British billionaire Richard Branson unveiled a magazine designed for Apple’s iPad, taking on News Corp.’s Rupert Murdoch in the market for tablet-device publications. The monthly magazine, called “Project,” will cover entertainment, design, technology and entrepreneurs, Branson said Tuesday at a news conference in New York. Available now, it costs $2.99 a month in Apple’s app store.
Branson, founder of Virgin Group, is the first to get a publication designed specifically for the iPad off the ground. News Corp. is creating a subscription news product for the iPad called “The Daily” that will cover national general-interest news, according to two people familiar with the plans. The New York-based company plans to introduce the $1-a-week product in the U.S. in the first quarter, the people said.
“This is not a battle. It’s not a war,” Branson said. “It’s about the future of publishing.”
The product “looks like a style magazine and acts like a website,” according to a statement from Virgin, and has been created with U.K. publisher Seven Squared. Bloomberg News
