NewsHour App for iPhone and iPad (PBS)

NewsHour has been running on PBS since 1975, and it's always been a mainstay for in-depth investigative reporting and news. Now, if you have an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad, you can watch the show anytime with the PBS NewsHour App for iOS. The app is completely free, available now in the iTunes App Store, and lets you read the news of the day, browse for news and stories by category, and even watch video from the most recent episode of NewsHour, previous episodes, or featured stories that you may have missed.

The PBS NewsHour app supports any iOS device running 3.0 or later, but it's also compatible with iOS 4's multitasking features, so you can listen to stories playing in the background or run apps in the background while you're watching a video.

At the bottom of the app screen you can select whether you want to read the day's news headlines, watch video, browse political news, or see what's going on with your local PBS affiliate. You can also touch to browse news stories and video based on categories like the economy, science and technology, art beat, world news, and more.

If you tap to see video, you can stream clips of recent and featured NewsHour stories, and editorial reports from columnists like Mark Shields and David Brooks right on your mobile device. The videos play in the iPhone's default media player, so you can control playback, fast-forward, or change the volume easily. If you tap the news icon, you'll be able to read some of the in-depth stories from the PBS NewsHour site.

The PBS NewsHour app supports 3G and Wi-Fi, so you don't have to be near an access point to watch video. There's no Android version of the app yet, but a post at the NewsHour blog indicated that more platforms are on the way soon.