ABC News has launched
a free, ad-supported iPad app. The app's principal navigation tool is a
three-dimensional globe that users can spin to view picture tabs for top stories.
The app, which is actually an app/HTML5 hybrid that allows for easy updating, presents
text stories in an e-reader, rather than a web format. Users can bookmark
stories to read or watch later or when they're offline. There is also a
function that allows users to personalize the navigation globe in accordance
with the story genres - politics, health, entertainment - that interest
them.
The ABC News app
follows the launch of the ABC entertainment app for iPad shortly after the
launch of the device earlier this year.
"We understand
the importance of innovation and adaptability," says Andrew Morse, executive
producer of innovation for ABC News Digital. "This re-establishes us as
an innovator."
The app is fully
ad-supported; at launch sponsors are Jeep and sweetener Truvia. Pre-roll ads
will run with select video segment, but executives declined to quantify the ad
load.
The app, said Isaac
Josephson, VP of product development, marries the tradition of storytelling at
ABC News with the latest technology, technology many media companies are hoping
will spur a new generation of news consumer.
"This is a
unique opportunity to pull in new eyeballs," said Josephson. "What
they get is a quality experience based on a rich tradition of news and
storytelling."
ABC News App for iPad
is available now from the App Store
or at www.itunes.com/appstore.
For more details and to see a demo of the ABC News app on the iPad, go to www.abcnews.com/ipad.
