CNN's iPhone App

CNN has unveiled a dedicated iPhone and iPod touch app that lets users browse articles, images, and CNN video in a deeper way than before.

The CNN app features live breaking news video, push notification, personalization and location tools, and the ability to capture and submit user-generated photos and (on the iPhone 3GS) videos for CNN iReport.

Louis Gump, vice president of CNN Mobile, told in an interview that for starters, the iPhone app features much more rich imagery and video than CNN's mobile WAP site. As he put it, CNN's mobile site is dominated by text and enhanced by video; the new iPhone app is dominated by video and enhanced by text.

Gump said that traditionally, mobile launches were a big deal in the mobile world but not so big within the rest of the company. "This is a major event for CNN," Gump said. "The impact that mobile can have is increasing. This app is really going to be an important indicator of where CNN is going moving forward."

The CNN app, which requires iPhone OS 3.1, features four major sections across the top: Headlines; My CNN, which defaults to weather and traffic but can also display local news from third-party affiliates; a Follow tab for tracking specific stories such as Iran or the floods in Atlanta; and Saved, which lets you mark articles for reading later.

The app will showcase live breaking news video for a "significant portion of each week," along with a series of video clips ranging from "Now In the News" to Iran war games and other trending topics.

Meanwhile, the iReport section features user-generated video clips. But it goes a step further: it lets users submit photo and video content from the iPhone directly to CNN. "There's a vetting process on the back-end, so that content is marked as unvetted but not part of the CNN approved content library," Gump said. "Editors may follow up on certain ones before they're approved, [at which point] they'll show up as vetted in iReport."

The CNN app also changes the way readers browse articles. Users can choose a category—say, U.S. or World news—and then see a lineup of about 10 stories. Click one, and the app will display the story along with an image and video link. From there, users can swipe left or right, and move from story to story. The app also retains articles locally; Gump said that on a recent flight from Atlanta to LaGuardia airport, he kicked the iPhone into flight mode and read stories for 20 or 30 minutes afterward. Granted, other mobile apps like Handmark Pocket Express and AvantGo have stored content offline on cell phones for years, but the swiping, graphical interface is new. The effect is to turn the iPhone into a miniature newspaper.

Users can also turn the iPhone sideways, and (now in landscape mode) the app will display the same array of articles using Cover Flow-like animation. Gump said that media consumers on cell phones often do it in a different way than on the desktop, even if it's the same person in both cases. The difference, Gump said, is that the desktop site is designed for a big screen and a broadband connection.

"From our point of view, mobile is just as compelling a delivery platform as online, TV, or radio," Gump said. "It's just that it has different characteristics. On the one hand, it has a smaller screen, but on the other hand, it goes around with everywhere wherever they go."

So far, non-iPhone smartphone owners are out of luck—but possibly not for long. "We have very active conversations going on with multiple handset manufacturers and distributors," Gump said. "We're dedicated to delivering great apps, and we'll be more focused on delivering an awesome app every time than getting everything out at once—but we do feel a sense of urgency on that."

The CNN app costs $1.99 and will be available later Tuesday morning in the App Store. The app is also ad-supported; users can click on an ad, visit a sponsor's site, and then return to exactly where they were in the app to continue reading news or watching video.