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ABC News iPad app surpasses 140,900 downloads

ABC News' iPad application has surpassed 140,900 downloads since its launch six days ago.

The application uses an interactive three-dimensional globe on which news stories appear. Users can spin the globe, choose the stories they are interested in and either watch a video or read the entire article.

?We want to extend the ABC content as far as possible,? said Paul Slavin, senior vice president of ABC News Digital, New York. ?The interface on the iPad is just so cool ? it gave us an opportunity to try something that we had talked about in the past."

With the ABC News application, users can sort stories by category, including news, politics, health, entertainment, by archival footage or by programs, such as ?Good Morning America,? ?World News? and ?20/20.?

Mobile news
Users can select stories to be bookmarked and viewed later and share stories with friends via Facebook, Twitter or email.

Here is a screen grab of the globe view:

Additionally, users can shake the iPad to shuffle articles and videos and filter the globe by selecting their favorite topic or show.

?We?ll put a very large effort to get this out there,? Mr. Slavin said. ?There will be television promos that we?re going to put out and Internet promos that we?re putting out."

In addition to viewing the application with the three dimensional globe, users can browse by regular format.

Here is a screen grab:

Global videos
Users can read top stories, view photos and watch the latest videos.

Users can also search within an application for a specific story or video.

?We have an iPhone and Android application and with the iPhone app, we took a different tactic than the iPad,? Mr. Slavin said. ?It was highly locally integrated and we will redesign the application for the iPhone 4 in the coming months.

?The iPhone, it?s really distinguishing, it knows where you are and it will deliver local news,? he said. ?The iPad is more of a touch experience where users can interact with the sphere and interact with their friends.

?We?re waiting to see how people respond ? if they like it, great. We?ll move as we learn to evolve.?

Final Take