Instead of having to click through a hodgepodge of links, Flipboard users will be able to flip through digital pages with all the text and images already displayed.By Michael Liedtke Apple Inc.'s iPad has hatched a new breed of magazines, one filled with a constantly changing mix of articles, photos and videos picked out by your friends, family and other people within your online social circle. This new twist on digital publishing comes courtesy of Flipboard, a free iPad application that made its debut Wednesday. Flipboard is mining the hundreds of millions of Web links posted each day on two of the world's most popular outlets for sharing information and imagery, Facebook and Twitter. All those links are automatically converted into a “social magazine” format that's customized for anyone who allows Flipboard to sift through their Facebook and Twitter accounts. Instead of having to click through a hodgepodge of links, Flipboard users will be able to flip through digital pages with all the text and images already displayed on Apple's hot-selling computer tablet. The content of this advertising-supported magazine will change as frequently as the links posted within a Flipboard user's Facebook and Twitter accounts. In hopes of making things even more personal, Flipboard bought another startup called Ellerdale that developed technology to analyze what kinds of information appeal to different people. Theoretically, Ellerdale would allow Flipboard to figure out users' favorite sports teams and other unique interests, based on their reading patterns and comments. Flipboard, based in Palo Alto, Calif., is drawing upon the assorted specialty lists created in Twitter to offer categories focused on particular interests, such as technology and sports. It also plans to hone its technology to render links from other popular social media tools, such as the photo site Flickr and the professional networking site LinkedIn.
