GQ iPhone app digital replica will count towards paid circulation

I have to say that I'm not that fond of reading a magazine on a tiny iPhone-type screen; but clearly I am in the minority (and a good thing for magazine publishers). According to a story in Media in Canada, Condé Nast has announced the launch of its i-Phone app that will -- starting in mid-November --  provide a replica of GQ magazine. It is inevitably a sign that, soon, you'll be able to get the same for many magazines in the Conde Nast stable. 

Folio: magazine :  says that the development of  Condé Nast's own e-reader is a departure from the excerpting ways magazine publishers have used technology. Now the company is making full issues available and not coincidentally, retaining some degree of control that they may keep away from other people's platforms (Amazon's Kindle, for instance). 

"One of the important things is the app itself is actually a reader," Sarah Chubb, president of Condé Nast Digital, told FOLIO: sister title Audience Development. "There are other reader apps for the iPhone, the Amazon Kindle being the successful one. We make the distinction that it's a reader because we've designed and built it in-house. We'll see what works and maybe use it with our other magazines as well."

Of further interest is that theAudit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) has approved the app (which sells for $2.99 a year) as a digital replica, and sales will count toward the magazine's paid circulation.

Ads will appear as they do in the print version, but will also offer more interactivity as video, e-commerce and linking capability are all enabled as part of the new app."This medium enables new levels of advertiser integration," Peter King Hunsinger, VP and publisher of GQ, said in a release. "Not only will all print ads be replicated in the app, but we've sold special integrated sponsorship packages to Grey Goose and Gillette."

The issues of GQ will be able to be viewed in horizontal and vertical mode; vertical will allow users to navigate and "pinch and swipe" stories and images; horizontal will allow readers to swipe through page by page -- including ads -- for the entire issue.