Task:RSS feed reader

2009-11-22T16:00:24Z

212.117.162.26: feed circuit buggy

The official RSS Feed Reader and related home applet are being ported to Fremantle. Even if it's 100% open source, the development is nowadays closed and the input from the community is very small. Unless we all do something about it.

Interested in having an excellent feed reader in Maemo? Get involved!

See also the discussion [http://www.internettablettalk.com/forums/showthread.php?p=251146 Love feeds? Read this]

== Core features ==
Just an idea.

* Handles efficiently feeds of text, images, audio, video...
** Would it be ok if audio/video triggered media player of choice? (I.e., the next point.)
* Well integrated with browser (and media player?)
* Connects regularly for updates and small transfers.
* Downloads volumes of data when wlan is available.
* Basic usage through desktop plugin.
** Unread feed count on app icon (or via desktop plugin)
* Smart syncing with my other feed readers (via online?)
** Or with an online service like Bloglines?
* Developed in Maemo but easy to deploy in other platforms.
* Filtering (blacklisting, whitelisting, priority) combined with modus operandi based on situation user is in (work, home, travel, etc)
** I.e., Smart Lists?
* Feed categorization (and/or folders)
* Full text search (or downloaded items)
* Ability to cache feeds/envlosures (to user-specified location) for offline usage
* Import/export OPML
* TTS (text-to-speach) support

== How to get there ==
There are different ways to get there:

* Everybody gets involved in the development of the official RSS Feed Reader
* Existing Maemo community alternatives are pushed. Candidates:
** [http://maemo.org/downloads/product/OS2008/feedcircuit/ Feed Circuit] - buggy; locks up on BBC feeds and Wired mag feeds
** [http://penguintv.sourceforge.net/ Penguin TV]
** [http://jaiku.com/channel/mauku/presence/50592777 How crazy would be to extend Mauku as a RSS feed reader with a very smart home applet?] - or with any microblog app.
** [http://gpodder.org/ gPodder]
** And how crazy would it be to mix it with a podcast app.
** And how crazy would it be to mix feed reader, microblog reader and podcast app?
*** In my opinion, it would be better to keep things separate, because of different usage patterns (if you don't think keeping apps and use cases separate, why not make the all-in-one browser+email+feed reader+microblogging+podcasts+chat+phone+contacts+notetaking+drawing app?) --[[User:thp|thp]] 19:44, 27 December 2008 (UTC)
* Ports from GNOME/KDE or anywhere native. Not that Maemo's RSS Feed Reader derives from [http://liferea.sourceforge.net/ Liferea]. Candidates:
** Your candidates here.
* Firefox extensions
** Your candidates here.

== Competition ==
What great products are other (mobile) platforms offering? Name, link and remarkable features that make the app/service so good.

Note also the potential discussion about local app versus web service (and a way in between).

=== Local apps ===

==== Linux ====
* [http://liferea.sourceforge.net/ Liferea]
** Features:
*** Synchronization with Google Reader
*** Browser integration (with Add-ons)
*** Podcast/enclosure support
*** Folders/categories
* [http://penguintv.sourceforge.net/ PenguinTV]
* [http://gpodder.org/ gPodder]
* [http://launchpad.net/gwibber Gwibber] is an open source microblogging client for GNOME developed with Python and GTK. It supports Twitter, Jaiku, Identi.ca, Facebook, Flickr, Digg, and RSS.
** While this is an ''aggregator'' of sorts (like [http://mauku.henrikhedberg.com/ Mauku] is), should it really be added to this list? Can custom feeds be added? Does it support podcasting? --[[User:timsamoff|timsamoff]] 14:08, 13 January 2009 (UTC)

