digital publishing solution "allows the display of a simple PDF, sure, but it also allows the publication of new generation digital magazines, including, for example, Interactive Games, Videos, Sounds or any other media present in the Rich Magazines."

So what to expect from Rue89 avec les doigts? Will it be a simple replica edition?

Because of my low expectations I waited a day or so before opening up the app following downloading it. I was pleasantly surprised as the new tablet magazine looks more like what you would expect from efforts using Adobe or WoodWing publishing tools.

I can't comment on the editorial quality of the product, as it takes me a long time to struggle through French publications (I used to be better) but as an app this one has me incredibly curious about the publishing solutions offered from PadCMS (I have contacted them and hope to hear back at some point).

In the meantime, here is a very poorly produced video that shows the app in action. Since the app is a free download I would encourage readers to check it out, and I promise more information on PadCMS should they get back to me.

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Update: Maxime Topolov, cofounder and CTO at Adjax responded to my inquiry concerning PadCMS. He explains their new system this way:

• On client side there are two libraries / example applications: one for
iOS (iPad) and other one for Android 2.2 & 2.3 (Galaxy tab, for example)
• On back end side, it's classical LAMP solution running on Zend Framework.

Topolov emphasizes that the big difference between the solution they have introduced and other digital publishing solutions is that PadCMS is free and open source.

"In our solution, there are pre-built interaction templates, and it's a
totally plugable and modular system, so many others could be created by the
community," Topolov told me.

I will be extremely interested to get input from those TNM readers who have been desperately looking for a new tablet publishing solution. This certainly sounds interesting.

Morning Brief: The austerity cult must have its pound of flesh; the sad state of McClatchy; money for Broadway

Holidays are a time when one can getg a good sense of the economic conditions: when times are good media folk are usually busy trying to clear their desks of projects, finishing up publications, scrambling to get ad copy, during bad times there is usually a question about whether one should take a few extra days off.

Thanks to the austerity crowd, a cult really, many economists see the US economy sliding back into recession. The Congress, both parties, appear to have joined the austerity cult, as they search for ways to pull another trillion dollars out of the economy – growth through contraction.

For some, austerity is a philosophy, the government should only be in the war making and corporate subsidizing business. For others, it is what one does when one hasn't a clue how to create growth. Which leads us to . . .

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McClatchy said it has sold its building which houses The Miami Herald for $236 million to Bayfront 2011 Property LLC, a unit of Genting Malaysia Berhad (a Malaysian company which is in the gaming and resort business).

"This property, located on Biscayne Bay, has been home to The Miami Herald for many years. While locating newspaper operations on the bay may have made sense in the past, it no longer is the best fit," Gary Pruitt, McClatchy's chairman said.

The money will be used to contribute to its pension plan and to pay down debt.

No word on where the paper will relocate to after it ends its two year lease of the same property it has just sold. Maybe they will just home office everyone, assuming they can find an employee willing to have printing presses in their living room.

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“I’m sure the Globe’s for sale,” James Boyce, founder of Common Sense New Media Strategies, a Boston-based consulting firm told Jessica Heslam of the Boston Herald.

“The problem is," Boyce continued, "if the buyer pays a fair market price, I doubt the seller is going to want to sell it for that. It’s a matter of, is there someone who is going to overpay for it, or is the New York Times Co. going to sell the Globe for what it’s actually probably worth?”

The Boston Herald no doubt loves such talk, but the rumor that the New York Times Company would love to dump the Globe has been around a long time. I feeling is that the NYT won't sell the business until it needs money to launch a new Broadway production of No, No, Nanette.

Slow posting ahead; in the meantime, what do you know about PadCMS, used to create the iPad edition of Rue89?

On the road most of today, so posting is difficult. But one app I will be writing about tomorrow (I hope) is this new one from Rue89, a French news site created by former editors from Libération.

The free iPad app, Rue89 avec les doigts, was creating using PadCMS. That new Parisian company has a rather spartan website that doesn't give you a whole lot of information about their service, and what is there is not that encouraging:

PadCMS allows the display of a simple PDF, sure, but it also allows the publication of new generation digital magazines, including, for example, Interactive Games, Videos, Sounds or any other media present in the "Rich Magazines".

But Rue89 avec les doigts (Rue89 with fingers) is not just a PDF at all. The app contains an opening animation, and layouts with floating text boxes generally seen in tablet editions made using Adobe or WoodWing tools.

