Google Currents goes global

Google's curated news and content app, called Currents, is now available to Australian iOS and Android users, with some local outlets already publishing content specifically formatted for the new reader.

ABC News on Google Currents.
(Screenshot by Luke Hopewell/ZDNet Australia)

Google Currents debuted for tablets in the US last December, launching with a bang as it presented the first — and possibly only — serious competition for Flipboard. Since then, the mobile news curation app hasn't grown much in terms of features and content, but that is changing now.

Google product manager Mussie Shore explained on the Google Mobile blog that "after the US launch, the top features readers requested were to make the app available internationally, and to allow content to sync quickly".

Syncing content doesn't seem to have sped up much, depending on your internet connection, but Google Currents developers have responded to the international interests.

Google Currents is now expanding internationally, meaning that users can curate their own news feeds local to them, while content producers can format and submit their content for Google's new media reader. Using a new "globe" icon, Currents readers can automatically translate content into one of 38 supported languages.

A handful of Australian publishers have already jumped on the Currents bandwagon, with ABC News, Mumbrella and Gizmodo Australia already configured for the new Google app. Other international publications, including The Guardian in the UK, LaStampa in Italy, Financial Times Deutschland in Germany and The Hindustan Times in India, have also started publishing editions with local content.

Users of the app can also add their favourite local blogs, which are instantly converted into Currents editions.

Luke Hopewell contributed to this article.

Via ZDNet US