CNN is a little late to the iPhone party but what an entrance it made!

PCWorld writes, “CNN’s new iPhone app puts rivals to shame.“  Wired adds that the new app is “informative and empowering.”

But then again, NPR has a terrific news app of its own, so what makes the new CNN iphone app so special?  Social media.  The World News Leader now offers it’s legion of iReporters a way to quickly and simply share pictures and videos remotely.

Let’s pretend another incident like the Miracle on the Hudson happens.  People who saw the crash right when it happened posted pictures on Twitter and one Twitpic image went viral.  Now those same people can send CNN images directly and CNN can turn that around quickly, adding it to CNN.com almost instantaneously and airing it on TV a short time later.

It gives CNN an army of reporters and makes it the go-to source for breaking news.

All this can be yours… for a price

There’s also something else that separates CNN’s new app from the competition — a price tag.  While the NY Times, NPR, USA Today and many more offer free news apps, CNN’s app costs $1.99.  That fact wasn’t lost on the Associated Press.  It too has a free news app but tried charging $2.99 for a Blackberry app earlier this year.  An AP story reported that the “download rate was less than a tenth of what the app usually attracts.”

There’s no question that some people will look at the new CNN app, see a price tag and decide it’s not for them.  But if CNN is able to monetize this app — and I think they will — we could see a change in the way other news agencies offer apps.  NY Times, you’re on the clock…

What’s the fuss all about

In case you are wondering, why can’t  I just go to CNN.com in my normal iPhone browser to get this stuff, the answer is because it’s not there.  That’s the biggest difference between CNN and other news apps.  I can get practically everything from the NY Times app just by going to the NY Times’ mobile website.  Why should I clutter my iPhone desktop?  CNN went the extra mile to add live video, flick-story viewing and the ability to save posts to read later.

For the curious among us, here are the rest of the features available in the CNN iphone app according to CNN.com:

• Read all the latest news most important to you. Easy to navigate by flicking or scrolling through stories and news objects just like album artwork on your iPod. Easy to consume with both snack-size highlights and full stories. Easy to share via Facebook, Twitter and SMS.
• Watch live breaking news and on-demand video clips across all news categories
• Save text and video stories to dive into later – and even save text for viewing without a connection (on flights, etc.)
• Follow topics most important to you, and receive alerts when developments in those areas are published
• iReport directly from the App! For all you iReporters, the CNN App provides a direct gateway to iReport.com allowing you to browse content or instantly upload your photos and videos (if you have the iPhone 3GS)

Related posts:

1. “Balloon Boy” story shows power of social media