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Scylla · 06-11-06, 02:18 AM

NewsGator, the popular Web-based RSS aggregator, is offering a beta version of their newsreader for the Pocket PC and Smartphone, appropriately named NewsGator Mobile. While there is no hint as to what the price of NewsGator may eventually be, the beta is free.

In its present, raw form, NewsGator Mobile is fairly plain looking; it shows only text - no photos, for now anyway. (UPDATE: Please note - I saw no images at first either because those feeds I read happened to have none, or because the sync was still in progress. But NewsGator Mobile certainly DOES have full image support! - Jim) But they do have a forum set up at the NewsGator main website and appear to be taking suggestions seriously. The format has been designed for optimum performance on PPC Phone devices and is partial to one-handed operation. This is especially evidenced by the fact that there are no context menus available with a stylus tap and hold.

The "killer" feature in the mobile version of NewsGator, in my opinion, is full synchronization with NewsGator Online. If you use NewsGator Online, you are already familiar with the fact that you can go to your NewsGator Online site and see all of your subscribed feeds and folders from any computer. They also sell subscriptions to FeedDemon, a PC-based reader that also synchronizes completely with NewsGator Online. I love the fact that I can always see my familiar folder/feed setup whether I am using my PC online, any other PC online, or even my PC offline with FeedDemon. Now I can also see all of my feeds on NewsGator Mobile. With my previous PPC RSS aggregator I had to set up all feeds separately on my device. Since I have over 25 folders and hundreds of feeds within them on NewsGator Online, recreating that on my Pocket PC was simply not a task I was willing to attempt manually. Now, with NewsGator Mobile, I don't have to set anything up at all. I just downloaded and installed the software, inout my username and password, and...

Voila! All of my folders and feeds were immediately replicated in their entirety on my Pocket PC! Well, at least the structure was replicated immediately. Actually synchronizing all of those feeds did take some time. Well over an hour. Of course I have approximately 12,000 separate articles in my subscribed feeds! And with GPRS, I just set my device down and left it alone for a little while. Subsequent feeds are much quicker, as it is just a purge of old feeds and only the new ones are then downloaded.

The beta can be downloaded here at the NewsGator site:

http://www.newsgator.com/NGOLMobileBeta.aspx

06-11-06, 02:18 AM	#1 (permalink)
Scylla Aximsite All Star Elite Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Philly, PA USA Posts: 888 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 2	NewsGator Mobile Beta NewsGator, the popular Web-based RSS aggregator, is offering a beta version of their newsreader for the Pocket PC and Smartphone, appropriately named NewsGator Mobile. While there is no hint as to what the price of NewsGator may eventually be, the beta is free. In its present, raw form, NewsGator Mobile is fairly plain looking; it shows only text - no photos, for now anyway. (UPDATE: Please note - I saw no images at first either because those feeds I read happened to have none, or because the sync was still in progress. But NewsGator Mobile certainly DOES have full image support! - Jim) But they do have a forum set up at the NewsGator main website and appear to be taking suggestions seriously. The format has been designed for optimum performance on PPC Phone devices and is partial to one-handed operation. This is especially evidenced by the fact that there are no context menus available with a stylus tap and hold. The "killer" feature in the mobile version of NewsGator, in my opinion, is full synchronization with NewsGator Online. If you use NewsGator Online, you are already familiar with the fact that you can go to your NewsGator Online site and see all of your subscribed feeds and folders from any computer. They also sell subscriptions to FeedDemon, a PC-based reader that also synchronizes completely with NewsGator Online. I love the fact that I can always see my familiar folder/feed setup whether I am using my PC online, any other PC online, or even my PC offline with FeedDemon. Now I can also see all of my feeds on NewsGator Mobile. With my previous PPC RSS aggregator I had to set up all feeds separately on my device. Since I have over 25 folders and hundreds of feeds within them on NewsGator Online, recreating that on my Pocket PC was simply not a task I was willing to attempt manually. Now, with NewsGator Mobile, I don't have to set anything up at all. I just downloaded and installed the software, inout my username and password, and... Voila! All of my folders and feeds were immediately replicated in their entirety on my Pocket PC! Well, at least the structure was replicated immediately. Actually synchronizing all of those feeds did take some time. Well over an hour. Of course I have approximately 12,000 separate articles in my subscribed feeds! And with GPRS, I just set my device down and left it alone for a little while. Subsequent feeds are much quicker, as it is just a purge of old feeds and only the new ones are then downloaded. The beta can be downloaded here at the NewsGator site: http://www.newsgator.com/NGOLMobileBeta.aspx __________________ *Jim McGowan* Last edited by Scylla; 06-12-06 at 01:40 AM.