Magazines hit Android Market with new apps from Next Issue Media

By on May 18, 2011 at 5:00 PM
mobile May 18, 2011

You no longer need an iPad to purchase and read some of your favorite magazines on a tablet. On Wednesday Next Issue Media — an independent media venture founded by Conde Nast, Hearst Corporation, Meredith, News Corp. and Time Inc. — released an early build of its new Android publishing platform. It’s home to popular titles such as Esquire, Popular Mechanics, Parents, New Yorker, Fortune, and Time. The applications for each magazine are only available on Samsung’s original Galaxy Tab on Verizon Wireless for now, and you’ll need to download them from Verizon’s own VCast application store, AllThingsD said. An issue of Esquire costs $4.99, although it can be purchased for $1.99 per month, too. Next Issue Media’s CEO, Morgan Guenther, said that publishers will receive “at least”  70% of each transaction, and that the company plans to offer at least 40 different magazine titles by the end of 2011. A webOS version is in the works, for HP’s upcoming TouchPad tablet, and we hope the firm has an Android 3.0 Honeycomb build in development, too.

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  • Scott

    That’s Android for ya. Lets spend all this time making an app for an old tablet, but lets make it for only Verizon. This is where Apple succeeds and this is where Google fails!  Google, welcome to app fragmentation

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_GP2WYAHXS6CRUREISWBGPUSUGE Michael

      Where Apple fails is the ability to pump out newer better hardware that pushes he envelope. It’s the same exact OS on the same exact hardware. for a least one year at a time….. There is no reason why app development shouldn’t be #1 on a platform like that.

      But Android competes with itself and everyone else driving the technology forward. This time last year the OGDroid was the top dog but look where we are pushing 1.2 Dual Core phones with qHD displays. I mean come on. Apple will compete with that on a year by year basis.

      Personally i’d rather have top of the line hardware and specs then live with sub standards. Besides it’s not like everyone is going to want or use this or any applications. And the GREAT thing about Android is if we want the app. We can get it. Regardless of it’s intended phone or line up. How many phones is the Netflix app working on? and how many officially support it?

      • Anonymous

        Wow! You have to be broke by now purchasing the latest Android system week after week!

        Also, can you please explain how a magazine app pushes the envelope?? Ipad has this already 

      • Anonymous

        No one cares. If all of these things mattered, Android tablets wouldn’t be getting their a$$es kicked by the PlayBook. The whole “go to XDA” is fine for the 5% of Android users that actually read tech blogs, but everyone else is screwed. When RIM isn’t making more money than Android as a whole (despite its recent struggles), and when the iPhone isn’t more successful than Google, maybe you’ll have a point. Until that time, your argument is unsupported. Cheers. 

      • Anonymous

        Explain how it is a problem for anyone that Apple takes 1-year cycles to update products their users typically use for at least 2 years?

        Your “I’d rather have top of the line hardware than live with sub standards” argument is all in your head, if that’s so important to you, you could also buy any Apple product the day after it is released, and you’d have exactly that. Or do you replace your cell phones and tablets every 3 months?

        Also, I think you missed the point how the iPad 2 is actually top-of-the-line specs right now, and it will take at least a year before it isn’t anymore, since every Android tablet that has been announced or released seems to use the same Tegra 2 chip. You also missed the point how iOS gets a huge update every year, and how an almost 2 year old 3GS can still run it with all its features. Just because the launcher and the UI look and feel doesn’t change every time just to make iOS look ‘new’ or ‘top of the line’ (read: cheesy with overdone UI effects that only make usability worse) doesn’t mean nothing changes behind the scenes.

      • Anonymous

        Because everyone else is in the mentality that any of their competitors will outclass them at any point. Device releases are so common place that the latest Android device generally has the latest technology out at a given point in time.

        This used to clearly be the case for the iPhone, when they had a good year head start on everyone, but since the EVO the iPhone has not been hands down the best.

        For a consumer that may upgrade at any given time the chances that the iPhone is the best phone out hardware wise (which matters) are slim. Want LTE?  Apple may not have it, but HTC (March) Samsung (April-pushed back), LG (May), Motorola (June? Droid Bionic?) will all have LTE phones out before WWDC.

    • Anonymous

      Since it’s a choice on the part of Next Issue Media and Verizon, I don’t think this is an Apple-Google issue.

      The app probably runs fine on Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&T, but there’s exclusivity payola being handed out.

      It sounds like Verizon is at fault for using this to try to drive up sales of the Galaxy Tab.

      Google did their part by allowing the developer to create the app however they wanted. You can’t blame them because Next Issue Media doesn’t want to let everyone have it.

      Another example:

      I would say it’s AT&T’s fault that people couldn’t sideload apps. Not Google’s fault for allowing AT&T to turn that feature on and off. There’s a reason why you want to do either as AT&T demonstrated.

  • Carl

    You haven’t needed an iPad for awhile now.  All you’ve needed is a Nook Color.  The latest version of Nook for Android also supports magazines, so you don’t even need this or a Galaxy Tab.

  • serpentor

    $4.99 for the physical mag

    $1.99 for the tablet edition

    Just for reference a year’s subscription from Amazon is $8.00.

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