Digg Reader to be an add-on to existing Digg app

On stage at the Internet Week New York, Digg CEO Andrew McLaughlin has clarified that the upcoming Google Reader replacement will not be a separate app and will be simply called “Digg Reader”.

McLaughlin explained that Digg Reader will be “one download, which is Digg, and the current Digg will have added onto it reader capabilities.” The team is aiming to build a service that is _“very clean, very simple and very fast,” s_ays McLaughlin. He says that the upcoming Digg Reader will be a production tool that will give users a way to sort and rank content, as opposed to simply scrolling away endlessly.

Reader coming up!

Digg is one of the top contenders to take over Google Reader’s dying RSS legacy. The service that is about to shut shop soon will be leaving a lot of faithful users in the lurch. “We’ve heard people say that RSS is a thing of the past, and perhaps in its current incarnation it is, but as daily (hourly) users of Google Reader, we’re convinced that it’s a product worth saving. So we’re going to give it our best shot,” wrote Digg’s team back in March, announcing the Reader.

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Google Reader will be shutting its services on July 1 and aggregator services – including Digg – are clamouring to meet the June deadline. McLaughlin announced that the company had started to push Digg Reader onto production servers since Monday. So it looks like Digg Reader is going to make it in time for Google Reader’s demise in July.

For those wondering whether Digg will also combine recent acquisition Instapaper with the reader, well, that isn’t happening. That service, says the CEO, serves the purpose of reading something later rather than now.