NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NYTimes.com has launched beta620 (http://beta620.nytimes.com), a new interactive Web site that showcases experimental projects and ideas in development at NYTimes.com. The site has been specifically designed to encourage users to test and share their feedback.
“For several years, The New York Times has hosted internal challenges and external events designed to foster innovation and idea-sharing within The Times across the developer community,” said Denise Warren, senior vice president and chief advertising officer, The New York Times Media Group and general manager, NYTimes.com. “Beta620 gives a permanent home to that tradition of innovation, and it invites our loyal community of users to join in the discussion as we test and learn to create leading-edge products that will elevate the user experience on NYTimes.com.”
Beta620 will be continually updated with new projects and it will also showcase updates to existing products. Each concept will have a project page featuring a description and project updates provided by the creator of the project, as well as a working prototype. Registered NYTimes.com users can log in to comment on specific project ideas. Beta620 is not just a home for projects from The Times; it is a place where anyone can make suggestions and collaborate on new ideas. Using the Suggestions tab, users can send ideas for projects they’d like to see.
“With beta620, we are challenging our talented staff and our community of users to publicly test out new ideas and concepts that can create a better online experience,” said Marc Frons, chief technology officer, The New York Times. “Some may end up as products on NYTimes.com and others may not; regardless of the outcome of specific projects, we see tremendous value in sharing our innovative thinking and inviting users into the process.”
Current highlighted projects on beta620 include:
- TimesInstant – an instant search function to make search easier, simpler and more effective. The immediate feedback allows users to modify their query based on the results.
- Community Hub – a dashboard of daily social activity on NYTimes.com, including comments, reviews and recommendations
- NYTimes Crossword Web App – The Times’s popular crossword app, built with HTML5 to enable local storage and offline usage
- Longitude – an interactive map of the day’s news, using linked open data
- The Buzz – an app that aggregates and displays data on the social media buzz about a particular article, video or graphic
- Smart Search Bar –instantaneous, relevant and semantically-aware search results from the homepage of NYTimes.com.
- Times Companion – an app that delivers in-depth, context-relevant content to readers via page overlays.
The What’s Going On tab shows the latest posts and updates on the site, and a Graduates tab highlights and offers updates on former beta products that are now existing products or features on NYTimes.com.
For additional information about beta620, go to http://beta620.nytimes.com or follow beta620 on Twitter.
About The New York Times Company
The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), a leading media company with 2010 revenues of $2.4 billion, includes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, 15 other daily newspapers and more than 50 Web sites, including NYTimes.com, Boston.com and About.com. The Company’s core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment.
This press release can be downloaded from www.nytco.com