The rumors we heard a few days ago are true. Today, Yahoo announced on its blog that it plans to launch a customizable digital news magazine called Livestand. Available on iPad and Android tablets to start, Livestand will combine all of Yahoo’s varied news and content outlets to synthesize a custom Flipboard-style magazine for each reader. The service will be graphic heavy, react to your interests, and feature a “wealth” of content from Yahoo properties and independent publishers.
“This ultra personalized content experience is our vision for Livestand from Yahoo! – a digital newsstand, delivering a wealth of ever-changing content from multiple publishers, continuously programmed by a person’s interests and contexts,” writes Blake Irving, chief product officer at Yahoo. “With Livestand from Yahoo!, what you’re reading will be personalized based on your interests, your location and even the time of day. Your experiences, which will begin on tablet form factors, will include intuitive touch interactions and an elegant design that focuses foremost on the content.”
Yahoo also spends time explaining how the platform is good for advertisers, claiming that it will combine the quality and beauty of full magazine advertisements with the information, metrics, and targeted nature of online ads.
Yahoo has been working on this product for some time, but it will not be the lone visual content aggregator. Already, Flipboard has caused quite a stir and has become one of the most popular apps on the iPad. Google also has plans to enter the space with its own digital newsstand of some kind.
Yahoo’s Livestand will be available sometime in the first half of 2011.
