LinkedIn's new Connected app prods you to keep in touch with your network

LinkedIn today announced a new iOS app called Connected, which offers people various opportunities to reach out to folks in their network. With this app, LinkedIn is diving deeper into what it calls “anticipatory computing.”

Much like LinkedIn’s website, the app has a feed highlighting news mentions, job changes, work anniversaries, and birthdays. If you sync your contacts and calendar, it can send push notifications with “intelligence” and reminders prior to meetings.

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“It helps you reach out to people in your network when it matters most, so you can keep your network active and warm,” wrote David Brubacher in a blog post announcing the new app.

LinkedIn thinks the Connected app will turn you into a star user, saying it could substantially increase views to your profile, endorsements, and messages received if you use it well.

Connected seems to be an effort to simplify the LinkedIn experience on mobile, much like Facebook did with Paper for its own social network. The Connected app delivers updates in the form of “cards” to help folks digest information in a format well-suited to mobile. You can swipe through each update card, or click through to see a person’s profile, what you have in common with them, and what you should remember about them.

LinkedIn is trying to draw people back to its service for regular updates, making its social network the destination it aspires to be rather than a resume-hosting service. LinkedIn’s iPhone-touting users will decide whether that’s a good use of their time or a distraction.

Connected is available in Apple’s iOS App Store today, with an Android version to follow.