Saturday, June 23, 2007

Newshutch - The Google Reader Killer

Online feed readers have been steadily gaining a lot of popularity, as more and more users make the switch from desktop applications to the the web. Google Reader, in particular has become immensely popular among the majority of bloggers and tech enthusiasts. These early adopter are a rather influential bunch, and their preferences can give a clear indication of the rise or demise of a product. However, Google Reader isn't an innovative product by any means, and the reason for its popularity is simply because Google managed to go about building a feed manager the right way. They avoided adding any superfluous features that made the product unnecessarily complicated, this made it simple and easy to use. It is this simplicity, something which is lacking in competing products that has made Google Reader such a success.

Enter Newshutch. Its not exactly a new product, indeed it has been around for about a year now, but the early versions had a few too many kinks in it, causing users to abandon it early on. But after using it for the past few days I must say that it has improved a lot, in fact its solid enough to work as my default feed reader. First of all, its interface is very neat and clean, having only the most basic components of a feed reader, which makes it very fast.

All your subscriptions are listed on the left side, this list only feeds with unread new items but you can change the option to include feeds without unread items as well (like Google Reader's default view). They display the favicon of each feed, and the total no. of unread news items. There's also a rather large button that lets you mark all as read.

The actual news items are displayed on the right side and has a "river of news" view. By default Newshutch does not mark individual news items as read, when you scroll past them but you can set it to do so in the options. You can also mark each separate news item as read, which makes them move to the bottom of the page, or you can mark the entire feed as read at once. Each feed or news item can also be "flagged" which is like bookmarking them, which makes them easier to find later on, this is similar to Google Reader's "Starring" mechanism.

Managing feeds is also a straight forward affair. To add new feeds you simply click the appropriate link and type the site address in the field. Newshutch can also integrate with Firefox, so you can click on an RSS Feed icon/link on any site and have it added to your Newshutch reader instantly. Renaming a feed, or deleting a feed takes just a few clicks. Adding categories and sorting the fields into their own categories is also simple and effortless.

Newshutch is a great product but it lacks in a few departments. Firstly, it doesn't allow you to view multiple feeds at once, so you need to view each feed separately, letting users view all updated news item (at least for each category), would be a nice option. As I mentioned before the UI is very clear and uncluttered but its also a bit too dull, changing the colors would also be a welcome change, or perhaps supporting themes so that each user can customize its look to their liking. Sometimes the reader chokes on large OPML files, which is rather annoying since importing OPML files is probably the first thing many users do. Finally, they should improve the UI to be a bit more responsive and smooth, because sometimes it feels a bit shaky. Indeed Newshutch still has a beta vibe about it but don't let that stop you from trying it, you don't even have to sign up to use it, just head on over to newshutch.com and give it a shot.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

simple php -
smtp 2 go -
spyware nuker -
surveys 4 checks -
tax liens made easy -
the bad breath report -
thedietsolutionprogram -
the diet solution program -
the handcrafters companion -
the retired millionaire -
the super mind evolution system -
truth about abs -
truth about diets -
turbulence training -
ultimate content creator -
video piggy -
vincedelmontefitness -
vince del monte fitness -
viral tweets -
warp speed fat loss -
webstigate -
win clear -
win spy -
worlds best compost -
xp repair pro -
yeast infection no more -
your approved -
500 love making tips -
acid alkaline diet -
advanced defrag -
amazing resume creator -
anti spyware -
art of approaching -
av advance -

Anonymous said...

flatten your abs -
flat to fab -
forex derivative -
gas 4 free -
get better grades -
golf swing guru -
governmentregistry -
government registry -
heartburn no more -
homemadeenergy -
home made energy -
hyper vre -
i software tv -
legit online jobs -
linden method -
london forex rush -
master word smith -
maternityacupressure -
maternity acupressure -
max pro system -
meet your sweet -
membership gold rush -
minute sites -
musclegainingsecrets -
muscle gaining secrets -
negative calorie diet -
one minute cure -
one week marketing -
pc on point -
pc tv 4 me -
perfect optimizer -
php link cloaker -
pick the gender of your baby -
profit lance -

Anonymous said...

public records pro -
quit smoking today -
recipe secrets -
reg clean -
regi cleanse -
registry easy -
registry winner -
reg sweep -
reverse mobile -
reverse phone detective -
richard mackenzie direct -
rocket piano -
rocket spanish -
satellite tv to pc -
smtp 2 go -
spam bully -
spyware nuker -
the bad breath report -
thedietsolutionprogram -
the diet solution program -
the stop snoring exercise program -
the super mind evolution system -
trading stock indices -
truth about abs -
turbulencetraining -
turbulence training -
twitter annihilation -
twitter rockstar -
twitter traffic machine -
ultimate content creator -
ultimate font download -
ultimate wow guide -
video piggy -
vincedelmontefitness -

