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View Full Version : Microsoft Pocket PC Newsgroups On...well, a Pocket PC!


Brad Adrian
03-22-2002, 02:26 PM
<a href="http://www.cewindows.net/pocketpc/newsportal/index.php">http://www.cewindows.net/pocketpc/newsportal/index.php</a><br /><br />Mark Risi has reminded me about a news portal that Chris De Herrera (of CEWindows.Net fame) recently established. Chris has created a Web site that formats Microsoft's public Pocket PC forums for easy reading and responding via a Pocket PC. He's included all the major Pocket PC-related newsgroups:<br /><br />microsoft.public.pocketpc <br />microsoft.public.pocketpc.ebooks <br />microsoft.public.pocketpc.multimedia <br />microsoft.public.pocketpc.marketplace <br />microsoft.public.fr.pocketpc <br />microsoft.public.de.german.windowsce <br />microsoft.public.it.pocketpc <br />microsoft.public.es.pocketpc <br />microsoft.public.pocketpc.developer <br />microsoft.public.pocketpc.developer.networking <br /><br />You can see that Chris has even gone so far as including the English, German, Italian and Spanish versions of these newsgroups, so there's something for everyone.<br /><br />One of the things that I've struggled with for a long time is finding an easy way to read these newsgroups on my Pocket PC. Some of the news readers available for offline use are nice, but they can be cumbersome and don't necessarily work well for "live" interaction with the newsgroup. <br /><br />Well, I've tried this portal and like what I've seen. The text wraps just like it should, even after resizing using the Pocket Internet Explorer options. Another nice feature is the ability to "remember" your name and e-mail address so you don't have to keep typing it in for each post. I think that I'll be using this a lot, especially when working wirelessly.

palmsolo
03-22-2002, 04:03 PM
Brad,

Yes this is a great site that Chris created. I found this a few days ago and it is wonderful for syncing using Mazingo. Just create a custom channel in Mazingo using Chris' sites URL. Maybe Mazingo can make this an official channel in their PDA list. I can now read the newsgroups postings while riding the bus for 2 hours a day. I tried some of the newsreaders, but this is so easy and free!

Brad Adrian
03-22-2002, 06:07 PM
Great idea! I'll have to give it a try, for those times when I can't be connected but want to keep up with the newsgroup.

Dave Conger
03-22-2002, 08:20 PM
But can you reply is you make it a custom channel? I won't think you could. I haven't played around with Mazingos ability to send back data to a site, but I would think Chris would have to do some configuration to get that to work.

Brad Adrian
03-22-2002, 08:32 PM
No, if you use Mazingo, you would not be able to reply. You can only use it to read the posts. Still, that can be valuable for anybody simply wanting to keep abreast of the issues and comments of the day.

dunneldeen
03-22-2002, 08:59 PM
Mazingo has done a wonderful job so far in working with site admins to get content working. For a site like Chris's, they would probably be willing to work with him to get it working.

/dev/niall
03-22-2002, 10:34 PM
Interesting topic, since I started writing a newsreader last weekend. Hoping to have something releasable for testing this weekend.
What features are important to you in a newsreader on your pocket pc?

Here's a couple of screenshots of what I have so far. Very rough, since I'm testing my socket, nntp, and preference classes before I clean up the UI.

http://www.kst.com/boopee/main.gif Main window

http://www.kst.com/boopee/group.gif Newsgroup

http://www.kst.com/boopee/article.gif Article

http://www.kst.com/boopee/settings.gif Preferences

http://www.kst.com/boopee/subs.gif Managing subscriptions

The device application is an actual, honest-to-goodness newsreader, and does not require you to use activesync or any applications on your desktop machine to download news. You can also run it from your cradle using Activesync for a passthru internet connection.

What features would be important to you? Would you be posting messages, or mostly reading? Any insight would be most helpful.

Thanks!

Registered
03-23-2002, 06:35 PM
Looking good ! :D

Will this be a on- or offline newsreader ?

/dev/niall
03-24-2002, 06:46 AM
Will this be a on- or offline newsreader ?


Both. ;)

You have the option of downloading the post bodies when you "synchronize", but you can opt to just download the headers and only download the bodies of messages you are interested in (assuming you have a network connection).
If your device doesn't have a network connection, then you can synchronize both the headers and post bodies for offline reading.

ChrisD
03-24-2002, 07:17 AM
Hi,
Now the newsgroups support the ability to enter a signature as well as e-mail address and name.

Also the appropriate newsgroups are available in Spanish, French, German and Italian for native speakers as well.



http://www.cewindows.net/pocketpc/newsportal/index.php

Mark Risi has reminded me about a news portal that Chris De Herrera (of CEWindows.Net fame) recently established. Chris has created a Web site that formats Microsoft's public Pocket PC forums for easy reading and responding via a Pocket PC. He's included all the major Pocket PC-related newsgroups:

microsoft.public.pocketpc
microsoft.public.pocketpc.ebooks
microsoft.public.pocketpc.multimedia
microsoft.public.pocketpc.marketplace
microsoft.public.fr.pocketpc
microsoft.public.de.german.windowsce
microsoft.public.it.pocketpc
microsoft.public.es.pocketpc
microsoft.public.pocketpc.developer
microsoft.public.pocketpc.developer.networking

You can see that Chris has even gone so far as including the English, German, Italian and Spanish versions of these newsgroups, so there's something for everyone.

One of the things that I've struggled with for a long time is finding an easy way to read these newsgroups on my Pocket PC. Some of the news readers available for offline use are nice, but they can be cumbersome and don't necessarily work well for "live" interaction with the newsgroup.

Well, I've tried this portal and like what I've seen. The text wraps just like it should, even after resizing using the Pocket Internet Explorer options. Another nice feature is the ability to "remember" your name and e-mail address so you don't have to keep typing it in for each post. I think that I'll be using this a lot, especially when working wirelessly.

Dave Conger
03-24-2002, 08:51 AM
Will this be a on- or offline newsreader ?

Both. ;)


If I used it as an offline newsreader could I post messages offline and have them sent when I sync?

Keep us informed of your progress, the screen shots look good.

/dev/niall
03-24-2002, 08:52 PM
If I used it as an offline newsreader could I post messages offline and have them sent when I sync?


Yup.