The Los Angeles Times and Tribune Interactive have released a new iPad app, reports Editor&Publisher. The app, which costs $1.99 allows readers to keep up with the latest news with headlines, photos, tweets, and a feed of news from L.A. Now blog. According to the L.A. Times website, "users can browse through The Times' individual sections -- including each section's blogs -- and save stories and photos under the Favorites section for later viewing." Users can also use the app to share stories on Facebook, Twitter, and via e-mail.

Moreover, the Times has also launched the next generation of their app which features an adjustable interface for app users to customize how they receive Times content. Publisher Eddy Hartenstein said "Next month, our Hollywood Star Walk app will also go live, offering a robust interactive L.A. -centric experience for visitors to Southern California and entertainment junkies."

Producers of the app hope that it will allow users to be more interactive in how they receive news. According to Tribune Interactive President Marc Chase, the app "adapts to users preferences and makes content just a click away."

The L.A. Times, along with a slew of other publications, is trying to tap into the popularity of devices like the iPad to save its publication from increasingly low revenue of the paper edition. The Times app, which will combine news content with entertainment specific to Southern California could set itself apart from other news-oriented apps.

This app by the L.A. Times is another step on way toward digitization of the press. While when the iPad made its first debut there were a handful of news apps, newspapers are facing increasing pressure to develop apps directly aimed at the iPad audience. Therefore, as the market for news apps becomes more crowded, publications might find it necessary to come up with special features to differentiate themselves. At least for the L.A. Times, some degree of localized information appears to have been the key for individualization.

Sources: Editor&Publisher, Los Angeles Times