The Business Times: new newspaper, website and mobile apps

SINGAPORE - The Business Times, the financial daily of Singapore Press Holdings, will be launching a major refresh of its newspaper, website and mobile apps tomorrow, Wednesday, Oct 8.

The new BT is designed to provide readers with a better reading experience and a more enjoyable interaction with the paper. Its new masthead reinforces the paper's identity as a credible source of business news, insights and analysis. Wider columns and more distinct fonts give the paper a crisp feel, and make for clearer reading.

The biggest change in the new BT, in print and online, will be how the news is reported. The news will now be categorised by industry sectors - rather than geographical markets - underlining the paper's sharpened focus on business.

The new business sectors are: § Real Estate § Banking & Finance § Energy & Commodities § Technology § Consumer § Transport § Life & Culture

A new "Government & Economy" section will cover major global political and economic news events, and their implications. And an enhanced Opinion section provides a greater breadth and depth of insights and analysis on key trending issues.

Some editorial highlights include: § Daily Digest - a quick front page summary of the most important stories of the day. § Top Stories - highlights the most important stories of the day across markets and countries, with more infographics to explain the news and trends. § Companies & Markets - focuses on Singapore-listed companies and market news. This will have two new pages of charts and tables providing a concise summary of the market day - in Singapore, as well as regional and global markets.

Weekly sections such as "Views from the Top", "SME", "Executive Money" and "Lifestyle" will remain as mainstay content of the new BT.

The Business Times Weekend edition, which marks its sixth anniversary this year, will reflect the new business sector sections of the weekday paper. It retains its compact format and a Weekend Living pullout.

The New BT Digital

The new BT website (businesstimes.com.sg) will carry breaking news as well as all stories from the print edition. With the website's new responsive design, the BusinessTimes.com.sg will be readable and easy to navigate on all screen sizes. Readers can enjoy the same browsing experience on desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones.

New features online include: § A new Lifestyle portal, with its own distinct look and feel. This will feature all stories on luxury living from BT's Friday and Saturday editions, as well as breaking news through the week. § A new SME section. This will feature all stories from the weekly SME page, the SME Magazine and other SME-related news stories. § Three new blogs by BT journalists. Views on the Singapore stock market, discussions from a data-driven perspective, and observations on the lighter side of life. Readers will be able to share their views on our stories, via a new comments section, and share the stories easily via Facebook, Twitter or email, with more convenient sharing buttons.

All readers will be able to read in full BT's non-exclusive breaking news, blogs and three "Editor's Choice" stories from each day's print edition. Readers can subscribe to gain access to richer content from both the print and online versions: exclusive scoops, opinion and analysis pieces, infographics, and special feature packages.

As some readers still prefer to use apps tailored to their choice of tablet or smartphone, BT's iPad, iPhone and Android smartphone apps have also been refreshed. The new apps offer readers a consistent user experience with the website, with improved navigation and a new search feature.

Mr Alvin Tay, Editor of The Business Times, said: "The reader is at the core of the latest relaunch of The Business Times. The new BT, in print and digital, will provide readers with both enhanced content and a better reading experience. For advertisers, the new format will also offer more focused opportunities. The Business Times will continue to be the leading voice on business and financial news in Singapore, and a must-read for decision makers, business leaders and investors."

Subscription plans

BT's subscription plans remain the same. Subscribers can visit btsubscribe.com.sg to sign up for any of the following:

*BT's iPhone and iPad apps support iOS version 6.0 and above. BT's Android smartphone app supports Android version 2.2 and above, and is optimised for screens smaller than 7 inches.

In line with the launch of the new BT, new BT subscribers will be entitled to a range of gifts when they sign up.

The BT All-in-One package offers subscribers access to all editions of BT (print, website, iPad and smartphone apps) and allows them to read BT apps on up to four mobile devices, concurrently. Subscribers will have full access to daily premium content, both the native website and PDF editions, and will be able to read from a 7-day archive of BT's news.

The first 500 first-time subscribers to any one-year BT subscription plan will get an exclusive Ermenegildo Zegna tie worth $310.

All new subscribers to any one-year BT subscription plan will also receive:

- Raffles Conversations (2014 edition)

- A 1-year subscription to The Peak Digital -

- A pair of S.E.A. Aquarium tickets

For subscription-related enquiries, readers may call (65) 6538 3838 or email btocs@sph.com.sg. The customer service hotline is manned from 8.30am to 6.30pm on Mondays to Fridays.