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Gizmodo: rss
Gizmodo posts tagged rss

Google Prettifies RSS With Tablet-Ready Google Reader Play [Google]

The mad scientists at Google Labs have unleashed their latest concoction: Google Reader Play, a new way to look at your feeds one Google-suggested site at a time. It’s actually pretty neat! And would be perfect for the iPad.

Google Reader Play is a full-screen treatment that shows you an image, video, or text from websites that are popular on Google Reader. You can navigate from page to page with right and left arrows at the sides of the screen, or by selecting a site from the assorted options below. You don’t have to be signed in to use it, although if you are you’ll have more control over the type of content you’re seeing: when you use Google Reader Play from your account, you can star an item for later, say that you like it to be shown similar content in the future, and share it with friends.

The interface is certainly easy to use on a desktop, although not ideal for sorting through a large number of feeds if you’re looking for news or a specific site. But where it’s really going to shine is on a tablet, where the large display, simple interaction, and random stream of content lend themselves perfectly to wasting away an afternoon on a couch, scrolling through the best parts of the internet.

It’s still in Labs right now, but can be used by anyone, and it’s more than worth a shot! To be clear, it’s not a replacement for Google Reader, nor is it meant to be. It’s just a new way of browsing the web, and just in time for the tablets it’ll work best on. [Official Google Reader Blog]

#rss

Please bring back the full text RSS, I want to stay a reader!

#tips #rss #fulltext #fulltextrss

TimurY

Hey You, RSS Readers [Announcements]

You. You that’s reading this post on your RSS feed reader. Yeah, you. That’s right, nobody else can see this except you! Come on in. I’ve got some news.

Starting today (or tomorrow, for some of you, since the switch might not have happened yet), our RSS feeds will be going excerpt-only. That means you can only see some of the post—for our posts that go beyond the first paragraph because we have more to say—if you click into the site.

I know, I know, it’s a pain. As a guy who goes through loads of RSS feeds a day, I know I like to read full feeds that don’t force me to click into the site. If I like a post, I’ll definitely go in to see what the comments are (if not to comment on it myself). For those of you like me, there’s the full feed.

http://gizmodo.com/vip.xml

We even called you guys VIPs.

For everyone else, the standard feed will keep on working, but you’ll only see excerpts, much like how our front page works now. If you’re the kind of person who likes to skim through posts and only read the occasional one you enjoy, this is actually better for you! It cuts down on load times and still gets the point across.

So, there should be a feed that’s right for you, depending on what you like.

When It’s Okay to Pay For an App [Profdealzmodo]

There are over 130,000 apps in the App Store. About 100,000 of those expect you to pay cash money for a download. Sometimes it’s worth it! Often, it’s not. Prof. Dealzmodo’s here to help you tell the difference.

Oscar Wilde was right about cynics: they know the cost of everything and the value of nothing. On your next trip to the App Store, don’t be cynical. Be smart—even if it means spending a little money.

The App Store Effect Is Real. Use It.

Last fall, John pondered the App Store Effect, which holds that Apple’s model results in price deflation so severe that it’s unsustainable… in the long term. In the short term, though, it’s your ticket to apps that cost far less than their analog (or web-only) counterparts. And sometimes, they’ll include even more functionality.

Examples? Certainly! Here’s a range of apps, from professional to gaming to reference to navigation, that’ll save you anywhere from a few bucks to a few thousand:

It’s probably most helpful to think of these in terms of the broad categories where you’re most likely to find a cheaper app alternative.

Hobbyist: If it’s an activity that at least a few thousand people enjoy, there’s likely an app catering to it. GuitarToolkit’s a perfect—if extreme—example. For $10, you get a library of over 500,000 chords, a chromatic tuner, and a metronome. Purchasing all those items individually gets expensive and, more importantly, bulky. An app? A fifth (or less) of the cost, all stored in your phone. Frequent traveler? Download HearPlanet’s collection of over 250,000 audio guides instead of shelling out around $8 for one at each location. If you have a common passion, someone’s developing for it.

Professional: BarMax costs as much as an App Store product is allowed to, but the law exam prep app is still $2,000 less than an in-classroom service like BarBri. In fact, shortly after BarMax was released, BarBri retooled its pricing structure to be more competitive. It wasn’t a coincidence. And other professionals—including pilots and nurses—have a bevy of targeted apps to choose from as well.

