Price on iPhone Application

By Ryan Franker

CNN just came out with a new application for the iPhone. This new application is going to cost the user to pay $1.99, to get all the news that you want.

Other companies have tired to put a price tag on their applications, and have failed doing so. If one company wants you to pay for the application, there is always another one out there that is free. The Associated Press tried to charge $2.99 for their application for a BlackBerry, and saw horrible numbers on people purchasing it. Once the charge was dropped, the application downloads sky-rocketed.

Chairman of News Corp., Rupert Murdoch, announced the company is going to start charging a subscription for The Wall Street Journal on mobile devices. The price will be $2.00 a week starting Oct. 24, or $1.00 if you purchase a subscription either online or paper. Everyone who has a subscription already, does have the capability to have The Wall Street Journal on their mobile device.

CNN is trying something different for the new application. You can actually be part of the reporting team, by submiting your photos and video clips to iReport. The app also has the ability to get live video feeds of breaking news. The app is also very customizable, by providing alerts sent to you, and you can also pick a local news company to follow as well.

Not all apps out there have the capability that this CNN app has, that is why CNN believes it is going to be able to get business from this application, where others haven't gotten business from.

(Photo Credited: flickr)

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Newspapers Worry About ESPN

By Zach Jevne

With the launch of numerous new ESPN Web sites, the newspaper industry is once again worrying about potential loss of revenue.

ESPN, which is glossed "the worldwide leader in sports", has recently started making Web sites for specific markets. They released ESPNChicago.com in April and is already the top sports site in Chicago, according to comScore. On Sept. 14, they launched ESPNBoston.com and in the first 10 days enjoyed three million visits, according to Omniture traffic data.

The new Web site is ESPNDallas.com and the company plans to start a Web site for Los Angeles and New York City. Eventually, they would like to have their own beat writers for each team in the region.

Some feel that ESPN is infringing on the newspapers turf and using their recognition to leverage advertising money for their new sites. The Chicago Tribune has created a new blog network called ChicagoNow in an effort to compete with the new ESPN Web site.

Bill Adee is a editor of digital media with the Tribune and said that he sees ESPNChicago as a direct competitor, but hasn't been made aware of a loss in advertising.

"We still have more local sports reporters on the street in Chicago than ESPN does," Adee said. "ESPN has great promotional venues, but we have 900,000 newspapers delivered on the weekends to people's homes in Chicago."

The newspapers in the mentioned cities had best be prepared for the competition. These Web sites are promoted constantly on SportsCenter and other ESPN shows. They also feature well-known analysts who have regional ties.

"In principle, it's a great idea, but it depends on delivery," Pablo Boczkowski, a professor and author, said. "Great companies in the past like Microsoft and AOL have tried to localize content and failed."

I hope that the newspapers and other regional Web sites are able to continue to evolve and gain a significant following. Even though ESPN is a channel I watch frequently, I generally don't go to their Web sites for my sports news. I like to get opinions and insight from other outlets, too. Maybe other readers will do the same.

(Photo Credit: ESPN.com)

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Taking Old Media Into The Future

By: Amy Johnson

The Walt Disney Company plans to take an old form of media and transform it into a media of the future. Beginning Tuesday, Disney Publishing plans to make their children's storybooks available online for a fee of $79.95 a year. Families will have access to hundreds of Disney's classical stories and brand new books.

DisneyDigitalBooks.com is organized by reading levels for children ages three to 12. For children just beginning to read, the books will read aloud to them. For children who can already read on their own, a guide can be found when the reader comes across an unfamiliar word; the guide says the word aloud for the child. For teenagers, chapter books and trivia games are available.

Disney's idea for a subscription online model for their storybooks could start a popular trend among publishers everywhere. The synergy of Disney works wonders. Disney on average sells 250 million children's books a year; the company is taking a big step by updating their storybooks, a media source of the old, and posting them on the Internet, a media source of the new.

This type of update is being seen often as of late. How long will it be until books and newspapers are never printed out? In today's age, major newspapers are becoming popular online sources, and books are easily found on the Internet to read. Publishers everywhere will be keeping an eye on Disney's new project; if it takes off, we may see more and more books being published online and less books being put on the shelves of book stores.

( Photo Credit Shareware Connection)

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