Mag+ iPad magazine platform now open to all publishers

Mag+, the first iPad magazine publishing platform is now available to all publishers to use, after developers Moving Media today announced their ndependence from parent company Bonnier Magazine Group.

The platform lets users comfortable with the InDesign software quickly make iPad-ready content, complete with video and HTML5 elements all editable from within InDesign itself. The tool is free to use, with a monthly sunscription charge for publishers only added once their magazine is in circulation.

Magazines such as Popular Science+, Popular Photography+, Transworld Snowboarding+, Science Illustrated+, and MacWorld are already making use of Mag+ to push their content onto Apple’s tablet.

Fredrik Strömberg, Moving Media+ Head of Concept, described Mag+ as putting “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.”

Moving Media+ CEO Staffan Ekholm also feels that Mag+ has the potential to rejuvanate publisher’s magazine sales, saying “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.”

For more info, visit www.magplus.com.