Popular Science+ Goes Android

Popular Science has unveiled a new app for the Android Marketplace: Popular Science+ Top Tech 2010, a special issue of the magazine designed specifically for the Samsung Galaxy Tab. The issue was created using the Mag+ platform, optimized for the seven-inch screen and Android platform.

"Popular Science is dedicated to delivering the future to our readers and this another great example," says Gregg Hano, Vice President, Group Publisher, Bonnier's Technology Group, including Popular Science. "We chose to focus on the Samsung Galaxy Tab because we see it as one of the most exciting new tablets to be released. We will continue to develop Popular Science for new and emerging platforms, reaching our readers wherever and however they chose to consume media as long as those platforms can maintain the standards of excellence we have for our brands."

The Popular Science+ Top Tech 2010 app offers readers the 100 most innovative products of the year as chosen by the magazine's editors. Readers can easily browse through the 11 categories of products with full-screen animations that show off the winners, then swipe down to learn more about each new innovation. Using Android's built-in menu button lets readers easily access the table of contents. And, as in all Mag+ publications, readers can tap the screen to turn off the text and see stunning, full-screen images of the products.

"One of the great opportunities in this project was the chance to advance our own learnings about creating the best user experience for this new screen size," says Mike Haney, editorial director, Bonnier R&D. "Although the smaller space requires more simplified layouts, we found that the horizontal orientation of the widescreen display gave us the best canvas for easy-to-read, flowing text and big, beautiful images without the screen ever feeling cluttered-preserving that immersive, relaxing magazine experience. The issue feels like it was made for this device-because it was."

You can access the app by searching for Popular Science in the Android Marketplace on an Android phone or e-reader.