If you read a lot of your news online, Google’s new Fast Flip will bowl you over. Why? Because it takes away the most annoying aspect of reading news online: going back and forth between various newspapers and Web sites to take a peek at what exactly they are writing about a given subject, thus having to endure slow loading times and tons of ads.
But why bother listening to us? Krishna Bharat, a Distinguished Researcher at Google News, explains it best in a post on the official blog:
“One problem with reading news online today is that browsing can be really slow. A media-rich page loads dozens of files and can take as much as 10 seconds to load over broadband, which can be frustrating. What we need instead is a way to flip through articles really fast without unnatural delays, just as we can in print. The flow should feel seamless and let you rapidly flip forward to the content you like, without the constant wait for things to load. Imagine taking 10 seconds to turn the page of a print magazine!
“Today we’re adding a new experiment to Google Labs: Google Fast Flip, accessible at fastflip.googlelabs.com.
“Fast Flip is a new reading experience that combines the best elements of print and online articles. Like a print magazine, Fast Flip lets you browse sequentially through bundles of recent news, headlines and popular topics, as well as feeds from individual top publishers. As the name suggests, flipping through content is very fast, so you can quickly look through a lot of pages until you find something interesting. At the same time, we provide aggregation and search over many top newspapers and magazines, and the ability to share content with your friends and community.
“Fast Flip also personalises the experience for you, by taking cues from selections you make to show you more content from sources, topics and journalists that you seem to like.
“In short, you get fast browsing, natural magazine-style navigation, recommendations from friends and other members of the community and a selection of content that is serendipitous and personalised.”
What’s more, Google has also developed a mobile version of Fast Flip (activated by clicking the option in the top-right corner of the screen) with tactile page flipping for Android-powered devices and the iPhone, so you can browse on the go.
We have been trying this out since morning and honestly, it’s never been this cool and easy to check out news online. This one is here to stay, we hope!