Time Inc. promises tablet editions of its U.S. magazines before 2012
Time Inc. has promised that it will have tablet editions of every single one of the magazines in its U.S. portfolio before 2012.
Should this happen by the proposed deadline, Time Inc. asserts that it will then be the "first major U.S. magazine publisher to make all of its titles available on all leading tablet platforms, with products designed specifically for this medium."
Full issues and subscriptions of the U.S. versions of Time's titles are already available to purchase on tablets, including People, Sports Illustrated and, of course, Time.
Some of Time's publications that will soon be available on tablets on a regular basis are Entertainment Weekly and InStyle, among many others.
Tablet owners (like me) who enjoy using their mobile slate PCs for the purpose of reading digital magazines will likely be very enthusiastic about the news. The sweeter part of the deal really comes in for existing print subscribers, who will be able to upgrade their subscriptions to include the digital versions without any additional cost.
Time Inc. will also offer print and digital subscriptions, as well as digital-only subscriptions and single copy purchases. These options will be available from several digital mediums, including Apple's iTunes, the Android Market, the HP TouchPad, the Nook Color and Next Issue Media’s store.
Magazine publishers have warmed up to digital versions of their glossies more significantly in the last year, but not all of the major publishing houses have gone full throttle yet. Maybe this move by Time will push them to be more competitive. (Are you listening Conde Nast? When am I going to get Conde Nast Traveler on my iPad!?)
Related:
- Five reasons why the Nook Color is more popular with women
- Allergies, Kindle, and the death of twentieth century literature
- Amazon removes Kindle Store button from iOS app
- Amazon inks NBCUniversal deal; Aims to match Netflix's content library
- Twitter boosting ad business by bumping up promoted tweets