Check it out, and if your French is better than mine maybe you can tell us more about PadCMS and what they have to offer.

Bloggers using Google's Chrome browser find themselves locked out of their own websites (find the solution here)

One of the fastest growing browsers is Google's Chrome, both for PCs and Macs. Chrome's market share is almost 12 percent of all Internet traffic.

The browser uses the same Webkit layout engine used by Safari, which is why I exclusively use just these two browsers. In general, I still prefer Safari for some things, but two things make Chrome a great choice: the browser does not get hung up on my Mac (the spinning volley ball effect) and its built-in translation engine is hugely useful when looking at non-English media websites and tablet and mobile apps.

But if you are someone who uses Google's own Blogger service AND a Chrome user you may have been locked out of your website the past few days. Users trying to log into their accounts have been kicked out endlessly, complaining on Google forums that nothing they do seems to help, except using any other browser other than Chrome.

It turns out that there is a solution, but like many things related to computers, it is sometimes frustrating to discover, even if ultimately easy.

If you are one of those suffering with Chrome right now the solution is this: go under Preferences, then "Under the Hood", and then "Clear Browsing Data". When you reached this point you need to clear out all history, empty the cache and delete cookies (or at least the Blogger cookie). Restarting the browser then returns it to a functional state.

The worrying thing is that Google continues a complete lack of customer service savvy. In the case of a problem like this one, it is often the case that users find and distribute the technical solution quicker than the company. This is often the case with Apple, as well, as any look inside their discussion boards will point out. But Apple customer service has always considered to be top notch, and their developer customer service I find really responsive.

Unfortunately, if Android is to be as reliable a platform as iOS, then Google needs to radically change their attitude towards their customers. I have at least three outstanding, unresolved problems with Google's platforms that date back well over a year – none of which have been resolved, and two of which are resulting in no business being conducted at a loss for both TNM and Google. I do not expect any of these issues to be resolved simply because when it comes to Google there is simply no one there, no one to contact, no obvious solution.

I think this lack of individual customer care is a symptom of the way Google wants to do business: lots of volume, little time or energy wasted on individual accounts. It makes sense when you consider the business the company is in: lots and lots of small transactions adding up to an enormous business.

Apple, however, needs to maximize profits from a smaller user base, something it has lived with concerning its Macintosh business of years. As a result, developers have generally found iOS to be the easy platform to develop for (leaving aside all technical issues). But where Apple encounters higher volume it starts to bog down, its app approval process being a good example. That is why I have argued that Apple needs a better, more responsive media-app team to smooth out issues between media firms and Apple.

What the solution for Google is I don't know. It would difficult for customers to convince the company to invest in more customer care when it looks like something that would only add costs. But ultimately, if Google doesn't want to end up being perceived simply as the new Microsoft it will have to improve in this area.

Morning Brief: Publisher of Daily Mail reports decline in newspaper revenue, but growth in B2B events; Condé Nast 1 World Trade Center lease pegged at $2 billion

Northcliffe Media, the British publisher of the Daily Mail, said advertising revenue performance in 2011 is suffering at its national and regional newspapers, but that B2B was performing strongly thanks to events.

"Despite continuing momentum within our B2B operations, we remain cautious about the outlook for the full year due to the volatile and uncertain market conditions faced by our UK consumer businesses," Reuters reported chief executive Martin Morgan as saying.

While ad revenue fell three percent at its national newspapers which include the Daily Mail, revenue fell nine percent at its regional papers, with operating income falling 35 percent despite staff layoffs.

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Bloomberg put a number on that lease that Condé Nast signed with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey: $2 billion.

That is what the magazine publisher will be paying to lease about 1 million square feet of space for its new headquarters at 1 World Trade Center.

“The entire landscape changes downtown forever,” Chris Ward, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said at the press conference for the announcement.

"We hope Condé Nast, at long last united into a single building, will be the catalyst for the rebirth of the downtown area,” Condé Nast chairman S.I. Newhouse Jr. said.

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After a decade in hiding from UN prosecutors, Ratko Mladic, accused of being responsible for the killing of at least 7,500 men and boys in Srbrenica in 1995, has been arrested. Serbian President Boris Tadic said Mladic will now face extradition to the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

According to the BBC, Mladic had been living under an assumed name in Vojvodina, a northern province of Serbia.