Launch of News Corp.’s iPad newspaper delayed

The launch of The Daily, News Corp.’s iPad-only newspaper, has been delayed. The Daily was set to be unveiled in San Francisco next Wednesday. The delay will last “weeks, not months,” a source told All Things Digital.

The postponement apparently has nothing to do with the app itself, but with Apple’s new iTunes subscription method. Apple will automatically charge users either weekly or monthly and will automatically update the app every morning as new editions are published. Apple reportedly must “tweak” the new service before The Daily can be launched.

The Poynter Institute’s Damon Kiesow took the initiative to peek into the source code on The Daily‘s “coming soon” Web site and found a few tidbits there, including an image depicting a couple of sample front pages. They consist mainly of giant images and sport the headlines “Oprah’s Biggest Gamble” and “A Bridge Too Favre.” So it looks more New York Post than Wall Street Journal, which is no surprise.

In related news, Apple Insider reports that Apple has told some European newspapers that they must stop offering their print subscribers free access to their iPad editions through the App Store. Doing so, of course, means Apple’s usual 30 percent cut is reduced to zero.

“Content providers are upset with the change,” Apple Insider reports,  “characterizing the move as one that makes Apple ‘too dominant.'”

Apparently, no U.S. newspapers have so far heard from Apple on this issue.