Penguin books takes its catalog mobile

Steve Jobs, meet Gutenberg.

Last month, Penguin Classics launched its “Complete Annotated Listing” app for the iPhone, the main draw of which entails synopses of the publisher’s 1,500 works of literature. It’s a digital version of a print catalog the publisher has produced for years.

“We mainly wanted people to download the app and enjoy it, to discover new authors and books, and to keep in touch with Penguin Classics,” says Jeff Gomez, vice president, consumer sales and marketing for Penguin Group USA. “The printed catalog had always been free, so we wanted to app to similarly be available at no charge.”