By Josh Ong
Published: 10:30 PM EST (07:30 PM PST)
Apple and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. have pushed back the unveiling of The Daily, a newspaper set to debut exclusively on Apple's iPad, because of complications with a new subscription service for publications that Apple is readying, a new report claims.
Earlier this week,
Forbes reported that Apple and Murdoch's media conglomerate were prepping for a
Jan. 19 launch of the new publication. Additional rumors suggested that Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs would
share the stage with Murdoch at the event, which will reportedly take place at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
However, Peter Kafka of
MediaMemo reported Thursday that next week's planned announcement has been
moved back, according to sources familiar with the companies' plans. Kafka's sources told him the plans have been tabled "for weeks, not months."
Kafka's blog is part of the
All Things Digital website, which is owned by News Corp.
Though News Corp. executives have been showing off a working version of
The Daily's iPad app, a new subscription feature that Apple is building into iTunes is apparently the cause of the delay, the report noted.
A News Corp. PR representative contacted by Kafka confirmed the delay, but gave no further details.
Rumors of an Apple-developed
subscription feature for newspapers and publications on the iPad have gained steam in recent months. Publishers initially
held off on bringing their content to the iPad because Apple refused to allow subscription plans, a vital part of publishers' business models.
People magazine eventually broke the impasse
in August of last year by offering subscribers free access to its iPad application.
After initial interest peaked, magazine purchases on the iPad
have slowed as of late. The first iPad edition of
Wired, which debuted in May, sold more than 100,000 copies, while the October and November issues sold just 22,000 and 23,000 respectively, according to one report.
