tagged: ipad, magazine, virgin

Project iPad Magazine Review

Posted by Marcus in iBooks, iPad Apps, News

The latest addition to the growing range of magazines for the iPad has just hit the store, but this one is a little different from the others due to the fact there is not a paper equivalent available and it’s from a newcomer to the magazine area, Virgin.

Price

First the installer is free then each magazine will set you back £1.79 ($2.99) with it’s in-app purchases. Straight away this hits the sweet spot for myself, as there is no paper version there’s no way Virgin can undercut it’s own paper version price wise. Which is why you see other types of magazines priced so similar to there paper counterparts I imagine.

Format

It all looks very familiar to the iPad Wired magazine, I would not be surprised to see Adobe InDesign CS5 behind this product. There are some differences; all of the content is portrayed in one axis so there’s no of the stupid rotate your iPad to access stuff like it’s Wired equivalent. (I did feel a knob continuously rotating my iPad whilst on a train!!) Swiping between pages is smooth, however there is sometimes a blank screen displayed for 1/2 second if the new page is video heavy.

On the right of most pages there is Target symbol that leads to “Sound Bytes” where users can leave comments on the article and also a “+’ icon that opens related websites to the article your reading. This is inside the app so you only need to hit close to return to the app.

An iOS 4.2 feature implemented allows you to return directly to the page you were on if you hit the Home button then relaunch the app. (Which is really fast)

Size

It’s big, the app doesn’t tell you how big but I estimate around 400mb – 500mb judging on my download time/speed ratio, therefor all the video is downloaded to the iPad when you purchase the product, which is handy if your anywhere you don’t have a connection or a pain if your trying to download the app as your heading for the door! (Wish there was none Video “Lite” version for these instances)

Content

It’s seems like a cross between GQ & Wired and strikes a good balance. It’s tag line is “Design/Entertainment/Technology/Entrepreneurs” which sort of gives you an idea to it’s content. The Web links on most articles offer some great extra content – Take the Geo Politics article, it’s got some links to  Kim Jong-il’s  Birthsong, Monster movie (Both You Tube) and also the Flagpole (flickr)

There’s not many adverts, in-fact I’ve only found one for Lexus on page 4 which is Video heavy but actually worth watching!

Overall the content is seems a little light, you reach the end fairly quickly if you flick through the pages, but maybe thats just due to the lack of advertising padding? The writing is good, I’ve not sat down and actually read it yet though!

Versions

So far there are 2 versions of the magazine available, a US or Canadian version. I can only assume this is for advertising reasons? (However with only one Advert Im not sure!) I went for the US version and have found it appealing to myself (A UK Male) and not very USA centric (Unlike the Wired US version with lots of US Ads)

Conclusion.

The presentation of the magazine is a step up from Wired, it actually achieves this by removing things! The stupid rotate to view things and the adverts. The price is pitched in a nice area and overall the feel is one of quality. I think this is defiantly worth a look if your a male 20-50 year old!