First iPad-Only Newspaper ‘The Daily’ On Sale

The first digital newspaper designed exclusively for Apple’s iPad is being launched today, with a subscription fee of about 62p a week.

Dubbed ‘The Daily’, the world’s first ‘iNewspaper’ is a joint venture between technology giant Apple and media conglomerate News Corp.

The paper will have neither print nor web edition, as news stories will be pushed directly to subscribed iPad tablets.

However, readers will not receive constant news updates throughout the day. The Daily will issue a single daily edition, following the model of traditional print newspapers.

After months of secret collaboration, the official launch will take place this afternoon in New York, with News Corp executives as well as Apple’s vice president of Internet Services Eddy Cue attending the event.

Bright prospect for The Daily

The Daily will need a circulation of 800,000 subscribers to become “economically viable,” said News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch (left), who believes 800,000 is an achievable number, given Apple’s target of shipping 40 million iPads by the end of this year.

“I believe every single person will eventually have one, even children,” said the media mogul.

With no printing or distribution costs, and selling at a lower price than print equivalents, industry analysts predicted The Daily should be competitive.

According to a recent survey of 1,600 people by the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri, around 84.4 percent of respondents use their iPad to follow news and current events.

It has been reported that News Corp invested some $30 million (£18.74m) in the ‘iNewspaper’ project and that 100 journalists have been hired to join the team, including the Sun’s online editor Pete Picton.

However, people are speculating that Project will also be used as an in-flight magazine on Virgin Airline flights.