Google today released a brand new application for Android smartphones and tablets called Google Play Newsstand.
The app is meant to replace Google Currents, a social newsreader that Google is retiring. According to Google, Newsstand is what Android device owners will use to consume digital newspapers and magazines, as well as online blogs and news sites. There are more than 1,900 publications available through Newsstand, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Time, Rolling Stone, Wired, Vanity Fair, and others.
Google Currents users’ content and subscriptions will all transfer over to Newsstand when the app is installed and opened for the first time. Content can be synced for offline reading, and articles will include imagery as well as embedded sound/video.
Google Play Newsstand will be available beginning in the U.S., Canada, U.K., and Australia this week, with other regions to follow.
