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“Architecture lends itself beautifully to the tablet browsing experience” / Anna Winston, BD Head of Digital

A trio of web-apps has been recently launched by the publisher UBM Built Environment. The apps add a unique offering to the audiences of Building, Building Design and Property Week – UBM Built Environment’s three leading media brands.

The apps provide a perfect mix of breaking news and daily insight designed to suit the architecture, construction and property professionals.

The apps can be accessed by visiting the following URL on the iPad:

Building Design: http://www.bdonline.co.uk/tabletapp
Building: http://www.building.co.uk/tabletapp
Property Week: http://www.propertyweek.com/tabletapp

The new product is a HTML5 web-app, currently optimised for iPad and developed by Abacus e-media. The app is available via the user’s Safari browser. The HTML5 format provides greater flexibility with a variety of possible functionalities, providing a better experience and quality of app for the user.

Phil Clark, Digital & Audience Director at UBM BE points out: “These apps are a natural extension of our digital platform strategy following our roll out of mobile sites and iPhone and iPad apps for the UBM BE media brands in 2011. We’re delighted with the HTML-5 format of the apps which offers great usability for our customers and, as opposed to a native application, enables us to seamlessly maintain our direct relationship with them.”

The web-apps add a unique proposition to the brand’s offering, bringing print content to the digital device. The content of the weekly magazines is available within the apps in real time, plus in the instance of Property Week and Building there is added updates news.

Anna Winston, BD Head of Digital explains strengths of the app: “BD has an award winning website and our readers know it’s the first place to go for news. But they demand a different experience for reading long form content. Architecture lends itself beautifully to the tablet browsing experience – we can include more detail, plans and project images in a way that feels instinctive.”

“By choosing to develop an HTML5 app we’ve been able to do something truly innovative and create a flexible product that can grow and change with our audience, without the restrictions of the app store.”

The tablet apps are now available for a free 14-day trial to all iPad users. After the trial period, the apps become a subscriber only benefit, within the Digital and Premium subscription offerings for Building and Property Week brands, and all Building Design subscribers get the access to the app within their packages.

The tablet apps join the digital offering of UBM BE media brands, now comprising of the desktop, tablet and mobile websites, iPhone News apps and topical tablet apps.

The apps can be accessed by visiting the following URL on the iPad:

Building Design: http://www.bdonline.co.uk/tabletapp
Building: http://www.building.co.uk/tabletapp
Property Week: http://www.propertyweek.com/tabletapp

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