The New York Times is gearing up to offer publishers and other media groups a platform by which they will be able to deliver their content on Apple’s iPad and iPhone devices without needing to develop an application themselves.

The forthcoming platform, called Press Engine, is being designed by the NYT’s News Services in collaboration with an as-yet unnamed third party vendor. It’s expected to become available sometime during the fourth quarter this year.

“Press Engine is an alternative for publishers that choose not to design applications in-house, which allows them to leverage The Times’s experience in building acclaimed digital products,” says News Services director Christine Topalian. “The framework of the application will be set; clients may choose certain branding elements, including font, color and depth of header, to customize their applications.”

Topalian says the platform will take content feeds from clients and push them into the application framework. The Times will then deliver a completed application product that the publisher then submits to Apple’s App Store.

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