eWEEK magazine announced that its content will soon be available via apps written for Windows Phone 7, Android, and iOS phones, plus other devices including iPad and Android tablets. The move by our sister publication will coincide with the discontinuation of a print version as of January 2012, according to parent company Ziff Davis Enterprise (ZDE).

In an Oct. 26 release, ZDE announced what it calls "the launch of the most comprehensive mobile content strategy in B2B media. The company's "OmniDigital" effort means the eWEEK, Baseline, and CIO Insight publications will no longer be offered in "dead tree" editions as of January. Instead, they'll be replaced by a "full suite of optimized suites and native apps for every popular smartphone and tablet in the market."

ZDE — which owns LinuxDevices.com and its fellow site WindowsForDevices.com as well as the above publications — stated, "Those readers who prefer a magazine format will continue to have access to the same fine, carefully crafted, selected and edited content they have enjoyed in the print editions for decades in … [the new] digital editions."

It's said the frequency of the publications in question will increase: For example, Baseline and CIO Insight will return to monthly publication from just four times per year, and eWEEK will appear every two weeks (compared to its current schedule of 19 issues per year).

The original PC WEEK print publication (left) and eWEEK on an iPad (right)
(Click right-hand image to enlarge)

Of course, the Baseline, CIO Insight, and eWEEK websites will continue to appear. Optimized websites for phones (prefixed with an m. instead of www.) and tablets (prefixed with a t.) will also be available on the relevant devices; for example, the right-hand screen above shows t.eweek.com as viewed using the Safari web browser on an Apple iPad.

Regarding the customized apps, ZDE says there will be versions for the iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone 7, and Symbian/Nokia-powered smart phones, as well as for the iPad, RIM Playbook, and Android-powered tablets. According to the company, iPhone and iPad apps will be available Nov. 1, as will Baseline's Android app; the Android apps for eWEEK and CIO Insight are already downloadable via the Android Market (eWEEK version shown below).

eWEEK's Android smartphone app

The apps have been created for ZDE by Toronto-based Polar Mobile, which says it has 320 customers in 11 countries and is powering 1,200 Apps across iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry, PlayBook, Windows Phone and Nokia devices. The company announced Oct. 13 that its software — which includes in-app Tweeting, among other features — has been downloaded more than 10 million times.

ZDE CEO Steve Weitzner stated, "The future of engagement is mobile, it is social and it is entirely digital. We intend to drive the digital marketing standard for B2B tech media and accelerate the 'anywhere and everywhere' consumption of content by exploiting the rapid adoption of mobile and tablet devices in the IT community."

Further information

There are no current plans to create mobile-specific editions of LinuxDevices.com or WindowsForDevices.com, but let us know what you think. Certainly, opinions might skew according to age: This reading-glasses-wearing author likes using his tablet, but is also nostalgic for the days of reading Spencer Katt in eagerly awaited eWEEK (née PC WEEK) issues.

For a brief history of PC WEEK, which first launched in February 1984, see an interesting article by John Pallatto, the publication's West Coast news editor.

To obtain the new ZDE mobile apps, visit the Baseline, CIO Insight, and eWEEK home pages and click on the small OmniDigital logo you'll see at top right.

Jonathan Angel can be reached at [email protected] and followed at www.twitter.com/gadgetsense.