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Google Currents debuts as mobile and tablet reader app that gives publishers control

avatar by Published Dec. 8, 2011 5:04 pm

Google released its Flipboard-style news reading app Thursday, called Currents, along with an online tool enabling publishers to create and customize their own “editions” for the app.

Currents gives an elegant browsing interface to headlines from a user’s favorite sources. People can add a blog or an RSS feed manually, or choose from over 180 customized editions created by publishers like Forbes, The Huffington Post, The Guardian, PBS, ABC News, Gawker and The Atlantic.

The PBS edition in Google Currents is highly customized with a welcome logo, branding bar and content sections.

Any publisher — from major newspaper to a lone blogger — can create and customize their Currents edition using a free online tool. It offers robust options, including header images and different content sections for traditional stories, or for social media posts, YouTube videos and photos.

Currents is available for iPhone, iPad and also Android-powered smartphones and tablets. That last part is significant. While the news app market for Apple devices is crowded, some major players like Flipboard and Zite have yet to invest in an Android app. Google Currents provides a high-powered reader for the budding market of Android tablets, including the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet.

There are no ads incorporated yet, but a Google representative tells Forbes they’re coming soon. In a perhaps-related move earlier Thursday, Google announced new rich-media ad formats for mobile devices and tablets that would integrate with apps like Currents.

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  • Anonymous

    Interesting point, Michael. I hadn’t noticed since I use Chrome anyway. I think they’d say the producer tool uses some cutting edge HTML5 that other browsers may not support… but the more cynical might see it as a push to gain browser market share.

  • http://www.planetmike.com/ Michael Clark

    Jeff, why is Google Requiring publishers to use Chrome as the web browser to access the publisher tools?

  • Anonymous

    I’m not as familiar with the Nook, Josh. I know Kindle Fire allows installation of third-party apps that aren’t market downloaded. Even if the Nook does not, I would expect this app would get into the Nook version of the app store eventually.

  • Anonymous

    There will eventually be an option for advertising in the editions, with shared revenue. Also, there’s some chance that publishers could offer paid editions I think, based on the fact that the buttons in the app now say “add for free.” I don’t know why you would say “for free” unless later there was going to be another option “for $X.99″

  • http://conecrusherforsale.com Crushers For Sale

    For Apple company, this should not a small impact on it.

  • http://twitter.com/JoWiKi Josh King

    “ including the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet.”
    Any particular reason you included that line? I am not getting it to work on my Nook Tablet. I have the apk but it wont install.

  • http://twitter.com/pwthornton Patrick Thornton

    How do publishers make money on this?