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Berg's Little Printer up for preorder at $259, ready to churn out smiley news and gossip in '60 days'
Just when RSS needs a lift amid all the growing competition, here comes a gadget we've been waiting for since last November. The Little Printer from Berg is like a tiny personal printing press: put it somewhere in your home, hook it up wirelessly to your router and then sit back while it prints out a "miniature newspaper" from your personal feeds. More than that, the creators have been building upon their BergCloud software to allow the device to pull updates from places like Foursquare and Google, so it can also produce task lists, location updates, and direct messages from friends. The pre-order page lists a price of $259 plus shipping and promises that the Little Printer will start shipping in 60 days -- big news (and a big price) indeed.
Pulse News comes to your favorite web browser
There have been many times when I have wishes that my favorite news aggregators like Pulse news and Zite for iOS were available on my desktop or Mac laptop. Pulse News has answered my requests with a web version of the app that runs in any browser. You can log into your Pulse News account and get all the sites and feeds you normally graze in the iOS app displayed right in Safari, Firefox, or Chrome. The Pulse developers also had some help and probably a wee bit of cash from Microsoft to make the app work nicely with Windows 8 touch capabilities. There's a nice Windows Explorer logo in the upper right part of your browser, no matter which browser you are running. Anyway, Pulse News works just fine with Safari, and unlike the iOS versions you get some choice in layouts, mainly adjustments to the size of the tiles. If you change the shape of your browser window, Pulse news obliges and re-arranges itself. All in all, it's a nice experience. I saw a few rendering issues where words would get cut off and there was occasionally some odd image cropping, but basically it's working pretty well. Single-click on a tile, and you get a clean render of the story, with the familiar controls to read it directly at the source or email it to someone else. This is a nice evolutionary step for Pulse News, and I'll use it often. You can take a look at it by going to the Pulse website and logging in if you have a free account, or you can create a new account and start publishing your own personal news source.
Nokia Reader comes to Series 40 'touch and type' devices
This week, everyone's favorite Finnish phone fabricator announced the availability of Nokia Reader for Series 40 touch and type devices. Those familiar with the software know that Reader provides a flow of local and international headlines -- customized by you -- directly to your device's home screen. Nokia boasts that users of its C2-02, X3-02, C3-01, Asha 303 and Asha 300 handsets will be able to stay abreast on all the news without having to worry about battery consumption, thanks to Nokia Notifications. If we've piqued your interest, mosey on past the break to see a video of the bits in action then hit the source link to grab the goods.
The Daily Grind: What do you like to see on MMO websites?
During my time with Massively and as a gamer, I've visited scads of official MMO websites. And I can say, incontrovertibly, that no two of them had the same features and focus. Some were extremely easy to navigate while others were almost indecipherable without the Staff of Ra to guide me. Some were more about flash while others were loaded with content. And some, to my never-ending dismay, still lack an RSS feed which I cannot fathom in this day and age. But enough about my journeys -- I want to hear about your own thoughts on MMO websites. What do you like to see when you visit one? Are the aesthetics important to you, or are you more concerned with specific features? Are these websites more for first-time visitors curious about the game or should they cater to players looking for news and updates about their favorite titles? For bonus points, provide a link below to (in your opinion) the best-designed MMO website! Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Berg's Little Printer churns out RSS feeds with a receipt and a smile
It's hard to think of a device more aptly named than BergCloud's Little Printer. It's little. It prints. It even smiles at you. And why wouldn't it? It's adorable. Equally notable is what it produces -- RSS feeds printed out on grocery store-style receipts. All you have to do is hook it up to your router, configure your RSS subscriptions from your smartphone and press a button to print them out. The Little Printer connects wirelessly to a small box that's plugged into your router. This box, in turn, interfaces with the Berg Cloud (also unveiled this week), providing constant updates and pulling down any web content you've selected. If, for instance, you want to print out Foursquare updates, you can use the app to add them to your queue and print them out for later reading. It's basically like InstaPaper... with more paper. BergCloud has already struck partnerships with ARUP, Foursquare, The Guardian, Nike and Google, though more are on the way. No word yet on pricing, but the device is slated to go up for pre-order sometime next year. Check it out in action, after the break. [Thanks, Dave]
