Well, December 9 has come and gone and still no word from Apple or News Corp on the future of The Daily. But All Things Digital is reporting that insiders say January 17 could be the day, and that Steve Jobs “may or may not” be a part of the press event. [Full disclosure: News Corp owns Dow Jones, which owns All Things Digital].
But you probably shouldn’t write anything in ink quite yet, as the site mentions that various launch dates have been thrown around for awhile now. It’s also being reported that details surrounding the iPad-only publication are beginning to spill out. All Things Digital’s sources say it will be daily (no surprise there), confirms it will cost 99 cents a week, and largely focuses on delivering rich multimedia content, including 3D effects.
Part of what has wrapped the press event in intrigue is the possibility of an iTunes subscription announcement. And apparently, this will be included on January 17 (or whenever). The publication will allegedly feature a new push subscription service, allowing iTunes to automatically charge users weekly or monthly and deliver each new edition to your iPad daily.
This subscription tool could make its way to other iPad apps as well, though most likely exclusively digital content. Apple’s unresolved issues with traditional publications’ apps still linger, and the company seems to be unwilling to give these publishers all the consumer data they want. Until then, it’s safe to say that iPad-only media like The Daily and Project will offer these new push subscriptions and apps like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal will not.
Until News Corp or Apple confirm anything, we’re not going to clear our schedules for January 17. But a rumor about progress is better than nothing at all, so anyone waiting in anticipation for new iPad features can rest a little easier today.
