rss

Digg to release Google Reader replacement beta in June

Digg surveyed thousand of people to find out what features they want in its upcoming RSS reader in preparation for a June beta launch, the company said in a blog post Tuesday.

"Our beta release in June will be just the beginning, a product built with experimentation in mind by a team eager to work with you to build something you love," the Digg blog reads.

This means Digg will start testing its RSS reader, which will probably be a subscription service, just a month before Google Reader shuts down.

This round of user feedback, gathered from over … Read more

Surf the Web in a new way with Nextly

Odds are you are quite set in your Internet-surfing ways. If you are up for trying out a new way to browse the Web -- or at least some portion of it -- give Nextly a try. It's a free Web service that provides a slick and fast way to access popular sites across a variety of topics.

Nextly lets you browse various Web sites as well as your Twitter and Facebook feeds -- or "streams," in Nextly's parlance. You can quickly jump from one article or post in a stream to the next; Nextly preloads … Read more

The Week on Download.com, April 10-16, 2013

Every week, we compile the best new reviews, products, and features from the Download.com software catalog and blog, package them up in a tidy little newsletter, and e-mail it out to all of our lovely subscribers.

If you are a registered CNET member, you can sign up for the newsletter yourself (it's listed as "CNET Download.com Software Dispatch" under "Software News and Reviews"), or check back every Tuesday to read our latest roundup.

Notable New Products

BitTorrent Surf brings the power of BitTorrent to Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox Mok Force is a … Read more

Turn your RSS feed into a "Star Wars" crawl

If Google's recent decision to pull the plug on the (incredibly useful and beloved) RSS tool Google Reader has convinced you that the search giant is now the Evil Empire, then join the Rebel Alliance with the RSS reader StarRSS, from user fotcorn at github. Simply enter in an RSS feed into the box on the landing page and a scrolling list of items will appear as familiar horns trumpet the start of that classic movie music.

Clicking on the items in your feed as they scroll up and become smaller and smaller isn't the easiest task in … Read more

Flipboard: Your Social News Magazine 2.0 Review

In an age of information overload, apps like Flipboard provide the much- needed organization and curation tools to keep it all in one place. By taking your RSS subscriptions, Twitter account, Facebook account, and other online accounts and combining them into one easy-to-use interface, Flipboard simplifies the consumption of information on an iPad and makes it faster and easier than ever before to get what you need from your device.

When you first open Flipboard, you'll be prompted to create an account. This account will store all of your subscriptions, and you can choose to either create a new … Read more

The 404 1,244: Where we take a spa day (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Microsoft may announce the next generation of Xbox on May 21.

- Chinese people burn Apple products to pay respect to the dead; Americans do it just because.

- Here's a list of porn currently being watched in the Vatican.

- The season finale of "Alf": could it have been done differently?… Read more

Feedly mobile apps add better search and more features

Wasting no time after the death of Google Reader was announced, multiplatform RSS solution Feedly has already updated its mobile apps, not only with new features, but also with some new power under the hood.

With a new search-and-discovery engine running, finding feeds from around the Web is noticeably faster. The search bar even immediately tries to autocomplete what you type, to help you more quickly discover topics and sites. According to Feedly, the new search algorithm leverages millions of interactions from other users, which means the tool will even get better over time.

Now, as you're sifting through … Read more

Create custom Flipboard magazines

Flipboard is a must-have newsreader and social network hub that lets you organize the info you want to look at, then flip through it like you would a magazine. The latest version of the app for iOS lets you create custom magazines from the sources you like most so you can browse through your favorite topics, share your magazine with others, or find magazines about topics you're interested in created by other users.

Get started by creating an account with Flipboard, then sign in to your Facebook and Twitter accounts. You also have the option to connect with your … Read more

Digg provides a few details on upcoming Reader replacement

Digg, the social news site that has gone through its fair share of ups and downs, provided a few more details on its anticipated RSS reader.

The company today discussed the four feature ideas it says it received from users that they'd like to see incorporated into the company's upcoming RSS reader. Chief among the suggestions was that the platform "keep it simple." Users also asked Digg to make it fast and work across a wide array of devices. It should be easy for users to import their feeds from existing Google Reader accounts.

Google Reader prompted Digg to fast-track an RSS reader of its own. … Read more

How to get the most out of Feedly on your desktop

Google Reader is going to be retired on July 1, 2013, giving users of the RSS service about four months to find alternatives. With more than 500,000 new users since the announcement of Reader's demise, Feedly appears to be one of the more popular choices to replace Google Reader.

Feedly may be receiving a lot of interest because it's one of the few alternatives with clients on multiple platforms (iOS, Android, Kindle, Chrome, Firefox, and Safari). If you're interested in trying it out as your Google Reader alternative, we've got some tips to help you … Read more