Tackable: your local newspaper on a map

The combination of the Internet, mobile devices and social media has brought about profound change to the way we get our news. For many of us, the days of beginning each morning with a hard copy of the local newspaper are gone forever. Tackable, however, has created a new app that combines the strengths of the local paper along with a wealth of other content and delivers it in a unique way.

"Imagine cutting up your newspaper into 10,000 little pieces and putting the best of the best on a map—the best articles, the best deals, the best coupons, the best ads, the best events—and also bringing in community—what your neighbors are talking about—placing that on a map and making it real-time and social," explains Luke Stangel, Co-founder of Tackable. "So that's what we're building, essentially a newspaper on a map."

A map is the primary navigation for Tackable. The app determines where you are located and pulls in news stories that are occurring nearby. You can also search for events in your neighborhood, photos that other users have contributed, or you can contribute relevant content yourself. Content is layered, so you can customize the experience by turning on or off certain layers to reveal only the information that is most relevant and interesting to you.

"The map is like a ten-layer cake," says Stangel, "there's lots and lots of different layers of information. There's the professional news content, there's the user generated/citizen journalism content, there's events, there's deals, there's ads, and there's a lot of automated information. We're pulling in a traffic feed that's going to be part of version 1 and pulling in weather, so you'll be able to open up this app in the morning and get a really good sense of what's happening around you—what you're neighbors are talking about, what the newspaper is talking about and even how the commute is going to be over the hill [for example]."

Version 1 of the product is launching in the Bay Area in partnership with the Bay Area News Group, which runs approximately two-dozen newspapers including the San Jose Mercury News, the Oakland Tribune and the Contra Costa Times. Content for the app will come from these sources as well as event feeds and a deal feed, among others. The larger goal, however, is to turn the app into a platform that can be replicated across the country.

"This product for us is really the first step in building this super futuristic newspaper," explains Stangel, "something that you open up and it knows you and sends you stuff you're going to want to know, sends you stuff that's local and relevant to you and is social, allowing you to talk to your neighbors as well."

More info:

Tackable web site: http://www.tackable.com/
Tackable blog: http://www.tackable.com/blog/
Tackable profile on CrunchBase: http://www.crunchbase.com/company/tackable
Tackable profile on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tackable

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Tackable
• web news
• journalism