Cannibalistic: Companies are so eager to be represented in the App Store that they’ll undercut themselves to be players there. An online subscription to Zagat.com costs $25 per year. The Zagat to Go app costs just $10, and includes location services and an offline mode that the Zagat website doesn’t. You can play Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for $30 on the PSP, but it’s only $10 on your iPhone. And Major League Baseball’s MLB.com at Bat app lets you stream games for $1 a pop, while MLB.TV charges $99 for a yearly subscription. Sure, if you watch a hundred or more baseball games a year on your iPod Touch’s tiny screen you’ll want to go with the latter, but the pay as you go option is ideal for the casual fan with a vested interest in his eyesight.

Remember: with so many developers targeting the App Store, it’s more than likely that there really is an app for that. But wait… what if there are several apps for that? How do you choose the right one?

App Overlap

Because the App Store is such a big ecosystem, it’s inevitable that there are redundant applications. Some categories see more overlap than others, but in general it’s common to find multiple apps that do the same thing. So where does the cost difference come from?

Functionality: The most basic—and most obvious—reason for an app to be more expensive is that it can flat-out do more. A casual Twitter user might be happy using Echofon for free, but if you need support for multiple accounts and the cleanest UI around, you’re going to be happy coughing up three bucks for Tweetie 2. Make sure to read up on the full feature set of what you’re buying. If you’re about to pay for something with more firepower than you need, there’s likely a free (or cheaper) version that’ll suit your purposes. The paid app will still be there if you decide you need more functionality down the road.

Ad Support: Often, and particularly with casual games, the only difference between the free and paid versions of an app is whether you’ll be saddled with advertisements as you use it. It really depends on your threshold: is it worth three dollars to play Words With Friends unfettered, or are you willing to endure the between-turn sales pitches that accompany Words With Friends Free? Each app integrates ads differently, so it’s worth trying out the free version first. Too many banners cluttering your screen? You’re only a click away from an upgrade.

Ripoffs: It might be helpful to think of the App Store as a giant, unruly bazaar, with thousands of vendors peddling their wares. There’s some oversight when things get out of hand, but even the $999 “I Am Rich” app was downloaded eight times before it got shut down. Like in any sales environment, it’s important to remember that what something costs usually has very little to do with what it’s worth. Don’t just go by the star system; read through the reviews to make sure that the app lives up to the developer’s description.

Easier Said Than Done?

There’s no question that a little research should go into whatever app you buy—starting with our Essential iPhone Apps Directory. Beyond that, here are a few common App Store categories with stand-out expensive, cheap, and free apps, along with our recommendations of when it’s worth it to pay up:

Cooking

Expensive: 20 Minute Meals - Jamie Oliver ($8)
Verdict: Don’t Download


Cheaper: Martha’s Everyday Food ($1)
Verdict: Don’t Download


Free: Epicurious
Verdict: Download

Jamie Oliver and Martha Stewart are powerful brands, but that’s pretty much all you’re paying for. Epicurious has thousands of recipes—including from famous chefs featured in Gourmet and Bon Appetit—a shopping list feature, and will suggest meals based on the ingredients you have handy. It’s really the only cooking app you’ll ever need.

File Storage

Expensive: Air Sharing Pro ($10)
Verdict: Don’t Download


Cheaper: Air Sharing ($3)
Verdict: Download


Free: Dropbox
Verdict: It Depends

While Air Sharing Pro includes printing and emailing, the regular version should get the job done for most people: you can transfer your files to your iPhone’s flash memory via Wi-Fi for storage and transport. The trouble with the “free” option, Dropbox, is that it’s not a standalone app. However, when you link it to your Dropbox account you can share and sync up to 2GB of files for free. It’s good if you already have an account, but if you don’t, you probably should skip it.

Messaging

Expensive: BeejiveIM ($10)
Verdict: Download


Cheaper: AIM ($3)
Verdict: Don’t Download


Free: Meebo
Verdict: Download

It might sound crazy to pay ten dollars for a messaging app, and for a lot of people it would be. But if messaging is your primary mode of communication, BeejiveIM’s multi-account management, intuitive interface, and seamless push implementation are well worth it. For more casual IMers, it’s hard to beat Meebo’s multiprotocol support and push notifications. They even log your conversations on their servers. Another solid free option is Fring, which includes Skype support. What you don’t want is to pay $3 for a messaging app like AIM, which only supports services on the AIM network and Facebook and is missing some features—like blocking contacts—found on the desktop version.

