Normally the release of an iPhone application isn’t newsworthy, but when it comes from the Wall Street Journal, and it’s free, you tend to notice.

Released just today (the United States tax day seems appropriate day to release an app about financial news), the Wall Street Journal app (iTunes link) is a bit of a surprise in that it is free.  This is only surprising because the paper was one of the first on the Internet to charge for its content years ago, and they still do to this day.

So the question is why would they allow owners of iPhones and iPod Touches access their content for free while people who visit them on the Web are still paying?  The new application is ad supported, and you have to wonder if this is possibly a test for the future of their Web access, something you still have to pay $103 a year to subscribe to, or are they possibly just thinking that there won’t be that much access from the Apple devices?

Whatever the case may be, it is a welcome addition to the devices.  Users will get to enjoy full stories, exlcusive video and podcasts, the ability to share stories, tracking the stock exchange and more.  Possibly they will want to charge for the application down the road, but that never seems to go over well with users, so it’s probably safe to assume that this will remain a free application for however long they plan to support it.

Our suggestion is to go ahead and grab it, and then decide if you really need it on your phone, but so long as it is free, why not?