USA Today, one of the nation?s largest national newspapers, has pulled out all the stops for a new application geared to readers accessing news through a mobile device with the Windows Phone operating system.

The Gannett-owned daily is one of the few broadsheets which have gone beyond the standard three operating systems ? iPhone, Android and BlackBerry ? to offer the full depth of news, analysis and imagery to users of Windows, a Microsoft platform that wants in the game.

?The most unique and fun part of building a Windows Phone app was the fact that the Metro UI forced us to go back to the drawing board from a UI and UX point of view,? said Tim Carlson, director of mobile development at USA Today. 

?We were forced to get out of our comfort zone around how our iOS and Android apps were similarly designed and try some new things,? he said. 

Slate of releases
The Windows Phone app comes four months after USA Today launched an app for Windows-Slate PCs.

That app, like the Windows Phone app for the mobile phone, also offers the same display and interface to enable consumption of the latest content from USA Today.

With the latest release, USA Today now has a presence across all major digital platforms, including Apple?s iOS for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, Android phones and tablets, Chrome Web Store, Google TV, Intel?s AppUp store for netbook computers and, of course, Windows Phone for mobile devices and Windows for Slate.

Owned by Gannett Co. Inc., USA Today has a reported circulation of more than 1.8 million daily, which combined with the USAToday.com Web site is claimed at 5.9 million readers each day.

In this Q&A, Mr. Carlson discusses USA Today?s Windows tactics, why Microsoft has skin in the mobile game, and the company?s mobile plans. Please read on:

How key is the Windows Phone 7 platform to you?
We think Windows Phone is a legitimate platform and has a loyal and growing base of users. 

We?d already launched a Windows 7 Tablet application back in December 2010 and it was a natural extension to pair it with a phone application. 

The bottom line is that we?ve introduced our great brand to a new and large group of handset users and have won a lot of them over.

Everyone?s keen on iPhone and Android. Is there still room for Windows to make a significant difference?
No doubt Microsoft has a lot of ground to make up here, but the potential is there particularly when you consider the might of a common marketplace for phone, tablet, PC and gaming ? Xbox ? apps. 

If they can pull that off elegantly and seamlessly, they will compete. 

One area where they have arguably have a lead on competitors is their expansive developer community and strong software tools.

What?s unique about this effort?
The most unique and fun part of building a Windows Phone app was the fact that the Metro UI forced us to go back to the drawing board from a UI and UX point of view. 

We were forced to get out of our comfort zone around how our iOS and Android apps were similarly designed and try some new things. 

It was refreshing and we found a lot to like about the look and feel of the Windows Phone platform.

Any similarities or differences with USA Today?s other versions for iPhone, Android and Research In Motion?
Similarities lie in our common data services layer. 

All our native apps are powered by our APIs which makes development a lot more straightforward by minimizing the fussing around feeding and formatting content. 

Our product development approach has also been consistent over the past year. We follow an Agile/Scrum methodology which brings a lot of focus and ownership to each project team. 

Differences lie mostly in how we interpret and implement the UI guidelines for each platform. It takes a while to get to the point where the team uniformly feels good about the look and feel of an app.

Who?s advertising on the Windows edition?
Stay tuned.

What?s USA Today?s mobile strategy for this year?
We?re happy with our strong presence and popularity on the major mobile/tablet platforms out there at this point. 

Our primary focus this year has been to deliver against our roadmap for each product/application. 

We?ve really been cranking out new features and functionality across iOS, Android, Mobile Web, Chrome and Windows lately. This doesn?t mean that we?ve ruled out some of the newer platforms such as WebOS and Research In Motion, however.

What should we be looking out for next?
USA Today is committed to supporting and updating our current apps, so look for updates often in your marketplace/app store of choice.  If you have a device that doesn?t have USA Today on it, chances are we?ll be there soon.

Final Take
Mickey Alam Khan, Editor in chief of Mobile Marketer, New York