Google Reader is a pretty powerful way to organize and read your RSS feeds. For the most part I use it as the engine powering and syncing my data beneath the surface but actually read my feeds using a 3rd-party app. For example, my Google Reader account gathers dozens of feeds but the app iNews organizes and presents it to me on my iPhone. I assumed I would do the same thing on my iPad (Google Reader beneath the surface, 3rd party app for reading) but now word comes from Google that they have “something completely different” that may be one of the most innovative ways to read RSS feeds yet.

presented one at a time, and each item is big and full-screen. After you’ve read an item, just click the next arrow to move to the next one, or click any item on the filmstrip below to fast-forward. Of course, you can click the title or image of any item to go to the original version. And since so much of the good stuff online is visual, we automatically enlarge images and auto-play videos full-screen.

You can select your own feeds and then view them in Google Reader Play or have Google servce up items based on interest.

It appears to have an “intelligent” approach to news in that you can select items you “like” and Google will offer up similar items in the future. As is often the case Google is releasing Google Reader Play as “an experiment”. Therefore it is part of the Google Labs family. That noted, it is live and available now.

You can try it yourself HERE.