Forbes debuts app for Palm platform

By Chris Harnick

September 15, 2009

Forbes is at it again

Forbes.com is extending its mobile presence with a new application for the Palm Pre.

The Palm Pre application delivers the latest Forbes.com news, analysis and opinion, as well as stock market updates. BlueSwitch developed the application and it can be downloaded from the Palm App Catalog.

“The Palm Pre is an excellent tool for our users, who are frequently managing their businesses on the go,” said Jeff Bauer, product and creative director at Forbes Digital, New York. “Forbes is the first major business publisher to produce an app for the WebOS platform and the Palm Pre.

“We consider this an underserved market segment and are looking to capitalize on first-mover advantage with the Palm Pre users,” he said.

Forbes.com publishes more than 5,000 articles throughout a business day.

Forbes extends reach

Forbes caters to business professionals and entrepreneurs as more users turn to the mobile device for news.

BlueSwitch is a mobile, Web and Internet development company located in New York.

The Forbes Palm Pre application includes advertising opportunities and introduces a new large-format banner size to give advertisers more room for brand-building.

Mr. Bauer said Forbes focused on speed-to-market over sponsorship and the application is not supported by a brand at this time.

Forbes said it has seen very strong initial demand for the application without significant marketing. The application has been downloaded 10,645 times since it launched Thursday.

“The app includes viral sharing mechanisms so that users who receive stories via email will be informed that the story was sent from a Palm Pre,” Mr. Bauer said.

Inside the new application, users have free access to news from the site’s home page, from the site’s editorial channels and news from the chief marketing network, Intelligent Investing and ForbesWoman.

Also included is a customizable My Stocks area to track stocks and indexes, a prepare for offline function to download articles for offline reading and integrated email and social sharing services.

In April, Forbes.com launched the Forbes.com Mobile Reader for BlackBerry.

The Forbes.com Mobile Reader is powered by Handmark. The application automatically delivers the latest Forbes.com headlines and updates to BlackBerry smartphones in real time (see story). 

“The Palm Pre and WebOS are very powerful tools for the tech-savvy and open-minded business person and entrepreneur,” Mr. Bauer said.

“The HTML and Javascript-based development platform means that it is relatively easy to develop for and we’re excited to be the first major business content app available in the App Catalog,” he said.