WHAT'S NEXT: INNOVATIONS IN NEWSPAPERS

A few minutes ago Steve Jobs presented the latest news from Apple.

In a peculiar live stream video conference only available to Mac users, the iGod announced:

More Apple stores.

Some days, over 1 million people visit Apple’s retail shops.

Stores are holding 80,000 one-to-one sessions per week.

Over 6.5 billion apps downloaded. Or 200 apps every second.

Around 250,000 apps available, including 25,000 iPad apps.

iOS 4.1 being introduced today.

iOS 4.1 will be available next week via iTunes as a free download.

OS 4.2 is coming out in November as a free update for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.

It brings everything to iPad, multi-tasking, game center, wireless printing.

Apple sold 275 million iPods.

Shows the first, second and third generation shuffles.

Small and wearable, easy to use buttons, playlists, genius mixes, VoiceOver, 15 hours of music. 5 colors. $49

$149 in 8GB version $179 in 16GB version

They have volume buttons, VoiceOVer, FM radio, Nike+, 24 hour battery playback

New iPod touch: Retina Display; 326 ppi 24-bit color, LED backlit

With Apple A4 chip, 3-axis Gyro, iOS 4.1 Game Center, Front Facing camera and FaceTIm.

Plus rear camera as well with HD recording. 40 hours of playback

3 models: 8GB for $329, 32GB for $299, and a 64GB for $399

New iTunes logo

Customers have downloaded over 11.7 billion songs

Over 450 million TV episodes, 100 million movies downloaded, 35 million books and over 160 million accounts worldwid.

New feature: PING, a social network for music.

Follow your favorite artists and friends.

To know what music their listening to and downloading.

FaceBook and Twitter meets iTunes.

Now the Apple TV MakeOver.

Jobs says that it was not a success.

So here it’s the new Apple TV, 1/4th the size

Power, WiFi, HDMI and Ethernet

Cost: 99 cent TV show rentals in HD.

First with ABC and FOX.

Other networks will follow.

And more countries coming to Apple TV later this year.

New AppleTV $99 (it was $229)

So you can use your iPad as a touchscreen remote for Apple TVs in your house–like an audio-and-video one.

It’s tiny: size of a drink coaster, with no hard drive, no computer sync, all streaming.

NEXT POST WITH THE REACTIONS.

Yesterday ViewSonic unveiled the ViewPad 7, not a very good one.

And tomorrow SAMSUNG will present its first Android 7-inch Galaxy Tablet (the iPad is 9.7 inches)

So iPad competitors are here and the winners will be… you and me, the consumers.

Expect immediate reaction from Apple.

And a new, better and cheaper iPad model very soon.

More competition is always good.

Another reason not to miss the INMA/NIEMAN/INNOVATION Harvard Tablet Summit.

Cambridge, December 2-3, 2010.

A Worldwide Summit to learn, master and share new ideas.

Be there!

An opening at The New York Times.

Position: Graphics Editor
Location: New York, New York
Job Status: Full-time
Salary: Not Specified
Ad Expires: September 20, 2010
Job ID: 1193400

DESCRIPTION/RESPONSIBILITIES:
The New York Times is looking for a designer/programmer/editor to join the Graphics department, which produces maps, diagrams and data visualizations for all publishing platforms, including the printed newspaper and nytimes.com.

The Times has long been a leader in the field of information graphics, both in print and on the Web.  Candidates should enjoy finding new, innovative ways to marry information design with data and interactivity to produce multimedia pieces that visually explain the news.

Candidates should demonstrate excellence in the concept, design and execution of features like interactive maps and charts and the pages that display them.  The position requires fluency in Flash, HTML/CSS and JavaScript, and applicants should demonstrate a desire for continuous learning of new programming languages and interactive techniques.

Candidates should have a desire to collaborate extensively since the job requires close coordination with other graphics editors as well as reporters and editors in the newsroom.

Requirements:
Proficiency in development of interactive graphics or Web sites
Skill in interface design and traditional information graphic design
Ability to analyze data in programs such as Microsoft Excel, SQL databases or other statistical software
Experience with Adobe Creative Suite
Ability to develop data-driven stories
Research, writing and editing strength
To apply, send resume to matte@nytimes.com, duenes@nytimes.com.

The Sao Paulo futbol club is a very popular one.

So SP went crazy this week and today the new Diario de S. Paulo changed its masthead to celebrate the anniversary.

Well done!

INNOVATION’s Chiqui Esteban leads the New Narratives department of lainformacion.com in Madrid, Spain.

The graphic work done with his small team (he and Carlos Gamez plus Sarah Potts, an intern) is astonishing.

They have the support of the Art Director Antonio Pasagali, video and web developers, HTML designers of lainformacion.com but they do 90% of the final work.

They use Flash, Illustrator, Photoshop, Cinema 4d, Dreamweaver, Soundbooth, Premiere and Click2Map for Google Maps…

Chiqui and Carlos are fast like the best writers of the best newswire services.

They are quick, but accurate, and always focus on “the news behind the news” trying to explain, to find out, discover new angles and delivering not just facts but graphic ideas and fast quality journalism.

This is a 24/7 full time team and they are on permanent deadline mood.

Chiqui and Carlos have limited resources but unlimited creativity, and shows what you can do when you have real journalists.

Here you can review some of the work done during the last 12 months of lainformacion.com.

An amazing showcase of almost 400 pieces of first class visual journalism!

Keep in mind that lainformacion.com was founded by Mario Tascon, the most influential Spanish infographics journalist, a new pure digital media company that today has a new editor, Carlos Salas, a very visual journalist, founding editor of El Economista, the financial newspaper launched by INNOVATION, and one the Best Designed Newspapers of the World.

And more:

Chiqui has been able to lead all this effort and at the same time work with many INNOVATION clients around the world teaching and preaching the New Visual Journalism Gospel.

Follow his Spanish/English blog.

A must-read blog.

Another sad story

This time from Prague.

The PPF group has ended its local media project as it has sold its PPF Media company to investor Richard Benysek.

We were told that this was the future.

There were “study-tours” for editors and publishers around the world to “see the future” of citizens journalism and hyperlocal news.

But yesterday the hype ended.

They were making money selling coffee and cakes, but losing money with the news products.

“The pilot project, during which the PPF Media websites operated hyperlocal news and published in seven regions of the ČR, has not complied with the parameters of commercial return on the PPF targets”

In May 2009, PPF launched Naše Adresa, which then consisted of seven local weeklies and 23 websites in three regions of the Czech Republic, covering about 4 percent of the country’s households. A year later, it reported printing more than 30,000 copies of the 24-to 32-page tabloids at its offset printing plant in Brno. In the future, Naše Adresa planned to grow to 230 local weeklies with a circulation of 500,000 and 700 hyperlocal websites, covering 14 regions and 75 districts of the country.

It had great marketing, good coffee but served decaffeinated journalism, and perhaps this was the real problem.

As I said a few days ago in this blog, “coffee, bars and newspapers” is a good cocktail, but you need to deliver more than marketing hype.