News Corp's 'Daily' for Apple iPad expected to arrive Jan. 17

Peter Kafka of MediaMemo reported on Friday that he has been told by multiple sources that the Daily will formally launch next month. The blog is part of the All Things Digital website, which is owned by News Corp.

Rupert Murdoch and his company have allegedly been working closely with Apple to create the new publication, which was originally scheduled to launch in December. Kafka noted that the launch plans have shifted multiple times in the last few months, but added that the Jan. 17 launch date appears to be a "much safer bet."

The Daily is rumored to cost 99 cents per week, and will be updated daily. It will also rely on many multimedia features, including" some kind of 3-D effect that lots of people are very excited about."

The publication is expected to debut alongside an application subscription plan for recurring transactions that Apple is expected to introduce with an update to its iOS mobile operating system. Kafka said Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs "may or may not participate in a launch event" for the iPad newspaper and recurring App Store subscriptions.

The subscription plan will reportedly have a "push" feature that automatically bills customers on a weekly or monthly basis, and applications like the Daily are automatically updated and waiting for a user to unlock their iPad every morning.

"That offering won't resolve Apple's dispute with conventional publishers, who want to be able to control their subscriptions — or at least get access to subscriber data - for iTunes app versions of their print products," Kafka said. But for new, digital-only products like the Daily, that data isn't as crucial, and the ability to set up a recurring subscription would be a big step forward."