==== Mac OS X ====
* [http://www.newsfirerss.com/ NewsFire]
** Features:
*** Podcast & Enclosure support
*** Integrated blog editor (for posting to personal blog)
*** Groups
*** Labels
*** Smart Groups
*** Search
*** Import/export OPML
* [http://www.newsgator.com/INDIVIDUALS/NETNEWSWIRE/ NetNewsWire]
** Features:
*** Built-in tabbed browser (no need to launch an additional browser to view actual sites)
*** Desktop integration (can notify the user via various desktop widgets)
*** Synchronized clippings (synchronize feeds and feed status with various online services like Bloglines)
*** Will download and transfer podcasts to iTunes (i.e., transfer to another media player)
*** Supports multiple Smart Lists (display filtered results of feeds)
*** Supports custom styles (CSS)
*** Supports grouping/folders
*** Supports article flagging
*** Supports microformats (for Calendar and Contacts)
*** Import/Export of OPML
* [http://www.vienna-rss.org/vienna2.php Vienna]
** Features:
*** Podcast support
*** Customisable toolbar
*** Built-in tabbed browser
*** Global search
*** Smart Folders
*** Custom styles (CSS)
*** Three layouts
*** Blogging integration
*** Enclosure support
*** Article filters
*** Manual reordering of the subscription list

==== Windows ====
* [http://www.sharpreader.net/ SharpReader]
** Features:
*** Handles all RSS versions, ATOM 0.3 and 1.0, modules like dublin core, content:encoding, xhtml:body, etc.
*** Advanced threading support allowing you to view connected items together in a threaded fashion (detects and shows connections between items if they have same link, if one item links to another, if two items both link to the same external webpage, or if an item has comments)
*** Grouping/categories
*** Feed settings (refresh-rate, purge timeout, and category-wide settings)
*** Drag-and-drop subscription method
*** Feedster integration
*** Support for proxy-servers and proxy authentication
*** Reduces bandwidth by using HTTP Conditional GETs and gzip/deflate encoding
***Desktop integration
*** Import/export OPML
*** Filtering
*** HTTP Authentication support

==== Cross-Platform ====
* [http://www.rssowl.org/ RSSOwl]
** Features:
*** SWT-based ([http://www.eclipse.org/swt/ Standard Widget Toolkit])
*** Search (word, phrase, and other feeds)
*** Easy organization
*** Feed sharing
*** Integrated browser
*** AmphetaRate (for acquiring news tailored to user's tastes)
*** Export to PDF, RTF, and HTML
*** Import/export OPML
*** Supports exchange collections with others
*** Automatic updates
* [http://www.blogbridge.com/ BogBridge]
** Features:
*** Categories and subcategories
*** Cross Listing (any category can be cross listed in one or more other categories)
*** Categories and subcategories available as OPML Reading Lists
*** Synchronization via Reading Lists
*** Top 10 and Top 100 List (automatically monitors the number of users looking at any feed and dynamically compute a Top 10 and Top 100 list, each of which is available as an OPML Reading List)
*** Tree and List display of categories

=== Online services ===
* [http://www.bloglines.com/ Bloglines]
** Features:
*** All-in-one Blog and news feed search, online subscriptions, news reader, blog publishing and social sharing tools
*** Mobile version optimized for handheld computers and cell phones
*** Email subscriptions help manage your e-newsletter traffic
*** Package Tracking (UPS, USPS & FedEx)
*** Custom weather forecasts
*** Personalized recommendations to find new subscriptions
*** Bookmarklet for single-click subscriptions to any source
*** Notifiers for all browser types to remind you when new articles have arrived
*** Saved Searches deliver future articles matching your key words and phrases
*** Most Popular lists show the days hot topics and which blogs are getting the most noticed
*** Add-on tools for bloggers such as automated blogrolls, subscription buttons
* [http://www.feedburner.com/ FeedBurner]
** FeedBurner has recently been aquired by Google.
* [http://reader.google.com Google Reader]
** Features:
*** Single page that lets you see new items at a glance
*** Import/export OPML
*** Choice between list view or expanded view
*** Automatic marking of items as read as they are scrolled past
*** Search
*** Sharing (share feeds and articles with other users)
*** Offline access
*** Desktop/browser integration
* [http://reader.feedshow.com/ FeedShow]
** Features:
*** Import/export OPML
*** Folders/categories
*** Save items locally
*** Convert to PDF/print format
* [http://my.gpodder.org/ My gPodder]

