The Washington Post has revamped its flagship iPad application to include digital replicas of print content in addition to Web articles.

The Washington Post app packages multimedia, news and social media into a digital hub of content. Norfolk Southern Corporation is the launch sponsor of the app.

?We wanted to create a customized experience for our users, so they can experience Post content in a variety of ways?a replica of the newspaper, dynamic content throughout the day, real-time social media, live videos and discussions and more,? said Cory Haik, executive producer for digital news at Washington Post, Washington.

Read on mobile
The app combines the Washington Post?s Web content ? such as breaking news and blogs ? with a digital replica of the daily print newspaper.

Additionally, the app archives two weeks? worth of digital print replicas and 40 comic strips.

The goal behind aggregating both online and print content is to reach two different reader demographics ? those who prefer a daily paper and those who want real-time news.

The app is set up so that consumers swipe from the left side of the screen to the right to access stories.

Consumers can save articles to read later or share content via email, Facebook and Twitter.

Readers can watch live video, browse through photo galleries and view sports scores.

Another one of the app?s sections ? The Forum ? lets consumers customize news via Twitter. Readers can browse through categories such as politics or sports to find hubs of tweeted content from journalists, athletes or local media.

Banner ads for Norfolk Southern Corporation direct users to page where they can learn more about the company by clicking on content around a city scene.

Washington Post will offer free access to the app until this summer. Then, the iPad app will fall in line with the Washington Post?s launch of metered subscriptions.

The Washington Post will launch a metered paywall this summer that limits non-subscribers to 20 digital articles per week. Print subscribers have full access to the app, but prices for digital-only content have not been released by the company yet.

Mobile past
The Washington Post has been active in mobile with a while now.

Last summer, the publisher launched a city guide iPhone app to help consumers discover the city (see story).

Additionally, the Washington Post launched an iPad app for election season last year as an interactive hub for political-themed content (see story).

?Mobile users are among our fastest growing, and we are committed to serving that audience,? Mr. Haik said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York