Media group Bonnier to roll out its new iPad concept across titles

Swedish media group Bonnier has announced plans for a new raft of iPad apps for its newspapers all based around a new concept of design for the device.

In December 2009 the publisher, which owns titles Dagens Nyheter, Dagens Industri, Sydesvenskan, Borsen and Expressen, previewed Mag+, an experiment with magazine design for tablets and touchscreen devices that has since been used for a number of its magazine titles. It has now created News+, which it describes as "the daily newspaper if it had been invented today" and a new product for the iPad and tablet devices that does not simply repackage print.



Speaking at the Association of Online Publishers (AOP) summit in October, Jacek Utko, design director for Bonnier Business Press International said the iPad would be key for newspapers' development, but requires innovative thinking in terms of design. "A lot of newspapers are just giving PDFs, it doesn't make any sense, because the iPad is not a reading device. People that want to just mirror the newspaper, I think this is a mistake," he told Journalism.co.uk.

The Research and Development team at Bonnier, who are asking for feedback on its products in the Bonnier beta lab, hopes the News+ concept will differ from traditional newspaper print editions and websites and offer "a third product that starts up where the physical newspaper ends".

"The most important principle of News+ is that we want to let our readers get closer to the news. In terms of news consumption, an intimate, touch experience where reading is a pleasure and the crystal-clear hi-resolution screen lets photography take its rightful place as an important part of the news narrative," says Alexander Jamal, head of concept development, Bonnier R&D, in a blog post.

"But with closeness we also mean that we want our readers to step into the news room and be a part of the conversation. The News+ concept includes a variety of features enabling such a relation between news editors and readers."

The model will first be used for the Dagens Nyheter iPad app, DN+, which hopefully be released later this week. The app will cost 99 SEK (approximately £9) a month for subscribers to the print edition and 199 (£18) a month for iPad-only subscribers. The News+ system will deliver a new edition for the iPad each day.

German publisher Die Zeit released an alternative version of its Zeit Online website this week specifically designed for iPad users.

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