Navigation

Expensive: Navigon MobileNavigator ($90)
Verdict: Don’t Download


Cheaper: MotionX GPS Drive ($1)
Verdict: Download


Free: Waze
Verdict: Don’t Download

Just to be clear: Navigon makes one of the best navigation apps out there. But MotionX GPS Drive is a very good navigation app at a tiny fraction of the cost. So before you spend $90 on a top-flight turn-by-turn system, spend a few weeks figuring out if MotionX is good enough for your purposes. Chances are it is. And if it’s not? It was worth a dollar to find out. As for Waze, anyone who’s ever dealt with a backseat driver should appreciate just how unreliable—and aggravating—crowdsourced navigation can be.


Personal Finance

Expensive: PocketMoney ($5)
Verdict: Don’t Download


Cheaper: MoneyBook ($3)
Verdict: Don’t Download


Free: Mint.com
Verdict: Download

The first rule of money management: don’t pay for something you can get for free. Apps like PocketMoney and MoneyBook aren’t bad at what they do, they just look a bit hypocritical with Mint.com Personal Finance around. Mint automatically syncs to your online accounts to help you keep track your budget and investments. It’s the best personal finance app out there, and not just because it’s free.

RSS Reader

Expensive: NewsRack ($5)
Verdict: Download


Cheaper: Reeder ($3)
Verdict: Don’t Download


Free: NetNewsWire
Verdict: Download

You can get by with a free RSS reader, and NetNewsWire’s a great option that syncs with Google Reader. Like the majority of free options, though, it can be a bit sluggish and prone to crashing, especially if you’re loaded up on feeds. Among the paid apps, NewsRack (formerly Newsstand) shines for its reliability and speed. In-between options like Reeder? Well, if the developer’s best troubleshooting suggestion is to limit the number of items you have to sync, you’re not getting what you paid for.

Twitter

Expensive: Twitterrific ($5)
Verdict: Don’t Download


Cheaper: Tweetie 2 ($3)
Verdict: Download


Free: Echofon
Verdict: Download

Tweetie 2 is our favorite Twitter app : it’s fast, intuitive, and loaded with features. I can understand if you’d rather not pay to use Twitter on your phone, and Echofon’s a more than capable free alternative. But only a twit would pay $5 for Twitterrific when the class of the field is just $3.

The Value and the Cost

Remember that the App Effect is working for you, at least for now, and that we’re in an age of unprecedented deals on app content and services. Try not even looking at the price at first. Start with the feature set, see what’s comparable. If it’s free? Great! But even if it’s $10 or $20, it still might be a steal.

We’ve gotten to a point where it feels almost perverse to pay for an app. But think of it in a larger context: you’re buying software. On your desktop, that used to—and often still does—command exorbitant sums. Even on mobile platforms, Windows Mobile and Blackberry apps used to cost 10 or 20 times the average App Store paid download. Comparatively, App store downloads are peanuts.

And remember, too, that by paying for apps that are actually worth the money, you end up supporting the developers that are delivering innovative content and services. That means a better app experience down the road for all of us. Even the cynics.

Prof. Dealzmodo is a regular section dedicated to helping budget-minded consumers learn how to shop smarter and get the best deals on their favorite gadgets. If you have any topics you would like to see covered, send your idea to tips@gizmodo.com, with “Professor Dealzmodo” in the subject line.

How To Comment: Link To Comments [Comments]

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.Have you ever wanted to link to a specific comment on Gizmodo to share with beloved Friends? It’s much easier than you think, here’s how:

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.To generate a link to a specific comment all you have to do is click the Time & Date under the commenter’s username and the URL in your browser will automatically point to that comment. If you want to easily copy that link just right click and Copy Link. It’s that simple!



Don’t have a Gizmodo comment account yet? Well here’s how you get one:

1) Click the “Login” link on the top right of the page and doing so will show a drop down box for logging in. Click the “new user?” link and you’ll be directed to our Registration page. Fill out the form by choosing a username, password and email for your eventual comment account.

2) Choose a post, click on it, and scroll to the bottom.

3) Fill in the comment.

4) Refresh the page to see if your comment shows up. If it hasn’t within a day or two, try again with a better comment.

5) If you have any comment related issues or questions, feel free to send an email to comments@gizmodo.com.

