FlipBoard Announcement Good For PR, But Nothing Else
December 2, 2010
Flipboard Signs Interesting Deal With Eight Content Providers
News apps come in many flavors with varying degrees of success. At the end of the day, however, most do pretty much the same thing; each displays articles from different news sources. Some developers just make these articles look better than others. Today's big announcement from Flipboard, Inc. isn't a game changer, but it could significantly change the playing field. Or, maybe not.
The Palo Alto, California-based company stated in a press release of its iPad app by the same name:
Starting today, eight renowned publishers will begin testing an innovative new way to bring the time less [sic] beauty of print media to the Web … right here, on your Flipboard. Selected articles from these publishers will now display a “Read Article” button. Tap it and you will see a specially formatted version of their Web page, which will load significantly faster and look absolutely gorgeous.The publishers are ABC, All Things Digital, Bon Appetit Magazine, LonelyPlanet Magazine, SBNation, SF Gate, Uncrate, and Washington Post Magazine. Each source is now heavily promoted within the Flipboard iPad app, and users are encouraged to add them to their Flipboard content page. The end result is a crisp looking and unique reading experience, which the company hopes will further differentiate its product from others on the market. Overall, I like the change. However, the actual content is no different than what is presented elsewhere. Other than a nice PR move on Flipboard's part, I'm not sure this will change anything. The app remains a news app leader. If anything, these changes to how select Flipboard providers show off some of their content might turn readers off to other content. Time will tell. The Flipboard app is available in the App Store.
