Gannett buys thousands of iPhones, iPads for mobile newsroom
updated 11:05 pm EST, Wed December 21, 2011
Gannett gets iPhone 4S and iPad 2 for field report
An escaped memo from Gannett newspaper head Bob Dickey has revealed that the company is making a massive investment in Apple technology for its newsroom. The USA Today publisher has bought "thousands" of iPhone 4S and iPad 2 units that reporters and journalists will use to hopefully report more effectively in the field. The iOS hardware will be joined by MiFi hotspots to get iPads online as well as microphones and other accessories to let them record in the field.
Each of the company's info centers will also include a "digital workstation," Dickey said, to track the experience on smartphones and tablets. Netbooks would be a minority part of the mix.
The additions would let reporters put more of a focus on live updates and video, according to the executive. They would likewise contribute to more social media reporting.
Hardware would start appearing in January, with training "several weeks" after that point.
Gannett's step will be one of the largest for a US newsroom and would be a major coup for Apple, at least in public image. The iPad developer is already influential on readers but could now say it had both the content creators and the readers alike using iOS. Android isn't mentioned at all in the update. [via Android Central]
Mac Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2000
mifis?
Interesting that they'd choose the wifi version of the ipads & couple them with mifis. It seems like it would be better to just buy & use the 3g version of the ipads. One less thing to carry/charge, plus the battery life on my mifi was not that good.