=== "Host Your Own" Solutions ===
* [http://gregarius.net/ Gregarius]
** Features:
*** Web-based
*** Import/export OPML
*** Supports themes and plugins
*** Search
*** Basic i18n support
*** Committed to web standards (renders XHTML/CSS)
*** FREE software, released under GPL
* [http://tt-rss.org/ Tiny Tiny RSS]
** Features:
*** Server-side application (user only needs a web browser)
*** Import/export OPML
*** Free software, licensed under GPL
*** Support for generation of aggregated feeds
*** Supports Technorati-style tags
*** Filtering
*** Supports multiuser operation
*** Categories
*** Supports HTTP Digest and Basic authentication for reading protected feeds
*** Supports feed enclosures (podcasts)
*** Supports XML-RPC API
*** Supports article scoring
*** Supports inline XSPF MP3 player for podcasts
* [http://zvonnews.sourceforge.net/ zFeeder]
** Features:
*** Import/export OPML
*** Supports autodiscovery of feeds
*** Bookmarklet to easily add feeds
*** Custom styles (CSS)
*** Online/offline refreshing of feeds via browser or cron
*** Categories
*** WAP (wml) output
* [http://simplepie.org/ Simple Pie]
** I'm not sure SimplePie should be included in this list (i.e., it allows users to manipulate and display feeds, but it's not really an aggregator in the true sense of the word). --[[User:timsamoff|timsamoff]] 21:00, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

== Open enhancement requests ==

{{#bugzilla:
|product=RSS+feed+reader
|severity=enhancement
|status=unconfirmed,new,assigned,reopened
|sort=votes
|order=desc
|columns=votes,id,summary
}}

== Open bugs ==

{{#bugzilla:
|product=RSS+feed+reader
|severity=!enhancement
|status=unconfirmed,new,assigned,reopened
|sort=votes
|order=desc
|columns=votes,severity,id,summary
}}
[[Category:Tasks]]

Wifi power saving mode

2009-08-16T13:59:21Z

212.117.162.26:

The tablets support what is called Wifi Power Saving Mode (PSM). PSM allows the tablet to switch its wifi radio on and off several times a second to save battery. While this does greatly improve battery life (6-8 hours idle on Wifi without PSM, 3-4 days with), there are still many routers on the market which do not support PSM or have a buggy implementation and this can cause problems for the tablets.

Because using PSM introduces extra latency for incoming packets, the tablets try to optimize performance by remaining in Constant Active Mode (CAM) if there is constant traffic. On the other hand, CAM consumes a lot of power, so the timeout should be as short as possible. For more detailed description, see [http://lists.maemo.org/pipermail/maemo-users/2008-July/034755.html this posting on the subject].

== Issues ==

Though PSM does greatly increase idle battery life (meaning leaving the tablet connected to a Wifi network at all times is a reality), poor support in some routers and certain network issues can crop up that cause trouble. In the case of routers with non-existent or buggy support, battery life while connected to Wifi may be greatly reduced or, at worst, connection difficulties may arise.

PSM can cause some network issues even on routers with good support. Particularly with PC-to-tablet stuff like [[SSH]], connections may be dropped while idle or lag severely. There are two ways to reduce the negative impact of aggressive PSM in these situations. Either have an active network process running on the tablet (XChat in an active channel, ping to google.com, etc), or [[#Configuration|disable PSM completely]] on connections where you'll be doing a lot of work over SSH.

The default values were tightened in Diablo release, which might be the reason that some people started seing problems then. The problems with PSM are typically random in nature, so with a bit of luck the connection works just fine sometimes, but sometimes problems are seen. The probability depends on the used timeout values.

== Configuration ==

PSM can be configured on a per-connection basis in the Connectivity control panel (Application menu -> Settings -> Control panel -> Connectivity). Under the Other tab of Advanced settings when editing a saved connection. There are 3 options available: On (Maximum), On (Intermediate), and Off (note, the WLAN transmission power setting will not significantly impact battery life—though it will impact Wifi roaming distance—and is simply there for legislative reasons). Maximum and Intermediate change the timeout period (200ms and 1000ms, respectively), and Off turns off PSM entirely.

== Ad-hoc prevents PSM ==

Ad-hoc mode cannot use power-saving modes other than reduce transmit power - since there's no master or slave where the slave can spend a lot of time "asleep", it prevents power saving modes.

== Routers known to be incompatible with PSM mode ==

* Fon2200

[[Category:Users]]
[[Category:Connectivity]]
[[Category:WiFi]]

Maemo Wiki Mirror - User contributions [en]

Task:RSS feed reader

Wifi power saving mode