News.me is a social news experience from bit.ly unlike any other currently in the App Store. Not only does it provide you with a list of content your friends are sharing like applications such as Flipboard and Zite, but it also allows you to view the content they are reading. It claims to offer a “seamless interface for immersive reading” that uses “science to find the most relevant content in every user’s stream.”
The News.me iPad app just hit the App Store, but made news before its release thanks to its backing from the New York Times, and the publishers and websites that are also on board; such as AOL, Forbes, Gawker, Business Insider, Gigaom, Mashable, Venturebeat and the Associated Press.
This new social news aggregator looks pretty impressive, but it comes at a price. You can either sign up weekly through an in-app purchase of $0.99, or you can take out a yearly subscription at $34.99.
The application’s App Store description lists its features:
- Explore your own News.me stream based on the people you follow
- Explore others’ News.me streams to see the news that they are reading
- Access the News.me streams of notable users such as Steven Johnson and Nicholas Kristof
- Read full articles ad-free from major publishers like the New York Times
- View full text, images, and videos in an elegant and streamlined layout
- Save stories for later in your News.me reading list (or add to Instapaper)
- Personalized relevance filters using bit.ly data
- Browse and read the news offline
What’s interesting about News.me is that you can read full articles from The New York Times that won’t count against your paywall limit. However, you can only gain access to articles shared through by your friends; you can’t just read any article as you wish.
News.me’s early App Store reviews are singing its praises, and it currently has a rating of 4.5 stars. There’s a one week trial period before you have to subscribe, so give it a try and let us know what you think.