Create content-centric iPhone & iPad apps on the fly with GENWI
The iSites.us site has rebranded itself today as GENWI (the name of the parent company) and expanded to offer iPad app creation in addition to iPhone and Android apps. With a straightforward CMS engine, the service lets you create either mobile HTML5 web apps or true native apps around your content, delivering a digital magazine experience without coding or extensive development chops. The core of GENWI is a feed aggregation/cloud content tool that website owners or publishers can point at their feeds (including RSS, ATOM, iTunes, or custom XML and homegrown APIs) to automatically update content within the app. Publishers can easily categorize and reorganize the app's sections, insert custom announcement posts, permit social media sharing, add images/rich media (audio or QuickTime/MP4 video) and more. Like any good app platform, advertising services are bundled into the system. The new iPad instance provides many more visual customizations, as befits the larger real estate of the tablet apps. While the instant HTML5 apps and the native iPhone/Android apps can be completely skinned and graphically customized, the iPad GENWI apps can be rearranged and laid out in more sophisticated ways. Customers also have the option of designing a full HTML5/CSS skin from scratch and plugging it into the GENWI platform. GENWI's low-end plan charges US$99/month for the app back-end services, covering up to 100K app interactions (page views, etc.); you submit the apps through your own Apple developer account, which is a separate $99/year cost. If you want to deliver the iPad experience, though, you're looking at the $499/month Professional plan; that puts this service out of the reach of most casual publishers and hobbyists. Back in March, our colleagues at Download Squad did a full rundown on the 'Instant App' authoring within GENWI (then branded as iSites). Check it out here. Show full PR text GENWI/iSites debuts fully customizable iPad app creation and management solution GENWI enables media publishers to create and manage highly interactive, social, and real-time updated newspaper, magazine, printed promotion, and catalog apps for iPad, iPhone, iPod and Android Smart Phone Devices July 13, 2011 – Los Altos, CA – GENWI (http://genwi.com), the premier cloud-based smart phone and tablet app publishing platform, today launched its new iPad app publishing solution and an enhanced mobile Content Management Server (mCMS™). The new iPad app publishing platform offers one of the easiest and most versatile cloud-based solutions for creating iPad apps on the fly, and the service caters especially to the needs of traditional and digital media publishers, broadcasters, promoters, and catalog publishers. The new iPad solution is fully customizable and offers a tailor-made, branded experience for publishers. The unique flexible client architecture, adding new content and updates to apps in real time, helps publishers to create visually stunning and live updated media apps. Optimized templates and themes are offered to help jump-start the design process. Custom design development capability based on HTML5 and CSS is also offered as an advanced option, allowing publishers to create almost any user experience or design imaginable. Media publishers can rapdily transform a print magazine into a visually stunning and custom branded tablet app. With the new mCMS™, publishers can add content through Quickpost™ or from various sources and in numerous formats, including -- Media RSS, iTunes RSS, ATOM, XML, Restful API's, CSV, In-design, and PDF. The mCMS™ media engine will crawl, parse, analyze, and aggregate content in real time and deliver it to a wide array of mobile form factors, tailored for optimal viewing and user interaction based on the device characteristics. mCMS™ also offers the ability to curate the aggregated content, edit, and organize it for various devices. "The mCMS™ media engine has mapped over 60 million posts and 100 million images from more than 30,000 publishers who have signed up with GENWI. We are currently serving 1,500 active apps for our publishing partners on iPhone and Android smart phones, and now we are proud to expand to the fast-growing iPad market. GENWI has observed high repeat usage along with the millions of downloads and app views per month", said Rahul Patel, Co-Founder and CTO. With the mCMS™ media engine and GENWI's flexible client architecture, the flow, navigation, and content organization can be revised instantly and made immediately available to app users. Apps do no have to be resubmitted to the app stores for approval and users don't have to upgrade their apps for small changes and content updates. This allows companies to create apps on mobile devices that are much more flexible and continuously upgradeable much like a SaaS product in the web space. "The GENWI's mCMS™ combined with the flexible client