Rupert Murdoch’s new iPad Daily will include a 3-D feature that utilizes the tablet’s augmented reality tools to provide an interactive photo viewing experience, Nick Summers reports.
Until now, the talk surrounding Murdoch’s iPad Daily has been about the novelty of an iPad-only paper and the staff who will help run the operation. But on Tuesday, Summers revealed some of the first details of the workings of the Daily app as shared by staffers who have seen a demo.
Summers writes that photography will be a highlight:
“Slideshows, looked down upon as cheap page-view bait on the Web, may turn out to be a killer function on Apple’s device. ‘The photography is otherworldly,’ said an insider.
And 3-D — the staff is rapturous about the 3-D. ‘It’s like describing a smell or something,’ a Daily source told The Observer. ‘It is not quite possible to wrap your mind around the concept until you experience it. It’s a bit as though you were standing in a space with the ability to slowly spin around and see everything in hi-def.’ “
The app will also take advantage of the iPad’s geo-location tools. Contrary to prior reports, Summers writes that the Daily will have a Web presence. It will not be a traditional website, but more an archive that writers can link to from Facebook and other social media sources.
Summers also mentions the Daily will likely include “addictive little games” to encourage engagement and regular readership.
By offering geo-location features and interactive photo galleries, Murdoch seems to want to recreate a bit of the newspaper content bundle that was lost in the transition to the Web. There is no guarantee that any of these features will help sell subscriptions, but they’re at least an indication that the Daily’s staff is willing to innovate and experiment with different types of content.
