Ask Engadget: Best mobile RSS readers?
By Peter Rojas 
posted July 7th 2005 8:19PM
posted July 7th 2005 8:19PM
It's Thursday evening, which means that once again it's time for Ask Engadget. Last week Bennington P. wanted some advice on selecting a wearable display, this time around reader Joseph R. wants the low down on mobile RSS readers:
I know I'm really late to the game, but I just discovered RSS a few months ago and it's completely changed my life, and I was wondering if Engadget readers had tried any of the mobile RSS readers that are out there. I'm thinking about getting a new phone, and since being able to read RSS feeds on my phone would be a huge bonus, I'd like to find out what my options are. Thanks!
Alright, you heard 'em, any suggestions?
There's really no reason to use anything other than Bloglines Mobile.
The key is that it keeps your read state from desktop to mobile which is very important if you read any more than a few feeds.
I see no reason to use yet another piece of software on my mobile and desktop when Bloglines does it all for me.
Try NewsMob (www.newsmob.com) - View the How to Guides at www.newsmob.com/start/
NewsMob has many advantages over some of the other RSS Readers for the Desktop, Palm, Pocket PC, and Mobile Phone:
1. It's free!
2. It works with the web browser(s) you're probably already using (like Plucker or your built-in web-browser) so it doesn't require any additional software installation.
3. It works sync or live.
4. It allows you to have one set of favorites that you can access on your desktop, phone, or PDA.
5. It allows you to clip headlines and send yourself e-mail reminders.
6. It's extremely easy to use.
7. It allows you to create custom channels from Amazon search results, NNTP Newsgroups or Google groups, and your local weather forcast.
I use bloglines over T-Moblie on a Treo 650. It works flawlessly. So, there's definately no problem generally accessing the site over T-Mobile. Like others have said, having a single sync state is the most critical feature. On the Treo I also keep individual web shortcuts for my favorite subscriptions and folders in the phone's speed-dial menu. Then I can just, for example, press and hold the letter E and I see all the latest Engadget stories.
I was using Bloglines but lately I find it sluggish and the interface too busy.
Ive beeen using http://www.litefeeds.com which provides an online reader that synchs with a mobile app on my Nokia and I also use it on my Blackberry. So synching is no problem (read/unread are in synch). Also you can get full blog/articles beyond just the RSS and view Photos and Clip... something Bloglines does not offer. So if you're a mobile geek like me then those extra features kill WAP Bloglines.
I use nextBLAST (http://www.nextblast.com) to read my RSS and Atom on the web and through my mobile as well as have them sent directly to my mobile as an SMS, MMS or WAP Push as well as e-mail. That's stuff that bloglines or any of the others don't do.
I look at the latest items as a stream or each individual feed and it gives me the opprtunity to add word and tag filters to allow me to customize my reading on the web differently from my mobile so I can read only my really important stuff on my mobile.
The nextBLAST service automatically formats the full RSS text, images and audio clips to my mobile phone so I don't need to scroll all over the place with my small screen. It also gives me the opportunity to share any interesting items with my friends.
I can recommend FeederReader. It enables my WiFi PocketPC to get RSS & podcasts directly, cutting out the middleman (my PC!). It's currently in beta testing & being actively developed, with regular releases. I use it everyday mainly to retrieve podcasts.
-Joe
I tried WAP versions like bloglines and newsgator... but who has the
time for WAP?
and litefeeds... hellllooo, people? UI?
feedburner just crashed my phone... that was fun...
Hands down, the best mobile RSS reader out there, IMHO, is FreeNews:
www.freerangeinc.com
No crashes at all... quick and easy with a great UI(could be
improved, but i'm sure they're working on it) Weird that it's not
"free", but I guess it's true... you get what you pay for!
Mobile Feed Reader With A Twist
We Call It The Syndicated Feeds Channel. You Can Call It Whatever You Wish.
Each mobile site you create at WINKsite (http://winksite.com) includes a "Syndicated Feeds" channel. Using this channel as a mobile feed reader allows you to connect to your favorite Weblogs and news feeds while on the go.
Now For The Twist. Content + People + Mobile Device = Mobile Community.
The "Syndicated Feeds" channel can also be used for publishing feeds to a community. Unlike other mobile feed readers, the feeds you subscribe to at WINKsite can be shared with the visitors to your mobile site. This single difference changes the potential of how feed syndication can be utilized in a mobile environment.
Accessing various community organized categories of feeds from your mobile device while "on the go" seems to make so much more sense than from your desktop. For example, combinations of content, weather and event feeds can be combined to support the development of city guides and directories.
Furthermore, you can choose to activate ancillary mobile channels (i.e. mobile chat, forum, community blog and polls) that transforms this mobile content space into a collaboration and coordination space.
Mobile Feed Reader With A Twist
We Call It The Syndicated Feeds Channel. You Can Call It Whatever You Wish.
Each mobile site you create at WINKsite (http://winksite.com) includes a "Syndicated Feeds" channel. Using this channel as a mobile feed reader allows you to connect to your favorite Weblogs and news feeds while on the go.
Now For The Twist. Content + People + Mobile Device = Mobile Community.
The "Syndicated Feeds" channel can also be used for publishing feeds to a community. Unlike other mobile feed readers, the feeds you subscribe to at WINKsite can be shared with the visitors to your mobile site. This single difference changes the potential of how feed syndication can be utilized in a mobile environment.
Accessing various community organized categories of feeds from your mobile device while "on the go" seems to make so much more sense than from your desktop. For example, combinations of content, weather and event feeds can be combined to support the development of city guides and directories.
Furthermore, you can choose to activate ancillary mobile channels (i.e. mobile chat, forum, community blog and polls) that transforms this mobile content space into a collaboration and coordination space.
Using Josh Bancroft's arguments:
nextBLAST!
http://nextblast.com
or on the mobile phone:
http://wap.nextblast.com
Why does nextBlast wins for me? To paraphrase Josh, it wins hands down for me, for several reasons:
1. I use nextBLAST as my main aggregator for 50+ feeds (ok, I know, it's a fraction of Josh's list, but... it's what I can manage to read) and it keeps the feed 'read' state in sync accross mobile and web access.
2. nextBLAST is also browser based - no need to install anything; so if your mobile device (Treo, Smartphone, Blackberry, etc.) has a web browser, it will work, no compatibility worries.
3. RSS (and Atom) feeds flow/format to fit the small screen perfectly. No horizontal scrolling.
4. nextBLAST goes further and makes sure that the presentation is made for a specific device, not just a small screen. So if I change my phone (which I do do sometimes) and place my SIM card in a different phone, it will work.
5. nextBLAST is the only mobile reader I know that also offers pushing the new items to my phone using picture messaging (with both text and pictures) or other mobile technologies such as WAP Alert. (The availability depends on your phone and your wireless carrier; I use T-Mobile and have all features working perfectly.)
6. If I find an interesting post, I can send it to a friend's mobile phone (or his email).
6. I can get any image from, say, a Flickr RSS feed, send it to my phone using nextBLAST, and use it as a wallpaper. I can also share my photos with friends by subscribing to my own Flickr feed and then using nextBLAST to send a photo to a friend's phone.
All in all, very cool, and many more features than on other WAP-only readers.
(Sorry for using some of your words, Josh; I just thought that will be an easy way to compare. Thank you.)