App Brings Users Daily Stories of the War Over the Next Four Years, Just as They Unfolded 150 Years Ago
Just two days after its release, The Civil War Today, an unprecedented iPad app created by Bottle Rocket Apps for A&E Television Networks’ HISTORY®, was named the iPad App of the Week on the iTunes App Store and rocketed to the #1 paid iPad app in the Entertainment category.
In a first for a non-news app, The Civil War Today brings the history of this tragic conflict to life by revealing the story in real time—beginning two days ago with the April 12, 1861 attack on Fort Sumter, and unfolding day by day over the next four years, exactly as the events happened 150 years earlier. The app weaves the iPad’s multi-touch interface together with original narratives, photographs (some never before seen), battle maps, diaries, letters, and other emotional first-person accounts to immerse the user in this dark chapter of American history in a way never before possible.
“This extraordinary app lets users touch and feel history, using gestures to explore and interact with original historical documents,” said Dan Suratt, Executive Vice President, Digital Media and Business Development for A&E Television Networks, the parent of HISTORY® and AETN Digital Media. “And experiencing the American Civil War in a serialized, ‘real-time’ manner provides a new and extraordinarily powerful way to understand one of our country’s landmark events.”
Every day, for the next four years, the app’s period-style “broadsheet” will deliver new feature stories, photographs, historical events, newspapers, and the personal perspectives of 15 actual individuals—from President Abraham Lincoln to ordinary soldiers on both sides of the conflict—tied to the events that occurred 150 years earlier. In addition, users can explore finely detailed battle maps, test their knowledge by answering a daily quiz question, accumulate “medals” for period-appropriate activities and share their achievements in Apple’s GameCenter, view in-app video clips wirelessly on their Apple TV through AirPlay, and even tap out Twitter “telegrams” in Morse code using a virtual telegraph key. And users who can’t visit the app every day need not worry about missing anything: a scrollable timeline lets them return to any previous day to see the events on that date.
When paired with an Apple iPad 2, The Civil War Today becomes a history educator’s dream teaching aid. The video mirroring capabilities built into iPad 2 allow an entire classroom to view the app on an HDTV or HD projector. Students will be captivated as they watch their teacher tap, swipe and flick through each day of content and pinch-zoom into high-resolution maps, period newspapers, handwritten diaries and photographs.
“All of us at Bottle Rocket were immediately captivated by A&E’s vision for The Civil War Today,” said Calvin Carter, president of Bottle Rocket. “We have been privileged to partner with A&E to craft an educational and engaging mobile experience that, quite simply, is unlike anything that has ever been done before. It’s a tremendous honor to have this revolutionary concept recognized as iPad App of the Week.”
The Civil War Today for iPad is available for download in the iTunes App Store at http://bit.ly/CivilWarToday. A single $7.99 purchase opens the door to four years of daily content and updates in this one-of-a-kind app experience.
About Bottle Rocket Apps
Bottle Rocket Apps (www.bottlerocketapps.com) is a full-service mobile app development firm, focused on creating mission-critical, premium brand experiences for the Apple iPhone and iPad and Android devices. Since its founding in early 2008, Bottle Rocket has completed more than 50 iPhone, iPad and Android apps for leading brands such as NPR, PBS, Disney, ESPN, The Seattle Times, Discovery Channel, BET, SPIN Magazine, American Express and AARP. The company’s apps have won numerous industry accolades for innovative and user-centered design, and frequently appear at the top of their categories on the iTunes App Store. The Bottle Rocket team of senior strategists, architects, developers and artists work their magic from the company’s offices in Dallas, Texas.
About AETN Digital Media and HISTORY®
AETN Digital Media, a division of A&E Television Networks, LLC, is a leading provider of digital content for properties including HISTORY®, Lifetime, A&E, Biography, Roiworld, DressUpChallenge, Lifetime Moms and MothersClick. More than 14 million unique visitors per month engage with the company’s digital brands across 14 properties, and millions more consume the content via syndication, social media and mobile.
HISTORY® and HISTORY HD® are the leading destinations for revealing, award-winning original non-fiction series and event-driven specials that connect history with viewers in an informative, immersive and entertaining manner across multiple platforms. Its programming, which has been recognized with a total of 23 Peabody and Emmy® Awards, covers a diverse variety of historical genres ranging from military history to contemporary history, technology to natural history, as well as science, archaeology and pop culture. The HISTORY website, located at www.history.com, is the leading online resource for all things history, featuring over 20,000 videos, images, audio clips, articles and interactive features that allow visitors to dig deeper into a broad range of thousands of historical topics.
On Friday, March 4, 2011, Discovery Channel HD became the top free iPad app on the entire iTunes App Store, a mere three days after its debut. The interactive app, developed by Bottle Rocket Apps, complements Discovery Channel’s award-winning programs and offers fully integrated social TV check-in.
“With a huge library from nearly 360 member stations and 1500 public media producers, PBS is delivering a rich on-demand experience and is now one of the first broadcasters to bring full-length video to the iPhone,” said Jason Seiken, SVP, PBS Interactive, Product Development and Innovation. The PBS App for iPhone and iPod touch features full-length programming from FRONTLINE, PBS Newshour, and others, as well as scheduling details, previews, and a new tune-in reminder calendar that can be synced with iCal.