I really like the AP News and New York Times apps and now am going to give the CNN Mobile app a whirl. But unlike most other news apps, ya gotta pay $1.99 for this one. The Associated Press has an interesting article about this novel step by CNN. And the odd thing is, even though this is a paid app, it still has some advertising. Some of the reviews on iTunes trash it for this reason, but others say they're not obtrusive. It has some neat features, including in-app video and local news, weather, and traffic. Plus, the iReport feature lets you contribute to breaking stories, including video and photos directly from your phone.
Well Worth the Price!
For the first time since CNN changed their online presence several years ago, I am able to leave the audio streaming in the background and glance at the video when I want to do so!
I purchased the CNN app yesterday, as soon as I heard about it and used it for 10 hours yesterday. I kept my iPod Touch connected to a USB port to provide power and used a strong WiFi signal to preclude dropouts. When a dropout happened, the stream rewound for a couple of seconds when it recovered so that there was no loss of data.
The audio and video quality was perfect for the device. As far as I could tell, the "ads" are the same that would be visible on the regular online stream. The were mostly inobtrusive.