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BBC Mags launches Focus Magazine iPad app

BBC Focus is the first title from BBC Magazines to launch a monthly magazine ‘app’ for the iPad.

The digital edition of Focus magazine’s December issue is now on sale, bringing the science and technology magazine to life with enhanced features and interactive elements.  

Each month the Focus Magazine app will give readers all the content they love from the printed magazine, plus a plethora of exclusive extras, say the publishers. Every page is individually designed on a dual viewing mode so that readers can enjoy the content in portrait or landscape orientation. Interactive features include an animated cover, integrated video and audio, and 360-degree photography that allows users to see the very latest gadgets and consumer technology from all angles. Other features include interactive infographics, geotagged information and an in-app browser to help users navigate the app. Icons throughout the issue will draw attention to the interactive elements and additional content. The app boasts a small file size, which will allow for fast downloads.

The app has been created by the editorial and art team behind the print edition of Focus and has been built by Mobile IQ.

BBC Magazines’ MD Peter Phippen (pictured) said: “I am delighted that BBC Magazines’ first fully-interactive magazine app is for Focus, a title dedicated to making science accessible to all. This is a very exciting development for BBC Magazines as it moves into the next phase of digital publishing and I will be announcing more digital titles this financial year.”  

Jheni Osman, Editor of Focus, commented: “This app is the ultimate brand extension for Focus, with all the great content from the magazine specifically redesigned to maximise the iPad’s capabilities. Focus readers asked us for a digital version and we’re delighted to have created a highly interactive app that will have a new issue available every 4 weeks – and subscribers to the print edition can download it free of charge.”

The December issue of Focus for the iPad examines how extraterrestrial life could look very similar to extreme life on Earth, reveals the most common misconceptions clouding the reality of dinosaurs and reviews the new Xbox Kinect.

The first digital edition of Focus magazine is now available to download from the Apple App store, priced £3.49 per issue (or $4.99 USD), and will be free every month for all subscribers to the print edition of the magazine.