It’s no secret that Pulse News Reader from Alphonso Labs is one of the best RSS readers on the iPad, and their Pulse News Mini app, one of the best on the iPhone.
After first increasing the number of one’s feeds from 20 to 25 and giving users a personal blog from Posterous, the app was enhanced by increasing the number feeds to 60, adding tabs, and launching a feature called “Pulse Bizarre” which allows one to discover new and interesting sources.
Akshay Kothari, one of the creators of Pulse, was kind enough to give me an early look at even more updates to Pulse News Reader, now available.
The latest updates further cement the greatness of Pulse, while also taking aim at another popular app first featured on TNW, Flipboard.
The new features include:
- Watching videos within the app
- Easier social sharing
- Users can now browse their Facebook streams visually within Pulse through the addition of three Facebook streams to one’s feed: News links: All links that are shared by your friends on Facebook, Status updates: All your friend’s statuses and My wall: Your Facebook wall, visualized into a Pulse stream
Kothari indicates that the new features are only the beginning, with additional Facebook integration, and Twitter feeds in a “Pulse-like stream” forthcoming.
The implication is that Pulse News Reader is growing beyond simply a news reader, adding social feeds and blogging capabilities to its already wonderful design. This should have everyone’s darling iPad app, Flipboard, concerned that Pulse News Reader will not only steal some of its thunder, but may ultimately make it irrelevant.
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