As sales of print-based magazines are on a decline, publishers are trying to push out their magazines on as many digital platforms as possible. Recently, publishers have given in to Apple’s terms and conditions for selling their magazines through iTunes in-app purchases (or given away free digital copies if folks had a print subscription) and now it looks like the Android platform is about to join the fray.
According to reports, a new magazine subscription service will be offered to Android users starting this Thursday. Next Issue Media, a group of five big publishers (Hearst, Meredith, Conde Nast, Time Inc and News Corp.) will be offering app versions of their magazines to Android users. The titles that will go on sale this week are: Esquire, Popular Mechanics, Fitness and Parents, The New Yorker, Fortune and Time.
Unfortunately not everybody with an Android tablet will be able to download those magazines just yet. The service is still in an “early preview” stage and will only be available to Samsung Galaxy Tab owners on Verizon through Verizon’s Vcast app store. No word on pricing of the magazines yet, but expect to find out more soon enough.
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