Tech - Best App of 2011

Posted by Rajan Manickavasagam
December 26th, 2011


News 360

Rating: 4 out of 5



I think, one of the habits we all have is reading news or other articles on the net. Generally people use their browser to read the news. This year has seen a lot of mobile and tablet apps launched in the market. One of the leading apps is of course, Flipboard. But it's available only in the iOS platform for now. In the other mobile platforms, we have apps like Pulse, Feedly and the latest entrant - Google Currents. For me, the one app that stands out is News360.

Depending on your platform, download the app from your respective app store. When it starts, it shows all the latest news across various categories like World, Politics, Technology etc. But here comes the interesting part, you can personalize it by connecting your online profiles like Facebook, Google Reader, Evernote and Twitter. The app analyses all your activity and other information and then personalizes the news for you. As you can see above, it has worked out my interests and articles based on my online profiles. It works quite well, so much so that I have stopped using Pulse (my earlier news app reader). I now use this app to catch up on all the latest news and articles.

The user experience is quite good. In the landscape mode, you will see the images pan and zoom, giving it a kind of video effect, that's quite clever. The app itself is quite fast. There are options to save the article if you don't have time. You can also share articles on the various social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and so on. From the app, you can also go to the original article and that loads quickly too.

In addition to the app, there is a browser plugin available too. But, it works in a completely different manner. As you read the articles on the various news sites, the plugin provides additional information in a non-obtrusive way. And, here is where I like the approach of the developers. They have thought through and created different user experience for each platform. The devil is always in the detail!

For me, this is the best app of 2011. Feel free to give it a try.
Location: Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, UK

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