Ilium Software's NewsBreak 2.0

In our ever-connected world of today, Rich Site Summary (RSS) has become a mainstay for many of us.  Through RSS we are able to get quick tidbits of information or notifications without necessarily having to pick up our stylus' and go directly to the Internet to find it.  News and information has become, much like our global society today, driven by quick and rapid consumption.

In the early days of RSS availability, Ilium Software developed NewsBreak 1.0, a Windows Mobile Standard (Smartphone) and Professional (Pocket PC) application that could download RSS feeds directly to your device via a wireless, cellular or ActiveSync connection.  With a high degree of customization and flexibility, NewsBreak was an instant hit, winning many awards and recognized by the Windows Mobile community as one of the best RSS applications available (See my own Top 10 list for 2006 as an example).  With the release of NewsBreak 2.0, Ilium has taken this great piece of software forward and it is simply brilliant.  There are a host of new features in this new version including the ability to directly download and play through Windows Media Player podcasts, Microsoft Live Search functionality for finding RSS channels and overall performance enhancements.  The new features and functionality are all great steps forward for NewsBreak and make an already solid application all-the-better.

NewsBreak 2.0 can be installed on your devices memory card or in main memory and is installed via ActiveSync or Windows Mobile Device Center for Windows Vista users.  Regardless of installation location, you will need approximately 2MB of storage space to install the application.  If you want to install the application without your PC, you can directly download the installation CAB file or have a link to the file SMS'd to you on your device.  NewsBreak 2.0 requires Windows Mobile 2003, 2003SE, 5.0 or 6.0 to be running on your device.

After you have installed and started NewsBreak, you are guided through a wizard to help you get RSS channel subscriptions setup in the application.  These RSS channels can come from a variety of locations including an internal list of channels, the online search function, file importing (OPML) or if you know the RSS feeds URL, you can put in directly.

Figures 1: The NewsBreak Welcome Wizard	Figure 2:  Channel Selection Options

If you choose the known channels option, you will be provided an extensive list of RSS feeds that are including in NewsBreak.  These channels are divided into various categories to make both searching and sorting easier.  To select a channel simply tap the check box next to the channel.  When you are done tap finish and the channels populate the main display of NewsBreak.

Figure 3:  The Known Channels Listing	Figure 4:  The Channel Listing of NewsBreak

If you want to search for channels you can do that in NewsBreak by selecting the Search online for Channels option.  When you select this option, you type in a keyword that you want to search for and NewsBreak will access the Internet via whatever connectivity is available to find RSS channels and podcasts with that keyword.  New in version 2.0, NewsBreak now can use Microsoft Live Search as well as Syndic8.com, which was in version 1.0.  I have found in my testing that the addition of Live Search is a significant step forward over Syndic8.com.  I found that I was able to locate more feeds with Live Search using the same keywords over Syndic8.  Interestingly enough, however, it was often the case that Live Search would find items that Syndic8 would not and vise versa.  Go figure.... Clearly this isn't a fault of NewsBreak but of the search services themselves.

Figure 5:  Search for RSS Channels using Microsoft Live Search

Finally, you can add channels information either by importing a OPML file from your device or other location as well as inputting the URL of a feed directly.  Importing of a file is straightforward and you can even choose which channels within a file you want to import into NewsBreak.  Note that OPML files do not import any channel content but only the channel information.  If you know of a sites RSS feed URL, you can enter that as well using the New Channel Wizard.  This is very handy for newer sites that may not be in the included listing of NewsBreak or found by Live Search yet.  All you need to do is put in the URL of the feed and NewsBreak will download the name of the feed and put it into your channels.  An example of this would be the Clinton Fitch (Dot) Com! RSS URL which is http://feeds.feedburner.com/ClintonFitchDotCom. 

Figure 6:  OPML Importing in NewsBreak	Figure 7:  Inputting of A RSS Feeds URL

Once you have added the desired channels to NewsBreak, they are listed on applications main display as seen in Figure 4.  At this point NewsBreak will automatically begin its initial download of channel information assuming it can find a connection to the Internet - Wireless, CDMA/EDGE or ActiveSync.  Once the channel data is downloaded, those channels with updates will be in bold type so you can quickly identify them.  If you have the Today Screen plug-in enabled for NewsBreak, the type will also be bolded there as well to indicate you have new channels to read and review.  It is important to note that you can also set up NewsBreak to show only those updated channels with keywords that you configure.  If for example you only want to be notified of new channel updates when the keyword "Windows Mobile" appears in the article, NewsBreak can be configured to do so.  This is a great way to keep track of news and events, especially if it is a day when that event is happening and events are unfolding.

One of the most common questions that is asked around RSS feeds is caching of those feeds.  There are some applications out there that will cache the entire contents - graphics and all - to your device.  Ilium has chosen not to do this and has done a good job of explaining their concerns over legal matters as well as harmful impact to sites hosting the feed by bypassing any income mechanisms they have established (advertisements).  To read Ilium's stance on this somewhat sticky subject, read Marc Tassin's blog entry at the Ilium company blog.  Marc is the Product Manager for many of Ilium's products and has done a lot of research in the area.  Agree or disagree, he brings up some good points on the matter.

Figure 8:  Unread Feed Items Are In Bold Text	Figure 9:  Unread Message In The Today Plug-in

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