We were told it was a matter of “weeks, not months” when Apple and News Corp. delayed the launching of The Daily, and by all accounts that scheduled may remain intact. TechCrunch is reporting that James Murdoch (son of Rupert Murdoch) says the iPad-only publication should be available “in the next few weeks, I hope.”
In an interview at the DLD conference in Munich, Murdoch wouldn’t offer any specific dates, but did try to add hype to the upcoming production – which is difficult, considering that news first broke about The Daily in November. Nonetheless, Murdoch called it “a brand new piece of journalism” and said it’s expected to do well with US audiences.
But the continuously pushed-back release isn’t the only item haunting The Daily. There’s been a lot of talk about how involved Steve Jobs (and Apple for that matter) will be involved in the unveiling and promotion of its first subscription-based publication. In light of Jobs’ recent leave of absence and health issues, it can be assumed he won’t be at the press event, but the question of Apple’s collaboration still remains.
When asked about News Corp.’s partnership with Apple, Murdoch said it is “a positive relationship.” “With Apple, there’s positive engagement, we get a huge amount of support from them on The Daily for example. Obviously, we’ll have arguments with them in the future, on pricing, rules, and so on. But I would call it a positive relationship.”
The company may be giving Apple some competition in the future. When asked whether News Corp. would launch a tablet, Murdoch replied, “Not right now.” Cryptic.
