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Making the list at Twitter's Trending Topics ain't a bad start for Flipboard, the self-proclaimed 'world's first social magazine'.

In fact, the buzz was so hot around iPad app's launch that the rush to get on board meant servers couldn't cope this morning. But onwards and upwards, as they say; let's take a look at what makes this one so special.

Taking advantage of the new rules of engagement offered by the iPad in all its sleek simplicity, Flipboard aggregates social networks to produce a constantly updated, bespoke magazine for owners of Apple's tablet.

Boasting a deluxe, stylised RSS reader of sorts, the free app connects to the user's social networks to lay out the content shared peer-to-peer in magazine format. Creating an always-on content metafilter, photo uploads, status updates, shortened URLs and retweeted links come to life on the iPad screen in gesture-controlled magazine format.

For a detailed rundown of the app's usability, take a look at the Wall Street Journal's take at All Things Digital.

For the anti-social among you, who would rather not share their world in real-time, 140-character chunks, the nice folk at Flipboard have also chosen a bunch of influential streams and Facebook pages to provide content for a series of ready to access pages, including aggregates such as FlipTech, FlipStyle etc, and specific links to existing sites such as Mashable.

The California-based startup has plenty of muscle behind it, founded by Mike McCue of Tellme fame and Apple's former iPhone engineer Evan Doll. Big name investors such as Index Ventures, KPCG, Twitter's Jack Dorsey and Ashton Kutcher have already ploughed $10.5m into the company. Immediately on launch Flipboard also announced the acquisition of Ellerdale, a web intelligence company tasked with ensuring only the most relevant of content is plucked from the daily streams of web chatter.

Presenting a demo of the app at today's FORTUNE Brainstorm Tech event in Aspen Colorado, McCue said: 'With over one billion messages posted every day, social networks are quickly becoming the primary way people discover and share content. We believe the timeless principles of print can make social media less noisy, more visually compelling and ultimately more mainstream.'

www.flipboard.com