Today, Yahoo! launched a personalized magazine iPad app called Livestand from Yahoo!
Scott Ard, at Y! Tech says that the app “delivers the best content from Yahoo!’s writers, editors, and video producers, as well as its partners.” Alongside similar offerings such as Flipboard and Zite, Livestand aggregates content from a variety of different sources, but differentiates itself from a straightforward aggregation model by adapting to what you like and what you read.
Called ‘CORE’ (Content Optimization Relevance Engine), the technology delivers a personalized news experience depending on what each individual user has been viewing. If the technology detects that you’re always clicking on MLB stories, it’ll offer you more like that. If you seem to gravitate instead towards watching irreverent videos featuring funny pets, you’re more likely to get served with similar ones.
Yahoo! has partnered with a bunch of content providers like ABC News and Forbes, as well as offering all the content from its partners who already provide stories in its various news sections. Right now, it’s only available to U.S. customers, but Yahoo! claims it’ll be launched in international markets soon.
Reviews in the iTunes App Store have been pretty positive so far. Obviously, there’s plenty of comparisons to Flipboard, but Livestand clearly has a slick and glossy presentation, works fairly intuitively and is an elegant way to consume news on your iPad that offers plenty of personalization options.
