Next Issue Media, billed as the magazine industry’s digital newsstand, launched a preview of its offerings Wednesday, announcing digital versions of Condé Nast’s The New Yorker, Hearst’s Esquire and Popular Mechanics, Meredith’s Fitness and Parents, and Time Inc.‘s Fortune and Time.

Next Issue, sometimes referred to as the ‘Hulu for magazines,’ represents the next step in the publishing industry’s march toward a one-stop digital marketplace

Next Issue, which is a consortium of the four biggest magazine publishers plus News Corp., said that the titles would be available for Google’s Android platform, and specifically the seven-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab, which is one of the very few devices currently viewed as a legitimate competitor to Apple’s wildly popular iPad tablet.

Next Issue, sometimes referred to as the “Hulu for magazines,” represents the next step in the publishing industry’s march toward a one-stop digital marketplace. But the word “preview” is operative here, because the launch is quite limited — only Galaxy Tab users with service through Verizon Wireless have access to the titles, and only then through Verizon’s V CAST Apps Store. News Corp., which no longer publishes magazines since the sale of The Weekly Standard in 2009, does not have any offerings in the preview launch.

Limited though it may be, the Next Issue preview is still noteworthy because it demonstrates that the big publishers can work together toward a vision that many in the industry view as the digital end-game: a virtual newsstand where readers can pick and choose among titles, just as they might if they were browsing at Hudson News while waiting for the subway.

“Our aim has always been to get our magazines in front of consumers wherever they might be,” Condé Nast president Robert A. Sauerberg, Jr. wrote in an internal memo Wednesday. “The same holds true for our digital editions and apps, and Next Issue is another step forward in realizing that ambition.”

Best of all, the publishers get full access to subscriber data, as AllThingsD’s Peter Kafka notes, which had been a major point of contention during the industry’s negotiations with Apple over digital magazine subscriptions for the iPad. Over the next several months, Next Issue will broaden its offerings and features, including cross-title searching and HP WebOS compatibility, Next Issue CEO Morgan Geunther told Kafka. The publishers will receive “at least” 70 percent of the revenue — the current split with Apple, he said.

Over the last few weeks, after months of negotiations, the major publishers have announced several agreements with Apple. Two weeks ago, Time announced a deal with Apple to provide its magazine subscribers with access to the iPad versions of its publications. A few days later, word emerged of the Hearst’s plans to begin offering digital subscriptions in June.

Last week, Condé Nast, the publisher of Wired, became the first major publisher to bring a digital subcription package to market with The New Yorker, and on Monday the company announced the immediate availability of four more titles.