American Media Inc. [AMI] is hoping to revitalize the age-old grocery store tabloid, the National Enquirer, with a tablet app aimed at younger audiences. The company will roll out a tablet-only edition in February that will feature content exclusives focused on gossip.
 
“The starting point will be the print edition,” says David Perel, AMI’s editor of digital entertainment content and the...more

Zinio’s library of over 5,000 magazine titles is now accessible for Ultrabook owners through the Intel AppUp center.

The Economist launched an web-based app dubbed Electionism. The free app was developed in conjunction with Toronto software design firm Nulayer.

UBM’s DMNews tapped Texterity to digitize its print magazine. UBM also moves Internet Evolution to the iPad.

Backpacker iPad subscriptions multiplied six times over since October.

Life magazine debuted its coffee table book...more

As expected, the iPad (now used by 60 million worldwide) is directly affecting how consumers are buying and digesting media. However, in a recent study released by IDG Connect, data shows that iPad usage varies with the audience demographic. While the tablet is plugged as a “lean back” device by many in the magazine industry, the study shows that tablet use by IT and business professionals is different than...more

Digital subscriptions of American Express Publishing’s Travel + Leisure and Food & Wine magazines are now available on the iPad through Apple’s Newsstand. Annual subscriptions are priced at $19.99, while single copies are sold for $1.99 through In-App Purchase.

The titles—also available on Barnes & Noble’s Nook and Amazon’s Kindle Fire—first launched on the iPad last fall and were available to print subscribers through...more

In order to see where U.S. adults fell in the conversion spectrum, the Economist Group partnered with the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism to conduct a digital behavioral survey in summer 2011.

Paul Rossi, managing director and EVP, Americas for the Economist Group, says, “The motivation for us to do the survey was that we believe digital is the single biggest thing to impact magazines...more

Ealier this month, Ziff Davis Enterprise [ZDE] completed a significant step in its OmniDigital strategy, rolled out earlier this year. The publisher’s IBM-sponsored December 13 eSeminar, “Building a Smarter Enterprise Social Media Strategy”, was available for live viewing on tablets, smartphones and desktop browsers.

This soft launch precedes ZD’s all-digital conversion for its full product portfolio in 2012 (including webcasts, apps and magazines).

Attended by 215 viewers, ZDE chose one...more

Online clothing and shoe retailer Zappos has dipped into the magazine business with the launch of a digital publication for the iPad. Called Zappos Now (ZN), the title is produced entirely in-house, from content through app development, and will be distributed monthly through the App Store on iTunes.

The company has an existing mobile shopping app for the iPhone, iPad and Android, but...more

Consumer Reports is joining the ranks of publishers offering iPad subscriptions bundled at no extra cost to its print subscribers, beginning with its January 2012 issue, set to hit newsstands next week.

The brand—known for its paid content model—launched a free download of “teaser content” in late February (which, according to the magazine, has been downloaded by more than 100,000 users) as...more

Pregnancy Magazine will be going digital in 2012, with its first digital issue available in the new year for the iPhone, the iPod Touch, the iPad, Android and the Kindle Fire. According to a news statement, advertising partners will “receive a 2:1 editorial to ad ratio in Pregnancy Magazine as well as guaranteed category exclusivity in the first two issues of the digital magazine,...more

We’re only about a year into the tablet age but more than a decade of using digital editions. Today, with the rise of ever increasingly sophisticated mobile devices and apps, digital editions are poised to leap to the forefront of publishers’ revenue generation plans and serve as their flagship on devices such as the iPad.

But are they able to deliver? Nxtbook Media recently...more

While publications continue to cross their fingers in hopes that digital content will pay off, The Economist Group is seeing digital-only sales grow—now to 100,000. In total, there are now 400,000 paying users accessing digital content. The success was realized partially from a heavy push in the past 4 to 5 months to get individuals to begin paying for the digital content.

“There was...more

After the initial flurry of excitement surrounding the release of their digital editions, magazine publishers are now beginning to focus on the strategies behind the products. In addition to complete digital editions, many are seeking other avenues to repackage and sell digital content. Mag publishers don’t need to look far to see where the digital conversion is paying off: its literary counterpart, the book business.

In fiscal first quarter 2012,...more