The edition has taken far longer than the usual week’s work. “We called it Project Noah,” says Josh Quittner, editor-at-large. “We had 40 days and 40 nights to do it. Our tech guys worked miracles.”

Biblical references have been rife as media executives await the Easter Saturday launch of a device dubbed “the Jesus tablet” by the New York Times. But it may take months to know whether the iPad offers publishers a path to financial salvation.

Apple has allowed only a few publishers – including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal – to work with the device and there will be just a handful of dedicated media applications for the device at its US launch this weekend.

The early apps display a wide variety of business models, suggesting that there is little consensus among publishers about how to exploit a category of mobile devices they hope will help change the economics of content.

Time will offer its US print issue, with additional photos, videos, international content and updates from Time.com, for the same as its news-stand price. Hearst’s Esquire title should go on sale for a similar $2.99 on the iPad, but this is $2 below the cover price.

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