Bidness ETC - Flipboard Deemed Better Than The New Apple News App

Flipboard, the news app, has been declared as more efficient with better options than the new Apple News App by analysts.

At the Worldwide Developer’s Conference that was held recently by Apple Inc, the software giant was seen to launch quite a few products and services that it had previously been working on. Among all the products and apps that the iPhone 6 makers released at the conference, the one app that got some significant attention was Apple News App, which has revealed itself to be quite a similar app to Flipboard, which is also a software made for showing latest news. The software and tech giant has always followed a pattern of bringing something great to the industry in competition with other rivals and has always managed to score more than anyone.

Therefore, when the announcement for the news app was made, it was informed that it created quite a stir at Flipboard, whose management starting digging out reasons for which they can claim to be better than the iPhone makers. The Apple News app has shown to be quite a similar app to Flipboard which is being taken by the analysts as a step to cut back down the business that the news app has already been doing in the industry. Analysts, however, are of the opinion that Flipboard needs not to worry about the competition yet since the app that has been released by the MAC producers is still not up to mark.

Flipboard services regarding the news publishing have been taken by the analysts as quite up to date and with new technology, something that Apple is apparently now experimenting with yet. The news cum magazine app was created five years back in 2010 by Mike McCue along with Evan Doll, who designed it in such a manner that it took news from all over the internet and displayed it on its app in a pattern that looked like it is from a magazine.

The users who use Flipboard are equipped with news from the all over the country and all they have to do to view more news is to flip and slide their screens on the app. The news app has also provided a station for the users to connect themselves with the other social media websites that they are logged into, through the news app.

The famous app made by McCue and Doll also has news from the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times which is also taken as a plus point from the analysts, who believe that this app is much more established and with better features and options than news app that Apple is apparently working on.

Bidness ETC - Following Nepal Earthquake, Facebook Introduces Safety Check Feature In Full Force

Pundits applaud Facebook’s most useful and significant feature, months after several testings made it come out as a winner.

Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) has announced the deployment of its “Safety Check” application, in the wake of the Nepal earthquake that has left thousands dead (and still counting) and leaving many injured, destroying historical buildings and infrastructure in the process, making it difficult for aid workers to access the affected area.

Urgent attention is the need of many loved ones still trapped, especially foreigners who use Nepal as a passageway to reach the highest summit of Mount Everest. Facebook’s safety feature allows a user to convey the message in their Facebook newsfeed to inform their loved ones that they are safe from any natural disaster that has occurred within their surroundings. The CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, rightly points out, “It is moments like this that being able to connect really matters.”

Many pundits have heaped praise on the social media giant’s initiative as the most useful and significant to date. The mechanism of the feature works in a unique manner. Based on the security feature, users within the vicinity or around the neighborhood of the disaster will receive a notification whether they are safe or not. Facebook will then pinpoint their location and verify the information based on the user’s residential address, recent visits, and recent use of the Internet. Then two options will be introduced; one “I’m safe” or “I’m not in the affected area”. When one of the answers is selected, that answer will show on the News Feed.

Likewise, if someone wants to be sure of their friend’s safety, then they can check the status on a designated Safety Check Page, by pointing out the number of friends in the affected area.

The question remains that what actually prompted, if not inspired, the company to come up with this feature, since there is an element of social dimension to this. The social media giant came up with this unique and novel feature after the Japanese Tsunami in 2011. The idea among many strategists is that people used to keep in touch with their loved ones through social media and technology, giving latest news and status about the well-being of affected families or those indirectly affected by it.

In March this year, the company put its Safety Check to test once again after Cyclone Pam stormed the Southern Pacific, and the results were astounding. It reported that over a quarter of a million people used the service to search about the safety of their loved ones. Thus, it is hoped that this feature will provide a peace of mind to many victims and people who are affected by the disaster, one way or the other, to let them be known if they are safe or not.

Facebook’s stock price ended the day at $81.86, a gain of 0.01%.