architecture is a unique offering for the publishing industry to embrace the iPad and expedite the transition from printed publications and static PDF reader apps to interactive, social, and real time-updated apps" said PJ Gurumohan, Founder & CEO of GENWI. GENWI also offers several in-built monetization features such as Ad Engine and local business coupon management for media publishers. In-app subscriptions based on iTunes payment system will also be offered. The mCMS™ also offers analytics to measure the engagement of the users at various levels. Downloads, app interactions (views and shares), location analytics etc. that can be filtered by device types and time are in-built into mCMS™ dashboard. GENWI's mCMS™ and iPad app solution will be offered on a usage basis (app interactions). An iPad app, iPhone, Android, and HTML5 (iSites™) app could be developed and deployed with a limited version of mCMS™ at $500 per month based on usage. For custom mCMS™ and advanced features additional fee would be applicable. About GENWI GENWI http://genwi.com is the premier cloud-based platform for Smartphone and Tablet app publishing. GENWI currently has 1500 Apps active on its platform and growing rapidly. GENWI's unique architecture enables rapid creation and deployment of either native or HTML5 (iSites™) Apps, with virtually no programming while incorporating rich media capabilities and real-time data. The solution has comprehensive real-time analytics that provides insights into Apps usage and engagement, and Apps can also include various revenue generating capabilities for businesses like ads, coupons, in-App subscriptions etc. Founded in 2010, GENWI is a privately held firm based in Los Altos, CA. For more information, please visit www.genwi.com
Don't tell us where you're going, Nissan Leaf driver, we already know (video)
That cute little bugger above certainly looks innocent enough, but it might have been spreading some pretty detailed gossip behind your back. Leaf-driver Casey Halverson was playing around with the RSS reader in his Carwings system when he discovered that it wasn't just collecting feeds from RSS servers, it was also telling those servers his car's current location, speed, heading and even the destination he'd set in the sat nav. Strangely, Halverson's undercover tattletale appears to have halted its indiscretions after he posted the discovery on his blog, but we're surmising there's still hundreds of server logs up and down the country that prove it really happened, not to mention his video after the break. Cue Rockwell, fade to black.
Reeder makes a successful leap from iOS to Mac
When I heard that Reeder for Mac was being developed, I was thrilled. Ever since I had moved to Google Reader, I had been looking for a Mac app which was more compelling to use than the web interface. Reeder for iPad (US$5) was so good that I used it almost exclusively. Could Reeder make the jump from iOS to Mac? I purposefully waited until the first few public beta versions of Reeder for Mac were released, to let the early bugs get sorted out. When I started to hear good reports about it on Twitter, I downloaded it and tried it for myself. Initially, it felt awkward. I couldn't stop noticing that this was an iOS app ported to Mac OS X. It just didn't feel right. So I deleted it. A few beta releases later, I tried again, but the result was the same: I used it briefly, then gave up. When the final version arrived, I went to the official website hoping to find a demo version that I could try before buying. (I will pause briefly to repeat my firm belief that the biggest shortcoming of the iOS and Mac App Stores is the lack of full-featured demos.) At US$10, Reeder was above my "just buy it to try it" threshold. I found screenshots, but those are hardly enough to give a good feel for the app. For a few days I continued my routine of using a Fluid.app browser for Google Reader on the Mac and Reeder on my iPad, but eventually curiosity got the better of me and I dropped my Alexander Hamilton on it. Despite my first rule for purchasing software, I decided that even if it didn't meet my needs now, it was likely to be popular enough that it would continue to be developed and improved. Five minutes later I knew I had made the right choice. Make no mistake, Reeder still feels like an iOS app which jumped to the Mac, but it has pushed through the awkward teenage years into a promising young-adulthood. That may be due to the fact that Lion has already started to push acceptance of iOS ideas and concepts coming "back to the Mac," or maybe the app itself has changed enough to make the jump seem less dramatic. But enough with the vagaries of opinion, let's take a closer look at what's there. Keyboard Shortcuts and 3rd Party Services The first thing I loved was the keyboard shortcuts. Clearly that's not something you're going to find in an iOS app, so this is one place where it really stands out on the Mac. There are built-in, easily configurable keyboard commands for just about anything you could imagine. Not just the obvious ones like J/K for previous and next, but also shortcuts to send the current article