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Users of iCurrent also choose topics of personal interest, and it learns more about their tastes over time. The site draws on 27,000 sources to build the page. Users sign up for an account and add keywords for their preferred topics, called channels. Stories also come complete with up and down arrows, to tune their service more closely to the reader’s interests, and with ‘more like this’ options.

If I had an iPad, an app I’d pay for: iCurrent. I wouldn’t be paying for the news content, but rather for the convenience and value that a really good personalization app would provide.

Users can click on up and down arrows next to stories to indicate whether they find an article relevant and the software invites them to click on suggestions for what they might like more of. This means the personalisation should become more and more relevant, with the aim of users only getting the latest developments on a particular subject that interests them.

There are two things I do first thing in the morning: I check my GTD agenda to get my bearings — and I check iCurrent to read the news I’m interested in. News aggregators are not new, of course. I’ve tried a number of them. But nothing matches the new service for breaking information most of interest to me — take a look at iCurrent.

You can personalize this free news site with your own interests. Essentially you build a series of alerts, specifying the sources and subjects you prefer. Then iCurrent shows you the latest news in all your chosen areas, in the familiar format of a daily newspaper. As you read or discard stories, iCurrent fine-tunes what it displays … iCurrent is a good way to way to keep track of a broad range of subjects.

But as content moves off the desktop and onto mobile devices and even apps for set-top boxes and the like, the need for more sophisticated personalization will become critical, I think. Algorithms alone really aren’t enough, and we certainly can do better than the rough cut of topic selection that most mobile news apps give us. iCurrent is an interesting step towards finding that balance because it recognizes that the ultimate answer involves a kind of ongoing conversation between publisher and reader.

What do Pandora, Like.com and iCurrent all have in common?

a) they’re all built on personalized media technology
b) they all have Crosslink Capital as an investor
c) they’re all kicking butt

Amid the sturm and drang of traditional publishers squaring off against Google and others in a game of high-stakes business, it’s easy to lose sight of the opportunity the Internet offers for a much more satisfying news and information experience.

Newspaper publishers and radio broadcasters are increasingly facing pressure from Internet-based services. … As with all industries, understanding the demand side of the equation is the difference between flourishing and evaporating. What Pandora and iCurrent share is a focus on the long tail of interests. They understand that Media now begins with Me.

What iCurrent does is filter the millions of news stories and blog posts produced every day into one page of must-read items. Rather than rely — like a feed reader does — on a selection of sources to produce and curate content, it keeps you up to date on your favorite topics.

There have been dozens, maybe hundreds, of companies that have tried to create useful Web browser start pages and content aggregation sites. Popular themes include RSS readers, widget collection pages, and user-filtered news hubs. I’ve seen and tried a lot of them but rarely use them after a quick look. A new project, iCurrent, has potential to break out of that swamp for me and other users.