iPhone News Updated

Brightcove to Make HTML5-based iPad/iPhone Advertising Easy for NY Times, TIME

New platform should reduce the work it takes to deploy an ad-driven news site

Many news organizations expressed interest in Apple’s new gadget, the iPad. From The Wall Street Journal to The New York Times, Apple demoed the device to executives from top publications across the country. Many felt that there was potential for specially crafted sites to be delivered to the devices. With the news that Apple was supporting HTML5 in the device, the final piece of the puzzle — advertising — fell into place.

Brightcove, a Cambridge, MA company who first became famous for providing video, audio, and image publishing services for TiVo in 2006, jumped at that opportunity and now is offering publications a HTML5 packing platform that allows site designs and ports with minimal effort.

The new platform, dubbed BrightCove Experience for HTML5, is available for free to companies that enter partnership contracts with BrightCove. BrightCove currently has 1,000+ customers; among those who adopted the new platform to provide content for the iPad include The New York Times and TIME Inc. The platform also offers support for the iPod Touch and the iPhone.

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BBC iPhone apps on hold for now

Most of the time you hear of iPhone applications being squelched, it’s some developer who ran afoul of Apple’s developer requirements. But in the case of apps to view BBC content, it was the BBC’s own governing body that stepped in.

The BBC put its iPhone applications on hold after its overseers, the BBC Trust, decided to assess the applications in light of objections from competing media outlets, according to the BBC and others.

The BBC had planned to launch a news application this April and a sports application in time for the World Cup soccer tournament. But a newspaper group objected, appealing to the BBC Trust that the BBC’s applications could hurt the market for competing commercial offerings. The BBC is funded by a license fee U.K. citizens pay on TVs; the iPhone applications would have featured advertising.

Media companies are under fierce economic pressure. Last week, two British newspapers announced plans to charge for access to Web content starting in June.

[Thanks: http://news.cnet.com]