[snowmangoh]

Originally Posted by squeff

When I first saw the Tango feature list, I thought the same thing. However, upon seeing the beta, I think they are adding more "pay" features. There's a reason that they put "Entertainment" (which is just a way to buy game software) and the CFL (which include ways to buy tickets) on the home screen. My guess is that they'll keep it free, but the app will be littered with ways to buy things from partners. This isn't so much a switch from their model of havings ads, but it's clear there will be MANY more ads in the app when it's done.

Which I have NO issue with! It's kinda like good forums, ads keep everything free, and you still get the great content. Of course, this will mean never having the ability to customize the list on Tango's home screen, but a small sacrifice as far as I'm concerned!

[sarla999]

I recommend you to use freerange. You can add 10 free RSS feed to your BB and you can update it by WIFI enjoy.

[sheldonbk]

I've been checking out Freerange & NewsGator but understand Viigo announced a 2nd public beta today with new features. I did prefer the Viigo interface but it became so slow. I'm wondering if anyone's found the 2nd beta fast enough to go back to Viigo.

[sheldonbk]

OK disregard my question about the new Viigo. I see there is now a thread for that and I've subscribed to it.

What I am curious is this... FreeRange seems better than NewsGator (both by the same company), yet NewsGator has some great options for syncing feeds with a desktop, while FreeRange doesn't appear to have any other than Google Reader (and that's not for the free version). Am I missing something????

[spbbp]

After using Viigo for a while, I switched to Freerange. Needless to say Freerange works a whole lot better than Viigo.

Has anyone tried google reader? Any reviews?

[sheldonbk]

Originally Posted by spbbp

After using Viigo for a while, I switched to Freerange. Needless to say Freerange works a whole lot better than Viigo.

Has anyone tried google reader? Any reviews?

I really like Google Reader on my laptop. It's not much of an RSS reader on the BB though. FreeRange is in another league. I just can't decide between FreeRange and NewsGator, the same company's slightly less powerful RSS reader. NewsGator has most of FreeRange's features but it also has a ton of options to sync feeds on your computer.

[ixtab]

Both NewsGator and FreeRange have tons of bugs and they have not been updated for MORE THAN A YEAR.

NewsGator point blank stated on their blackberry/mobile forum that they are no longer developing NewsGator for the blackberry since they've gone 'free'.
They work toward their commercial products and don't have any intent to fix or enhance the NewsGator blackberry product.
And there were quite a few issues with regards to flight mode and mass feed sync for offline reading, issues with saved articles not syncing correctly between their desktop version and the blackberry version etc. Just a shame they decided to not invest in it anymore, it was (a year ago) the best product. It is still good, but will never get any better.

FreeRange had a similar faith. Why would anyone pay $40 per year for a product that only is not updated anymore...

Viigo has its issues (and there are quite a lot of issues) but at least there is hope because it is still under (very) active development.
That can't be said about either FreeRange or NewsGator (sadly).

[sheldonbk]

Originally Posted by ixtab

FreeRange had a similar faith. Why would anyone pay $40 per year for a product that only is not updated anymore...

FreeRange is free, supposedly with a limit of 10 feeds until you have to pay for it. However, I found no such limit and at one time, had about 15-20 feeds.

[PabloTX]

I am under a FreeRange subscription that ran me $10.83 for a year through Handango. I agree that $40 is too much, so if I can't renew it for about the same price, I don't think I'll be renewing.

[squeff]

Originally Posted by ixtab

Both NewsGator and FreeRange have tons of bugs and they have not been updated for MORE THAN A YEAR.

NewsGator point blank stated on their blackberry/mobile forum that they are no longer developing NewsGator for the blackberry since they've gone 'free'.
They work toward their commercial products and don't have any intent to fix or enhance the NewsGator blackberry product.
And there were quite a few issues with regards to flight mode and mass feed sync for offline reading, issues with saved articles not syncing correctly between their desktop version and the blackberry version etc. Just a shame they decided to not invest in it anymore, it was (a year ago) the best product. It is still good, but will never get any better.

FreeRange had a similar faith. Why would anyone pay $40 per year for a product that only is not updated anymore...

Viigo has its issues (and there are quite a lot of issues) but at least there is hope because it is still under (very) active development.
That can't be said about either FreeRange or NewsGator (sadly).

I don't find FreeRange buggy. In fact, off the top of my head, I can't remember a time when I saw a bug. Not that they don't exist -- all software has bugs -- but I find it's more reliable than most other things I run. And I use FreeRange 5, 6, 10 times a day. I'd rather have something that actually works than Viigo, which doesn't. And the continued development we're seeing demonstrates that they only know how to take a questionable product and make it worse.

As for the cost, they are currently allowing you to exceed 10 feeds for free. I paid $10 for a lifetime subscription (which, if they're now offering free, isn't as good as I could have done) a month or so ago. If the $40/year is what's keeping you from it, might be worth checking out now.

They are working on a new version, although they are relatively quiet about it, so who knows where it is.

As for NewsGator, I agree. It's buggy and, as it was a free offshoot of FreeRange, I'm not surprised that it's not well supported and doesn't have much of a future.

[ixtab]

squeff, I did not want to start a religious war here, I have been using all 3 for a fairly long time (each), I actually purchased FreeRange earlier last year.
I agree that FreeRange is the cleanest solution out there, but if you scan the FreeRange forums you will see plenty of bugs (or missing features) that were never addressed (nor will be from more recent discussions with David@FreeRange).
It seems that FreeRange will be coming out with a branded solution later (2008/2009?), but without revealing too muchm it will be highly targeted toward the "brand" they are developing for (and not really as a generic RSS reader), you'll see.

