Feedly upgrades site to prep for Google Reader's demise
The RSS service has kicked off its new Feedly cloud site with a fresh look on the front end and its own dedicated back end untethered to Google.
Feedly has completed its next wave of Web site upgrades designed to serve as a spiffy, new welcome mat for users of Google Reader, which is shutting down.
Existing users of the Feedly news aggregator and those migrating from Google Reader will now find a refreshed site compatible with all major browsers, Feedly said in a blog post Wednesday. The overhauled site adds support for Internet Explorer and Opera and boasts a new interface that doesn't require plug-ins or browser extensions.
In line with its new cloud, Feedly is no longer shackled to Google. Previously, the site depended on Google Reader's servers for its back-end technology. But now Feedly has its own dedicated infrastructure that it promises will be fast and scalable to handle a growing amount of information. The company said that its new cloud is now processing more than 25 million RSS feeds and billions of articles each day.
Finally, developers have cooked up nine cloud-based applications for Feedly users. Among those are news readers for most of the major platforms, including Windows 8, Windows Phone, iOS, Android, and BlackBerry. Also on the list are an Android widget and a Windows desktop client.
Google Reader has long provided RSS feeds. But the search giant will retire Reader come July 1. As a result, Feedly has been retooling its own service and adding more features to welcome aboard all of those soon-to-be former Google Reader users. Such people who jump to Feedly can import all of their customized news feeds from Google Reader, Feedly said.