World's First iPad-only Newspaper Arrives

The worlds's first iPad only newspaper has arrived - the brain child of News Corporation's Rupert Murdoch.

 

The digital, touch-screen newspaper, called The Daily, will cost 99 cents (60p) a week and will be sold exclusively via Apple's iTunes store.

It is initially available only in the US, and News Corp have employed 100 journalists to work on it.

It will feature news articles, interactive graphics, HD videos and 360 degree photos designed to work with the iPad's touchscreen.

"Our target audience is the 15 million Americans expected to own iPads in the next year," said Mr Murdoch.

"In the tablet-era there is room for a fresh and robust new voice. New times demand new journalism," he said.

It is believed that Apple will use the tie-in with News Corp to change the way it charges for subscriptions.

"That is quite a big deal," said Adrian Drury, principal media analyst at research firm Ovum.

"The specific terms News Corp have negotiated are unknown, but every other publisher now faces paying 30% of their hard won application subscription revenue to Apple," he said.

The editor of the Daily promised breaking news stories.

"Others re-use content but the Daily has hired expensive US journalists and has its own editorial staff," he said.

"Its parent has deep pockets, and this is going to buy it time to build an audience and refine its model," he added. "Anecdotal evidence [suggests] that such publications have strong download sales when they first come to market, but when it comes to subscriptions, getting people to repeat buy, it gets really tough."