The app, co-developed with Adobe, lets readers view monthly magazine content, real-time news from FastCompany.com and its network properties, including Co.Design, Co.Exist and Co.Create, plus curated stories of the day selected by editors. The launch points to how traditional publishers are grasping that reaching audiences on mobile means showcasing mobile?s special strengths rather than simply extending traditional publishing into the mobile space.

?Mobile frees consumers from being tethered to a computer and these mobile, untethered consumers now are free to read on the fly at any and all locations throughout the day,? said Chuck Martin, CEO of the Mobile Future Institute. 

?Fast Company was smart to not only identify this but also to create a fresh approach to serving what could be traditionally viewed as magazine content.?

Updated continuously, the app ? offered free to consumers at launch ? promises a different experience than traditional digital magazines. 

Users will find more navigation options and far more content. 

First, the user can scroll through five splash screens representing the editor?s top picks of the day.

Tapping a screen launches a story. Swiping to the right navigates the user to the next pick.

Users also can choose from a feed of latest stories from Fast Company?s properties such as Co.Design and Co.Exist.

The mobile version of the print magazine issue content is highlighted with full-page splash screens and longer stories.

In a survey of beta users, 80 percent reported that they prefer the frequency of content updates compared to the existing digital magazine experience and 75 percent are very likely to recommend the app to a friend, Fast Company said. 

Beta users also showed strong preference for consuming content on their iPhone, with 64 percent using this as their primary access point.

Magazine publishers have been looking for ways to tie together their print and digital initiatives through mobile, as mobile represents an increasing share of site traffic.

Last year, Condé Nast's Glamour rolled out a new mobile application and site that let readers buy products straight from static magazine pages.

Glamour?s new Shop Glamour program included both a responsive site and a free iPhone application. 

Fast Company, New York, published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, said its app launch represented an opportunity to explore and experiment how to capture engagement that has often eluded magazine apps.

?The app is very rich visually, which adds to the ability to very quickly provide the viewer with easier story selections,? Mr. Martin said. ?Combining news with the magazine, which the app does, makes all the sense in the world for a magazine app.?

?The obvious question still to be determined is that after the free, three-month trial, will more people sign up for a subscription or will the app simply replace how regular Fast Company subscribers consume the content?? he said.