The press release just dropped, and it’s big news about the news industry. And, it has nothing to do with paper, television sets, radio waves, or even your laptop.

It’s just been announced today that Rupert Murdoch, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of News Corporation, announced the launch of The Daily for iPad. According to The Daily’s online newsroom, it’s ‘a first-of-its-kind daily national news publication built exclusively as an application for tablet computing.’

“It provides readers the engaging experience of a magazine combined with the immediacy of the web and the need-to-know content of a newspaper, all while elevating user experience beyond the printed word,” reads the release.

The Daily will be subscription-based, and delivered to tablets for $.99 cents a week, or $39.99 a year. While The Daily will live on the iPad, its newsroom states further that web-friendly versions of most of The Daily’s articles and features can be easily shared via Facebook, Twitter and email.

The Daily’s premiere advertisers are weighty; HBO, Macy’s, Paramount, Pepsi Max, Range Rover, Verizon, and Virgin Atlantic Airways have all signed on. What’s more, it seems The Daily will preserve the traditional reporting model for a national publication: bureaus in New York and Los Angeles, with stringers across the country. Some of the other cool factors include 360-degree photos that can be viewed by swiping, the option to save articles to read later, and the ability to audio-comment.

Thoughts?