
For $4.99, you can now buy the Wired Magazine iPad app (link opens iTunes) in the AppStore. As early as November of last year, Wired was showing off an "iTablet concept app". This morning their iPad app officially hit the AppStore, and it's awesome. Check out a video here where Wired shows it off.
Says Chris Anderson, Editor in Chief of Wired, in a letter written to Wired readers this morning,
The tablet is our opportunity to make the Wired we always dreamed of. It has all the visual impact of paper, enhanced by interactive elements like video and animated infographics. We can offer you a history of Mars landings that lets you explore the red planet yourself. We can take you inside Trent Reznor’s recording studio and let you listen to snippets of his work in progress. And we can show you exactly how Pixar crafted each frame of its new movie, Toy Story 3.

Within each story, the elements are interactive. Click and drag over a picture of a popup book, and see a hand turning pages - and watch how the book works. Tap and hold on Iron Man, and slide him back and forth to spin around a 360 degree view of him. Listen to audio clips, and play video.

Here's a quick video I took of Iron Man spinning.
Advertising as well is a whole new level here. Wired mentions "nine advertisers took advantage of premium sponsorships in Wired’s June digital edition, allowing them to incorporate interactivity and enhancements including 360º images, slide shows and videos." When you see the new Infiniti M, if you're interested in it, just tap the video on the top and you'll actually be able to watch a commercial of it right in the app. Advertisers are going to love this.
There's no word anywhere about how new issues will work. The app is a little over 500MB, and opens up the June edition of Wired. It would be nice to be able to have multiple issues (hey - I've got 64GB on here) in my iPad, but I imagine Wired is still working on their subscription model, or at least aren't making it public yet. We'll figure that out when they announce.
Either way - grab this app. Whether you're a Wired fan or not, this is a brilliant example of how print media and the iPad are made for each other.