to other services such as Pinboard, Instapaper, ReadItLater, Delicious, or Zootool. You can also send articles to Twitter, Instapaper or Google's mobilizer, email, or your web browser. If you have used Reeder on the iPad, you are used to being able to easily send articles from it to those services, and on the Mac it is even easier. Just like the iPad version, you can disable services you do not use. For example, I use Pinboard but not Delicious, so I left Pinboard enabled and dropped Delicious. But that's not all your fingers can do Drawing from the app's iOS roots, Reeder also supports gestures for swiping up, down, left, and right, as well as pinch open or close, letting you choose what action each gesture triggers. I am still getting used to these sorts of gestures on Mac OS X, but I think it is clear that they are part of its future. You are not required to use them; they are simply another way of controlling the app instead of clicking on menus or toolbar icons (also highly configurable) or keyboard shortcuts. Readability: an RSS lover's best friend Reeder's built-in "Readability" feature pulls full articles from sites which only offer truncated RSS feeds. To try it out by clicking a button that's available at the bottom of the article pane, or with a keyboard shortcut (G), which toggles it on or off. If you want to go beyond the Readability format and integrate Reeder with your Readability account, you will find support for that is also built-in to the app, with the sign-in preference right below your Google account information. Nice Extras You can determine exactly when articles may be marked as read, pre-load articles (either in a web-browser or with Readability) and more. You can also change numerous appearance settings to make it look more or less like an iOS app with room for tweaking. I was also glad to see that Reeder let me set the "Unread Count" to either "badge" (which looks like iOS) or "icon" (which looks nicely Mac-ish), or disable it altogether. It also gives granularity of control over syncing unread, starred, and shared items, as well as notes. What's different and what's "missing" Unlike most Mac apps, Reeder uses many keyboard shortcuts without a modifier key (Command, Option, Shift). As I mentioned before, some of these will be familiar to you if you have used the Google Reader website, and I would not say that they were a bad idea, just a different one. I do know that many years ago Opera dropped one-key shortcuts because they found it led to user confusion when keys were accidentally pressed either by the users themselves, or (and I am not making this up) their cats. Fortunately the most potentially "damaging" keystroke (Mark All As Read) requires confirmation before it is executed (unless your cat manages to press Shift and A simultaneously, or you turn off the confirmation option in preferences). So far my only feature request (other than a demo version) is the ability to easily switch between Google accounts (a la Gmail accounts in Mailplane), but I suspect that is not a feature many users will use. At the very least, its absence in 1.0 release is understandable, and it may be enough of an "edge case" that it might never be added. Others have mentioned the lack of "tabs" as a drawback. While I understand the complaint, I find that I much prefer to read one article at a time. Still, I would not be surprised to see that added in a later version if demand continues. After all, this is only 1.0. Finally, I was surprised to see that there was no "full screen mode" available. Perhaps that feature will be added when Lion is released. Summary Reeder succeeds in crossing over from iOS by bringing the best features that users have come to expect and adding in a sprinkling of Mac-specific features. While it may seem even more at home once Lion arrives, I am glad to have it today on my Mac. If you already know and love Reeder on the iPad, chances are good you will love it on the Mac too. If you are not an iPad user and are looking for a clean, feature-rich Google Reader client for Mac, Reeder should definitely be on your list to check out. Gallery Check out Reeder's menus in the gallery below. Screenshots of the UI are available on the official Reeder website. %Gallery-126474%
Reeder for Mac now available on Mac App Store
Reeder, a popular Google Reader client on iOS, is now out of beta and available on the Mac App Store. While the beta version of Reeder for the Mac was free to test, the 1.0 release will set you back US$9.99, more than twice the price of the iPad version. That $9.99 offers syncing with Google Reader (which you can set up for free), plus integration with Readability, Instapaper, ReadItLater, Pinboard, Delicious, Zootool and more. The app has a customizable, multi-column interface that's superficially similar to the iPad version, and Reeder includes gesture support and customizable shortcuts. If you read a lot of news on your Mac, Reeder definitely looks like a big step up from reading RSS feeds in Safari or Mail. We've got several Reeder fans on the TUAW staff, and one of them will likely be providing a full review of Reeder in the near future.
