• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, August 12, 2010

This fall will see the launch of four new mobile, subscription-based digital magazines, courtesy of new mobile publisher Nomad Editions, backed by some leading lights of media industry finance. Nomad's debut is perfectly timed to capitalize on the surge in smartphone ownership and the growing popularity of new e-readers and tablet computers like Apple's iPad.

Nomad plans to launch all four titles -- Real Eats: Stories Behind Food, Wide Screen: Inside the Movies That Matter, Wave Lines: Your Brain on Surfing and u+me: Voices Behind Videos -- October 15. Every week, subscribers will receive digital editions with content including text, audio and video. Nomad hopes to entice readers with a 30-day free trial, and a relatively low subscription cost of about $24 per year, or $0.46 per issue.

The magazines are downloadable as mobile apps, but the content will also exist on the Web, making it accessible to search engines and shareable via social media. Nomad's business model appears to rely primarily on subscriptions, rather than advertising, for most of its revenues.

The mobile publishing venture is backed by some familiar names, including Mark Edmiston -- a former president of Newsweek, who is also a founding member of Jordan Edmiston Group, an investment bank focused on the media industry. Nomad has also recruited Roger Black, a well-known designer, and John Benditt will serve as editor in chief.

Rodale Makes Content Available to Starbucks Customers

Health and fitness publisher Rodale is making digital content from its magazines available to Starbucks customers via Starbucks Wi-Fi. Rodale will be the main content anchor for The Starbucks Digital Network's "Wellness Channel," giving customers access to premium content, including articles, recipes, videos from Rodale brands like Rodale.com, Men's Health, Women's Health, Runner's World, Bicycling, Prevention, Organic Gardening and "Eat This, Not That!"

Rodale's section will also feature the Run, Ride and Walk finder, which provides geotargeted maps of more than 300,000 routes that highlight Starbucks stores along the way. Customers can upload their own trails, provided they begin or end at their local Starbucks.

Wine Spectator Launches Vintage Chart Apps

Wine Spectator is getting into the app game with a new mobile feature that gives users access to its authoritative charts for wine vintages on their iPhones. The first in a series of planned cross-platform wine apps, VintageChart+ allows consumers to compare the relative quality of wines from different regions and years with 54 automatically updated vintage charts, helping them make better-informed buys. The app also features in-depth harvest reports, Google Maps of wine regions and a selection of editorial content, as well as WS360, a live news feed for wine lovers.

T: NYT Style Names New Content Directors

T: The New York Times Style Magazine has named Michelle Kessler-Sanders as fashion director in September. Previously, she served as a senior vice president at Donna Karan; before that, she served as an editor at Vogue for six years. T also announced that Jacob Brown is joining the magazine as its features director, at the end of August.