Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) will be revamping Google Reader in the next week. Google Reader is going to be redesigned and Google+ sharing will be integrated into the RSS service. However friending, following, and shared link features will be removed from Google Reader. If you decide that Google Reader is no longer for you, then you can export your data (subscriptions, shared items, friends, likes, and starred items) and choose a different service. [Google Reader Blog]

Flipboard has updated their iPad application to support Google Reader and Flickr. Google Reader was one of the most demanded requests for Flipboard. Flipboard co-founder Evan Doll said that their application recently won the Apple editors choice for “iPad App of the Year.”

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) said that they were sad to hear about Bloglines shutting down on October 1, but they encouraged former users to join Google Reader. “We know that nothing will be quite like Bloglines in the hearts of its users, but if you’re looking for another online feed reader, we encourage you to give Reader a shot,” said Mihai Parparita, founding member of the Google Reader team.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has launched a new service called Google Reader Play.  It makes reading RSS feeds more interesting.  You can visit the new service at: google.com/reader/play.  

Items are presented one at a time in full-screen.   Google Reader Play content is provided from Recommended Items.  This service is not intended to replace the original Google Reader. [Google Blog]

One of the reasons why Tr.im decided to initially shut themselves down is because of the monopoly that Bit.ly has for URL shortening services.  Twitter and TweetDeck both use Bit.ly as the default URL shortening services.  Now Google, TypePad, and CBS has embraced Bit.ly for shortening the URLs of their content.

One of the reasons why Bit.ly has become the preferred choice for URL shortening is because of their constant service upgrades.  Last month Bit.ly started to track what links are malicious in content and warns users before sending them to the link.

Within the last few weeks, Google added Bit.ly to Google Reader’s “send-to” feature.  This feature allows anyone using Google Reader to send Bit.ly links on Twitter to their followers.

TypePad added a feature that generates Bit.ly links on Twitter for new blog posts.  Bit.ly statistics have also been added into TypePad’s dashboard.  All TypePad users will see this feature integrated by this fall.

CBS is also launched a new service called cbs.bit.ly.  This service tracks the URLs on CBS’ website that has been shortened and tracks how many people clicked on the shortened links.

John Resig of Mozilla also designed a Retweet button using the Bit.ly JavaScript API.

NewsGator used to have an online RSS reader service, but their market share started slipping away from competitors such as Netvibes, PageFlakes, and Google Reader.  Personally I never really used NewsGator, but I noticed Pulse2.com get a good amount of hits from their RSS reader about one or two years ago.  The company has decided to focus more on desktop applications and enterprise social tools.

On the NewsGator blog, they wrote that users are recommended to migrate to Google Reader by August 31, 2009.  Google employee Brian Shih wrote a welcoming blog post to users migrating from NewsGator to Google Reader yesterday.

As another alternative NewsGator’s desktop applications is one of the most used on the market.  Their RSS reader for the Windows operating system is called FeedDemon. And NewsGator’s desktop RSS reader for the Mac is called NetNewsWire.

Thus far NewsGator raised about $39 million in funding from Mobius Venture Capital and Masthead Venture Partners.