iPhone app delivers news tailored specifically for mobile phones

Circa is a new iPhone app that serves up news in a format customized specifically for mobile phones.

The news medium has undergone radical transformation in recent years, bringing us a world where headlines can be delivered via personal ticker or on the paper sleeves that accompany take-out coffee, to name just two examples. The latest spotting? Circa, a new iPhone app that serves up news in a format customized specifically for mobile phones. The proportion of consumers who get their news by phone continues to increase, but most content is still presented in a way that makes it difficult to read on the diminutive devices, according to San Francisco-based Circa 1605, maker of the new Circa app. Conversely, “news without the fluff, filler, or commentary,” is how Circa 1605 describes its free new app, which is now available in Apple’s App Store. “Circa’s editors gather top stories and break them down to their essential points – facts, quotes, photos, and more, formatted specifically for the phone.” Rather than forcing existing content into this new medium, in other words, Circa has created what it calls “the first born-on-mobile news experience” in which content is delivered in a format native to mobile devices and with an experience intuitive to mobile users. Among the features included in the new software are a way for users to “catch up quick” along with the ability to follow stories and to share points and stories via Facebook and Twitter. The video below explains the premise in more detail: The shake-up in the news industry has been going on for years, of course, but it’s a safe bet it’s not over yet. Journalism entrepreneurs: one to get involved in? Spotted by Murtaza Patel