Google’s surprise announcement that it’s going to kill off its popular Google Reader at the end of this month has spurred a race among developers all eager to get their own alternative nSews delivery products out into the wild. This week and last, we’ve seen a whole bunch of new RSS readers emerge out of the woodwork, ready to work for on both PCs and mobile devices. For the developers, getting their products up and ready before that crucial June 30 cut off date is absolutely imperative, as that’ll be the last day on which users can import their old feeds and data from Google Reader. Once that deadline’s passed, it’s likely they’ll miss out on all the homeless Google Reader users for good.

Who’s Gonna Take Over From Reader?

The latest service to throw its hat into the ring and announce that it’s ready is the familiar sounding NetNewsWire and its open beta, which was just unveiled today. NetNewsWire was of course, the original standard bearer for RSS news readers when it first landed on the desktop PC way back in 2002, only to later reinvent itself as an Apple Mac app. The beta release of NetNewsWire 4 includes a major interface redesign, making it look a whole lot more like a native Mac app, although it has some nice new features like a new share menu, and a distraction-free reading mode, while the all-important sync feature is set to come with the final release.

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Another old-timer to enter the news reading fray is AOL, which surprised everyone by unveiling its own RSS reader service earlier this week. As with NetNewsWire, it allows users to import their feeds directly from Google Reader, while its interface offers a choice of layouts that make it rather flexible in comparison to its competitors. Other features include integration with social networks, which means that users won’t be limited to AOL’s network if they want to share news with their friends, plus a ‘read-it-later’ article saver, and an API which allows third-party apps to build on top of the service.

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It remains to be seen if Facebook will get its own rumored reader’s act together in time for Google Reader’s departure, but nevertheless, it’s probably the only contender in the field that could survive a late release. Most of what’s been said about Facebook’s News Reader is total speculation – whether it’ll be a standalone app or come integrated with the main site isn’t even clear yet – but what we do know is it’s likely that the service will include content from major publishers alongside updates from Facebook friends, which could make it popular with more light-hearted news consumers.

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Also hoping to make a splash is Digg – remember them? The old ‘Reddit wannabe’ failure that not-so-long ago reinvented itself as a different kind of Reddit-esque failure is hoping to breathe some life back into its reputation by stealing everyone else’s thunder. It’s plans for a news reader were announced several months ago, and so he fact it only managed to push out its early beta last week suggest its been dawdling quite a bit. On the plus side, it does mean that Digg has had plenty of time to get its product just right – and early reports from Gizmodo look positive. Feeds carry over from Google Reader, as do categories, starred items and favorite icons – basically it will allow you to pick up right from where you left off when it makes its official launch later this week, even though it does look a little bland…

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The above contenders are all pretty much well established names in their respective fields, but there’s a few fresh faces being bandied about as well. One of the more viable newcomers seems to be MultiPLX, a new reader tool that’s just come available in beta format via the web. One of the first things you’ll notice is that it’s been been built from the get-go with Google Reader users in mind, and like Digg allows for easy importing of your RSS feeds, bookmarks, starred items, categories etc., while it also packs a few interesting new features like the ability to share folders via user-created “public pages”.

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Greek beta startup NOOWIT is the other new kid on the block that’s caught my eye, if only because of the stunning way in which it renders your news content, and for its ability to ‘learn’ your individual preferences and ‘adjust’ to your evolving content stream. Powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI), NOOWIT does more than just shove a bunch of news feeds in your face, it actually remembers the types of stories that interest you most, and slowly learns to prioritize which headlines to display according to your interest. Moreover, Epoch Time’s contributor Phil Butler reports that your content is rendered in a rich and functional ‘magazine-style’ form, with the most relevant articles being given extra real estate compared to those that are ‘not so relevant’.

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And The Winner Is…?

None of the above.

For all the efforts of Digg, Facebook, NOOWIT, AOL and the like, the real battle has already been played out between Feedly and Flipboard, two extremely capable competitors that have enjoyed a massive head start on the late entrants into the race.

Feedly, with its new cloud service that’s just sprung up in the last couple of months, has been busy adding tons of features to replicate Google Reader, and it’s already said to have grabbed some 12 million users in anticipation of the latter’s imminent execution. On the other hand, Flipboard commands an even greater user-base thanks to its aesthetic appeal and high level of social integration. Originally an iPhone app but now available on Android as well, Flipboard has long been established as one of the most popular mobile news apps around.

Even so, it’s going to be interesting to watch what happens to all of those undecided Google Reader users when Google finally kicks them out. For the likes of Digg, NewNewsWire, MultiPLX and even Feedly and Flipboard, the next few days are going to be one mad scramble as they vie to gain as much visibility as they can.