As Rupert Murdoch brings out his iPad newspaper, The Daily, goateed millionaire Richard Branson has struck back with his iPad magazine simply called Project.
Launching the magazine Branson opened by denying that there was a war between himself and Murdoch according to the Guardian, then qualified by saying “If it’s a battle, it’s a battle over quality. Based on 30 years of reading News of the World and other papers [Murdoch] publishes, I think on quality we’ll be willing to be judged.”
Forbes points out that the launch chutzpah could just be “Branson (the 212th-richest man in the world, according to Forbes)… smack-talking Murdoch (the 117th-richest) just to hype his launch”. But Branson is keen to point out that he doesn’t have the power of News Limited behind him. He told Forbes, “We definitely don’t have a Rupert Murdoch-like budget. If bloggers don’t like it, we’ll be dead very quickly.”
And as for the magazine itself it looks like a high design magazine that updates monthly on your iPad for US$2.99. The debut issue features a ‘cover’ video of actor Jeff Bridges broken by static and a spooky Tron-inspired soundscape. Project’s editor Anthony Noguera, who previously edited FHM UK and Zoo, promises “a much more immersive experience than a website. When you talk to iPad users they say they are reading more than they ever have.”