More publishers launch iPad apps: Financial Times and La Repubblica

As the iPad's European debut nears, more publishers are preparing their applications for Apple's much anticipated tablet computing device.
Italian daily La Repubblica announced that it is launching its "very first version" of its iPad application in advance of the device's release in Italy, "for the sake of the many Repubblica readers in the US and elsewhere who already have an iPad." The application is free to download for this first phase. Later versions will contain "many new elements and functions" on an interface which will provide "still more important surprises." The paper already has a subscription-based iPhone app.

The Financial Times is planning an imminent app launch, Journalism.co.uk reported last week. The app will be free to download, said Journalism.co.uk, but the same subscription tiers that exist online and for its other mobile apps will be in place for access to content. It will be customizable by region.
The app is designed to look like the newspaper, and has horizontally scrolling columns. It will also have an HD video section. There will be no links out or comments, according to Journalism.co.uk. The iPad will reach parts of Europe, Asia and Australia on May 28, and has been selling well in the US so far, according to reports in recent weeks. Several news organisations have rushed to create applications, although as Alan Mutter recently noted, user rankings of the apps have so far been "middling" and there seems to be room for improvement.

Source: La Repubblica, Journalism.co.uk

FT.com launches free iPad app

The Financial Times has today launched a free iPad app to provide access to video, markets data, investment portfolios, news and analysis.
The launch follows the FT rolling out an iPhone app, last year, which has so far been downloaded 300,000 times.
The new app integrates with the FT.com limited access model, the company said today, giving unregistered users access to a limited number of articles each month.
The iPad app allows readers to download a daily digital version of FT for offline reading and for the first time offers video on an FT mobile product. It also features a Markets Data section with macromaps highlighting markets across the world.
Watchmaker Hublot is sponsoring the app until the end of July.

Source: The Wire

FT invests in new studios to boost digital offering

The Financial Times is aping a recent move by News International, by making a significant investment in multimedia studios, as it looks to refresh FT.com and incorporate more video on its homepage.


Two studios are being built that will be used by FT correspondents to provide content for FT.com's video and audio channels online.
Content will include news, analysis from across the world and head-to-head interviews, as well as special projects and reports, making full use of the opportunities video offers. The audio studio will be used for podcasts as well as round table discussions.
The Pearson-owned business newspaper will charge non-subscribers to use the online video service, if they use the service more than 10 times a month. If visitors use the site more than three times in a month, they will be asked to register.
FT.com has had more than one million video views for its current service, which was boosted by the launch of the FT mini-player in July. The paper already produces up to 170 videos every month.
The site attracts 11.4 million unique users a month, generating 83.2 million page views (ABCe figures, March 2009), and of these, 109,609 are subscribers, an increase of 8% over the same period last year.
The new video channel will continue to be supported by pre and post-roll advertising, although Jon Slade, global online and strategic advertising sales director, said it was looking at developing a less interruptive experience for users.
Slade said the sales team that worked across all media platforms would work with advertisers to give them better insight into users' online behaviour. Advertisers on the video service include Microsoft, IBM and Rolex. "We've seen a big shift in luxury brands moving in to the online video space," Slade added.
Richard Edgar, head of video, said if the FT was not involved in publishing in these new formats, it would lose its audience.

Source: mediaweek.co.uk