Launch of News Corp's iPad newspaper delayed

News Corp and Apple have decided to delay next week's expected launch of The Daily -- a digital newspaper formatted for the iPad -- according to several news sources. The issue appears to be related to Apple's wishes to tweak its new system for subscriptions in the App Store.

The AFP had reported earlier this week that both companies had planned to launch the paper in an event at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art on January 19. In any case, a delay would be a matter of "weeks, not months" according to Wall Street Journal sources.

A representative has confirmed the delay, however declined to provide any further details as to its reason.

The Daily will use a new method for subscriptions, where Apple will bill customers automatically. In turn, the company would also automatically deliver a new edition every morning without the need for the customer to download it. Issues with the paper's release appear to only be with this new system, and not with any bugs in the app itself.

Quite a bit is riding on the success of The Daily: reportedly News Corp has 150 employees working on it, and has budgeted $30 million USD to support its launch in the first year.

While both companies may tout their digital newspaper as the future, iPad owners already have a method to receive periodical subscriptions: Amazon's Kindle app. The retailer has been offering the functionality for some time now, and in many cases cost less than current methods to deliver magazine content through Apple's App Store.