While the launch of Apple’s iPad in Canada has been delayed until the end of May, Branchez-Vous!, an online French-language news and technology network, is confident the product will be as popular here as it has been down south. The Montreal-based news aggregate, owned by BV! Media, has already launched an iPad news application through the iTunes app store, Patrick Pierra, president, content, of BV! Media and publisher of Branchez-Vous!, announced today.

The ‘Branchez-Vous! pour iPad‘ app will collect the most recent 100 articles that are published on media properties like the technology news site Branchez-Vous.com, entertainment site Showbizz.net, and sports and business-oriented Fanatique.ca. Content is updated every time the app is activated, and stories are saved on the iPad so that they can be read even without a connection – while riding on the subway after work, for instance.

The app will feature a single banner ad (300 X 600 IMU in size) on every article page, Pierra says.

‘We believe that, for a first stage, such format, which is close to being a web standard, is well-suited to the screen size, and it allows the advertiser to be exclusive on each page,’ Pierra tells MiC. He adds that BV! Media’s sales team is in talks with Montreal and Toronto media agencies, seeking a first-time ad sponsor.

Most of the traffic to Branchez-Vous! properties occurs during business hours, and Pierre aims to increase visits at the beginning and end of the day. There is no surefire way to predict how popular the mobile device will be in Quebec, but there is solid evidence that their readership is mobile and tech-savvy, Pierre says, adding that their iPhone app has been downloaded more than 14,000 times.