SINGAPORE - A new look and new features for The Straits Times will be unveiled on Wednesday, July 1, across the newspaper, website, mobile and tablet apps.

The major revamp is to celebrate the 170th anniversary of the newspaper, which published its first issue on July 15, 1845.

ST editor Warren Fernandez says the overhaul will bring a new look, new ideas, but "the same Singapore soul" in the products.

These are the key changes in the way ST can be read online on straitstimes.com or via the ST apps on smartphones and tablets.

1. Bye-bye old paywall

Currently, non-subscribers who go to our website and apps can read only a few paragraphs of our stories, and not all stories at that.

From July 1, this will change. Our new "metered paywall" will let you read stories - even those from print - in their entirety.

There will, however, be a quota to the number you can read each month.

To celebrate SG50, we will be giving everyone 50 free stories for the month of July. If you take part in our free registration, you get unlimited access to everything until Aug 9.

But only subscribers will get access to the PDFs of the print paper.

The quota for future months will be announced later.

2. New design

We have redesigned our website and apps to a clean, breezy, modern and modular look. Content is organised according to "blocks", and we will highlight the best stories across topics in these blocks.

For example, in our Opinions block, you can find commentaries on politics from Han Fook Kwang, on sports from Rohit Brijnath, and on lifestyle topics from John Lui.

3. No more pinching

You no longer have to zoom in and out when you go to www.straitstimes.com via the browser on your phone or tablet. Our website is now mobile-friendly, which means our content will display really nicely and fit the smartphone or tablet you are using.

4. Go ahead and share

Like what you read on ST? All our online stories can be freely shared on Facebook and Twitter from July 1.

5. Videos on the go

We've added a lot more videos to our menu. Go to the easily accessible Videos section to check them out

6. Redesigned apps

If you prefer to get news via ST apps on smartphone and tablet, we've also redesigned them for you. Like the website, the look is clean, breezy and modular, and the content better organised.

Important: Please update your ST apps on July 1

The current app will cease to function on July 1. If the automatic update function on your mobile device is switched on, our new ST app will automatically update itself. But if you have switched off the automatic update function, please update your app by going to Apple's App Store or Google Play for Android users. Or go to http://str.sg/app