Pundits worldwide have been asking the question ‘Can Apple save publishers?’

The new Apple product was launched yesterday, and is something like a scaled-up iPod touch or iPhone (without phone function), featuring a 24.6 cm touch screen and access to the same applications store as the iPhone and iPod touch.

As of today, I’ve read no less than six articles speculating on whether or not the iPad can “save” newspapers. The consensus seems to be the new platform will help, but it’s no silver bullet for financial woes.

Speaking at the launch was Martin Nisenholtz, senior vice president of digital operations at the New York Times. He presented a New York Times reader application developed specifically for the iPad.

In the photos and descriptions of the event, the reader makes use of the larger screen to go for an “interactive newspaper” design similar to the Times Reader 2.0 application, rather than the list-style layouts common to iPhone applications.

Most of the discussion around publishing on the iPad looksat three ways of monetising content on the platform: selling individual editions or subscriptions, advertising, and selling premium services.

The first is the most obvious, as publishers have alreadystarted to use Apple’s app store to sell their content. The Guardian sold 70,000 apps at £2.39 each a month after launch, and GQ magazine has sold some 12,000 digital versions of its January issue.

With the New York Times instituting a metered pay wall in 2010, and the Times Reader 2.0 charging a subscription fee, it’s possible the Times will try to sell subscriptions to read news on the iPad in asimilar fashion.

The iPad’s large, high definition colour screen and ability to play video content lends itself better to digital advertising than the iPhone or e-readers, though it remains to be seen what form ads will take.  No ads were shown in the demonstration Mr Nisenholtz gave, which might mean a fully subscription-based model for theTimes.

The on-selling of premium services is another approach that publishers might take. For example, the Times Reader features a link to the New York Times wine club.

Regardless of how publishers approach the iPad, it’s going to be strong influence on the digital publishing sphere. Apple CEO Steve Jobs remarked at the launch that their iTunes store already has around 125 million user accounts with credit cards linked, with all the users already used to making small payments for pieces of content.