Viigo with all its shortcomings is (at least) continuing their generic (not one-brand-specific) RSS reader. It is not where we all wish it was (far from it) but there always hope (when there's active development).
When there is no active development there will be no improvements/fixes.

Just go here:
FreeRange Feedback :: View Forum - Blackberry and Java
or here:
NewsGator Go! for Blackberry

And review the responses (or lack of...) and their latest updated dates.

Based on the above, NewsGator Go blackberry is a dead product, and FreeRange (as a generic RSS reader) is too.

Originally Posted by squeff

I don't find FreeRange buggy. In fact, off the top of my head, I can't remember a time when I saw a bug. Not that they don't exist -- all software has bugs -- but I find it's more reliable than most other things I run. And I use FreeRange 5, 6, 10 times a day. I'd rather have something that actually works than Viigo, which doesn't. And the continued development we're seeing demonstrates that they only know how to take a questionable product and make it worse.

As for the cost, they are currently allowing you to exceed 10 feeds for free. I paid $10 for a lifetime subscription (which, if they're now offering free, isn't as good as I could have done) a month or so ago. If the $40/year is what's keeping you from it, might be worth checking out now.

They are working on a new version, although they are relatively quiet about it, so who knows where it is.

As for NewsGator, I agree. It's buggy and, as it was a free offshoot of FreeRange, I'm not surprised that it's not well supported and doesn't have much of a future.

[Jon M]

I can assure you with 100% certainty that FreeRange WebReader is very much alive as a consumer product, and I have not heard anything from NewsGator to suggest that their product is going away either.

At FreeRange, we have been completely heads down on a new project which accounts for the slow response to forum issues. Viigo has chosen to do a splashy beta program on their new development, which generates a lot of interest but has a downside of threads like this. We chose to wait until we have something very solid before we give it to you to try. Both cases take time and have pros and cons, and I'm sure that Mark and his team have the same debates as we do as to which method is the right one.

Yes, FreeRange is working on creating branded readers for companies, such as what we've done for NewsGator, MocoNews, Portland TrailBlazers, Travelocity and others. And the direct result of that work is a stronger, more stable and more feature rich consumer product as well. These aren't mutually exclusive things.

There are a lot happening at FreeRange that we're very excited and proud about that will be coming out over the course of the next few weeks. Keep on the look out.

Jon Maroney
President
FreeRange Communications

[ixtab]

Jon, thank you for writing to the users. When you talk about a consumer product, do you refer to a new generic RSS reader offering or is it a solution covering one newspaper (that can also show generic feeds in a limited way)?
I'd love to learn that FreeRange is working on a generic RSS reader solution as well as your very specific newspaper version.

What they users here ask for is a robust RSS reader with an easy way to manage our feeds, if the reader focuses on covering feeds published by one news vendor (while 'user' feeds are secondary) it might not answer the user need.

We would love to see a new more robust version of the FreeRange reader.

Thanks,
Ix.

Originally Posted by Jon M

I can assure you with 100% certainty that FreeRange WebReader is very much alive as a consumer product, and I have not heard anything from NewsGator to suggest that their product is going away either.

At FreeRange, we have been completely heads down on a new project which accounts for the slow response to forum issues. Viigo has chosen to do a splashy beta program on their new development, which generates a lot of interest but has a downside of threads like this. We chose to wait until we have something very solid before we give it to you to try. Both cases take time and have pros and cons, and I'm sure that Mark and his team have the same debates as we do as to which method is the right one.

Yes, FreeRange is working on creating branded readers for companies, such as what we've done for NewsGator, MocoNews, Portland TrailBlazers, Travelocity and others. And the direct result of that work is a stronger, more stable and more feature rich consumer product as well. These aren't mutually exclusive things.

There are a lot happening at FreeRange that we're very excited and proud about that will be coming out over the course of the next few weeks. Keep on the look out.

Jon Maroney
President
FreeRange Communications

[PabloTX]

Originally Posted by ixtab

What they users here ask for is a robust RSS reader with an easy way to manage our feeds,

I think you will find that FreeRange meets these needs well. The web interface makes it very easy to manage your feeds.

[Jon M]

Hi Ix -

Yes, we are continuing to develop our generic FreeRange WebReader that makes it easy to add feeds from any source. This will be the upgrade to the current product.

We're also creating our branded readers, which are really meant to deliver focused content to people that are most interested in that content on a regular basis.

Thanks, Jon M>

[ixtab]

Thank you Jon. Looking forward to use your new FreeRange WebReader for the blackberry soon.

Originally Posted by Jon M

Hi Ix -

Yes, we are continuing to develop our generic FreeRange WebReader that makes it easy to add feeds from any source. This will be the upgrade to the current product.

We're also creating our branded readers, which are really meant to deliver focused content to people that are most interested in that content on a regular basis.

Thanks, Jon M>

[dhollins]

Thanks for the link. I'm enjoying FreeRange

[adamlau]

Been using FreeRange for nearly two years now. It is fast, stable, lightweight and highly recommended .

[ixtab]

Let me take most of what I wrote back, I decided to give FreeRange version 2.2.9 (beta) another try and I was amazed how fast and efficient it is compared to Viigo (beta or not).

Memory utilization is so much better (finally a lot of free space again)
and performance/responsiveness is simply great.
And like I said on my first post here, this is by far the cleanest looking RSS reader out there (screen utilization, fonts etc.)!

I really hope FreeRange will come out with more improvements to their blackberry product soon (there are still some issues and missing features) but I think I am re-converting to FreeRange from Viigo, at least for a while

Jon M, any idea when/if you will make 2.2.9 production and/or release the next version (beta or not) of the generic RSS reader?

Thanks,
Ix.