Silicon Valley Startup Launches TapIn Bay Area, a New Platform That Brings Into Focus the "Best the Bay" Has to Offer Every Day

SAN JOSE, Calif., July 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A powerful new application for iPads -TapIn Bay Area – was unveiled today, bringing together the best of the Bay Area from restaurant reviews and coupons to local concerts and feature profiles from around the area.

“The app, developed in collaboration with California Newspapers Partnership and a local start-up Tackable, plots news, coupons, events, deals, photos, hiking trails, and featured video into an exploratory experience,” said Steve Rossi, CEO of CNP, the organization that lead the development of the app. “There is so much to discover in this amazing area. This is our effort to help locals connect and get the most out of life around the Bay.”

TapIn Bay Area combines the content and capabilities of social sites like Groupon and Yelp with peer-to-peer interaction with fellow users, businesses and local news from Bay Area newsrooms. News sources include San Jose Mercury News, San Mateo County Times, Santa Cruz Sentinel, Contra Costa Times and Oakland Tribune, as well as a team of field-based multimedia producers bringing fresh local stories to the app community.

“Our view is that knowing more about this remarkable area makes it possible for people to enjoy even more; that is our mission,” said Jeff Herr, vice president of digital for CNP, which operates 34 dailies in California including San Jose Mercury News, the Contra Costa Times, Los Angeles Daily News and others.

The TapIn app fits into daily life in whatever mode a person is in at the moment:

The evening browse that is so popular with iPad users is well served by the “on tap” function, which gives a broad overview summarizing the best packages of content available in a given day’s edition.

The “explore” mode lets people tap in even closer to their neighborhood to see the big packages and also the daily news stories that happen in that area, This mode also presents the latest deals and coupons, events and more which can all be found by exploring the TapIn maps.

The “find” mode is where a local user can filter and find exactly what they are looking for, from a nail salon to the weekend’s Nine Inch Nails show. Filters for local businesses, news, deals, events, movies and more help locate places to go and things to do, all on your neighborhood map.

The tablet application also has a companion app for the iPhone coming soon. If you see a great deal in the app, you’ll be able to “flick” it over into your phone to use later at a time when you might not be using your tablet.

For just $4.99 a month, users get instant access to Bay Area-focused news and information from the newspapers’ editorial teams and from each other, as well as special discount deals to the region’s hottest restaurants, shops and entertainment venues.

“The world of local content production, delivery and consumption has fundamentally changed,” noted Rossi. “TapIn Bay Area addresses this new reality by bringing locals together to share, make recommendations, learn and fully enjoy our area’s people and places, providing a unique opportunity to contribute to a collective effort to live life to the fullest.”

News and feature content is community based. Content managers post “gigs,” giving users the opportunity to cover and write reviews about area events, generating story content in exchange for bonus rewards points. But, contributing content isn’t the only way users can earn points; they also accumulate rewards each time they use the app and engage online with other users. In addition to exchanging accumulated points for merchandise, rewards accrued on TapIn Bay Area can be used toward free subscriptions to the monthly service.

From a strategic business perspective, TapIn enables CNP to leverage its technology framework to deliver a next-generation publication serving highly-specific local communities of passion, from horse enthusiasts and wine lovers to longboard surfers and sushi fiends.

“iPad users are intelligent and influential,” Herr said. “By leveraging the power of our local sales force, the area’s largest editorial team and a community of users, TapIn Bay Area will deliver a juggernaut of local content that benefits area businesses and consumers while transforming the local media landscape.”

About California Newspapers Partnership

California Newspapers Partnership is California’s largest news organization, encompassing the San Francisco Bay Area’s leading daily papers (the San Jose Mercury News, the Oakland Tribune, the Contra Costa Times and others) as well as nine daily newspapers in the Los Angeles market. In addition to reaching millions of adults each week through its print and online products, CNP is also a leader in new mobile and social media complementing its traditional marketing products (direct mail, specialty publications. etc.). For more information about TapIn Bay Area, visit www.tapinbayarea.com.

SOURCE California Newspapers Partnership