Telstra's Yellow Pages publisher Sensis has followed the ways of other firms as it unveiled on Wednesday an iPad app that would allow the gadget's Australian users to access directory database through the Apple bestselling product.

Apart from the usual Yellow Pages services, the new iPad apps, according to Sensis, would also provide premium offerings, interactive services, mapping features access, which the directory publisher is the first to use the iPad platform in conducting its business.

Sensis said that the new directory apps have been developed by the company's in-house talents and its functions were mostly based on consumer research implemented by the company.

Also, Sensis chief operating officer Gerry Sutton pointed out that "it follows the success of our online, mobile and iPhone offerings and is part of our multi-channel strategy to ensure Yellow Pages continue to be accessible, relevant and easy to find across all platforms."

Despite the growing dominance of digital publication, Sutton has maintained that the venerable Yellow Pages should not be reduced to oblivion and since "digital media is changing the way consumers access and process information ... we are embracing that."

In a recent finding published by Nelsen, up to eight percent of Australians own and regularly use an iPad or any similar tablet computer, a fact that Sensis wants to use for its business advantage in introducing the new apps.

Sutton said that the directory app was also designed to complement and maximise the GPS function of GPS, adding that "we have been able to incorporate elements like maps and graphical ads and bring these things to life."

Sensis' multi-feature apps encapsulated the helpful functions of the traditional directory and more, with Sutton asserting that "for the first time we have taken the integrity of the Yellow Pages book into the digital world."