Publishers Eager for Amazon Tablet But will it be able to challenge the iPad?

It’s no secret that publishers have been frustrated with Apple and the high-handed way it’s dealt with them as they negotiate to get their content on the iPad. There’s little they can do, though—given Apple’s utter domination of the tablet market, there’s been no truly viable alternative. But the power dynamic might be about to change.


http://www.adweek.com/news/press/publishers-eager-amazon-tablet-134934

DR® Power Equipment Introduces a Major Advancement for Hydraulic Log Splitters

Vergennes, VT (August 25, 2011) –

Introducing the new DR® Dual-Action Log Splitters:

While most hydraulic log splitters on the market will get the job done, they can be painfully slow to use. An operator has to wait up to 20 seconds between splits, often keeping a hand on the lever while the ram retracts, then has to pick up the next log and do it all over again. Twenty seconds between splits over the course of the day can add up to hours. DR Power Equipment scrapped the old technology and redeveloped hydraulic splitters to offer a fast and powerful alternative, DR^® Dual-Action Log Splitters.

A simple insight has made hydraulics powerful and for the first time…FAST! DR’s new heavy-duty hydraulic splitters are dual-action. The X2 Ram—a double-edged splitting wedge—splits in both directions under constant hydraulic pressure, so there’s no waiting for the ram to retract.

DR has taken dual-action technology and delivered a complete lineup to fit virtually every homeowner’s needs—whether homeowners have a tractor and want 6-second cycle times from their tractor’s 3 pt hitch, want a stand-alone gas model, or want the quiet, fume-free convenience of a powerful electric splitter that can be run in the barn or garage.

The power of the X2 Ram is generated by commercial-grade powerplants—both gas and electric. DR designed and engineered Dual-Action models to deliver faster splits no matter how tough the wood. Further improvements include a compact package made to fit in a corner of a homeowners garage or barn when not in use.

These machines weigh less than half of most conventional hydraulic splitters, so they are easy for one person to maneuver and Dual-Action splitters are road towable. Available fenders, tail lights, and ball hitch allow for on-road towing at speeds up to 30 MPH.

DR also introduces conversion kits for manual-start Dual-Action models.

For those that own the gas model and want the convenience of electric, or want to punch up the power of their electric, DR sells conversion kits. A great DIY solution, these kits turn one splitter into an all-purpose, all season winner. Homeowners can fit up their splitter to run on the 1.8KW electric motor conveniently stored in their garage in the winter and then set the splitter to run on the manual-start 205cc Briggs and Stratton gas engine out in the field in the summer. 

See DR Dual-Action Splitters.

Learn about DR engineering and Dual-Action features.

See video.

Pricing and Warranties:

DR^®  Log Splitters start at $999, with special introductory discounts.

DR offers their standard 6-Month Hands-On Trial, but as an introductory offer that period is being doubled through the end of 2011…meaning a customer has a full year to try a wood splitter on their own property. If they’re not 100% satisfied within one year of the ship date, for any reason, they’ll get a complete refund, less shipping and handling.

As with all DR^® power equipment products, the new Dual-Action Log Splitters are the culmination of hundreds of hours of engineering and rigorous comparison testing.

In addition to the product trial period, DR^® Power Equipment also offers a 2 year warranty on Dual-Action Log Splitters (90 days in commercial use).

Contacts:

For more information, please contact Julia Gilbert, jgilbert@chp.com, 802-877-1200.

DR® Power Equipment, a division of Country Home Products, Inc., the premiere developer and marketer of professional-grade outdoor equipment for residential use, was founded in 1985 in Charlotte, Vermont.  For more information on its complete line of power equipment and home care supplies, visit the web site at www.drpower.com.

DR® Power Equipment Introduces The FASTEST Log Splitter on the Market

     DR Power Equipment has threatened to make ordinary hydraulic log splitters obsolete with the brand new DR^®RapidFire™ Log Splitter. DR technology has eliminated the big drawbacks of hydraulic log splitters. Now there’s no messy hydraulic fluid to spill or replace.  DR^®RapidFire™ Log Splitters have lower maintenance and operation costs, than slow hydraulic splitters. Most importantly, DR has achieved dramatic increases in speed and productivity.

www.drpower.com.

Who Is Making Money ‘Now’ in the App Store Subscription Era?

Now that the subscription model for fee-based content in the Apple App store has been embraced both by Apple and by most of its major publishing partners, we wondered who is making bank. 

