Zite hopes to be the Pandora of iPad magazines

By Jeffrey Van Camp March 9, 2011

zite-ipad-magazine-free — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Do you love magazines, but hate that a group of “editors” get to choose your stories?! Well, we have found the app for you. Using technology by researchers at the University of British Columbia’s Laboratory for Computational Intelligence, Zite personalizes your news and article content based entirely around your interests, much like Pandora figures out your music tastes with a simple song entry. Better still, it’s free.

Here’s how it works: you link up one or more of your social accounts–Twitter, Google Reader–and Zite analyzes your feeds to create a magazine that’s customized entirely to your liking. It will pull content from Websites you like as well as interesting articles from Websites you may not know about. Once it figures out the basics, it asks you what articles you liked as well and watches to see if which article links you click on and which you don’t, further refining its knowledge of what you like.

“It’s a combination of semantic- and statistically based machine learning,” said CEO Ali Davar, of Zite’s content algorithm, to CNN. “It works by looking at the articles you click on and the characteristics of those articles. Is the article longer or shorter? Is it skewed toward one element of a topic or another? Is it a political blog? If so, does it have have a right- or left-wing slant?”

This level of customization takes it beyond competing custom magazines like Flipboard or Yahoo’s Livestand. “What’s broken is there’s so much stuff out there, and I don’t know how to get to it,” said Zite Founder and CEO Ali Devar. “There’s no automatic system that’s catching the important stuff I miss every day. Search doesn’t solve it. Social doesn’t solve it. A lot of [Zite testers] came back to us and said, ‘Thank goodness, here’s something that gives me my content and more, but filters it for me.’ People are feeling the pain, and they need it resolved.”

Giving it a try

We downloaded the app and gave it a go. It successfully pulled in interests and we’re pretty impressed with the service so far. It pulled in relevant stories and has a sleek user interface. Below are a couple screenshots from our iPad.

zite-ipad-magazine-screenshot-main-page — Image used with permission by copyright holder

zite-ipad-magazine-screenshot-building-your-magazine — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Jeffrey Van Camp

Former Digital Trends Contributor

As DT's Deputy Editor, Jeff helps oversee editorial operations at Digital Trends. Previously, he ran the site's…

Mobile

Best iPad deals: Pro, Air, Mini and accessories on sale

iPad Pro 2020 Screen

Over the past decade Apple has expanded the tablet market and helped turn the tablet into a computing device that’s relied upon daily by both businesses and individuals. There is now a wide range of iPad models available to choose from, and a wide range of accessories as well. Apple products are difficult to find discounts on, but there are quite a few Apple iPad deals taking place right now. We’ve tracked them all down, and with so many models available to choose from, we’ve got you covered in researching the best iPads to buy as well.
Apple iPad (2021) — $270, was $329

If you’re in search of a new tablet but want to avoid the high price points of the Apple iPad Pro lineup, the Apple iPad (2021) is a much more affordable option. It’s a very capable of iPad, as it has all-day battery life, the Apple A13 Bionic chip, and an immersive 10.2-inch Retina display. All of this makes the iPad a great device for creating with, for interacting with the digital world with, and for sitting down with for an evening of movie watching. This WiFi-only model comes in Space Gray with 64GB of internal storage, which is typically plenty for most tablet users’ needs.

Mobile

Best iPad Pro deals: Save on the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro

Someone using Final Cut Pro on an iPad.

Some of the best tablet deals involve the iPad Pro -- one of the most popular tablets around right now. There are some big savings to be enjoyed on the latest models and we're here to help you find them. Below, we've picked out the best iPad Pro deals available right now, before looking at other retailers you might want to consider buying from. We've also looked at the best time to buy.
Today's iPad Pro deals
When we reviewed the iPad Pro, we said there's nothing quite like it. It's an extremely powerful tablet and easily one of the best tablets you can buy today. It offers a powerful M2 processor that you see on the latest MacBook laptops so it's highly competent for multitasking, video editing, and pretty much anything else you throw at it. Besides its 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU, its Liquid Retina display looks fantastic with ProMotion, True Tone, and P3 wide color support all ensuring picture quality is exceptional. The 12.9-inch model has the better screen with 1,000 nits of brightness and 1,600 nits of peak brightness, but both look good. Here's an overview of the best iPad Pro deals right now, including the cellular model.

Retailers with iPad deals
When buying one of the best iPads, your options are limited if you want to save well. Here's a quick look at the best retailers for iPad deals so you can save some money on the expensive but worthwhile investment.

Computing

Best Apple Deals: MacBooks, AirPods, iPads, iMacs, AirTags and more

dell xps 15 vs macbook pro 16 apple ry 14 1200x9999

Pretty much all Apple products are some of the best-in-class for their respective type of tech. However, you do pay for the privilege with many devices like iPads or MacBooks costing a little more than non-Apple variants. That's why it's so useful to find great Apple deals like the ones below. We've picked out some of the best ways to save substantially on highly sought after Apple products from accessories to AirPods and more. Take a look below at some of our favorite Apple deals right now.
AirTags (4-pack) -- $89, was $99

If you worry about misplacing items, you need Apple AirTags. With a simple one-tap setup, your iPhone or iPad is instantly connected to an AirTag so that you can always use find items via the Find My app. That could be your car keys, your bag, or anything else that you can fit or slip an AirTag into. If you misplace something, you can simply put the AirTag into Lost Mode to be notified when it's detected in the Find My network helping you pin it down. You can also play a sound through the built-in speaker if you know it's nearby but you're not sure if it's worth moving the couch to find it.