Thoora, your robot buddy for exploring and sharing topics on the Web, is coming to Android tablets, and maybe even to your new Kindle Fire. Thoora’s new app, optimized for Android 3.0, is available in the Android Market now for free. The team plans to submit to the Amazon Appstore after testing on a Kindle Fire, and an iPad version and smartphone apps are coming before the end of the year.
The Thoora app has nearly all of the features of the Web version. Users can create and explore topics that Thoora builds for them using machine learning and deep Web search. Articles discovered on the Thoora app can be easily shared on all the major social services. Whether it’s just for fun or for serious research, Thoora digs deep to find you relevant content, and it feels great in the tablet form factor.
We covered Thoora’s features earlier this week. It’s a compelling alternative to the social search phenomenon of letting your friends’ tastes substitute for real context. Thoora uses machine learning algorithms to help users build topics using keywords, popularity, and over 100 other quality signals. It’s especially good at finding articles from small blogs deep within the Web, a shortcoming of typical search tools. Its attractive interface makes for a great user experience for both work and play applications, and the tablet form factor is a natural fit.
The UI is consistent with the Web version, but menus and controls have been moved to the periphery and organized in a familiar two-column tablet layout.
It’s a great fit on a Motorola Xoom, and Carrie Shaw, Thoora’s head of product, says that the Honeycomb-based app will be tested on the Kindle Fire as soon as possible. If it works as expected, they’ll submit it to the Amazon Appstore. Thoora is also developing for iPad and phones, looking to ship those versions before the end of the year.
Grab the app from the Android Market, try it out and tell us what you think! If you create any cool topics, share them in the comments.
