|
|
|
|
|
|
Ilium Software's NewsBreak 2.0With the release of NewsBreak 2.0, Ilium has substantially improved the applications integration with Windows Mobile 5 and increased the ability to use the application with one hand. By using the soft keys you are able to navigate from articles to headlines or channels while pressing the Action button on your device allows you to open a channel or article as well. While some of these functions were built into NewsBreak 1.2, the changes in 2.0 have made the application much easier to use with one hand. Another new and exciting feature in NewsBreak 2.0 is the ability to download Podcasts and videos directly from their channel and them play them with one tap. When a podcast is available from a channel, a small icon will appear next to the subject of that article. When you open the article you are shown the same icon with the approximate size of the podcast file. If you want to download the podcast simply tap that icon and NewsBreak will use whatever connectivity is available to download it. Further, if you go into the Channel Properties of the channel with podcasts available, you can configure NewsBreak to automatically download those podcasts during an update. This assures the podcasts are available when you want to listen to them and you don't have to wait to download them at that particular moment. Like Pocket Internet Explorer, NewsBreak provides you a progress indicator at the bottom of the article to visually indicate to you how much you have left to retrieve. Once the download is complete simply tap the icon - changed now to having a play indicator instead of a download one - and Windows Media Player will be opened to play the audio file. Essentially NewsBreak becomes a "one stop shop" for you with regards to podcasts. No longer do you need a separate application to download them to your device. There are a lot of things to like about NewsBreak 2.0 but this has to be at the top of my list!
With all of the RSS channels available and podcasts now easily accessible in NewsBreak 2.0, you will quickly begin to discover that all of this takes up a lot of space! The channels and their data are generally not an issue but with podcasts being around 5-7MB each, they add up in a hurry. Fortunately NewsBreak allows you to manage the space requirements easily while still allowing you to have ultimate control in how data is stored. The first memory option is to allow channel data to be stored either on your device or on a memory card. This feature has been in NewsBreak from the beginning and the only change in 2.0 is it also stores podcasts in the same location. New to 2.0 however is the ability to limit the amount of space used by podcasts at that storage location. This is done by using a small pull-down menu and indicating the percentage of total available memory at the storage location you want available for podcasts. For example, if you have a 2MB storage card like I do, if you choose 50% of your space for podcasts, you have indicated to NewsBreak you want to use up to 1GB of storage for them. If you choose 20%, that is 388MB. All of these memory options are off of the Menu>Options>Data Storage menu.
Aside from the memory storage options, there are several other options with NewsBreak that allows the application to be truly customized to your liking. First you can set how or if you want to be notified of new articles. If you choose to have NewsBreak update you, a small dialog box will be displayed on your Today screen when new articles or keyword articles arrive. Second, you can adjust when and how often NewsBreak searches for new articles in your subscribed channels. There are several options available here including not connecting at all (if you are on a limited data plan with your cellular provider), only using ActiveSync, only connecting if a network is available (WiFi or GPRS/EDGE) or finally to connect automatically. Since I am on an unlimited data plan with my cellular provider, I leave NewsBreak in the Connect Automatically mode so I'm always up-to-date. Further, you can indicate to NewsBreak how often you want it to go out and find new articles. The rate of updates varies from site-to-site and most at a minimum update every 30 minutes to 1 hour. While you can configure NewsBreak to search every 15 minutes, I've found that every hour or two hours is sufficient. Note that although you can configure this feature, you can have individual channels update at anytime by going into that channel and going to Menu>Refresh.
In summary, NewsBreak 2.0 is a welcome and well developed step forward for this award winning application. The new features, most notably the integrated handling of podcasts, are a welcome new feature and have been added without compromising the overall usefulness and integrity of the application. Having had the opportunity to use NewsBreak 2.0 for several weeks in beta testing, there is nothing that I could find that I would change or improve. Backing up NewsBreak is the great team at Ilium Software. Ilium is one of the very few developers who still have an active helpdesk line for all of their applications. Email support is also provided by Ilium as well. With the release of NewsBreak 2.0, Ilium Software has kicked of some great incentives for you to give the application a try. For a limited time you can purchase or upgrade to NewsBreak 2.0 for only $7.95. If you have purchased NewsBreak 1.2 in the last 90 days (December 6, 2006 - March 6, 2007) you can request a free upgrade from Ilium. After the introductory pricing ends, the full price for NewsBreak 2.0 will be $19.95 with the upgrade cost at $10.00.
You can get more information on NewsBreak 2.0 at the Ilium website by clicking here. Clinton Fitch,
MVP-Mobile Devices |
Site Sponsor
PocketPC Best Sellers Smartphone Best Sellers |
  |
 
© Clinton Fitch (Dot) Com! : Disclaimer |
