New Google Reader for Tablets: Google Currents

Google has released a customizable news reader for Android and Apple tablet computers. They call it Google Currents. Much like Flipboard before it, it makes reading news items from the web a lot more pleasant experience than trying to figure out RSS feeds as in Google Reader. It  takes web news and puts it in a format anyone can use. If Google Currents had come first and Flipboard second, people might have been calling Flipboard the Google Currents killer. With the timing reversed, I'm not exactly sure how nervous Flipboard should be. Currents has the advantage over Flipboard in that it's available for both Android and iOS. Flipboard has no Android version. Flipboard beats Currents slightly on visual appeal and pretty substantially on social network integration. Currents has basic Facebook and Twitter integration and surprisingly disapointing integration with Google+. You can +1 an article, but not share it to your Google+ feed.  Still it's a great option for Android, and it's Google Reader feed integration may make it a winning play even for those using an iPad or iPhone to read their news.

About Phil Yanov

Phil Yanov is a Technologist, Columnist and Public Radio Commentator.

He is the founder of Tech After Five as well as the founder and President of the GSA Technology Council and the IT Leadership Council.

His personal technology column appears in Greenville Business Magazine and the Columbia Business Journal.

He co-hosts the Your Day technology shows heard on NPR radio stations across South Carolina and is a frequent contributor to technology stories appearing on radio and television.