Facebook May Launch a Flipboard-Like News Reader This Month

Share real stories instead of selfies.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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It’s been years in the making, but Facebook looks like it will finally launch its new reading service for mobile devices this month.

According to a close source, the service is called “Paper” and is very similar to Flipboard, the popular mobile curated news reading app. The similarities are striking: both are aggregators of media and display a number of news stories from different publications. The feature will come with an organized section for viewing status updates from Facebook users (of course.) Visually, it's said to look like actual paper, which is a breath of fresh air for those who miss the pre-digital age. Paper’s intention is to take all the pros from Facebook’s News Feed —where never-ending content is available by simply continuously scrolling down a page—and redesigning it into a more curated format. However, numerous delays with the design halted the application and eventually, CEO Mark Zuckerberg got directly involved with the project.

There’s still question as to whether Paper will be exclusively for mobile devices or will have a desktop functionality that will cater to mobile users, to make the launch as big as possible. A redesign almost a year ago Facebook's Newsfeed was rolled out to a small group of users, but was met with lukewarm results. With Flipboard already flourishing on the market, it will be tough for Facebook to get a loyal audience to use their product. Do you think Paper can compete with Flipboard? Let us know below.

[via CNET]

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