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iPad and Android Tablet and iPad apps: five monetization strategies

Subscription workarounds

In-app single purchases

Advertising

Location-based offerings

Social media sharing and aggregation

via emediavitals.com

Click throught for a nice summary post from Prescott Shible’s blog on current digital magazine monetization options.

I fully agree with the fact that the biggest current challenge is offering robust subscription models for tablet magazines, but also think that with upcoming solutions from Adobe and other major tool providers, the negative aspects of in app purchases will soon be addressed, in terms of being able to provide tracking intelligence of in app user activities and behaviors.

Key Points from a Harrison Group Survey on Tablet Technologies and Digital Publishing

Unlike other new technologies, this revolution is not about the technology itself, but rather, about the role that content plays in people’s lives

via prnewswire.com

The above is my favorite quote from the Harrison Survey on the impact that the iPad and other tablet devices are having on the digital publishing and technology landscape in general. I also thought it interesting that the “early adopter” persona / stigma is in fact changing:

“Early adopters of eReading are more likely to see themselves as fashionable, playful, family-focused and kind, as opposed to the technology and leadership orientation of early adopters in prior technological revolutions”

Other Key Points:

• Tablet users spend 50% more time reading magazines, 75% more time reading newspapers, and 25% more time reading books.
• Accelerated estimates of 20 million tablets sold in 2011, with 13% of all consumers expressing interest in purchasing a tablet in the next 12 months.
• Inevitability of tablets as the delivery mechanism for digital magazines
• Comfort with digital payment systems that debit accounts
• Multi function tablet devices instead of single purpose e-readers
• Continued privacy concerns and acknowledgment of the importance solutions in that space

Samsung and WoodWing announce cooperation for GALAXY Tab

The first results of the cooperation will be demonstrated to the public during the IFRA Expo in Hamburg, Germany, held on October 4 – 6, 2010.

Samsung, a global leader in mobile technology, and WoodWing Software, a supplier of innovative cross-media publishing solutions, today announced a cooperation to bring digital publications to Samsung’s brand-new smart media device, the GALAXY Tab.

GALAXY Tab
Available to consumers in Europe starting in October 2010, and soon available in the United States and Asia, the GALAXY Tab has a large 7-inch TFT display, for an exciting mobile viewing experience. Weighing in at only 380g, it includes 16GB or 32GB of internal storage and 32GB microSD expansion. The GALAXY Tab features a TouchWiz 3.0 user interface, WiFi, GPS, rear- and front-facing cameras and also acts as a mobile phone. In addition, as an Android powered device, the GALAXY Tab provides access to numerous applications from Android Market.

via woodwing.com

Things are speeding up in the tablet publishing space, as expected.

Tools like Woodwing will become increasingly important, because they can support authoring content once and then distributing it across multiple tablet devices with multiple operating systems.

I believe the same will be true for content support agencies and service providers that can help clients navigate publishing to many app market places.

For a full description of Woodwing’s approach click through to the president release.

Amazon building its own Android App Market?

Update: The terms & conditions for developers to sell via Amazon have been leaked.

Speculation abounds that Amazon is planning their own storefront for selling Android apps, one in which they, not the developers, will set the price and decide which apps to feature (and which apps to exclude from the store all together). It’s a shrewd move and smart strategy for Amazon, though its impact on app sellers is less certain.

via feedproxy.google.com

I recently read that by 2012 we could expect 120 app marketplaces, but with some of the largest players now hurrying to get into the game, I doubt this will be the case. For details on the Amazon app market approach, click through and read this excellent post by Andrew Savikas