This time last year I wrote a post outlining how online reading patterns had changed over 2010. The habits and products for reading on the Web have continued to evolve over 2011. This year, for example, Google+ arrived on the scene and changed the way many people find and discuss topical articles. We also saw continued innovation in mobile and tablet reading apps.
In this post I identify two key trends in online reading over 2011, plus two main ways that our online reading habits have changed.
With near half a million Android devices being activated every day, there are a lot of people learning the best ways to use their brand new devices. The natural thing for a new user to do is look up their favorite websites using the native browser on the phone. Yet, a lot of times they will find that the site is not optimized for the mobile Web. This makes for a clunky Web experience that detracts from the perceived value of the shiny new smartphone.
That is where RSS applications designed specifically for Android become incredibly useful and powerful tools. Available through the Android Market, there are a plethora of terrific RSS readers that will render users' favorite sites into delightful, visually appealing feeds. What are the best Android RSS readers in the Market? Let's take a look.
I'll admit I haven't been on Quora as much recently, in large part due to being unceremoniously blocked by the company for subscribing to an excessive amount of RSS feeds (but that's another story). However, today, I stumbled across a great Quora thread started by tech insider Robert Scoble. The question: "Which tech startups currently (June 2011) need and deserve angel funding?"
Of course, the resulting list is a lot of self-serving posts from startups hoping to cash in on Scoble's influence, but frankly, I don't care. I'm obsessed with this thread and the startups that keep appearing there, minute by minute. It's startup Disneyland! And if you're an early adopter itching to try new services, you should check it out, too.
Earlier this month, entrepreneur and blogger Jesse Stay noticed that both Facebook and Twitter had completely removed support for RSS from of their websites. After much outcry from the tech community, Facebook relented and re-added an RSS link to Facebook Pages once again. Twitter, however, did nothing.
But now, one developer has taken it upon himself to build a tool that uses Twitter's API (application programming interface) to create RSS feeds. The code, called "Twitter API 2 RSS," is now available on GitHub here.
This morning, alternative search engine service blekko announced a partnership with hot iPad social magazine Flipboard to power its content searches. Under the new deal, users looking for new content to subscribe to within Flipboard can discover and browse for items by keyword. The content will come from RSS feeds, the Web feed format used to publish regularly updated news in a structured format. But unlike with traditional RSS readers, like Google Reader, for example, the feeds will not be displayed in the typical inbox-like view often associated with feed-reading services. Instead, the feeds will be displayed in Flipboard's magazine-like format for a more visually attractive experience.
RSS dead? Hardly.
Yesterday XYDO, the service that curates users' Twitter and Facebook streams and adds a layer of social bookmarking a la Reddit or Digg, opened up to the public. After trying it out for a little while today, I realized that something felt wrong, and then it came to me - when I click on a title, I don't get taken to the website hosting that content, I get taken to a page within XYDO that hosts the content.
It's like XYDO has taken my friends' recommendations, let people vote on them and then, right when I go to click on it, stepped in and said "Here, take this instead." But what exactly is wrong with this?
My6Sense, the personalized recommendation engine for both iOS and Android, comes to the desktop today with a Chrome extension that brings the my6sense experience to Twitter.com. What exactly is the my6sense experience? my6sense uses what it calls "digital intuition" to determine what parts of your stream, whether Twitter, Facebook, Google Buzz or RSS feed, are most relevant to your interests.
We met up with Louis Gray and my6sense CEO Barak Hachamov last month to take a tour of the new product and discuss the company's plans for personalizing the Web.
RSS is not dead. But Bloglines, one of the most venerable web-based RSS readers, is about to close shop next month. According to a report on TechCrunch, Bloglines' parent company IAC will make an official announcement later today and shut the service down on October 1. In the early days of RSS, Bloglines was the go-to feed reader for early adopters. Over the last few years, however, the company struggled to innovate and hold on to its users.
Using algorithms to give personalized recommendations is hard. A lot of online services try to leverage their users' social graphs to determine the stories, books, songs or movies that are potentially of interest to them. Given that your own interests can be quite different from those of your friends, though, these systems are often limited. my6sense, on the other hand builds a personalized and constantly evolving profile for all of its users and provides recommendations purely based on what its algorithm thinks is most likely to be interesting to you. Starting today, Android users will be able to find the most interesting items in their RSS, Twitter, Facebook and Google Buzz feeds with the help of My6Sense.
Windows Phone 7 will be available in time for the Holiday Season, Microsoft says, and today the company unveiled a beautiful new RSS reading app built by an award winning team of Microsoft 2010 interns.
Called Headliner, the app adheres to the design standards of the rest of the OS (delightfully attractive, for Microsoft) and includes most of the features that mobile RSS users will want. See the demo video below and marvel at the slick UI, the clean display of feed items and the social media integration. Then tell us what you think it's still missing. I can only think of one or two things, really.
