An big update to the innovative Flipboard app was released in the App Store today. Promising to improve the reader experience, Flipboard, already a popular leading player among social news reading apps, grew some big muscles recently and is now starting to flex them.
According to an interview earlier in the week between Flipboard CEO Mike McCue and TechCrunch, today's update focuses on three significant changes.
First, users can now included an infinite number of feeds, which is infinitely better than the previous limit of 21. Everyone likes unlimited.
Second, navigation is improved with a new Content Guide, which is curated and updated by an editor at Flipboard, pulling content from major media sources.
Finally, users can now tie into their LinkedIn accounts, view what their contacts are sharing, and even view what their contacts are currently reading on Flipboard.
According the TechCrunch article, Flipboard has "over 2 1/2 million downloads" and "11.4 million 'Flips' per day (which can be likened to pageviews)", and the company just secured an additional $50 million in funding. As competition increases from news reader apps like Pulse (free) and The Early Edition ($4.99), as well as new apps like Newsstand from Apple coming with iOS 5, Flipboard (free) seems well poised and motivated to keep pushing the technological envelope.
