Big-Screen iPhone 5 Apps (News and Media)

CNNFree
CNN is one of the first news apps to be optimized for the iPhone 5's longer screen. What that means, generally, is that you can see one more story in the menu, or three or four more lines of text than you used to. CNN's current app is very handsome, although it isn't that deep. Each of its news sections spotlights around eight current stories. Those stories are very frequently updated, so you're always sure to get the freshest news.

ComixologyFree
The top digital comics app has been updated for the iPhone 5, letting readers zoom in on panels using the full length of the screen. I found that Comixology used the taller screen the most in portrait mode, where long, skinny panels used the full height; in landscape mode, some horizontal panels don't default to the full width of the screen, although you can pinch to zoom them.

FlipboardFree
Flipboard has always been a flagship app for the iPhone. Your longer screen here doesn't get you any additional information across most of the app, though; touch targets are just a little larger, and images are a little bigger. Once you flip into actual articles, though, there's a big difference: One Inc. magazine article I looked at was 9 pages on the iPhone 4S, but only 7 pages on the 5's longer screen.

KindleFree
Amazon's Kindle app got an iPhone 5 update, so now you can read your books, magazines, and comics on the full screen. Just like with Flipboard, that means more reading with less page flipping.

Hulu+ App is Free, $7.99 per month subscription fee
Hulu menus and videos are now full screen ready on the iPhone 5—as long as the video is 16:9 format, of course. Hulu+ requires a $7.99/month subscription but gives you access to a wide range of top network TV shows streaming on your iPhone. 

Newsify 99 cents
I'm a big news fan. Newsify is an RSS reader that syncs with Google Reader, allowing me to catch up on mobile industry news on my ride into work. It's just a bit better designed than your average news reader, and it uses the full length of the iPhone screen to give you as much news as you can handle.