[Top Image via Flickr]

How to Comment: Commenter RSS [Comments]

Last week Lifehacker showed you the elaborate process needed to receive Comment Reply Notifications, but this week we’ll take it a littler slower with Commenter RSS Feeds. Here’s How:

If you’ve got that special commenter that you can’t get enough of, the first step in stalking them is setting up an RSS feed that will notify you as soon as they make a comment. It’s super easy! All you have to do is navigate to that commenter’s profile page, I’m sure you already have it bookmarked, and in the top right corner under Giz Login you’ll see a RSS Feed button. Simply click the RSS feed button and your browser or default RSS reader should do the rest.

Don’t have a Gizmodo comment account yet? Well here’s how you get one:

1) Click the “Login” link on the top right of the page and doing so will show a drop down box for logging in. Click the “new user?” link and you’ll be directed to our Registration page. Fill out the form by choosing a username, password and email for your eventual comment account.

2) Choose a post, click on it, and scroll to the bottom.

3) Fill in the comment.

4) Refresh the page to see if your comment shows up. If it hasn’t within a day or two, try again with a better comment.

5) If you have any comment related issues or questions, feel free to send an email to comments@gizmodo.com.

[Top Image via Flickr]

How To Comment: Set Up Reply Notifications [Comments]

Lifehacker has a great tutorial on how to Set Up Comment Reply Notifications, and if you missed their post a few days ago here it is again.

The LH post explains:

When you’re done with this little walkthrough, you can either grab an RSS feed that contains only replies to your comments (which you can then plug into your newsreader) or you can go one step further and set up email alerts for your comment reply notifications.

So If you’re hungry for some comment reply notifications, Lifehacker’s how to should whet your appetite.

Don’t have a Gizmodo comment account yet? Well here’s how you get one:

1) Click the “Login” link on the top right of the page and doing so will show a drop down box for logging in. Click the “new user?” link and you’ll be directed to our Registration page. Fill out the form by choosing a username, password and email for your eventual comment account.

2) Choose a post, click on it, and scroll to the bottom.

3) Fill in the comment.

4) Refresh the page to see if your comment shows up. If it hasn’t within a day or two, try again with a better comment.

5) If you have any comment related issues or questions, feel free to send an email to comments@gizmodo.com.

[Top Image via Flickr]

RSS Lamp Shade: Decorate Your Room Like The Internet [Lighting]

The RSS feed lamp shade is good in a traditional sort of way, but if you really want to go for that contemporary style, a Twitter or Facebook lampshade would really do the trick.

Unfortunately, the latter two are not part of the product lineup—but you can still spice up your space with two RSS lamp shades flanking a nice couch complete with OSX pillows. Now that’s what I call good design. [Menios via ChipChick via Foolish Gadgets]

Sanyo ALBO Digital Picture Frame is Handsome, Like George Jetson [Home Furnis…

Sanyo knows that some of us are still upset that the futuristic fictional universe of The Jetsons doesn’t look like it’ll come to pass, so they’ve thrown us a bone: a Wi-Fi digital picture frame that looks like it came straight out of Jane Jetson’s foyer. The innards are pretty unexciting , with Windows CE and 256mb of onboard memory to complement a fairly standard set of picture frame capabilities, including a wide range of storage support, Picasa downloads and limited audio playback. The frame more than makes up for being a technological bore by looking completely amazing, in a retro-futurist kind of way.

It looks like it’ll be Japan only for now, but expect about a $400 price tag if it ever makes its way over here. I’m not even sure Mr. Spacely could drop that much on a picture frame, though. [Sanyo via Akihabara]

Eye-Fi Software Update Adds Support for Twitter, RSS [Eye-Fi]

Eye-Fi keeps kicking ass with their wireless SD cards, adding feed publishing capabilities through Twitter and RSS in a free software update. It was only a few weeks ago that another downloadable upgrade boosted download speeds and threw in MobileMe support, adding to an already massive list of support photo sharing sites. Owners should get an Eye-Fi Manager Software update pushed through automatically, and new customers can now find the cards on the Eye-Fi website. Note to other hardware manufacturers: DO MORE STUFF LIKE THIS. [Eye-Fi via Crave]

