According to AllThingsD Specific Media has acquired Myspace from News Corp. for $35 million. Reportedly, Myspace’s CEO, Mike Jones, will remain for “an interim period,” and the social network will lay off half of its staff, or about 200 people. Myspace, which has seen a sharp decline in traffic over the years since it was acquired by News Corp in 2005 for $580 million, announced in January that it was laying off 47% of its employees. News Corp. will maintain less than a 5% stake in the company.

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You no longer need an iPad to purchase and read some of your favorite magazines on a tablet. On Wednesday Next Issue Media — an independent media venture founded by Conde Nast, Hearst Corporation, Meredith, News Corp. and Time Inc. — released an early build of its new Android publishing platform. It’s home to popular titles such as Esquire, Popular Mechanics, Parents, New Yorker, Fortune, and Time. The applications for each magazine are only available on Samsung’s original Galaxy Tab on Verizon Wireless for now, and you’ll need to download them from Verizon’s own VCast application store, AllThingsD said. An issue of Esquire costs $4.99, although it can be purchased for $1.99 per month, too. Next Issue Media’s CEO, Morgan Guenther, said that publishers will receive “at least”  70% of each transaction, and that the company plans to offer at least 40 different magazine titles by the end of 2011. A webOS version is in the works, for HP’s upcoming TouchPad tablet, and we hope the firm has an Android 3.0 Honeycomb build in development, too.

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Mr. Murdoch et al. took the wraps off of News Corp’s The Daily at a press conference on Wednesday. The gist of the new digital publication is that it’s a daily newspaper built for the iPad that offers original content and immersive, interactive features. Sounds cool. But what about the majority of the world, which still finds itself iPad-less in spite of all that magic? And what about frugal owners of the magical iPad who can’t be bothered to fork over a buck each week to support the hard work of The Daily’s news team and creators? Well luckily for both camps, we now have The Daily: Indexed. Programmer Andy Baio has put together a Tumblog that indexes The Daily content each day and presents it as a list of links. All of the articles linked by the Tumblog are hosted on The Daily website, though they are really only intended to be shared via email, Facebook or Twitter from within the iPad app. If you’re looking for a taste of Rupert’s new “paper” and don’t have access to an iPad to take advantage of the free two-week trial, The Daily: Indexed has the the goods.

[Via Gizmodo]

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News Corp’s iPad-only newspaper The Daily is finally official and we couldn’t be happier to put this drawn-out ordeal behind us. News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch was on hand at a press conference on Wednesday to introduce his new pride and joy, and details are as follows: The Daily, as one might assume, will ba a daily paper — available only on the iPad to start — and new issues will be available 365 days each year. The Daily will be interactive, packed full of 360-degree photos and original video content, and some articles will even be read aloud from within the app. There will also be Web-friendly versions of articles to share on Twitter, Facebook and so on. The publication will include crossword puzzles, Sudoku puzzles and customizable content such as weather forecasts and scores from your favorite sports teams. More interesting than The Daily itself is the imminent introduction of Apple’s new App Store subscription option for publishers, which will allow companies to build apps that serve subscription-based content. The new functionality is only available on The Daily for the time being, but Apple VP Eddy Cue said an announcement on availability is forthcoming.

The Daily app will be available in the App Store starting at 12:00PM EST today, and subscriptions will cost $0.99 per week or $39.99 for a one-year subscription. Interested parties will also be happy to learn that the first two weeks of The Daily will be free thanks to a sponsorship agreement with Verizon.

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It looks like all the rumors, hearsay and hype can finally be put to bed. Apple and News Corp will hold a press conference next week to unveil News Corp’s iPad-only newspaper, “The Daily.” News Corp boss Rupert Murdoch will likely do the honors, and Apple VP Eddie Cue will be on hand to detail Apple’s newly available subscription services for publishers. The Daily is expected to cost subscribers $0.99 per week, and the digital paper will be run by former MTV exec Greg Clayman.

Still waiting for News Corp’s iPad-only newspaper to launch? It’s looking like the digital publication could be available within the next two weeks according to News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch’s son, James Murdoch. The Daily was originally rumored to launch on January 19th but was later postponed due to a reported delay in the iTunes subscription feature that Apple has been preparing. Other rumors have also linked the delay to Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ medical leave, however, as he presumably would have appeared at the launch event. The Daily will cost subscribers $0.99 per week and will be iPad only at first.

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Horrible news comes from AllThingsD’s NetworkEffect blog Friday morning, as rumors of massive layoffs sullied New Year’s Eve for a social networking pioneer. Myspace may soon find itself full of open space following the dismissal of as much as half of its staff, according to the report. Owned by News Corp., Myspace currently employs 1,100 people, most of whom are located in the U.S. No decisions have been made at this point, and the majority of employees have reportedly been given this past week off in an effort to save money. News Corp. is said to be pushing hard for “drastic cost-cutting measures” in light of the site’s tumbling traffic and revenue. In an effort to rekindle interest in the service, Myspace launched a major redesign about six weeks ago that features an increased focus on entertainment.

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Did the UK-based paper Guardian just tip Apple’s rumored iOS subscription service? In a post today, the Guardian acknowledged some of the frustrations users of its iOS application are having. After issuing its mea culpa, the publication went on to note that it will be releasing a new and improved application, one that will right some of the previous apps wrongs and, among other things, be subscription based.

“We’ve already announced that the new app will have a new price point: £2.99 for six months and £3.99 for 12 months,” reads the post. “We’ll be launching the new app globally for the first time and although we can’t confirm exactly when it will be available, we’re working towards a pre-Christmas release.”

While the report does not explicitly state how the company will be billing for its services, the timing of the announcement is interesting. Speculation amongst technology insiders has Apple releasing an iOS update, version 4.3, around December 9th. The update’s payload will, purportedly, bring content subscriptions to the iOS platform.

Apple is also rumored to be working with media giant News Corp. on a daily, iPad-only, subscription-based publication titled The Daily.

[Via AppleInsider]

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Hulu may be getting a healthy dose of new programming content courtesy of Disney. According to sources close to the situation, Hulu and Disney are in serious negotiations to bring Disney programming to the online video portal. The talks reportedly focus on ABC programming content which include the popular TV series  Desperate Housewives and LOST, but may include programming from other Disney assets as well. In exchange for providing content, Disney is requesting an equity stake in Hulu on par with NBC Universal and News Corp and possibly performance incentives. With the relationship between Hulu and CBS souring, Hulu could use a high profile deal to boost its position in the increasingly competitive online video marketplace.

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