Wired is offering its newest iPad issue – which will go on sale sometime today – for free. According to Peter Kafka, it comes packed with new features too, including social network sharing tools, and a partnership with Amazon.com that lets users purchase items written about in the magazine, right in the app.

Offering the app for free is a great way to build some buzz, and maybe Wired is doing this because downloads have declined since it first launched the app a year ago. But who knows, perhaps the gimmick will work and once people get a taste they’ll keep coming back for more. Like Jay-Z once said, “Let em test the product, give em a promo show, just a breeze, not enough to catch a real vibe, then we drop a maxi single and charge ‘em two for five.”

Or something like that.