It looks as if the new model is paying off for content. In fact when we did our last spot check the Top Grossing Apps in the iPad section of iTunes back in January, the highest ranking publication we found was People at # 34.


http://www.minonline.com/news/Who-Is-Making-Money-Now-in-the-App-Store-Subscription-Era_18806.html

Reader’s Digest Subscriptions Come To The iPad

As part of its ongoing efforts to adapt its 89-year-old flagship to the digital age, Reader’s Digest subscriptions are now available through the magazine’s iPad app, for $1.99 per month or $14.99 per year.

Print subscribers can read the iPad edition of the magazine for free for six months. Reader’s Digest will also continue to sell individual issues of the magazine for $1.99 in the app store.

http://paidcontent.org/article/419-readers-digest-subscriptions-come-to-the-ipad/

Bonnier Leads Ad Growth Among Major Publishers in First Half 2011

January to June 2011 saw mixed results for major publishers’ ad page results. Bonnier’s 29 titles experienced the highest growth out of six major publishers included in a set of data from MagazineRadar; Conde Nast, Hearst, Hearst-owned Hachette, Time Inc. and Meredith Corporation ad pages were also totaled.


http://www.foliomag.com/2011/bonnier-tops-12-percent-ad-pages-first-half-2011

Good News for Magazines: Popular Science iPad Subscribers Are 95% New Readers

What will Conde Nast, and Hearst soon after it, find as people start buying subscriptions to their magazines' iPad editions in Apple's App Store?

About half the new subscribers are likely to let Apple share their names and other information with the publishers, as Forbes reported yesterday.

http://adage.com/article/mediaworks/popular-science-ipad-subscribers-95-readers/227531/

Watch the Apple-esque Video Intro for Google Chromebook 'Computer-Like Object'

Google's Chromebook laptops are a hot topic today -- "Chromebook" is a Top 10 Trending Topic on Twitter right now -- as details spread about when you can buy them (June 15), who's making them (Acer and Samsung) and the leasing plans ($28 per month for business users, $20 per month for educational institutions). You can get much of the basic information at Google's Chromebook microsite, but the best way to get a quick take on what makes the Chromebook so revolutionary is to watch Google's 110-second video product intro, embedded below.


http://adage.com/article/the-media-guy/watch-google-s-apple-esque-video-intro-chromebook/227502/

Time Inc. in iPad Deal With Apple

Time Inc., the country's largest magazine publisher, has reached a deal with Apple Inc. to make all its iPad editions free for print subscribers, marking a break in the impasse between publishers and Apple and lending support to Time's contention that it's business-as-usual after the ouster of its chief executive.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748703703304576296980128055282-lMyQjAxMTAxMDAwMjEwNDIyWj.html#ixzz1LD6rIFFa

Bonnier Corp. Named Publishing Innovator of the Year

Bonnier Corp. was recognized for its innovation in magazine publishing with a Publishing Innovator of the Year award at the recent Publishing Business Conference & Expo, presented by Publishing Executive and Book Businessmagazines. The publisher was honored at a special reception at the New York Marriott Marquis, Times Square, attended by approximately 70 VIP guests from the publishing industry—including executives from Esquire, The Onion, U.S. News & World Report, Merriam-Webster, Wolters Kluwer and Fierce Markets. 


http://www.pubexec.com/article/bonnier-corp-named-publishing-innovator-year/1

Condé Nast is making customers very app-y

Consumers may start seeing more free downloads of tablet editions from Condé Nast magazines -- at least as temporary traffic builders.
Industry watchers were wondering what was up last week following the appearance of a free May issue of Wired magazine underwritten by Adobe. It comes after a full year of offering paid editions of Condé Nast's trend-setting tech magazine.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/conde_nast_is_making_customers_very_L6uMuSeZnKtzpmlcIZ5pBO#ixzz1KBJc9ND7

SI Golf Group’s Front9 for iPad Takes a Golf Lesson from EW’s ‘Must List’

If Sports Illustrated Golf Group’s new Front9 app for iPad looks a good deal like Entertainment Weekly’s popular ‘Must List’ on the same platform, the resemblance is intentional. The publisher of Golf magazine and Golf.com takes an interactive page from the sister pub at Time Inc. by using its engine to power very different content. Front9 puts on a single, attractive page of tiles the top nine golf-related stories, product news, games, apps, travel tips editors feel golf fans need to know that week. Each story clicks through to details, related Web sites, buy buttons, etc. The content is refreshed each week.
http://www.minonline.com/news/SI-Golf-Groups-Front9-for-iPad-Takes-a-Golf-Lesson-from-EWs-Must-List_16906.html

