Joining the ranks of other news publishers such as Associated Press, Time Magazine, NPR, Financial Times and Thomson-Reuters, CNN has released a potentially revolutionary new app for the iPhone that will feature live newscasts and video on demand. The price point also proves to be a change for the industry with CNN charging $2.00 for its download although the content will be free for users to download.
Although CNN has entered the iPhone app market later than its peers in the news industry, its app surpasses the typical offerings from its competitors. Beyond the traditional text and photos most news services offer, CNN will serve up breaking news via live streaming video as well as other video content delivered on demand. Through the use of on screen push notifications, users will be alerted to live newscasts which will not have pre-roll ads although ad content will be inserted during traditional commercial breaks. The breaking news can be viewed over EDGE, Wi-Fi or 3G networks.
Users of the app will also be able to view headline news in text form or twist their phones for a side scrolling view of stories similar to the landscape style of album cover displays on the iPod. Social media support will be available for the sharing of favorite stories and even photo uploading to CNN’s iReport service.