Debuting next week, The New York Times is taking the iPhone-only route with its new NYT Now app.
The idea is simple enough. For $8 a month, iPhone users will have access to stories from The New York Times and other sources in a streamlined user interface and will include news summaries each morning and evening.
NYT Now will be managed by a staff of 10 editors handpicking content to present.
The approach is similar to Facebook and its Paper app, which is also iPhone-only for now and offers news summaries handpicked by a staff of editors.
Existing Times subscribers will have access to NYT Now at no additional cost, and new customers can subscribe to the NYT Now app with a standalone subscription for $8 every four weeks as the newspaper focuses on the mobile experience (and revenue).
Speaking of revenue, NYT Now will feature paid posts bringing the native ads it debuted on its site earlier this year (example here) to mobile for the first time. The primary iPhone app currently features banner ads, even for paid subscribers, and the website features both paid posts and banner ads. Paid posts on the website include a header and footer disclaimer noting that the content is paid; it’s unclear how the content will be presented in the streamlined, mobile experience.