Adobe's Latest Update Caters to Tablets

With the most recent update to its popular suite of digital content tools, Adobe Systems Inc. aims to strengthen relationships with Web developers through more-frequent updates and flexible pricing.
Adobe's Creative Suite 5.5 release will be the first in a series of major product updates every two years, plus mid-cycle releases aimed at giving creative people the latest tools and keeping Adobe ahead of the fast-moving mobile device market.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748704529204576257071570977648-lMyQjAxMTAxMDEwMjExNDIyWj.html#ixzz1JyjtGxw9

14 Newspaper, Magazine & Comic Book Apps in iPad Top 200 Grossing List. But, Where’s TIME, Newsweek & National Geographic

The effort to move newspapers and magazines out of the paperbound 19th and 20th centuries into the 21st century fascinates me. It fascintes me because I they were important and should survive to continue to contribute to our culture and record our history. So, how are they doing on the iPad? 


http://socialtimes.com/14-newspaper-magazine-comic-book-apps-in-ipad-top-200-grossing-list-but-wheres-time-newsweek-national-geographic_b57914

Personalized Magazine Apps: Cutting the Web Down to Size

Zite ran into a roadblock just three weeks after it debuted, when a gaggle of major media companies sent a cease-and-decease letter to its creators. They were irked with the way it sucked in articles from their sites, reformatted them, and stripped out all the advertising, thereby competing with their own sites and apps without seeking permission or providing compensation. The complainants included Time Inc., owner of you-know-who.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2065112,00.html#ixzz1JbwA0Zk0

Hearst’s Carey: Tablets Will Provide 25 Percent Of Magazines’ Circulation

The notion that the iPad was going to save newspapers and magazines had been diminishing somewhat lately, especially since publishers have tended to regard Apple’s 70/30 revenue split for digital subscriptions coupled. Not to mention Apple’s continued refusal to share substantive consumer data. But with iPad 2 coming Friday, publishers’ ardor for the hot device appears to be growing again. Speaking at the Bloomberg Media Summit, Hearst Magazines President David Carey seemed to take the hurdles Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) has thrown in publishers’ paths in stride, suggesting the Hearst might consider introducing a “bespoke” iPad publication akin to what News Corp (NSDQ: NWS). did with The Daily.




http://paidcontent.org/article/419-media-summit-hearsts-carey-tablets-will-provide-25-percent-of-circ/

‘iPadding’: Tablets Reorient Reader Interaction with Magazine Content

When is a magazine not a magazine? When you try to re-create that experience on a tablet, according to new research from Bonnier Corp. and media agency CP+B. “What surprised us most was that when we put a digital magazine in front of people, they didn’t treat it like a traditional magazine at all,” says CP+B associate director of research Lindsey Allison. The study tracked 15 focus groups of readers who engaged magazines on the Web and on iPads for numerous publishers, including Bonnier, Condé Nast and Hearst. Apparently iPad users think of themselves and the content differently from the ways they engage these brands elsewhere. 


http://www.minonline.com/news/iPadding-Tablets-Reorient-Reader-Interaction-with-Magazine-Content_16635.html

Magazines' iPad Editions Struggle to Keep Your Attention, New Study Finds

Readers have more trouble focusing on magazines' iPad editions than publishers initially predicted, according to the latest study in a growing effort to figure out tablet computers.

"We thought that of course there's a lot of activity going on on an iPad, when there's so many things you can be doing -- between email, Netflix, playing games, reading magazines -- but they're actually bouncing around a lot more than we thought," said Megan Miller, research and development program director at Bonnier, which publishes titles including Popular Science, Field & Stream, Parenting and Ski.

http://adage.com/article/mediaworks/magazines-ipad-editions-struggle-attention/149307/

Mighty iPad Shows Its Metrics Muscle

Sometimes an image (well, an infographic) is worth a thousand words. Yudu Media’s most recent iPad Trends Report aggregates some of the most interesting metrics around iPad use and iPad users. The bottom line: this is one of the most powerful device releases in gadget history, and it is attracting an audience that any publisher or advertiser should covet.


http://www.minonline.com/news/Mighty-iPad-Shows-Its-Metrics-Muscle_16551.html

The Apple iPad 2 Effect: Samsung Rethinks Its Galaxy Tab 10.1

Thinner, lighter and faster, Apple's iPad 2 was bound to send some competitors into panic mode.

Such is the case for Samsung. The company is rethinking parts of its upcoming Galaxy Tab 10.1 Android tablet in the wake of Apple's iPad 2 announcement on Wednesday.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/221367/the_apple_ipad_2_effect_samsung_rethinks_its_galaxy_tab_101.html

The Apple iPad 2 Effect: Samsung Rethinks Its Galaxy Tab 10.1

Thinner, lighter and faster, Apple's iPad 2 was bound to send some competitors into panic mode.

