The editor of The Scotsman has said the launch of an iPad app for the title is one of the most important steps forward in the newspaper’s 200-year history.

The £7.99-a-month tablet device is available today and will offer readers a chance to read the paper online as well as offering content such as news sport and entertainment.

It will feature up-to-date content from The Scotsman, delivered in a brand new design format for the iPad.

It will also include news and sport from sister title the Edinburgh Evening News.

How the new app looks

Editor John McLellan said:  “This is a major development which keeps The Scotsman up to speed with the latest media technology.

“Devices such as the iPad will play an increasingly dominant part in the way people access information and this is one of the most important steps forward in The Scotsman’s 200-year history.

“It is a very different experience to reading online and having been at the forefront of that newspaper revolution over ten years ago it is fitting that we are in the midst of this one.”

Content channels will include: Scottish, UK and international news and business, exclusive opinion from Scotland’s leading news, politics and business commentators including Bill Jamieson, Alf Young and George Kerevan.

Scotsman Publications’ managing director Andrew Richardson, added:  “We are delighted to announce the launch of The Scotsman iPad app, which ensures that we remain at the forefront of multimedia development in Scotland.

“The Scotsman app offers the best of both worlds, giving readers the choice of either leafing through the pages of The Scotsman newspaper or of reading the content in a digital format, with live news, video and enhanced use of photographs.

“Either choice provides a great new way to keep in touch and up to date.”

The Scotsman iPad app will be available for free for the first 30 days when users first download it, after which there will be a monthly subscription for £7.99.