Publisher Atlantic Media has launched a digital-only business magazine called Quartz, with an emphasis on mobiles, tablets and reader collaboration.

Launching the new qz.com site, editor in chief Kevin J. Delaney laid out how Quartz would operate.

Coverage is rooted in a set of “defining obsessions” – core topics and “knotty questions of seismic importance to business professionals” – accessible from a navigation bar at the top of the site. Stories will come in a range of forms and sizes, from short link posts to long-form articles, and the site is optimised for mobiles and tablets.

Delaney added that Quartz would be updated “on a continual basis”, with readers encouraged to get in touch with their news tips and other ideas. As you might expect, the site is entirely free, with Boeing, Cadillac, Chevron and Credit Suisse on board as launch sponsors.

“Quartz is intended to embody the era in which we’re creating it, like Wired in the 1990s, Rolling Stone in the 1960s, Fortune in the 1930s and The Economist in the 1840s,” Delaney concluded. “What is the best way to build a global news organisation in 2012? With your help, we’ll figure it out.”

Atlantic Media is probably best known for The Atlantic, an 150-year-old print title that focuses on politics and business.