Flipboard is released for Windows 8

Flipboard is possibly the most gorgeous news reader app EVER. It originated on iOS, eventually moved over to Android and it is now coming to Windows. If you’ve never heard of Flipboard and you have a Windows 8 computer or tablet then you are in for a treat today.

This is how Flipboard describe their app in the Windows Store.

Flipboard is your personal magazine. It is the most popular way to catch up on the news you care about, read stories from around the world and browse the articles, videos and photos friends are sharing. To begin, pick a few topics and tap any of the tiles to begin flipping through your personal magazine.

The app store has a pretty self explanatory list of features.

? All your news, interests and social updates in one personalized magazine.? Save stories you love into your own magazine. Use the “+” button on any item, select “create a magazine” and collect favorite stories, images or videos.? Search for anything—people, topics, hashtags, blogs, your favorite sites—and flip through the results in a beautiful magazine format.? Connect Flipboard to up to 12 social networks, streamlining your reading and activities like commenting, liking and sharing. Services include Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google+ and many more.? Read Cover Stories for a quick check on what’s happening now. Cover Stories is created just for you and is filled with popular items from everything you’ve added to your Flipboard.? Enjoy Flipboard in 18 localized editions: for Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latin America, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Taiwan, US and UK.? Explore hundreds of staff picks using “Discover” at the top, including must-read magazines and blogs, gorgeous photography and special curated sections devoted to the day’s news and other interests.? Access Flipboard quickly by adding Flipboard as a live tile on your Windows Start screen.

The app itself is all about news, your Twitter timeline, the rubbish from your Facebook feed, the endless stream of selfies from your Instagram feed and a LOT of horizontal swiping and I mean an awful lot. Everything is done by swiping the screen. You can configure it to display as little or as much as you want, it is really worth having a play with it. Just click on the link below.

Windows 8 Store Link – Flipboard

GMusic 2 for iOS released – 1 day discount too

GMusic is a Google Music client for iOS in case you hadn’t come across it before. It has just received a major overhaul in both back end and user interface, with the new UI being released as dedicated iOS7 app – GMusic 2. Existing users will benefit from the back updates in the existing app.

The new UI looks beautiful in dark grey/black with orange highlights. It has been designed specifically around iOS7, and perfectly matches the new flat look.

Sign into the app and you can access anything from your Google Music library and it also provides access to the new All Access service as well. You can browse by Artist, Album, Genre, Songs or Playlists, as well as Search function. Tracks can be streamed or stored for offline listening and there is also an Equaliser thrown in too. Last.fm scrobbling and lockscreen controls round off the functionality – in all, a comprehensive spec.

It’s a great Google Music client that has been brought bang up to date with iOS7 and All Access – and for today only its discounted to 69p to celebrate its launch.

Link – GMusic 2 for iOS in App store

Oppo N1 trailer released

News of the Oppo N1 has been floating around in various forms for a while now, with a social marketing plan that puts most others to shame (which we discussed on the Podcast a couple of weeks back). Part of this social media push was a countdown sitting on the Oppo site, that has just ticked over to 00:00:00:00 and unveiled a trailer for the N1.

The trailer doesn’t really reveal anything at all about the N1, so all we’re left with to chew over for now is the rear touch panel. The touch panel has been a hot topic of conversation for the Coolsmartphone staff, with some reckoning it to be a genuinely useful feature, and others being slightly more skeptical.

Whilst I personally can’t find a use for a rear touch panel for scrolling, it’s a unique feature that will definitely appeal to some people – even if, like most some of Samsung’s TouchWiz, you’ll never really use it. Check out the video below, and stay tuned for more Oppo news – the next trailer goes live on the 4th of September, leading up to a grand reveal on the 23rd of September.

Source: Oppo

I’m a student and developer from North West England. I’m currently working as a co-founder and UX Developer for the AwesomePixel Co., a team of four developers based in England.