The Daily Extends Free Subscription – iOS 4.3 Available on February 28th?
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A couple of weeks ago, News Corp took the wraps off of their iPad only news publication, The Daily. When the news publication launched on February 2nd, free access was only scheduled to last two weeks.
Now, News Corp. has extended the free subscription period through February 28th, according to German site Macerkopf. This has created a series of rumors about the imminent release of iOS 4.3 and possibly iPad 2 within the next two weeks.
According to a Reuters report, during the official launch of The Daily, an iPad 2 was spotted at the launch event in New York city. The spotted iPad appeared to be a working prototype of the upcoming iPad 2 and featured a front facing camera near the top of the screen.
With the extension of the free subscription of The Daily, there is speculation that iOS 4.3 will be released by the end of February. In case you don’t know, The Daily relies on a “in-app” recurring subscription (weekly subscription of $0.99), which seems to be part of iOS 4.3. Without this capability, The Daily cannot charge customers for recurring subscriptions. Is this an indication that we will see iOS 4.3 by February 28th?
We could all argue that The Daily extended its free subscription to attract more readers. However, Apple announced today their App Store subscriptions, which has opened the door for developers offering a wide range of content, including magazines, newspapers, and more. In addition, many developers have reported that iOS 4.3 contains the APIs required for in-app subscriptions.
No official details have been released yet for iOS 4.3. But, the recent events seem to indicate that iOS 4.3 could be made available to the public in a few weeks.
