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LinkedIn (finally) releases iPad app

Kathryn McConnachie
By Kathryn McConnachie, Digital Media Editor at ITWeb.
Johannesburg, 26 Apr 2012

Arriving slightly late to the party, the professional social network LinkedIn has finally released its long-awaited iPad app.

Last year, LinkedIn announced it was focusing on improving its mobile presence. This was followed by the release of revamped iPhone, Android and HTML5 products. According to reports, within the last year there has been a 250% increase in LinkedIn users accessing the service via iPads. Mobile also accounted for 22% of all traffic to the site in the first quarter of 2012 (up from 15% in the previous quarter).

LinkedIn's senior product manager for mobile and tablet, Manish Sharma, says the network's new app “reimagines” LinkedIn specifically for the iPad and its features.

“We aspire to be the place where every professional comes throughout the day. A place where members come to gather important business intelligence and insights to be great at what they do.”

According to Sharma, the app was built bearing in mind the most common behaviour of LinkedIn and iPad users. “We know that our members use their iPads heavily during the morning and evening hours. This 'coffee and couch' behaviour is so pronounced that we designed our new app to make every professional feel like they have their own personal assistant.”

Sharma says LinkedIn is aspiring to be a one-stop-shop for professionals, providing all information regarding appointments and meetings, timely news impacting their industry and what their co-workers are sharing and discussing.

The new calendar feature syncs the device's calendar with the user's LinkedIn profile. Sharma says: “Professionals live by their smartphones and iPads to manage their day. In particular, they constantly turn to their calendar to see when, where and who they are meeting. To help you understand 'who' you are meeting with, the LinkedIn iPad app can sync with your device calendar to incorporate rich LinkedIn profile data about each attendee.”

The calendar feature has also been added to the iPhone and Android LinkedIn apps. In addition to the iPad app, Sharma says LinkedIn has released a new mobile Web experience for the Safari browser on the iPad.

LinkedIn filed for its IPO early last year, and went public in May with one of the most sought-after listings in recent years. The service is said to have grown its user base by over 160% in the last two years to a total of over 150 million users. The number of corporate customers added over the same period is said to have increased by 450%.

Statistics from World Wide Worx showed that towards the end of last year, LinkedIn had reached 1.1 million users in SA. This marked 83% growth from 2010 to 2011. An estimated 10%, or 112 000, SA LinkedIn users are said to be business owners.

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