The Download Blog

Newsgator pushes its popular RSS reader FeedDemon into release candidate status, introducing some new features and fixing bugs from the previous beta version.

The big news for FeedDemon 3 came with the fourth beta, which introduced Google Reader synchronization. That feature did not come without bugs, and continued to be refined through the beta development. Several fixes in the release candidate fix Google Reader synchronization bugs, including properly marking starred items as flagged in FeedDemon, syncing tags, and marking feeds disabled. Another big repair to FeedDemon's Google Reader behavior fixes an error that prevented users who had nonalphanumeric characters in their Google password from logging in.

One useful new feature in the release candidate is a hot key for e-mailing an item. Hit "E" on your keyboard when reading an item, and FeedDemon will open up a new message window in your default e-mail client. I found this integration to be smooth and faster than I'd anticipated. FeedDemon fans will notice that this feature takes over the hot key for opening an item in an external browser, so the new hot key to do that is "X."

FeedDemon 3 RC1 can also be set to launch when Windows loads, and the installation process gains an "express" mode for quick installing. After using the FeedDemon 3 beta for the past month, I've found it to be work well for a beta, with few crashes and a faster overall experience.

The changelog for FeedDemon 3 can be read here.

FeedDemon 3 will synchronize your feeds with Google Reader.

(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

RSS aggregator FeedDemon and e-mail client Postbox both have released recent updates to their not-quite-ready for prime-time programs.

FeedDemon 3.0.0.20 beta 5a continues to build out the feature set of the popular RSS and Atom feed manager. FeedDemon 3 is shaping up to be a must-grab improvement on the last stable release, version 2.7.

FeedDemon 3 is able to synchronize feeds not only with FeedDemon's own Web site, NewsGator, for online news reading, but it can also talk to Google Reader. I jumped away from Google Reader because at the time it was sluggish and I wanted to get my podcasts out of my music jukebox, but I've always regretted losing the convenience of having my e-mail and my RSS reader online and smoothly talking to one another. Google Reader integration means that users will have more flexibility in how they use the program and should broaden its appeal. Beta 5 synchronizes Google Reader and FeedDemon tags as well as the feeds themselves.

FeedDemon 3 comes with a slight interface refresh, too, although it's mostly done in service to the new features. The aforementioned tagging is new, bringing a bit of modern convenience to those who use keywords. Sharing has been made easier with a new Share icon, and shortened URLs such as bit.ly or TinyURL support mouse-over tooltips now.

This is becoming a must-have security feature as phishing attacks adapt to more pernicious methods, and works well in FeedDemon 3's stronger support for Twitter. Author names, replies, and hashtags are automatically linked, and profile pictures also appear. Fun stats such as how many unread items and how many flagged items you've got are surfaced, too.

If you do decide to try out the FeedDemon beta, back up the current version first. Go to File, Manage Cache, Backup, and create a back up folder to deposit the backups in. Full release notes for v3.0.0.20 beta 5a can be read here.

Postbox beta 12 for Windows and Mac updates the well-received remix of Mozilla's Thunderbird. New features include search suggestions when you're typing and smoother integration of folder search with global search. Switching between the two is now marginally simpler. The inspector pane on the right side of a message has been tweaked, as well. Sender details, image thumbnails and dimensions, and the revamped search options for messages, images, links, and attachments have been rolled into the pane.

Mac users should find better support for native Mac address books and Growl notifications. Firefox 3.0.10 bug-fixes have also been integrated into this version of Postbox.

Postbox beta 12 is a small update overall, but because of the bug- and security-fixes that have been implemented I'd strongly recommend upgrading. Full release notes are here.

These well-crafted, standalone newsreaders makes an ideal choice for both novices who've never heard of an RSS feed and advanced users looking to put some oomph and flexibility into their reading habits. As the desktop clients for the online NewsGator, FeedDemon for Windows and NetNewsWire for Macs both can synchronize bi-directionally with their Web-based counterpart, making it easy to get your feeds wherever and whenever you need them.

Other useful features include a built-in Web browser that's built on Internet Explorer--sorry Firefox and Opera fans, tabbed browsing for when you need to open multiple feeds' Web pages, Watch channels for using keywords to surface feeds, and flags to keep older posts front and center. The integrated podcast manager automatically sends new podcasts to your music jukebox. Along with line-item synchronization, so you don't have to sync all of your feeds, NewsGator's feed-catching clients are definitely not a crock.

NewsGator converted its popular RSS feed aggregation clients to freeware in January 2008, and now that seed has borne fruit: recommended fruit, to be precise.

NewsGator's new Recommended Stories filter introduces users to stories and feeds they aren't already subscribed to, but might like.

(Credit: NewsGator)

Partnering with SenseArray, a collaborative filter from Uprizer Labs, NewsGator now offers live RSS feed recommendations from feeds that the user hasn't already subscribed to. Currently available only on the online NewsGator client, the filter pulls information from NewsGator as well as its sibling desktop clients, FeedDemon for Windows and NetNewsWire for the Mac so that users who synchronize their RSS data will be contributing to the list of recommendations.

Brian Kellner, NewsGator's vice president of products, compared the process to more common Web-based ratings systems. "It takes attention from the client or online site, just like your rating on Amazon, but you're rating it with attention." That attention, he said, comes from marking a post as read--essentially telling the filter that you like it. If enough people do that and the post matches your interest, it might be suggested to you as news you'd like but haven't seen yet.

