With the recent arrivals of TIME Mobile, CNN and a newly-overhauled New York Times app keeping us abreast of global goings-on, we felt it time to take a look at the best Windows Phone Marketplace additions that make the Lumia 900, Lumia 800 or Lumia 710 a one-stop-shop for the latest updates from around the globe.
Best for current affairs – Time Mobile
The new TIME Mobile app brings the latest news from the website, but also offers the storied publication’s trademark first-hand insight and perspective beyond the facts. It’s packed with stunning imagery directly from the magazine’s awesome Pictures of the Week section. Just ten minutes a day with the TIME app keeps you involved in any interesting office discussion, from Barack to Baghdad.
Best for quality journalism – The New York Times
The newly-redesigned New York Times app for Windows Phone brings the world’s most recognizable newspaper to your Nokia Lumia smartphone You can pin your favourite sections to the Start screen and sync articles to read on other devices. You will need to subscribe to get past Mr. Murdoch’s infamous pay-wall, but you enjoy a four-week trial for just 99c. Without the subscription you can still view video content, but you can’t read squat.
Best for conservatives – Fox News
It’s election year and so the political news coverage is going into overdrive. Fox News created this fast and beautifully designed app that brings a host of text and video content from the channel, including clips from shows like Hannity and The O’Reilly Factor. Also, the Live Tile will instantly update with the latest stories.
Best design and UI – Huffington Post
Amanda Huffington’s hip, digital-only newspaper comes to Windows Phone with the slickest, most attractive and fastest offering of any news app. The app also offers, perhaps the most in-depth and varied news coverage you’ll find on any app and a great entertainment section. HuffPo also brings a news agenda that promotes interesting stories outside of the mainstream media, collated from around the web.
Best for video news – CNN
The CNN app brings live video of breaking news and a large selection of reports from the TV channel, as well as video podcasts from that handsome sonofagun Anderson Cooper. For all of you citizen journalists out there, CNN’s iReport functionality is also on board, allowing you to send in videos shot directly on your 720p-friendly Lumia 900 – If you find yourself in the right/wrong place at the right/wrong time.
Best for sports news – ESPN
A recent update to this Nokia Lumia exclusive app asked us, “Do you want to receive live tile score updates from today’s biggest games?” Erm…. Damn right, I do! So, next time you’re in a meeting and the Phillies are deadlocked heading into the bottom of the 9th, a simple glance at your Start screen will keep you informed and inconspicuous.
Best for movie and celebrity news – Imdb
Everyone has Imdb on their smartphone (what do you mean ‘not me’?) It’s a great way to instantly get show times, view trailers and solve those ‘what else was he in?’ arguments. However, it also brings together the latest cinematic news from around the web from sources like the Hollywood Reporter, E! Online, TotalFilm and more. If you’re a ‘slebritee’ gossip hound, you can also get the latest from ‘wow check out this mugshot’ story from TMZ with related content from Imdb.
Best for Windows Phone news – WP Central
If you’re reading this, then it’s fair to assume you have a vested interest in the Windows Phone platform, and there are few better independent news and review services than WP Central. The neatly designed platform brings the best apps, games and wallpapers as well as access to videos and podcasts for just 99c. There’s also an offline mode to save stories for later.
Best aggregator – Pulse
What do all of these aforementioned news services have in common? You can bring their news feeds into just one application. The Pulse service allows you to completely tailor the news agenda to your own tastes. With a beautifully simple design and user interface along with that all important offline mode, it’s possible for this to be your only destination for daily news… but then you’d be missing out.
image credit: NS Newsflash