Social News Applications€¦ · Klaudia I. Jurewicz - News Mobile Applications – Social Networking SIG – Sun City Grand Computer Club Social News Applications Summary of the

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Klaudia I. Jurewicz - News Mobile Applications – Social Networking SIG – Sun City Grand Computer Club

Social News ApplicationsSocial News ApplicationsSocial News ApplicationsSocial News Applications

Summary of the presentation

Where: Social Networking SIG (Sun City Grand Computer Club)

Date: March 2013

1. Different forms of news applications

a. Newspaper/Magazines - e.g.: News York Times, Arizona Republic, National Geographic

b. Topics: multi-source news applications

2. History of news applications: RSS (Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication)

a. Allows people to follow their favorite websites through story streams (news feeds), which could

be bundled together inside one program (RSS reader)

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List of recommended NEWS APPLICATIONS:

1. FLIPBOARD

a. Connect with social media applications (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and share what you read with

your friends on social media

b. Pick your favorite topics/categories

c. Search for people, topics, blogs, websites, photos, videos and magazines

d. Save interesting articles “for later”

e. Flipboard is experimenting with advertising – that might be not the best option for

users

f. It’s a free application

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2. Pulse

a. You can save favorite article for later

b. It’s a free application

c. User-friendly application

d. White-on-black design is not the best to read

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3. Editions by AOL

a. Free application

b. One of the most “like a paper magazine” design among news

applications

c. You can add your zip code to show local weather and news

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4. FLUD

a. You can share everything you read with your friends on social media networks

b. Free application

c. Read news with friends

d. Option to easy switching between streamlined text view and full website view

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5. GOOGLE CURRENTS

a. Free application

b. Easy and user-friends

c. Simple to navigate

d. You have access to “trending” tab that shows which articles are most popular in

each topic category

e. There are some problems with sharing articles on social media networks

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6. SKYGRID

a. Free application

b. The Android version of SkyGrid has become one of the most popular

news applications in the Android Market

c. Too many ads might distract reader

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7. TROVE

a. Free application

b. This application was created by team from the Washington Post

c. Good personalization

d. Good navigation feature

e. Access to wide range of news sources (over 3,000 sources)

f. Too many ads/clutter

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8. ZITE

a. Free application

b. One of the best news applications available for mobile devices

c. This application analyzes your feeds and makes up its own section headings based on

the subjects it thinks you like

d. Evernote integration

e. You can share on social media networks

f. It asks you whether you liked each article you read, and uses your answer to adjust what it shows

you in the future

g. You can ask for more content from the same author, or on the same subject

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9. NEWS 360

a. Great integration with Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Evernote

b. Free application

c. Great amount of sources – user can select an article, and have the option to read

about the same topic from a variety of on-line sources

d. Learns what kind of stories you like/dislike as you read

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10. PRISMATIC

a. Free application

b. Visual experience of scanning through what’s popular in your Twitter network

c. Very strong connection to Twitter platforms

d. Good work of combining articles and tweets, which makes it a very unique experience

of seeing what stories are being discussed

e. It’s designed for Twitter users because Twitter is a primary source of news

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11. POCKET

a. Best application for those who would like to save articles for later

b. User can connect other news applications to POCKET

c. Zite users can link directly to, and anyone using Mobile Safari to browse the web

can also integrate Pocket

d. Free application

e. Very user-friendly simply layout

12. READABILITY

a. Free application

b. The text is reproduced into clean, classic displays makes it ideal for consuming long

reads, and it is compatible with a number of other news discovery applications,

including Pulse, Flipboard

c. This application is built to create a nice, elegant looking place to read, with as few distractions as

possible (no ads, clean design + you can change font size)

d. You can save articles to read later

13. UMANO

a. Free application

b. Umano consists of a collection of voice actors who read aloud a selection of tech-

centric articles

c. A download function, which allows for offline listening

d. The limit of this application is the number of articles that the Umano team can provide.

e. When you use this application I recommend to use free Wi-Fi internet connection

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14. VODIO

a. Free application

b. Application dedicated to video content

c. I recommend to use it when you have access to free Wi-Fi internet connection

d. By selecting five topics, and linking this application to your social media platforms

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15. CIRCA NEWS

a. User-friendly application

b. Free application

c. Team of editions from Circa News who work on breaking down topics

d. The application itself is friendly to readers who might choose to simply barge in

without really figuring out its interface, and the functionality that allows one to pin

articles from further updates is a nice way to stay on top of specific topics

Additional Information:

16. Most of the news applications are alike

17. Most of those applications offer access to a mix of content from published sources

18. Most of those applications give users access to share articles via Facebook, Twitter, email, Evernote, etc.

19. The differences between applications users can find in design

20. Which application users chooses as their news reader will depend on their personal taste

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Social News Applications€¦ · Klaudia I. Jurewicz - News Mobile Applications – Social Networking SIG – Sun City Grand Computer Club Social News Applications Summary of the