Kellner said that NewsGator will be making two kinds of recommendations. The first, a general news category, is "wide-open," as he puts it, but limited to posts from the past two days. The second is narrowed down to categories, such as entertainment or sports, and more heavily utilizes the SenseArray filters. These more specific recommendations are limited to not more than a week old, and should be adjustable to the tastes of the user.

The challenge, Kellner added, was how to recommend current stories that users aren't already getting. "We pull in six million events per week that we think are relevant." But the system won't be perfect initially. "Over time, we'll see what adjustments we need to make."

NewsGator does have plans to push the recommendations feature out to its desktop clients, but there isn't a timeline for that, yet.

Newsgator's FeedDemon, the formerly pay-for-play, now freeware, RSS feed catcher upgrades to Version 2.7 with one useful new tool and a flowering bunch of bug-fixes. The Mac version, NetNewsWire, has also been updated.

FeedDemon's main window

(Credit: CNET Networks)

FeedDemon now lets users subscribe to multiple feeds at the same time, under the tool name Find Feeds. For longtime FeedDemon users, there are a stack of improvements that should be instantly noticeable to users who've raged against the occasional "flagged" feed drop and other problems synchronizing multiple configurations across several PCs and operating systems.

FeedDemon's biggest claim to fame in Version 2.7 is a supposedly faster response time. This, of course, will depend on your personal system and its limitations. Running the latest code build for an hour, I sadly noticed few changes from Version 2.6. There still seem to be bugs syncing flagged items for high-traffic feeds. Other improvements include support for multiple enclosures, also known as "podcasts" to the rest of us, and support for multiline URLs--they now get shortened to one line when you paste them.

Overall, though, the changes are at worst negligible and at best a minor but welcome improvement. Let's hope that future versions eliminate syncing mishaps, but I've been gladly using FeedDemon since it went free at the end of last year.

Hunting down dastardly captcha hackers and spyware slimeballs is busy work, even for a man as talented as Power Downloader. Power doesn't have a lot of free time, so it's hard to remember to check all the Web sites that are important to him. His solution: instead of surfing a list of bookmarks, Power Downloader uses RSS feeds and FeedDemon to make the news and podcasts come to him.

FeedDemon is one of the best programs for managing your RSS collection. The interface is slick and easy to personalize, which is important since Power wasn't too impressed with the default look. What he did like, though, was FeedDemon's setup wizard, which allowed him to subscribe to an unlimited number of popular RSS feeds by simply checking boxes. The program also provided links to several other RSS directories. The utility's Watches and Clippings feature searches for news items containing user-specified keywords and places them in separate groups so they're easier to find. Archiving a story for later use is easy with flags, an important feature when collecting research on suspected criminals.

FeedDemon manages feeds and podcasts for Power Downloader.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Three other compelling features make FeedDemon an essential tool for Power: one is the integrated podcast manager, which will automatically send new podcasts to your music jukebox. The second is that FeedDemon exists for the Mac, but is called NetNewsWire. The third is that both come with automatic synchronization to NewsGator, FeedDemon's Web-based client that makes sure that whether Power is at his computer or in a Net cafe, he's always able to stay on top of the news he needs.

Power Downloader fans hungering for more can read more about how to use FeedDemon and how FeedDemon manages podcasts.

The newly free NewsGator suite has a remarkably powerful set of tools for managing RSS feeds, and without a doubt one of the program's best features is its FeedStation podcast catcher. Fully synchronizable with the Webware version of NewsGator, the Windows version, FeedDemon, comes bundled with FeedStation and preset integration settings for iTunes and Windows Media Player, but not WinAmp.

Laugh all you want at the llama, but the latest WinAmp has an impressive feature set, and is far more flexible than the industry favorite iTunes. However, its podcast manager is clunky and only marginally better than iTunes' native podcatcher, and that's frustrating. Using WinAmp's smart view function, I'll show you how to set its Podcast folder to automatically check for podcasts managed by third-party software.

... Read more

Checking Web sites by typing in the URL feels like firing up a rickety 56k baud modem and logging on to CompuServe. It gets the job done, but really should only be used under extreme duress or nostalgia. Syndicated feeds bring the Web site to you, and when NewsGator made all its RSS clients free on Wednesday, they suddenly made a top-notch suite with tools for Windows, Mac, mobile, the Web, a podcast manager, and a Microsoft Outlook extension incredibly appealing. And by appealing, I mean you might not be able to imagine feeds the same way afterwards. It's that good.

... Read more

NewsGator is making its latest consumer news readers available for free.

The updated products are FeedDemon 2.6, NetNewsWire 3.1 for the Mac, NewsGator InBox 3.0 beta, NewsGator Online, and NewsGator Go for mobile gadgets. Premium subscriptions formerly cost $19.95 or $29.95 per product.

The tools synchronize content fed to the Web, as well as to desktop and handheld devices including the iPhone, BlackBerrys, and those running Windows Mobile.

Each account will include features that were formerly offered only in premium editions. Users who have paid for NewsGator products on or after December 9 can request a refund.

NewsGator aims for the move to help it better aggregate data about user behavior anonymously, precisely tracking the popularity of feeds and articles. Users who don't want their reading preferences tracked can opt out but may lose some synchronization features.

The company will cease its e-mail tech support, leaning instead on Web-based forums.

Over the past few years, I've tested various NewsGator offerings and found FeedDemon excellent for newshounds who manage thousands of feeds. However, after a while, NewsGator InBox, which I packed with nearly as many news feeds, tended to slow down Outlook.

The Denver-based NewsGator has raised some $30 million in outside funding, most recently with a fifth round of $12 million last month led by Vista Ventures. NewsGator has faced an uptick in competition from free news reader services such as the Web-based Google Reader.