HTC announced a new media platform for mobile devices called BlinkFeed at the HTC launch Tuesday Feb. 19 in New York City. BlinkFeed is a real-time stream of information from various media platforms and applications for updates on news, sports and entertainment.
BlinkFeed can also pull in profile updates from a user's personal calendar and from social media network applications including Twitter, Plurk, LinkedIn and Flickr. All of the content is organized in tile format as seen on Flipboard.
Similar to Flipboard's newsfeeds, BlinkFeed offers live news, but it's in an organized and interactive format. BlinkFeed turns the main screen of the device into a news feed, allowing the user to simply look at the device and see updated news. People look at their devices habitually, whether they are waiting for a bus, waiting for friends or waiting for the elevator.
BlinkFeed allows users to turn their phones into customizable live-stream devices, allowing the addition and removal of topics with ease. Users can choose the type of content received in their devices and can obtain instant access on topics that they are interested in.
President of HTC Jason Mackenzie demonstrated BlinkFeed on the new HTC One handset, showing attendees at the event how information from some of the biggest brands, such as AP, MTV and ESPN can be directly streamed to the user. The partnership between HTC and ESPN helps broaden the major sports information brand by making it available to people on their mobile devices. A combination of sports on mobile devices will possibly allow ESPN to grasp an even wider audience.
Instant access to information is a trend among mobile users, a reason why RSS feeds are used by many. BlinkFeed meets the demand for instant fresh content by providing users with the latest updated information on news, sports and entertainment in the palm of their hands through their mobile phones.