MSNBC Newsreader Will Vomit Stories From Household Objects [Psychedelic Newsr…

newVideoPlayer(”msnbc_reader.flv”, 506, 316,”");
MSNBC’s new flash-based “visual newsreader” (as opposed to?) presents headlines by either spinning them off of a colorful 3-D spiral or spawning them from the dominant colors in front of your webcam. The service, called Spectra, is one of the most ridiculous ways to communicate information I’ve seen in a long time. So I gave it a go, and as you can see, it’s pretty out there. While the New York Times wants to turn your computer into a newspaper, it looks like MSNBC wants to make it into a hallucinogenic drug. [MSNBC Spectra]

TiVo Discovers Really Simple Way to Get Syndicated Web Vid [Home Entertainment]

Yes, you guessed from my carefully coded headline there that today TiVo announced the capability to download video from RSS feeds on the web, by way of updated TiVo Desktop Plus software for Windows. You’ll have to pay $25 for it, but just once—it’s a free update to those who already use TiVo Desktop Plus to bring recorded shows over to their PCs, iPods and PSPs. Jump for details in an excerpt from the press release.

Starting today, TiVo users can subscribe to and watch a broad range of video content available through Real Simple Syndication (”RSS”) feeds, including everything from network nightly newscasts and The Sesame Street Podcast to Daily Headlines from MTV News and College Humor from CHTV. The application also gives consumers access to niche interest and hobbyist videos covering areas far more specialized than cable and satellite channels.

The new Web video capability requires TiVo Desktop Plus 2.6, an update to the Windows application which also converts TV shows recorded on a TiVo DVR for viewing on portable devices including iPod and Sony PlayStation? Portable. TiVo Desktop Plus 2.6 is available for a one-time fee of $24.95, and is a free upgrade to earlier versions. “TiVo continues to work with Roxio on delivering equivalent functionality on the Mac platform.”

With this new feature, users can choose web videos downloaded on the home PC using web browsers, RSS video clients such as iTunes podcasts, or other video download software to automatically copy to their TiVo DVR’s Now Playing List alongside recorded broadcast and cable TV shows. TiVo is also providing an on-screen guide of select Web video sources for users to browse and select as individual episodes or get a Season Pass?. Subscribers can even use the TiVo service’s Season Pass functionality to get their own personal video folders on their PC, where they save their home movies and other video downloads. High Definition television enthusiasts will appreciate that TiVo preserves the original quality of high-resolution web videos, up to 720p, when delivered to TiVo Series3 or TiVo HD DVRs.

[TiVo Desktop]

Dash Navigator Now Open to 3rd Party Apps [GPS]

The eagerly anticipated Dash connected GPS navigator just made another extreme promise, offering third parties a chance to develop for the system. The example Dash uses is the real-estate value database Zillow—you can use the tool to check values of homes in the vicinity, as you see in the above pic. Dash will also encourage data providers to share data in standard formats such as RSS and KML (Google Earth files). After the jump, you can see a shot of the tool used to turn tags into Dash buttons. The company has lots to deliver on—we’re expecting review units in late December or January. [Dash] Thanks Gina!

News Brews: Turn Depressing World Affairs Into Coffee [Better Than Harbucks]

I like coffee. I like RSS. So naturally, I dig Benjamin Brown’s News Brews project, which crawls through RSS feeds and takes “the relative frequency at which different coffee-growing regions are mentioned” to determine their respective bean proportion in the blend.

In English, that means if Ethiopia is mentioned 30 times, Kenya 20 and Colombia 50, your brew would be 30 percent Ethiopian, and so on. (You could, of course, fill the respective canisters with all the same bean to make a standard cup, but where’s the fun in that?)

On top of flaunting the ever-popular steampunk look, it grinds the coffee fresh before it brews, so you don’t need a separate grinder. The only downside is that it’s drip—he told me he thought about French press, but the mechanics didn’t work out. It still made a pretty damn good cup at the show, though. – Matt Buchanan

News Brews [Project Page]
NYU ITP 2007 [Gizmodo]

Google Reader Gets Optimized for the Wii [Don’t Sit So Close To The TV]

If you insist on browsing the web on your Wii like some kind of stubborn myopic, now you can read your RSS feeds there as well. Google Reader just released a Wii-optimized version of their site, which you can view directly on your TV. And if you’re new Google Reader, glance at the video above to see the awesome chin beard sporting Google Reader developer Chris tell you about the project. – Jason Chen

Google Reader Wii [Google]