Moving Media+’s flagship product Mag+ premiered last year with the launch of Popular Science magazine on the first Apple iPads, winning design and tech industry praise. Popular Science+ has earned US$400,000 in sales on iPad to date and sold more than 10,000 subscriptions.
Moving Media+ CEO Staffan Ekholm (pictured) says: “Mag+ was created by publishers for publishers. From today, magazines, catalogues and bespoke publications can all be taken directly on to tablet format, using Mag+. Designers, advertisers and all creatives will have free access to the software.
“Here at Moving Media+, we boast a superb leadership and development team, with a breadth of experience in both digital and publishing. The team has already taken more than 25 magazine titles on to iPads, with others lining up in markets including the US, the UK, and across the Continent. We are looking forward to continued success as a new company.”
This month, Moving Media+ launches its new website, with free access to Mag+ and all the tools needed to create breathtaking tablet publications.
Fredrik Strömberg, Moving Media+ Head of Concept, adds: “Mag+ puts creative people back in the driving seat – where they belong. Now designers and editors can get on with the business of producing beautiful work on tablets, without relying on the technical side of the house at every step.
“We’ve created an intimate, tactile experience for readers, with all the enhanced design that tablet technology enables. This includes two layers of content, making a digital canvas that doesn’t limit your design to the edge of the device screen.”
Ekholm continues: “Tablets are leading a renaissance in publishing. Although this is still the beginning, Popular Science+’s circulation revenues are significant. The reader’s experience on tablets will only continue to advance; yet already customers are happy to pay for this unique, quality product.
“Early research on the value of iPad advertising bears out our optimism even further. We are seeing that readers spend 35% more time on an iPad publication page than the print page of the same title. And they are spending 60% more time on an ad in the iPad version of a title, than the print version.”
According to Moving Media+: “The Mag+ platform allows a team to take its publication on to tablets without extensive development or technical support and, usually, without having to grow the design team. Its power extends beyond glossy magazines to custom and catalogue publishing, and high-end brand communications of all kinds.
Moving Media+ allows free access to Mag+; charges begin on a monthly subscription basis, only when the title is published. This, says Ekholm, means publishers of all sizes can join the tablet revolution with eyes wide open as to the costs.”
“Periodical publishers have been wary about the move on to tablets,” he says. “They invested heavily in websites but revenues from these have generally been poor. Now, it is predicted that around 21 million tablets will be sold this year and that in the US alone one third of online consumers will be using tablets by 2015.
“Mag+ invokes a new, more intimate, relationship between readers and compelling content. These highly valuable relationships will be monetised through subscription revenues, glamorous, interactive display ads, and a range of services that will evolve to capture engaged readers. All this, breathing much needed new life into the publishing sector.”
Titles to use Mag+ already include: Popular Science+, Popular Photography+, Transworld Snowboarding+, Science Illustrated+, and MacWorld.
More about Mag+ for designers
Moving Media+ says: “Mag+'s simple InDesign-based workflow puts full creative control in the hands of the designers, not the tech guys. Video, HTML5 elements and other interactive features are added directly in InDesign. Mag+ is the only system that offers instant fully functional layout review on the iPad, which lets designers try new things and see immediately what the user experience will be. Mag+ offers the lowest-cost solution for getting your publication live in the App Store: Free tools and a fully branded, feature-rich reader app. You only start to pay, on a monthly subscription basis, when you publish. You can then publish as often as you like, using the powerful web-based backend to manage your users, issues and analytics. The platform’s built-in features include analytics from Omniture, Localytics or Flurry; in-app subscriptions; Tapjoy, Admob and Appirator integration.”
About Moving Media+ and Mag+
Moving Media+ says: “Mag+ is the most flexible and efficient platform for publishing creative content on touchscreen tablets. Mag+ premiered on the first iPads in April 2010 with the award-winning Popular Science+, and supports dozens of live titles in the iTunes Store. With its streamlined production system, powerful backend and feature-rich app framework, Mag+ is ideal for anyone — from magazine and book publishers to catalogue marketers and design agencies — wanting to bring beautiful, immersive content to the millions using this new generation of digital devices. Built by the R&D task force of global publishing powerhouse Bonnier Magazine Group, Mag+ was spun out into its own company, Moving Media+, in 2011.”