Such is the case for Samsung. The company is rethinking parts of its upcoming Galaxy Tab 10.1 Android tablet in the wake of Apple's iPad 2 announcement on Wednesday.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/221367/the_apple_ipad_2_effect_samsung_rethinks_its_galaxy_tab_101.html

Solar flare could cause Northern Lights over New England

New Englanders looking for a rare showing of the aurora borealis may want to grab a scarf, a lawn chair and a thermos of something hot to get through the next few nights.

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2011/02/solar_flare_2011_northern_lights_new_england.html

Google Elbows Apple, Woos Publishers

Google Inc. fired another salvo in its broadening competition with Apple Inc., opening a payment system for digital content that will let publishers keep a bigger share of revenues than a service launched by Apple this week.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748703373404576148142926860706-lMyQjAxMTAxMDEwNzExNDcyWj.html#ixzz1EK5BAxrL

Apple, Google and the Publishers: Here’s How to Make Subscriptions Work

In recent weeks, we’ve heard growing concern from magazine and newspaper publishers regarding the challenge of providing content for mobile media while preserving their print franchises. The concern is nothing new, but it’s apparent that content providers are at risk of losing track of their customers like toddlers in a shopping mall.

http://voices.allthingsd.com/20110210/have-we-forgotten-the-customer-in-the-customer-ownership-battle/?mod=ATD_rss

Despite Pushback From Pubs, Apple Will Make iTunes Subscription Billing Mandatory

When Rupert Murdoch’s The Daily launched last week, Apple’s VP Eddy Cue got on stage to announce one-click subscriptions for iPad publications through iTunes. The Daily already has the one-click billing option as a feature, and Cue promised it would be made available to other iPad newspaers and magazines soon. Cue then started to make the rounds of print media companies in New York City to explain how subscription billing will work on the iPad.

http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/08/apple-subscription-itunes/

Top 10 Monthly Magazines: Style-ish Gains Over Five Years

Tracking min's five-year ad and revenue monthly magazine charts is like riding a roller coaster, considering the highs and lows in the industry from 2006 to 2010. The just-completed 2010 was a welcome change from the dismal results in 2009 and 2008. As we reported on minonline, 99 of the 149 monthlies...


http://www.minonline.com/mins_top_5/Top-10-Monthly-Magazines-Style-ish-Gains-Over-Five-Years_16190.html

Top 5 App Tricks Magazine Publishers Should Learn

Magazine publishers should stop looking over one another's shoulders when developing apps and start spying farther afield. Some of the smartest ideas in presenting content and leveraging the portability of mobile are happening far outside the digital magazine racks. So for this edition of our occasional roundup of smart thinking in the digital world, we look to the offbeat apps for some ideas print publishers can implement.
http://www.minonline.com/news/Top-5-App-Tricks-Magazines-Should-Learn_16316.html

Magazines Still Struggling With This Social Media Business

Magazines have figured out how to use platforms like Facebook -- and to a lesser extent Twitter -- to build brand awareness, but they're still a long way from making money from social media.




That was the message from publishing executives and their resident social media gurus at the MPA's inaugural Social Media conference, held in New York on Tuesday.



http://www.thewrap.com/media/column-post/magazines-still-struggling-social-media-business-24034?page=0,0

With Plans To Double Revenues, Atlantic Switches Gears On Premium iPad App

On the heels of last week’s news that the high brow culture and news publication The Atlantic posted its first profit “in decades”—and that ad revenues rose 37 percent, with print and online up a respective 27- and 70 percent—Jay Lauf, the mag’s VP and publisher told paidContent that executives are rethinking its premium iPad app. The Atlantic Premium iPad app was under construction last fall, as an adjunct to its Atlantic Digital, which serves as a shell for sales of $4.99 replicas of the print edition. “We felt that we missed that first wave of iPad magazine releases and we wanted to do something a little different, a little more special,” Lauf said in an interview.

http://paidcontent.org/article/419-with-plans-to-double-revenues-atlantic-switches-gears-on-premium-ipad-a/

Lady Gaga Sells Magazines. Taylor Swift Does Not.

It's taken some time, but the surefire secret to selling magazines has finally been revealed: Put Lady Gaga on the cover. Women's Wear Daily reports that from Vanity Fair to Rolling Stone to Elle, many publications locked down their best-selling issues of 2010 when Gaga appeared in some form of disrobement on their covers -- a stat that probably isn't that foreign to Gaga -
http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/amplifier/49383/lady-gaga-sells-magazines-taylor-swift-does-not/