News application Flipboard has launched an iPhone version of its iPad app to let users consume news and content while on the go.

Flipboard was launched in 2010 as an tablet-specific product and has since built up its mobile repertoire with partnerships, advertising and divulging in content beyond news. The iPhone app marks Flipboard?s first foray into devices besides the iPad.

?For this launch, we wanted to get Flipboard for iPhone in the hands of people whose feedback we value and gave them an early look,? said Christel van der Boom, spokeswoman at Flipboard, Palo Alto, CA.

?We also used all of our own social media channels to let our readers know about the news, including our blog, Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and a section inside of Flipboard,? she said.

Smart news
According to Ms. Van der Boom, Flipboard created an iPhone app to tap into mobile users? habits of using their devices throughout the day.

?On the iPad, our peak hours are between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. as well in the mornings when people are having breakfast of coffee, but people use their iPhone many times throughout their day? Ms. Van der Boom said.

The company switched up the layout of the iPhone app by making it vertical instead of horizontal to fit the habits of smartphone users.

Using the Flipboard iPhone app, users can sync their social media networks to the app and aggregate it into a magazine-like spread.

Consumers can create a custom feed, which includes news, technology, style and travel content.

On the homepage, content from across a user?s social streams is displayed all in one place.

Here is a screen shot from the Flipboard iPhone app

Similar to the iPad version, the app is available for free download in Apple?s App Store.

The launch of Flipboard?s iPhone app has been highly anticipated by users, and once the app went live in the store, the demand by users overloaded the company?s system and the Flipboard app crashed.

Flipboard announced the outage on its Twitter handle saying, ?Due to high demand, our service is currently down, we are working to resolve the issue as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience.?

At the time of press, the Flipboard app was not working on the reporter?s iPhone device.

Here is the error message that appears on the Flipboard iPhone app

Flip forward
The launch of the iPhone app is not the only new news to come from Flipboard recently.

Flipboard recently expanded its product into China, which is the first international move for the company.

Additionally, the app recently began including television shows in its content (see story).

Flipboard set the standard for news apps with its emphasis on making content appear similar to a magazine.

However, the news app category has grown substantially in the past year with competitors including AOL Editions, Zite and Yahoo?s recently launched Livestand.

?It was a logical next step for us to make Flipboard available on the iPhone so our readers have all the stories, photos, news and updates being shared across social networks in one place on a device they have in their pocket,? Ms. Van der Boom said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York