When Google launched Google+ last year it looked like they were going to make the social network its own self-contained world.  But today it looks like that will change. Google’s vp of product management Bradley Horowitz was speaking at Le Web ’12 in London yesterday and he announced a new partnership.

Flipboard is going to be the first app to get access to Google+ APIs. Pretty soon you’ll be able to use the app to follow the activities of anyone you know on Google+ (all 4 of them). You’ll be able to access posts, photos, video and other data without visiting the social network directly.

Robert Scoble added more details on his Google+ page:

My favorite way to read the social web is Flipboard. This is why I’ve been here less and less lately over the past few months and have moved a lot of my energy over to Facebook, which is available there.

This is the beginning of a real API. One that can write and read.

Why isn’t this API open to all developers? Because Google doesn’t yet have good noise controls and is wanting to make sure they build their social garden stage-by-stage and not be forced later to piss off developers because they need to change their API to protect the user experience here.

via