Competition Between Pulse News Reader And FLUD Heats Up

The Pulse News Reader Is Updated Competition is a good thing, especially in the App Store. Literally thousands of apps are trying to get our attention and keep it. As such, developers play the refresh game often to stay on top. As a consumer, one of best competitions to watch is between the Pulse News Reader and FLUD News. Both debuted as iPad apps and are now available as iPhone/iPod touch apps too. Plus, now they are both available for free, which heats up their competition even more. We recently highlighted the new FLUD mobile app for the iPhone. At the time, I said it “leaves other news apps behind.”  This is only half true. If anything, Pulse got a head start so its features are a little bit better than those of FLUD. Head-to-head, I think both apps are great and largely superior to others on the market today. Funny, but whenever we discuss one of the apps, those in the other's "camp" leave interesting comments, and vice versa. Now, the folks at Pulse have made a significant update to their iPad app, which definitely gives them a leg up on the competition. Version 2.1 of the Pulse News Reader is all about integration with Facebook. Users can view their shared links, status updates and Facebook wall from within the app. Your Facebook comments and “like” posts are easily accessed too.

Perhaps the best new feature is the ability to watch videos from articles directly in the app. Prior to this release, watching videos required mobile Safari which meant you had to go back and forth between apps. Thanks to iOS 4.2.1, fast switching is available too.

So, does this update make Pulse better than FLUD? Perhaps for right now. My advice is to download, and use both apps. Enjoy the ride. These apps get better with each new release and no one says you can't love both of them! The updated Pulse News Reader is available in the App Store.

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