LONDON, December 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

For the first time, The Sunday Times will be published on Christmas Day this year. To mark this historic occasion, The Sunday Times is giving away its Christmas Day edition free on iPad and Android devices.

As well as live global and national news and sport, the Christmas Day exclusively online edition will contain a groundbreaking interactive quiz whichincludes video, audio and 'rub and reveal' picture questions as well as instant answers at the tap of a button.

This Christmas edition of The Sunday Times, which is sponsored by retailer John Lewis,will also feature Gerald Scarfe'sCartoons that defined 2011,stunning galleries of festive celebrations from around the world and a complete guide to the Boxing Day sales.Alison Jackson will be providing a special Christmas Day Fake Take, and David Walsh will be giving a rundown of his highs and lows from the sporting year.

A full summary of the content can be found at the foot of this release.  

Publishing The Sunday Times on Christmas Day breaks with tradition dating back to 1912, when publishers agreed not to produce a Christmas Day edition of the paper for the general public - giving delivery drivers, newsagents and paperboys the day off. However, technology now allows The Sunday Times to publish the newspaper virtually, without need for a physical copy - providing breaking news while giving paperboys the day off at the same time.

The Sunday Times iPad application has been lauded across the world, winning many awards. It was judged iMonitor's best media appsoon after its launch in December 2010 and was crowned 2011's Newspaper App of the Year at the prestigious Newspaper Awards.

John Witherow, editor of The Sunday Times, said: "We have been publishing The Sunday Times for nearly 190 years, but this is the first time we have produced a newspaper on Christmas Day. This special edition is free - only Scrooge would contemplate charging for a newspaper at Christmas.

"On behalf of everyone at The Sunday Times I would like to wish our readers a happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year."

More information on both applications is available at http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/public/iPad/ and http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/public/android/

The Sunday Timeswill be publishing the App List in January - a list of the 500 best mobile and tablet applications from around the world.

Notes for editors

About The Sunday Times digital products

The Sunday Times iPad edition is available for £1.99 per issue on the App Store on iPad or at http://www.itunes.com/appstore. The Times Digital Pack costs £2 andprovides full access to The Times and The Sunday Times websites and apps which can be downloaded via iPhone, iPad and Android devices.

Christmas Day edition summary of content:

Every section of the paper on iPad and Android, with exclusive news, features, graphics, quizzes, multimedia and offers.

Including:

• Live national and world news
• Live Business news
• The best Comment from our top writers
• Gerald Scarfe's year - the cartoons that defined 2011
• Boxing Day sport - read previews of all the big matches
• Your complete guide to the sales
• A brilliant interactive Christmas quiz for all the family
• 2011's best apps, books, CDs, gadgets
• Brain Power special - all your favourite puzzles and games
• Christmas around the world - stunning galleries of festive celebrations
• Great original features in every section

Plus:

• Exclusive teasers from our January 1^st 'Best of 2011' edition
• Christmas and New Year weather
• Exclusive Times+ offers

The very best of The Sunday Times multimedia from 2011:

• Alison Jackson's Christmas Day Fake Take
• Rod Liddle introduces a special edition of Rod Liddle's Got Issues - plus watch his top 10 videos of the year
• David Walsh on his highs and lows from the sporting year
• Matt Rudd on the events that made his year go with a bang
• Martin Ivens reviews the year in politics

Plus, on our website:

• All your live Christmas Day news and sport as it happens
• Brilliant blogs

The Sunday Times is the largest circulation quality newspaper in the UK with a circulation of 1,000,848 (ABC June 2011), 2.8 million readers (NRS Jun 2011) and a combined paying digital and paper audience of almost 1.1 million. Renowned for its technological innovation, the Sunday Times is available for download on all platforms and devices including Android, Amazon Kindle and iOS5. The Sunday Times has a reputation for courageous and campaigning investigative journalism, breaking many major world exclusives. With 12 sections every week, The Sunday Times offers great value to readers and it is recognised for not only breaking news but for its unrivalled coverage of sports, business, the arts and entertainment.

SOURCE Sunday Times (News International)