Digital Publications have quickly become an established media channel. Whether you like it or not, tablets are here to stay. Once the hype dies down you need to think how this can be turned into profitable business. When it comes to tablet publishing you need to use the medium effectively and produce quality content that will attract advertisers and readers.

Tablet computers have now become the fastest growing technology in the computer development world as they offer a ‘lean back and read’ experience you get from a newspaper or magazine that you don’t get from a laptop or desktop with the bonus of interaction, sound and video – built for consumption not production. This is one of the reasons they are not heavily used in the business world (there are many good laptops similar in size to a tablet PC that offer great word processing, spreadsheet and presentation facilities). It is not just adults that love them- children have also fallen in love with the tablet because they are built for leisure. Tons of great apps are available for them use including games and education.

It cannot be ignored that Tablet computer usage is dominated by the Apple iPad, however, Android Tablets are not far behind and are becoming just as popular.  The new Amazon Kindle Fire is shortly due for release in the UK and it is predicted the sales here will mirror strong sales in the US. Strategy Analytics estimates for Q2 2011, the Apple’s iPad took a 61% share of tablet shipments (9.3m units), Android represented a 30.1% share (4.6m units). The Blackberry Playbook and Windows powered systems account for the remainder of units sold. PWC have estimated that by 2015, the digital magazine market in the US and Canada will be worth $611m, up from a market worth $4m in 2010, so this is a very rapidly expanding market.

The biggest benefit of Tablet publishing is the fact that once you have downloaded a publication it acts in a similar way to the printed version – text size on the screen is similar as the newspaper and you ‘swipe’ the screen rather than click a mouse similar to turning a page. Also, once downloaded the content doesn’t need to rely on an internet connection so it can be read on a plane, on a train on anywhere you want.

The conversion of everything from the physical form into the electronic form has brought in the new revolution. Digital publishing in the form of e- books, magazines and newspapers are easily available therefore reducing the paper usage and the cost of purchasing all this. The appearance of the digital content depends upon the resolution that your tablet is giving you. A high resolution profile will appear like a real paper. Until recently, one could not have imagined books and other reading material being available on the internet- a method that has overcome the time consuming and lengthy procedure of traditional publishing.

 Jask Group are a british creative agency, specialising in Graphic Design, Web Design and Tablet Publishing for midlands-based businesses in Birmingham, Coventry & Solihull.