Tweeting from a Newton
Getting old technology to do new things in a creative way is fun. Take, for example, Tony Kan of the My Apple Newton blog who details how he uses twittermail, to send tweets via email and Twitter's now defunct RSS feed to receive his incoming feed. Though Twitter no longer supports RSS, the link for your account is still live and kicking. Best of all, both services are available for free. Using a combination of services is one way to tweet from your MessagePad, but there are other ways, too. Some folks use Newtscape, a text-only web browser for the MessagePad, to browse Twitter's mobile website. Others like Ron Parker use email on the Apple Newton to both send and receive tweets. It's rudimentary, but works well on the iconic Apple device. Anyone else out there tweeting from legacy Apple hardware? If so, how do you do it? [Via Forkbombr]
Taptu for iPad brings blended feeds to newsreader app lineup
Considering how eerily the 2001: A Space Odyssey version of a tablet newsreader matches the 2011 reality of the iPad, it's no surprise that the App Store landscape is getting crowded with newsreader options. Beyond the standalone startups and the gray standards, a whole bunch of RSS-centric tools have made the scene: Flipboard, Early Edition, Pulse, Zite and more. Now we can add another reader to the master list: Taptu, a company with a heritage in search technology, has built out the free iPad version of its app to accompany the existing iPhone and Android versions. The app launches today in the App Store. Taptu's CEO Mitch Lazar, a veteran of CNN and Yahoo!'s mobile efforts, told me that the experience of building the company's consumer search product (now discontinued) has informed and supported the newsreader platform that Taptu is aiming to create. Given a serious search infrastructure, it's much easier to tackle the problems of story duplication and "what should I read now?" than it would be without that underlying intelligence. Taptu's recommendation engine will recommend related stories as you read, and it will find feeds and collections that match your interests over time.
Boxcar Beta for Mac available, brings notifications to Mac
Today brings a delightful surprise for Mac users with Boxcar joining the Mac family. Boxcar has been the standard for getting push notifications from your social networks, email, RSS and other services on iOS devices since it launched in July of 2009, and it has been one of my favorite iPhone apps from the start. Boxcar currently supports more Twitter events than you probably have time to read, including mentions, direct messages, new followers, trending topics, Twitter list updates and keyword searches. Boxcar also supports other social networks for notifications from Facebook, check-ins from Gowalla and Foursquare, even Google Buzz.
Zite is a pretty cool way to follow the news
As a news junkie, I just can't get enough information. I adore Pulse, and I think Flipboard is interesting and useful. Like most of you, I spend a lot of time checking out news sites and using apps like the New York Times and the NPR app. Enter Zite. Zite is a just released free iPad app that constructs a magazine around your interests on the fly. When you first launch it, you suggest topics you like (Photography, Science, Technology, etc.), and then the magazine is created using RSS feeds and links to news and other sources. Some of the sources are well known, others are not (at least to me). You can also enter your Twitter name and Google Reader account info to further tune the personalization, although neither is required, and I didn't do it for my evaluation. The result is that you get a lot of content by discovery that you might not ever see. You can tell the app that you like a particular news source or author and click on some automatically generated key words. Over time, the content of your magazine shifts to reflect what you are reading and liking. You can also tell Zite what you don't like to further shape the future content. %Gallery-119129%
TUAW Tip: Generate iTunes Store RSS feeds
iTunes obviously has a great deal of data about its sales; Apple is quite aware of the top sellers among its music, apps, movies and podcasts. That information is also available through RSS feeds. If you want to share that data on your website, or even if you just want it in your RSS reader, you can use the official iTunes RSS Generator to get the right feed. You can refine the RSS feed created by Country, Media Type, Feed Type, Size and whether to allow explicit content. The Media Types available include Music, Podcasts, Audiobooks, TV Shows, Music Videos, Movies, Mac Apps and Apps. There are obviously many options under each media type, so you should check it out and see what's available. Just punch in the criteria you want to follow, hit "Generate" and then hook up that feed to an RSS reader, and you'll be kept up to date on the latest changes in the iTunes stores.
