The Gazette, along with nine other Postmedia papers, have launched an innovative new app for Apple’s iPad. You can download it at the iTunes store here.

Some of the features announced yesterday have never been seen before in a newspaper application, said Steve Buors, Postmedia Network’s vice-president of digital media strategy and operations.

But Buors, who led the project, is also quick to point out that the papers — metro dailies with the Postmedia chain – aren’t forgetting their roots.

“The look and feel is very much like a newspaper — it’s comfortable,” he said. The app uses the same typeface as the print edition. “But it integrates a lot of the best things about the web, like photo galleries and social interaction.”

Some readers who have already downloaded the apps say the company’s effort to marry tradition with technology has been successful.

“They’ve done a fair job at recreating the newspaper experience for those of us who still read the print editions and like the process of discovering something interesting on each page,” one commenter wrote about the Vancouver Sun app.

Another reviewer described the Sun’s app as “well thought out.”

For some readers, the apps, which will be updated several times a day, will evoke memories of a time wken newspapers printed multiple editions throughout the day.

“This isn’t the newspaper on an iPad, this is an iPad edition with content tailored to take advantage of the technology,” said Scott Anderson, Postmedia’s senior vice-president of content.

The apps are also a way for Postmedia to attract a new demographic – people who don’t read the daily print editions – as the company continues to move forward into the digital world, said Malcolm Kirk, executive vice-president of digital media.

“Products like the iPad and smartphones allow you to target new audiences,” he said. “But it’s also a symbol and a way to highlight the kind of innovative technology and compelling content our company is producing. We are more now than just a printed edition of your daily newspaper.”

Combining the new platform with the trusted medium came pretty naturally, Kirk said.

“The iPad really offers a strong visual experience, which the newspaper lends itself very, very effectively to,” he said. “I think many people will tell you reading a newspaper is an enjoyable thing. So, now we’re offering that through a new platform.”

A team of marketers, developers and content experts worked on the apps for several months, integrating some features they’ve never seen in other newspapers’ apps, such as real-time commenting.

When a reader uses the app to comment on a story, that comment is also updated on the website, Buors explained.

The reverse is also true, so a person reading the paper through the app is immediately able to see comments posted online.

“So, not only are you enjoying a newspaper-like experience, but you can have a conversation with the other people reading the story.”

Another innovative feature, which Postmedia calls “popular stories around me,” allows a reader to see which articles are most popular in their community – not just those that are most read on the website by readers around the world.

The popularity is presented in heat map form, showing the reader what content is being read where.

The apps are sponsored, meaning readers can download them at no cost. The advertisements are integrated into the pages, like in the pages of a newspaper’s print edition.

“It’s really the comfort of your newspaper meets the power and versatility of the web,” Buors said.