Ilium NewsBreak has always been a popular choice when it comes to mobile RSS. With our busy schedules, it’s not always convenient to read numerous news sources everyday. NewsBreak rises to the occasion by offering several options for downloading and viewing news while on the go. So how does NewsBreak perform? How could it fit into your mobile lifestyle? Read on to find out!
INTRODUCTION
WHAT’S HOT
Here’s a list of features:
- Today Screen
Plug-in - Support for
SmartPhones - No Desktop
Component Needed - Read articles
offline - Automatic
Updates - Keyword
Notifications - GMail Support
- RSS 1.0, 2.0
and Atom
Setup is simple and straight forward.
SETUP
Ilium offers both a PC installer as well as a CAB file for Pocket PC and
SmartPhone. To use the PC installer you will need Microsoft ActiveSync.
When you run NewsBreak you have the option
PRODUCT FEATURES
to subscribe to channels by using a few different
methods.
The new channel wizard appears and allows you to
subscribe to channels using the following methods:
Choose from a list of known channels, Search online,
Import from an OPML file. Or you may enter the URL
and title manually. Ilium’s web site offers
additional OPML files that you can download and
import into NewsBreak.
For this review I opted to import channels from an
OPML file. The channels are categorized and
subscribing to channels couldn’t be any easier.
Simply check mark the ones you want and click
finish.
Once you’ve select the channels to subscribe to you
can download messages simply by tapping the Menu key
then Refresh Channels. For Pocket PC 2003 you have a
refresh button located on the toolbar. Your channels
are displayed by category, which you can change by
using the drop down menu at the top of the screen.
You also have the option to view all categories.
When you want to view messages, simply tap the
channel and you will get a list of messages for that
channel. Status icons appear to the left of each
message indicating: New unread, reviewed or message
has been read.
When you view a message, its status is set to
reviewed. If you click the hyper link to view the
entire message, its status changes to read and opens
in Pocket Internet Explorer. For this an active
internet connection is required.
The Today screen plug-in shows you the number of new
messages since the last update. It also displays the
number of keyword matches that are contained in the
messages. Keywords are discussed in the Options
section of this review.
NewsBreak offers many
options to suit your needs. The menu items and
feature descriptions makes it easy to understand,
and are all accessible from the main menu.
You can set the storage options and specify where
you would like to store downloaded channels and
messages. If you have multiple storage cards such as
a CF and SD, they both will be available in the drop
down list. You also have an option to export your
subscribed channels to an OPML file. This is useful
for backing up your channels and importing them into
other applications.
NewsBreak also has an auto update feature where your
channels are refreshed at a specified interval. You
can also set NewsBreak to only update when a network
connection is present or when ActiveSync is
available. Notification options will allow you to be
informed when new messages are received or when new
messages with keywords are received. Alternately
notifications can be turned off.
Sometimes I like to save the best for last.
NewsBreak offers a keyword feature where you can
specify a list of keywords so you never miss a
message of interest. This feature really comes in
handy when you have numerous subscriptions and want
to be notified when a message arrives that contains
a keyword.
You can also assign an icon to a keyword that will
be visible in the message list of a channel. Combine
that with the notification option and you’ll never
miss an important message again.
type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
Ilium NewsBreak is a great product that *And don’t forget, for a comprehensive comparison review of Spb Insight and Ilium NewsBreak, click here.
HELP SUPPORT
Help and support is not a problem with NewsBreak. If
you choose the PC installer for NewsBreak, a help
file will be installed on your PC. There is also a
help file that can be found on your device. If
that’s not enough, Ilium has a few online options.
Online support and
FAQ is available. You can also download a help
file for a "Quick
Tour." Should you require some personal
attention, you can
contact Ilium by email.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
NewsBreak is
available for both Pocket PC and Smartphone and requires approximately
490 KB of storage for the program. Channel data and messages may require
more.
Pocket PC 2002 or newer
SmartPhone 2003 or newer
Square screen, QVGA, VGA and Landscape supported
BUGS AND WISHES
NewsBreak works without any problems that I could
detect and seems to render articles without any
issues. One feature I would like to really see is
the ability to manually mark a message as read.
Currently you must follow the link in the message to
mark it as read.
Additionally I would like to also have the option to
mark a single message as unread. When it comes to
marking messages read or unread your options are
"Mark all as read" or "Mark all as unread".
PURCHASING
You can try NewsBreak for 30 days; afterwards it can
be purchased directly from
Ilium’s web site for $19.95 USD. Major upgrades
are free for 90 days and all minor revision upgrades
are free regardless of the 90 day limit. For more
information see Ilium’s
upgrade policy.
PROS
well and downloads messages quickly
storage space
notifications
CONS
individual messages as read/unread
aren’t downloaded for offline reading
No override of channel
properties (can’t specify how many messages to download for a
channel)
Value
Ease
of Use 
Features
Overall
OVERALL IMPRESSION
will provide users with easy operation and excellent
performance. Technical support is easy to obtain and
the application is well documented. Users should
have no problem getting started right away. The auto
update feature combined with keyword notifications
means you’ll never overlook a message/topic of
interest.
No related post found.
