LA Times gets an iPhone habit

Got a world class newspaper you want to keep publishing as tastes go digital? The LA Times has, and so it has introduced its rather marvelous and all brand new Los Angeles Times News Reader iPhone app. A $1.99 app which delivers a nice and easy route into all the influential newspaper’s editorial content.

There’s no half measures here, no attempt to give readers a tiny morsel of the content to hook them into expensive monthly subscription fees. Not from the LA Times — instead you get news, commentary and photography. Oh, and it has an offline mode so you can read it on the subway. Better yet, the user interface is customizable, to the extent that you can add, delete or reorder sections based on your interests. You can save “Favorites” and, with an eye to this Web 2.0 thing which may — or may not — have already happened depending on who you talk to, you can also share content via email, Facebook and Twitter. We really like the Photo section: there’s so many beautiful pictures contained inside here, and you can explore these by section slowly over time to give your eyes a special treat. The newspaper group plans yet another LA-related release later this month — the Hollywood Star Walk app, which will give iPhone users a glimpse at that celebrity-filled city.