Apple lines up 'iSlate' content deals for books and video
Published: 20 January, 2010
READ MORE: Apple | Mobile Content | eBook | iPhone
Only a week to go until Apple holds its product launch, presumed to be the long awaited 'iSlate' tablet. Several vendors, including Microsoft, got into this emerging category first, at the recent CES show, but Apple is likely to show up with something clearly different from its rivals. The difference won't just be about the high price tag expected for its tablet, but also Apple's real strength, the content model. Just as the firm pushed the integrated media concept into the mainstream with iPod/iTunes, it is now reported to be in talks with publishing giant HarperCollins about content for its slate.
According to The Wall Street Journal - controlled, like HarperCollins, by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp - Apple is in talks with several book, newspaper and video content owners.
Murdoch has already made it clear that he is betting hard on the emerging e-reader and tablet categories. Since these will be optimized, with their large screens and fast processors, for content consumption, he has argued that customers will be prepared to pay, in order to access an experience that is superior to downloading free items to the PC or phone. Thus he can continue to charge for content.
The mogul has hinted at branding his own e-reader for News Corp newspapers, as well as doing deals with Amazon, whose Kindle (and newspaper oriented DX) can receive automatically downloaded subscriptions to papers like The New York Times. He also recently threatened to break ties with Google's search engine, which he claims offers paid-for content for free by the back door.
The Apple tablet is expected to go a step further than a dedicated e-reader by supporting a full browser and a bright display, possibly using AMOLED technology, optimized for images and videos. This could not only support movie stores, but also a new generation of what the WSJ calls 'superbooks', which include additional video content such as author interviews, and rich web links, alongside the text.
The 'iSlate' is predicted to run a version of the iPhone operating system and app store, reinforcing Apple's preferred mobile content model of controlled downloads rather than streaming or browser-based access.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs has valuable media contacts of his own, which he may bring to bear on iSlate deals. Last month, reports circulated that Jobs was in talks with Disney, in which he has a major holding via the Pixar unit, and CBS, about subscription video services for the iPhone and iSlate.
Meanwhile, Vodafone UK has gone live with the iPhone, and is trying to differentiate itself from existing Apple partners O2, Orange and Tesco Mobile. It is chasing the business market by pushing the handset along with its enterprise deals. "Now our enterprise customers are beginning to demand more," Peter Kelly, enterprise director of Vodafone UK, told Dow Jones newswires. "Now it's becoming more about enabling corporations to take applications from the desktop and put them on the mobile - and truly mobilizing the workforce."
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