Science & Technology World

The UK's Guardian newspaper has launched a paid-for news app,
charging users a one-off fee of £2.39. The application, which allows
readers to access content via an iPhone, comes as newspapers around
the globe grapple with how they offer digital content Despite
charging for the app, the Guardian's website and mobile platform will
remain free. The app, by UK developer 2 ergo, will offer news,
comment, features, audio and photos but currently no video. Writing
in his blog about the application, The Guardian's mobile product
manager Jonathon Moore answered criticism of the decision to charge
for it. "At an early stage we decided to set the bar high, which
hopefully means the app has been planned, designed, tested and
developed to offer a truly engaging experience," he said. "The
investment involved in this requires us to ask a small fee in
return," he said. Martin Garner, director of mobile internet at
research firm CCS Insight sees the app as an " experiment". "The app
provides a better user experience but there are still a lot of
substitutes online and via other mobile platforms," he said. "We will
probably see a lot of people move to a more charged-for model over
the next few years but whether users will pay or not remains to be
seen," he said. The debate about how newspapers manage their digital
content is a hot topic at the moment. Earlier this month, Google
agreed to close the backdoor on users entering subscription-based
websites via its search pages by limiting the number of free clicks
they could make.