Google Currents - Flipboard Competitor in Android & iOS
New Product launches are beginning to become a daily affair at Google and the latest is the Google Currents for Android and Apple iOS, a free app that lets users access and explore online magazines and other content at the swipe of a finger. The Google Currents is supported by over 150 publishers, including CNET, Fast Company, Huffington Post, and PBS which is said to expand even further and is said to be a serious competition to Flipboard.
Other than magazine and website content designed specifically for Google Currents, users get to view Google Reader RSS feeds, public Google+ feeds, and any other RSS stream on mobile devices. The trending function on the Currents apps leads users to the hottest news items and has been designed to be a one-stop shop for consuming web media on the go. As Google Currents is integrated with Google+, users can share articles or videos with their circles and thereby lead users to find the best content available online.
Google Currents also works as a 'self-service platform' which allows publishers to create additional or alternate editions of their content for Currents. Publishers can track viewership details of Currents using Google Analytics accounts to see which content is more engaging so that they can increase awareness of consumers’ content preferences, device use and geographic distribution.
"Google wanted to give publishers the opportunity to do as much or as little work as they like in customizing the presentation of their content," said Lee Shirani, Product Management Director for News And Magazines at Google. Giving publishers a free chance to get their publishing brand across this custom mobile apps has the potential to deliver what Google terms as a, "beautiful and simple ways to experience all the content the web has to offer, such as sharing photos on Google+, watching YouTube videos and discovering books, movies and music from Android Market."
Producers are required to optimize Content for Smart phones and tablets, and users can intuitively navigate between words, pictures and video on large and small screens alike, even offline. By simply downloading Currents and choosing the publications, users can subscribe for free and also add RSS, video and photo feeds, public Google+ streams and Google Reader subscriptions. The algorithm-driven story compilation in Currents lets users consume the latest and best-of-the-moment multiple-sourced content in the trending section that is broken down category-wise into business, sports and entertainment, while also giving access to published stories in the 'library' section. User can share content on Google+ Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Instapaper or Pinboard or even Email.
Google has developed this self service platform in such a way that content from even the smallest of news organizations is made to look smart and stylish in Currents. “We felt there was an amazing amount of great online content that was not being displayed well when we tried to access it on our phones and tablets,” Google’s Mussie Shore told Andrea Spiegel at Forbes. “We personally knew many creatives who were frustrated at the gap between what they envisioned for their content on tablets and phones, and having the right tools to deliver their vision. Google is attracted to these type of ecosystem opportunities,” and without doubt, Google seems to doing just that and more - invading every frontier in its effort to connect users to the world around and to deliver the best of user experience. Hold your breath! There is more coming your way from Google before this year runs out of breath.
About Lazarus Hunt
Hi…I am Ranki, a free roaming wild spirit of the yore,
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