New York Times unveils Web app for iPad
The new HTML5-based, "experimental" app is available to current subscribers of the paper's online edition.
The New York Times is testing the mobile waters with a new Web site optimized for the iPad.
Created using HTML5 and formatted for the iPad, the new mobile Web app is designed to supplement the paper's print edition and Web site. The app is available to subscribers of the Web site and to home delivery customers who link their accounts with one of the digital access options.
Unlike the Times Web site, which delivers stories in a traditional format, the app presents the news in a variety of different views.
The Trending section displays the top 25 trending Times news stores from Twitter over the past hour. The Times Wire shows readers a reverse chronological feed of the latest stories, videos, and slide shows from the Web site.
The Today's Paper section lets people skim through stores as they would in a print newspaper. And the All Section category provides breaking news, supplemented with photos and videoes.
"Our subscribers have told us they are interested in trying new ways of reading The Times across a variety of platforms," Denise Warren, general manager of NYTimes.com, said in a statement. "We are working constantly to develop new products that distribute our content in innovative ways, and this Web-based app is just one example of that."
Non-subscribers can try out the digital access and the new Web app via an introductory deal that costs just 99 cents for the first four weeks.
People who decide to keep the subscription then pay either $5 or $8.75 a week depending on the level of access.
Newspapers continue to face reduced readership as more people grab their news from social networks and mobile devices. A new Pew study found that 39 percent of those polled got their news online, compared with 33 percent two years ago. More newspapers have tried to gravitate to the Internet and mobile devices as a way to hang onto their readers.
The Times kicked off its digital access packages last year. Though some subscribers threatened to stop reading the paper, others said they welcomed the additional access.