The number of websites offering news and blog posts via an RSS feed is already huge and the number is growing every day. PC users have been happily installing RSS readers to allow easy access to their favourite feeds for some time now and the mobile phone market is slowly catching up.
Mobile phones are limited by the screen size and usability issues but with the advent of business and multimedia handsets we are seeing a large number services to syndicate RSS content to your mobile device.
How to Read the Feeds
There are 3 ways to get an XML feed onto a mobile phone. The first is to buy one of the latest Nokia or Sony Ericsson handsets which have built in support for XML data. These phones have a range of high tech business features and include the ability to sign up for your favourite RSS feeds.
WAP Integration
The most accessible method is to register for an RSS feed aggregation service. These are WAP sites that will collect your favourite feeds and then aggregate them into a specially formatted feed which you can access using your mobile phone’s WAP browser.
www.rss2wap.com
www.bloglines.com/mobile
www.mobilerss.net
www.google.com/mobile
www.phonefeeds.com
mobile.yahoo.com
Java Applications
Most modern mobile phones have Java support and there are several Java based solutions which will collect and display RSS feeds on your mobile phone. The advantage of a dedicated Java client is that the feeds are cached so you can read them even when you have no reception. There is also the opportunity for compression and configuring the download times if you wish to save money on your phone bill.
www.freerangeinc.com
www.litefeeds.com
www.49pm.com/newsreader.html
Whatever service you choose try to find one which is updateable via the web so you don’t have to type long url’s into your phone.
