The Internet can easily turn you into a news junkie, especially once you discover RSS feeds.Google Reader and NetVibes are two of the most widely used RSS Readers on the desktop, but there are plenty of ways to get your news on with your Nokia N86 8MP. Here is our run-down of the best.
RSS - short for Really Simple Syndication - is a way of syndicating 'content' from a website so that it can be quickly read using a news read app, usually with a brief summary or abstract to let you know if it is worth clicking through. You can subscribe to RSS 'feeds' from websites or news services that you like and get all your daily news in easily digestible chunks. See here for a more detailed explanation from, of all places, BBC Sport.
Check out our Nokia N86 8MP review
Google Reader
Size: n/a
Price: Free
Not strictly speaking an app, but Google Reader's iPhone-optimized website works equally well on your Nok's web browser. We covered this is in more detail here but you basically just need to head along there with your web browser and start reading. You will need a Google login (via GMail, etc.) We recommend using the Google Reader web site on a Mac or PC to organize your feeds into folders and categories - you can do much of this on the phone, but it is a bit more fiddly.
FlyScreen
Size: 0.218 MB
Price: Free
Flyscreen is a widget system for Nokia S60 phones that replaces the idle screensaver on your phone with useful mini-apps that can display (among other things) the contents of RSS feeds. Flyscreen comes with a load of predefined RSS widgets but you can easily make your own if you know the web address of the site your want. Widget management is done via the FlyScreen website, so you need to sign up with them (for free) in order to set the app up properly. You can read our full review of FlyScreen.
Nokia browser
Size: n/a
Price: Free
Link: n/a - its on your phone anyway!
Of course, if you just want to dip you toe in the RSS waters then you don't have to look far. The web browser on your phone can read RSS feeds, albeit in a slightly more limited way that the other apps here. Start up the browser then go to 'Options', 'Go to' and select 'Web feeds'. From here you can add feeds either by typing in their URLS or having the browser scan your mobile for any RSS addresses it can find. Feeds can be set to autoupdate if you can spare the data bandwidth, and you will see short headlines for any stories published in each feed, which can be clicked through to find an abstract and a link to the full story. You have to set up a new feed for each site, and it would be good to be able to import feeds from (e.g.) Google Reader but this is a pretty low-effort solution to the RSS problem.
HeadLine RSS Reader
Size: N/A
Price: £8.00
A bit pricey, but this is one of the best RSS readers around for S60 phones. HeadLine supports all versions of RSS, plus the rival ATOM format (same thing, really, but ATOM is favoured by a few sites, such as Blogger.com). You can import lists of feeds in OPML format (exportable from most desktop readers & Google Reader) and open links both in the native S60 browser and Opera Mobile. You can even use HeadLine to subscribe to the RSS feeds of podcasts and download them straight to your media player.