Shutterbug 1-year digital subscription for $7.50 (Google Play)

If you are a fan of digital magazine subscriptions, Google Play (the artist formerly known as the Android Market) is offering a limited time offer on magazines that include a 1-year digital subscription to the Shutterbug magazine (12 issues) for $7.50 for one year. You have to be logged on with a Google account in order to see the $7.50 price (after you press the Subscribe button). After you press the Subscribe button, you are presented with a screen that tells you that your name, address and email will be shared with the magazine publisher. At this point, you can simply press Cancel and you won't buy anything. The magazine comes with a free 14-day trial, so you have the option to cancel before the subscription kicks in. As far as I can tell, you can only sign up for one year with this, but I haven't completed the transaction, so I don't know if there is an option to add more years to it before the transaction closes.

In a separate promotion, they have a 30-day free trial offer on these 100 digital magazines which include American Photo and Popular Photography along with semi-related magazines like Wired, Outdoor Life, Popular Science, Traveler, PC World and Mac World.

The digital subscriptions are compatible with Google Chrome along with Android phones and 7-inch and 10-inch Android tablets that have access to Google Play and can run the Google Magazines app. Some more details in the Google Help pages.

Needless to say, the world of digital magazines is currently a mess with multiple different subscription portals and platforms and confusion as to print vs digital vs print + digital. One would think that all these industries would have learned after the .mp3 situation was settled, but apparently it's the same old stubborn and/or digitally-clueless big old media wigs that ruin it for everyone :) Rant ends :)