iOS RSS reader NewsRack out now in Mac App Store
NewsRack, the popular iOS RSS feed reader, is now available for Mac OS X (10.6.6 or later) in the Mac App Store. The new version from omz:software offers syncing with Google Reader, drag and drop feed arrangement, tabbed browsing and thumbnail previews, just as any good feed reader should. It has been available on iOS devices for a while now (US$4.99), but the Mac version is now ready for download from the Mac App Store for $6.99. There are numerous RSS feed readers already popular with OS X users that we have discussed here at TUAW, such as Reeder and NetNewsWire, and I myself am a Reeder fan on both my Mac and on my iPhone. Those of you still looking for that perfect reader might want to check out NewsRack, but I am not sure if I am willing to jump ship right now to a new app. However, it is always nice to have another solid option should I change my mind in the future. [via MacStories]
Thimble concept translates real-world input into real-time Braille (video)
From the great tomorrowland of concept videos comes yet another potentially life-changing product: a thimble (looks more like a one-finger glove to us) that takes ambient input and relays it in via an electro-tactile grid to the wearer's finger in Braille. It gets text input from an embedded camera, like in the picture above, or pulls RSS feeds, books, or presumably any other text via a Bluetooth-paired smartphone. We are, of course, addicted to the flow of info our mobile devices feed us throughout the day, and this little guy seems like the perfect tool to bring that flow more easily to the visually impaired. Now, venture capitalists, work your magic -- we'll be expecting to see this thing on shelves just in time for holidays season 2012. Video after the jump.
Flipboard updated, finally does Google Reader and Flickr right
When we spent some quality time with Flipboard over the summer, when the iPad was still a new and exciting thing, we liked the idea but not so much the implementation -- there just wasn't enough stuff filling the pages of our pretend magazines. Since then Flipboard of course went on to win Apple's US iTunes iPad app of the year award and is now celebrating with a major update: Google Reader support. This quite naturally means a huge boost in available content and turns this into a serious way to get your news, with much nicer presentation than your average RSS aggregator. That presentation has also been boosted by Flickr integration, meaning a treasure trove of pretty pictures to go along with that dire news about US politics you can't help but subscribe to.
BlackBerry News Feeds hits the beta wires
If you're in the market for a good -- or at the very least, free -- RSS reader for your BlackBerry, a new app from RIM itself might be a good place to start your search. The aptly-named BlackBerry News Feeds looks to be a serviceable app from the screen shots that RIM has sent us, offering the ability to share the gold you dig up in your feeds through countless conduits -- email, text, BBM, Facebook, and so on. It's launching both through BlackBerry Beta Zone and App World's Test Center today, so if you're feeling adventurous -- and you like yourself some newses -- you might want to have a look. %Gallery-110494%
Update to the Massively makeover
Hello, readers! It's been a few weeks since our massive Massively site overhaul landed, and our web gurus have been scurrying in the background fixing bugs and responding to your reports. Not all of the bugs have been vaporized just yet, but we'd like to update you on the status of some of the problems that most affect you. RSS -- Our most-reported problem over the last few weeks revolved around our RSS feeds. Many users reported a doubling-up of posts as the site spewed out two copies of every post. Others reported an inability to subscribe to specific categories and bloggers, and still others were finding that every RSS feed was producing copies of the podcast (great news for podcast fans, I guess!). Our techs currently report that all of our RSS feeds should be functioning now, but they note that many RSS readers do not well tolerate the kind of switcheroo we had to do. If you're still having problems, unsubscribe again from all of your Massively feeds and try resubbing one more time. I can tell you that I am using Google Reader and stopped having problems a few days ago. If you need to resub to specific feeds, this will help: for the writers, visit the individual pages on our team portal; for columns and features, hop over to our columns list; and for specific games, click on your chosen game in the games list for a category with a feed button. There's more behind the cut... follow along!
Reeder for Mac RSS client reaches beta
If you're a fan of Reeder on the iPad and you're looking for a new RSS client on your Mac, heads up: the first public beta of Reeder for Mac is now available for download. The free testing version is decidedly incomplete -- no downloads, no feed management and no search yet, according to developer Sivio Rizzi -- but it's still worth a look. The feed reader integrates with a slew of third-party services like Instapaper, Twitter and Pinboard, and it maintains the sleek, minimal interface of the iPad and iPhone apps. Everyone's always looking for the ultimate Google Reader local client, and if you crave simplicity, Reeder may be for you.
