Facebook Paper, a Flipboard-like news app, tipped for January release

Rumours of a new Facebook product are doing the rounds again, but this is one we have **heard before** . The social networking website is now reportedly looking at launching a news reader service, built especially for mobile devices.   Re/Code reports the service, which will be called Paper, has gone through multiple cancellations and redesigns is now ready to launch, according to a source that has been in the thick of things. Mark Zuckerberg apparently had a huge involvement in the development of Paper. Last Year’s News Feed revamp seems to have acted as a shot in the arm for Paper’s efforts too. Of course, like every Facebook product, there will be advertising involved.   The app is touted to be similar to the popular Flipboard. The magazine style news reader has added several features over the past year and there’s a great emphasis on visuals along with the news curation. According to the source, Paper and Flipboard share a number of similarities. For one, Paper too will act as aggregator of content, displaying articles from news websites such as the New York Times and the Washington Post. Since the product comes from the house of Facebook, it will obviously feature status messages relevant to the news angle. All of this, will be packaged into a newspaper-like format, which is supposed to invoke the feeling of actually reading the morning paper.   Facebook has been concentrating its efforts on news lately, trying to work out a way to showcase relevant news-based articles on the News Feed and **punishing meme-based posts** that have long been the bane of Facebook. With a news-based app, Facebook seems to be intent on bolstering its stand. While Facebook is still unsure about whether Paper will be a standalone app or integrated within the existing platforms, the app could well hit stores by the end of this month. Paper might appear as a web app too, but we cannot be too sure since the details are still fuzzy.