Sky News has launched its own iPad app in a bid to push its news agenda beyond TV.
Sky News for iPad is available for free to begin with but will only remain so for Sky customers – non Sky subscribers will have to pay from later this year.
The dedicated iPad app has its own editorial team which Sky says will be updating the news every minute. The app focuses on video rather than text-based news, and as well as live TV coverage there will also be interactive video content available on demand.
The app will work via a 3G phone connection or broadband over Wi-Fi and promises additional content which won’t be available on the Sky News channel.
John Ryley, head of Sky News, said: "Having delivered content across digital, online and mobile, iPad was the next logical platform on which to break new ground. We challenged ourselves by coming up with new ways to deliver news to our users, taking advantage of the unique features and functionality of iPad. We wanted to bring users more control and flexibility to how they view and interact with the news they want.”
Pricing has not yet been announced – like Rupert Murdoch’s US-based iPad newspaper, The Daily, Sky News is waiting on Apple to announce details of its online subscription model for iPad apps. That’s likely to happen soon though, with The Daily due to go behind a paywall next week, and its UK launch expected in the next few months.