NZ Herald iPad app wins acclaim at Webby’s
The New Zealand Herald’s iPad app is one of only eight to be awarded Official Honoree status in the News – Handheld Device category, at the equivalent of the digital Oscars, the 15th Annual International Webby Awards.
The distinction places the NZ Herald iPad app in the top 13 in the world for the category which also includes the BBC, AOL, CNBC, Associated Press and Yahoo. This is the third time that NZ Herald has received Official Honoree status at the Webby Awards – firstly for nzherald.co.nz, then for the nzherald.co.nz mobile site, and now for the iPad app.
APN Online NZ general manager, Spencer Bailey says winning the awardwas a significant achievement, “Our iPad app firmly established theHerald as an innovative market leader. We focused our attention onbuilding an app which specifically plays to the strengths of thedevice. Being named as an Honoree is testimony to the innovation thathas been developed at APN in recent years”.
The New Zealand Herald iPad app was the only local news app to beintroduced on the same day the iPad was officially launched in NewZealand (22 July, 2010) and has been downloaded by over 35,000 people.The app is highly engaging with the average user viewing ten pages eachtime they visit. The app has also won an award at the Asian DigitalMedia Awards 2010.
New Zealand has just one Nominee – Special Group’s Business Banner for Orcon – as previously reported by CB. Achieving Nominee status (the next step up from the Herald’s Honoree status) means it has been chosen as one of the 5 best examples in the world in its category – and may go on to further honors.
The Webby Awards is the leading international award honouringexcellence on the Internet, and was established in 1996 during theWeb’s infancy. With nearly 10,000 entries received from all 50 USstates and over 60 countries, the Official Honoree distinction isawarded to the top 10% of all work entered that exhibits remarkableachievement.