In Gourmet’s case, the magazine could start selling some branded cooking utensils and other related products. David Carey, a Condé Nast group president, told Mediaweek, the company will try to initiate “well-thought-out partnerships” with other companies and entrepreneurs in businesses that match the mag titles. Deals will need to struck quickly, as Condé Nast hopes to start selling branded products over the course of 2010.

Executives hinted at some of its plans during a small industry gathering this past week to honor Wired, which was named Adweek’s magazine of the decade last month. The centerpiece of the Wired event was a demonstration of a digitized version of the magazine, similar to the publisher’s GQ iPhone app, which in the last two months has been downloaded 18,000 times (that includes both the December. and January app issues). Wired’s tablet format was prepared by Adobe (NSDQ: ADBE), initially for the HP tablet. Of course, with Wednesday’s expected announcement from Apple (NSDQ: AAPL), presumably about its tablet, Wired and Adobe will also quickly work to have a version ready for the iTunes Store as well. Aside from whatever Apple is planning, Condé Nast and Adobe have already set up a small unit to quickly develop new digital projects as digital publishing evolves.