Newspaper publishers have been thrown a lifeline by a plucky inventor who has recreated the newspaper experience for iPhones.

With the iSplash, inventor Subhas Patel set out to recreate the experience you have when you pick up a newspaper from WH Smith in Waterloo station. So the first few copies of the 'virtual paper' will appear to be in micron thin plastic bags that are already haemorrhaging their contents. Users will be forced to dig down and find a paper that appears to be whole, a bit futher down the virtual pile.

Using the tilt mechanism of the iPhone, the user can recreate the struggle of locating an undamaged copy of their favourite paper, while jostling with other commuters.

But the really impressive feature uses the iPhone's new blackhole technology, which allows atomic mass to be sucked into the handheld device, boosting its weight. Using this technology, the new iSupplement of the iSplash can bulk up to a hernia inducing 22 kilograms, the weight of the Guardian on Saturday. Patel promises that one day, the technology will be mature enough to weigh as much as 20 black holes, or one copy of the Sunday Times.

But the innovations don't stop there. The iSplash recreates the experience of walking along, while dozens of pieces of paper you never wanted - advertising flyers for insurance companies you despise - appear to spill out on the floor. Many early adopters who tried out the beta version of this technology raved about this feature. "It's exasctly like the litter-bug shame you feel when both your hands are tied up with carrying a paving stone sized newspaper, as scrap paper pollutes the floor around you," said one reviewer.