News International's thelondonpaper launches today at 4:30 GMT and will be dished out by 700 distributors around the city.

London Lite, Associated's freesheet originally planned for launch in 2007, hit the streets last week in a rushed attempt to compete with NI 

There are several major points to consider as the battle unfolds:

• Weak reviews greeted the launch of London Lite and critics declared it similar to Associated's struggling Evening Standard from which the free paper has already been accused of taking content
  
• Both papers are aimed at the younger, professional crowd most attractive to advertisers
  
• The Evening Standard, especially after being down 7.73% in the last tally and having raised its price 10p, is expected to be in even more trouble
  
• London Underground and rail contracts are still up for grabs this autumn and depending on who the successful bidder is, could determine the success of their paper
• BrandRepublic reports speculation that The Sun could come out with its own evening title and that thelondonpaper may be distributed on weekends
• One interesting aspect of thelondonpaper reported by PressGazette is News International's plans for the editorial and commercial departments to be "integrated" to provide advertisers with "powerful, innovative and creative solutions."
• It is "debatable" whether there is room for two London afternoon freesheets