Speaking Of Flipboard

It’s official, Flipboard has me hooked. If you like to read quick, diverse, magazine style current events, news and articles of your choice in an attractive informative format, Flipboard can get you hooked too. Download this free social news reader magazine app today and see for yourself.

Being a constant hunter-gatherer of information, news and knowledge, Flipboard was made for me. I still start my day on the laptop with coffee and catching up with Google News, FB, G+, Twitter and email. Throughout the day when time allows Flipboard on the iPhone gets used to fill in reading time with articles of interest on a wide range of subjects and tidbits of knowledge adding more spice along the way. Convenient, responsive, mobile, I can use it anywhere my iPhone goes.

To help anyone just getting started or looking to expand their Flipboard experience here is Nine Ways That You, Too, Can be a Flipboard for iPhone Power User.

Flipboard also has a handy Help page too. Or you can access it in the Flipboard app by tapping the Settings gear, then About, there you will find Help.

After only a week with it on my iPhone, please call me a Flipboarder!

Chris Nielsen – Notion Tree

iPhone – Flipboard, Currents or Zite?

Magazines of the future are here today and reside in multiplicity in apps on your mobile device. The competition has heated up recently with several new entries in the field. All present news, current events and articles in a visual and attractive fashion. Each with their own modes of displaying, organizing, selecting and sharing your desired content that will help you decide which one fits your information flow best.

Flipboard started on the iPad and is now available for iPhone too. A model of visual functionality that is described perfectly by its name, Flipboard is very easy to learn to use. They get high marks for ease of use to set up your content choices and sources. Flipboard also makes it easy to tie into your social media accounts. Add Google Reader to your content stream as well. Flipboard is the benchmark right now.

Currents is Google’s brand new offering. To get started you sign in with your Google ID. You begin with standard free content sources, implying possible premium content may added later. Change your content sources and categories by navigating through the settings. You can also add your Google Reader sources, although I had to sign out and back in again for them to show up in my feed. Currents has plenty of choices for information, but I found the app to be less user friendly and straightforward to set up than Flipboard or Zite. My other complaint is that Currents spends a lot of time syncing, even with a decent wi-fi connection, and sometimes the pages get a bit sticky. A few times the app would completely stop for a few seconds before returning to normal operation. The app is not quite as stark to look at as some of the other Google apps and is pleasing visually without being over done.

Zite is extremely easy to set up, easy to navigate while using and pleasing to look at at too. Zite uses algorithms to train itself to cater to your desired content. This may give less direct control over desired content and I’ll pass judgement after more time with the app to see how well it performs. Zite can use your Twitter, Google and Read It Later accounts to help find content that interests you although it is not required. Zite is a pleasure to use and read content with. It is responsive and fairly snappy. Very easy to navigate to different categories with its top navigation bar or simply swiping side to side on the pages. Easy to share to social media or visit the originating website.

Content is king. In the long run the biggest fights between these competing apps are likely to be more in content sourcing than in app functionality. At this point Flipboard has the edge, but it has existed longer as an iPad app thereby giving them a head start in the information race. However, CNN purchased Zite so they obviously see an avenue of opportunity. Google certainly is already in the news and information game in a big way, so Currents fits right into their plan.

My hope would be for the majority of content sources to be available on multiple apps. That would allow users to choose the app that suits them best for most of their information flow. Eventually some sources will be exclusive or charge for premium content and then the user will have to use the app where that source is available. There are already examples of content available on one app, but not others. But, there are so many ways to obtain information beyond apps, and then again beyond mobile devices, it would make sense for app developers and content providers to keep that in mind.

These apps are so useful to grab some quick news and information at anytime, any day while on the go. They have become quite popular in a relatively short time and their usage growth continues to rise rapidly. So far Flipboard is my favorite for functionality, content and ease of use. It is more mature than the other two apps and is actually fun to use without being gimmicky. Zite is the easiest to navigate and is my second favorite. The down side for Zite is not enough direct control of content. Currents seems more complex than it needs to be at times. It is also has more performance issues than the other two. It does give provide good control, especially with Google Reader where you can select which individual Reader news sources will show up in your Currents feed. Bottom line, I’ll use Flipboard as first choice, but continue to read Zite and Currents as well to see how they all continue to develop.

Which reader is your favorite and why?

Chris Nielsen – Notion Tree

iPhone 3GS – Drive it like you stole it…

For U$28 it feels that way. That is all it cost out the door at the local AT & T store. They had been sold out of the price is right 3GS on previous trips. Finally, 4 days ago the stars lined up and I purchased my first iPhone. In fact, my first smartphone ever. There was never any question that it would be the iPhone.

For 4 days now I’ve had a ball learning how to use it, installing apps, surfing, emailing anywhere/everywhere, listening to music, getting directions… Holy Cow, is there anything this thing can’t do? Fortunately, I already had some experience with friend’s iPhones and even provided tech support for one technophobe friend having problems with his iPhone, mobile.me and MS exchange.

It is nice that this device, software and usage is so well developed and the presence is so entrenched. It’s a good time to be an iPhone user. So many apps, so little time. Everybody seems to want to cater to the iPhone connection.

Apps dl’d so far:

Evernote, Dropbox, Springpad, Currents, Flipboard, BandOfTheDay, RadioParadise, SoundHound, Instagram, PS Express, FB, FB Messenger, Skype, Accuweather, MyRadar & PayPal. Some of the like apps are on a shake-out to see which one fits my work & info/flow the best. Have used or at least opened and checked out all apps.

Set up most of my current, multiple email addresses. DL’d a few songs and loaded a bunch from my Mac. Rolled and loaded a bunch of custom made iPhone wallpapers. DL’d and installed a bunch of ringtones. Got some iBooks, mostly free. Took a some photos and videos, sent them to my MBP via DropBox, quite painless. Used iCal for appointments, Notes for shopping lists and to do’s shared seamlessly with the MBP via iCloud. Listened to my fave internet radio station RadioParadise while driving around town. I could go on and on.

So far the 3GS is proving to be quite the bargain. It may not be the 4 or 4S, but the price cannot be beat. The cel reception seems to be better than my previous phone, a very basic _dumb_ phone. That is good news and was a concern prior to purchase.

The faster performance of the newer iPhones doesn’t really bother me, this is the only iPhone I’ve ever owned. Much of my internet usage is on WiFi. Even the 3G network seems adequate, although somewhat slower, it’s ok.

One disappointment, can’t block phone numbers from spammers/telemarketers. Looks like the blacklist apps available work better on a phone that’s been jailbreaked. Not going to go that route on my phone. Must admit, I do not understand why it is possible to block numbers on a dumb phone, but not on a smart phone. Is it for technological reasons or an error of omission?

Overall, my satisfaction rating would have to be 99% favorable with the iPhone 3GS. It is not surprising that Apple continues to produce and sell mass quantities of this version of the iPhone. They have added backwards compatibility for most features in the iOS. The iPhone environment is mature and the platform is robust.

This might sound like old news for long time iPhone users, but imagine what it would be like if you had never had an iPhone before and one just fell into your hands. Or worse, imagine what it would be like if your iPhone was taken away.

Chris Nielsen – Notion Tree