Mobile RSS Solutions - What’s Out There?
Exclamation is usually our blog that’s reserved for storytelling. Well, half of storytelling is listening, right? And it’s pretty hard to “listen” to a story on the bus or the train unless you’re into books on tape, and, as much as Audible would like, I doubt a majority of the people I know are as into books-on-mp3 as I am. I think they’re much more likely to read, rather than listen, on the fly.
One of our clients told me the other day that he wanted to start reading and commenting on more blogs on his Blackberry. I realized, in talking to him, that I don’t know what are the best mobile RSS readers, as of this summer. I remember setting up HubDog about 18 months ago on the lousy T-Mobile MDA smartphone, nearly vowing never to use mobile RSS again. Mobile RSS has been tossed around for the last couple of years, but only recently have a few real contenders come along. I know that EnGadget did a posting on this a while back, and I don’t think of this as so much of an update as a condensation!
So, here’s a quick roundup, based on the popular platforms. One disclosure: NewsGator is a current LaunchSquad client.
Blackberry: NewsGator Go! is the best thing I’ve seen, but you can use a web-based app like Google Reader, if you’ve got the time to do a bit more clicking.
iPhone: The native Safari RSS reader on the iPhone is pretty strong, but lately, in the the Apple forums, NewsGator has been gaining some traction. Most of the iPhone RSS conversation takes place in Apple’s Internet & Networking forum. To register for a Newsgator account, you can go here, and you’re you’re set up you can log into the mobile RSS portal here. It’s definitely what I’d use to sync mobile and desktop RSS together. If you want to view multiple feeds at once using feeds that you’ve read before using Google, you can use Google Reader, as it’s been recently optimized for the platform. What it lacks in comparison NewsGator’s horsepower, it somewhat compensates for in look and feel.
Palm: Bloglines Mobile has a light-looking PDA interface, but for more robust RSS reading on the Palm platform, but if you’re looking for a standalone application it looks like QuickNews may be the answer. Google Reader is also a suitable alternatative, but I haven’t personally used it on a Palm.
Regular Phone: Feedm8 seems to be the service of choice for most major publishers (CNN, Reuters, Engadget), and I’ve even seen Digg using it lately. It works fairly well if you’re just reading basic RSS feeds published by large publishers. On the other hand, I wouldn’t recommend it for encrypted RSS, and it’s a free service that’s only usable with some publishers. If your phone is even slightly Java-enabled, NewsGator Go! would be a good fit, and is worthwhile for any heavy-duty RSS usage.
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Scott Leverenz
Posted on October 19th, 2007 at 7:14 pm.
Apple’s has released WebApps for the Safari Browser using the iPod Touch and iPhone. One feed that I’ve subscribed to is Digg. You can see some of he other webapps at Apple’s website.