Google is building new stuff always to compete against the iPad and now is coming out with an alternative to Flipboard called Google Propeller. Currently details are vague but would make it a cross-platform app, serving both Android and iPad users. Not much is known about what it does but Rackspace’s Robert Scoble understood that it’s “mind-blowing good”.
The app is part of a larger campaign of social apps and other related content. Now the exact reason behind Google Propeller isn’t known but is said to be aimed at Google’s efforts towards mobile and social users. It would likely help with use of +1 and Google+ for sharing favorite articles, both with the general web and with friend circles.It may also fill a wide gap in Android’s app portfolio. With the exception of occasional ports such as Pulse, Android tablets have often been cut out of the hot curated tablet news app space.
Flipboard is currently an iPad exclusive and will only eventually reach Android.Google is believed to have tried snapping up Flipboard in 2010, just as it was developing its reputation and became Apple’s iPad app of the year. It reportedly told Flipboard that it would compete in the space whether or not an acquisition went through.