Google+ leader shows off a Google+-enhanced version of the Flipboard app at the LeWeb conference in London.
(Credit: screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)
Google isn't ready to open up a Google+ interface to just anybody yet, but it has done so with one important partner, Flipboard.
An application programming interface (API) lets third-party software tap into a service, and opening the Google+ API will let people use Flipboard to read and publish Google+ posts and to comment on those posts.
Bradley Horowitz, the Google vice president of product management in charge of Google+, announced the move at the LeWeb conference in London. He showed off a prototype of the Google+-connected Flipboard software on an Apple iPad, but didn't say when it would arrive or when Google would open the Google+ API to other developers.
When might Google open it more broadly? Horowitz indicated that people should be patient: it'll happen "when we can do it in a way that we know is good for users," for example so people's Google+ streams don't get polluted with junk posts.
The Flipboard prototype brings its familiar page-turning experience to Google+ text and photos.
(Credit: screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)
The quick demo showed Flipboard's typical interface, with its design of virtual pages that people can flip from one subject to another. One page showed various photos from a particular user, another textual comments, and a third a combination of some text with a large photos. He also showed a basic interface for posting a comment to Google+.
One interesting aspect of the demo is that Google, although it's released phone-centric apps for Google+, hasn't done so with iPads yet. The Google+-enabled Flipboard software even in its prototype state looked more polished than the iPhone version scaled up to double-size resolution. Another interesting aspect: Flipboard long has favored iOS for its app, though anAndroid version of Flipboard is under development.
via : cnet.com