Virgin's Project iPad mag gets teaser, goes live tomorrow
updated 04:50 pm EST, Mon November 29, 2010
Project iPad magazine gets preview before launch
Virgin founder Richard Branson's iPad-focused magazine Project has received both a placeholder page and an iTunes link (App Store) ahead of its release tomorrow. The first issue focuses on Jeff Bridges' role in Tron: Legacy, and a teaser video of the cover (below) already shows that it will likely take advantage of the tablet format with a video cover. A glance also gives a view of the diversity of the magazine, which is targeted mainly at men but has subjects as wide-ranging as French music labels and Jaguar's C-X75 supercar.
The magazine is expected to be iPad-only at first. The prices of individual issues or subscriptions, if an option, aren't likely to be available until the formal unveiling tomorrow. Apple's current iTunes rules don't have fully built-in support for recurring subscriptions and also take a 30 percent cut of all in-app purchases, making it likely that the magazine might be expensive if a subscription comes directly through iTunes. Virgin could use a web-based signup to work around this.
News Corp is planning its own iPad news source, the Daily, but may not have a launch until December at the earliest and could be delayed into 2011. Executives like News Corp's Rupert Murdoch and Richard Branson may have different motives to court Apple's devices, however. Murdoch has seen it as a way of steering readers back towards paying for news, while Branson has often been experimental.
