Ilium Software Releases NewsBreak

[marlof]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.iliumsoft.com/site/nw/newsbreak.htm' target='_blank'>http://www.iliumsoft.com/site/nw/newsbreak.htm</a><br /><br /></div>My favorite RSS feedreader on my Pocket PC is NewsBreak by Ilium Software. Not only does the application look very polished, it also keeps you informed about topics you're really interested in by defining keywords and setting notifications. If that is not enough, NewsBreak checks if your device is connected to the internet (including the passthrough connection when you perform an Activesync), and will update its channels through any such connection. I knew they were working on a Smartphone release and I was very anxious to see how well the application would port to the smaller screen estate. And I was not disappointed. I was not disappointed at all. One of my gripes with my Smartphone is solved: I now have a good way to keep up with my newsfeeds! Ilium Software has a 30-day trial version available, and if you like it: for a limited time you can get NewsBreak for $14.95 ($5.00 off the regular price).<br /><br /><img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/marlof-20050111-newsbreak.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/>

[Jerry Raia]

This is a great news reader. :)

[encece]

NICE! :D Just bought it and it's working great. Having trouble with Modaco's RSS....but all others are working great.

[Mike Temporale]

Having trouble with Modaco's RSS....but all others are working great.

Ya, there new news feed sucks. :evil:

[encece]

Paul's working on it I believe.

[MS Mobiles]

How is it better than the free news reader for MS smartphone?

[encece]

Automaticly Updates at set intervals. Cleaner looking. Categories. Import of OPML files. Filtering new headlines only, Notifications, Export of Channels for backup. Searching/Notification by keyword. Just to name a few.

[MS Mobiles]

Automaticly Updates at set intervals. Cleaner looking. Categories. Import of OPML files. Filtering new headlines only, Notifications, Export of Channels for backup. Searching/Notification by keyword. Just to name a few.

OPML! Wow! That explains everything. Thanks encece.

[encece]

:D Very handy on initial setup of feeds, my friend. Be as sarchastic as you'd like. You have to admit it's better than yours yourself. :D

[MS Mobiles]

:D Very handy on initial setup of feeds, my friend. Be as sarchastic as you'd like. You have to admit it's better than yours yourself. :D

"yours"? I have no RSS reader...

I think that each page should have RSS feed, even this forum thread :lol:

[encece]

I meant the free reader you mentioned on your site. devil! :)

[encece]

By the way....xml.msmobiles.com/mobile is still producing headlines only.

[MS Mobiles]

The free reader is not mine.

and xml.msmobiles.com/mobile produces headlines + links to mobile version of each news item to minimize GPRS traffic...

[encece]

Ahhh, I misread your disclaimer on your site. Could you fix that to add a snipet of your article where one could then click more? It's just text after all. (Not that I'm counting GPRS costs here in the US! :D)

[MS Mobiles]

Ahhh, I misread your disclaimer on your site. Could you fix that to add a snipet of your article where one could then click more? It's just text after all. (Not that I'm counting GPRS costs here in the US! :D)

No, I can't sorry. You can click on the link and open it in IE.

By the way: I wish this NewsBreak program could support ENCLOSURES so that podcasts (usually: MP3 files) could be downloaded too!

[encece]

Whatever. Thanks for thinking about it. I'll just read the original stories on the other sites that they came from instead.

Podcasts are only a fad anyway. By the time you learn how to do them, they'll be old news.

Why dont people just stream the audio (and video) so that they can be played in WMP on the pc or smartphone???

[encece]

\o/

[Kris Kumar]

Finally installed NewsBreak. Have to admit it has a very clean interface.

Love some of the options: ClearType and Font size for the news item.

But still not a happy camper. :-(

The previous RSS reader I was using (actually still am) the RSSHome (http://www.rsshome.com) let set up the news feeds and categories online, from a regular web browser. So I don't have to fiddle with keystrokes on the Smartphone. OPML is a good idea.

Couple of wishes, (if the developers are reading) ;-)
- The font for the screen that shows the headlines should be adjustable. (would like it a notch bigger)
- Turn off time stamp in the headlines screen. So that couple of more words from the headlines can be accomodated. Or better make it like the mail client, don't show the date if the feed was downloaded today.
- While reading a headline detail, wish there are hotkeys to jump to the next or previous headline detail. (maybe there already is) Right now I have to click Menu->Next Headline.

Overall I love the clean/professional look.

[Santa Fe]

It takes way to long to download new items over the air where I live. Also some of the provided links require subscriptions (WSJ for example) to view more than the headline and I agree entering feeds via the Smartphone is too much trouble. I'll probably not keep this one.

[Ilium Software]

[...]
Couple of wishes, (if the developers are reading) ;-)
[...]
- While reading a headline detail, wish there are hotkeys to jump to the next or previous headline detail. (maybe there already is) Right now I have to click Menu->Next Headline.
[...]


Thank you for trying NewsBreak.

There are some hotkeys in NewsBreak.

When refreshing data in the channels list, 7 bings up a detailed progress dialog.

When viewing a summary, press 9 to move to the next summary and 3 to move to the previous.

[Kris Kumar]

When viewing a summary, press 9 to move to the next summary and 3 to move to the previous.

Thanks for the response. 9 and 3 did the trick. :D

I like the clean interface. But News readers need to have a lot of flexibility to satisfy different customers.

- Font for the headline list and the hide time stamp feature I think should be there.
- Also the auto update time, how come there is none in between 1 hour and 6 hour. :-(

Sorry for being picky. I have used all the four RSS readers and each one of them has left me wanting for more. Couple were not even worth checking out. NewsReader definitely stands out from the pack and is good. Few more tiny features and this app will be unbeatable.

[Kris Kumar]

And love the detailed (key # 7) progress bar screen. Nice touch. :-)

[Jerry Raia]

I've been using it a few days now and I really like it :)

[Santa Fe]

Maybe it is just my latitude/longitude but downloading only a couple of sites just sucks up my battery life. It is much more efficent to just go to the web site it self. Any tricks to help this before I delete?

[encece]

I dont know about the battery life issue, but I've read that it's waaaaay better to download the data to the phone and not to SD card. Did you try that?

[Santa Fe]

No, I download to the SD card. I'll give it one more try using the phone. Thanks.