Russell Baillie: TimeOut launches smartphone app

Get the new TimeOut app for free from the iTunes store for iPhones, iPads, tablets like the Sony Tablet S (above) or Android devices. Photos / Supplied

Hello and welcome to the TimeOut app launch.

While's it's great to be celebrating the retro glories of cover stars Dragon, the winners of this year's New Zealand Herald Legacy Award at tonight's NZ Music Awards, today's issue also marks something of a bold leap into the future.

This magazine's content has long appeared in the entertainment section of nzherald.co.nz and will continue to do so. But now the boffins of APN Online (clever kindly people who have spent weeks patiently explaining How This All Works to the tech-challenged likes of me) have come up with TimeOut's very own interactive web presence.

It's an innovative app for iPhones, iPads and Android phones and tablets like Sony's new Tablet S (and yes, that is a plug for the project's sponsors).

The app will give you a handy What's On guide to the week's must-see live entertainment. As well, it will enable us to deliver more up-to-date news relevant to the TimeOut readership every day.

But the true innovations come with the app's Scan and Near Me functions. Scan allows us to use the pictures in these pages to trigger digital content on your device, whether it's music or video, and there are plans for the future involving 3D animations and games.

Near Me is a guide which uses location-based services to find events on nearby - it's something truly nifty.

As with all developments such as this, it's early days yet.

We can't promise it will all run glitch-free at this beginning stage. And we're still working out how best the print version of TimeOut can complement the app version and vice versa. But we think it's the start of something special.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

How to get the app

It's free from the iTunes store or by going to http://nzh.tw/iphone or http://nzh.tw/android from your phone. Or text "mobile" to 244 to get these links sent to you

What do you need to use it?

You do need one of the latest smart devices to run our app but we've tried to make it as cross-platform as possible. It works on iOS4+ and Android, mobile and tablet.

How to Scan

Go into the Scan function in the app, find a picture in the following pages with the TimeOut scan logo, and line up the corner markers on image, with the border of the screen in the app. Hold the device over the image for a few seconds. You do not need to press anything, it will recognise the image you are scanning and start to load content - that will include everything from music and video from acts featured in the pages to 3D content.

How it works

The app runs off the cloud. So it should update each week without you needing to install anything new. Since it runs over the network, it does use data to pull down videos and other content. We recommend WiFi as the cheapest and fastest.

More questions?

Check out the FAQ either in the app or at www.nzherald.co.nz/timeout