Sarah Perez at ReadWriteWeb is reporting thatthe social news service News.me just started accepting requests for invitations.

Few details are known about the venture, which the Times is developing in partnership with New York's Betaworks. But Betaworks has access to valuable data about what news is hot on the Web. Its URL shortening service Bit.ly, which makes links smaller and therefore easier to pass around on Twitter, has collected data on 30 billion links as of September, according to the Times Bits Blog.

The landing page for News.me now prompts potential users to sign up to be notified when the app is available

It also features a logo, which appears to be a collage of social media profile pictures, and a promise that it's coming to the Apple app store soon.

News.me will initially be an iPad app, with a Web version coming later. It's possible that the app is currently undergoing review by Apple, which could be why there is no hard release date.

ajeffries [at] observer.com | @adrjeffries