Anonymous said...

vince del monte fitness -
warp speed fat loss -
web investigator -
win clear -
win spy -
yeast infection no more -






3d covers -
500 scrapbooking sketches -
acid alkaline diet -
acne free in 3 days -
advanced pc tweaker -
apple patch diet -
art of approaching -
auction inspector -
av advance -
build a nice store -
burnthefat -
burn the fat -
carb rotation diet -
catch spouse cheating -
chikara reiki do -
combat the fat -
conversationalhypnosis -
conversational hypnosis -
copy that game -
cure gout now -
dl guard -
dog training online -

Anonymous said...

driver checker -
driver robot -
drop shipping wholesalers -
earth4energy -
earth 4 energy -
easy backup wizard -
eatstopeat -
eat stop eat -
error fix -
error killer -
error smart -
evidence eraser -
evidence nuker -
ex girlfriend guru -
fatburningfurnace -
fat burning furnace -
fatloss4idiots -
fat loss 4 idiots -
final uninstaller -
fitnessmodelprogram -
fitness model program -
fit yummy yummy -
flattenyourabs -
flatten your abs -
flat to fab -
forex grid bot -
get google ads free -
get paid to draw -
get this off my chest now -
governmentregistry -
government registry -
heartburn no more -
homemadeenergy -
home made energy -

Anonymous said...

affiliate naire -
apple patch diet -
article submitter -
art of approaching -
burnthefat -
burn the fat -
carb rotation diet -
cold sore freedom in 3 days -
conversationalhypnosis -
conversational hypnosis -
copy that game -
cure for bruxism -
cure hemorrhoids -
cyber link pro -
dl guard -
driver checker -
driver robot -
drop shipping wholesalers -
earth4energy -
earth 4 energy -
easy backup wizard -
easy click mate -
easy photo biz -
eatstopeat -
eat stop eat -
epinoisis -
error fix -
error killer -
error smart -
evidence nuker -
fap turbo -
fatburningfurnace -
fat burning furnace -
fatloss4idiots -

Anonymous said...

pergola plans -
pick the gender of your bady -
plr ebook club -
pregnancy without pounds -
profit lance -
publicrecordspro -
public records pro -
questions for couples -
quit smoking today -
ready made review sites -
reg genie -
registry easy -
registry easy download -
registry winner -
registry winner download -
retrievea lover -
reverse mobile -
richard mackenzie direct -
rocket italian -
rocket spanish -
roulette sniper -
rss ground -
secret affiliate weapon -
secrets book -
spam bully -
spyware cease -
spyware nuker -
spyware remover -
spy zooka -
starting a day care center -
tattoo fever -
team idemise -
the bad breath report -
the cb code -

Anonymous said...

digital media solution -
dl guard -
driver checker -
earth4energy -
earth 4 energy -
easy backup wizard -
easy member pro -
easy tv soft -
eatstopeat -
eat stop eat -
error fix -
error killer -
evidence nuker -
fap turbo -
fatburningfurnace -
fat burning furnace -
fatloss4idiots -
fat loss 4 idiots -
final uninstaller -
fitnessmodelprogram -
fitness model program -
flatten your abs -
gamers testing ground -
gov auction -
governmentregistry -
government registry -
gov records -
herbal hair solution -
homebre ware -
home job group -
homemadeenergy -
home made energy -
inteli gator -
joanas world -

Anonymous said...

joyful tomato -
kidney stone remedy -
learn digital photography now -
learn elements now -
linden method -
lose man boobs -
malware removal bot -
maternityacupressure -
maternity acupressure -
meet your sweet -
muscle gaining secrets -
muscle gain truth -
niche adsense themes -
ninety day powerseller -
pc optimizer pro -
pregnancy miracle -
pregnancy without pounds -
privacy control -
publicrecordspro -
public records pro -
quit smoking today -
reg genie -
registry easy -
registry genius -
registry smart -
registry winner -
registry winner download -
retrievea lover -
reverse mobile -
richard mackenzie direct -
rocket italian -
save my marriage today -
secrets book -
seo elite -

Anonymous said...

art of approaching -
atomic blogging -
auction classified cash -
automated cash formula -
bbq book -
bloggers pay check -
blogging in action -
body building revealed -
burnthefat -
burn the fat -
carb rotation diet -
cheat your way thin -
chopper tattoo -
cleanup the profits -
cold sore freedom in 3 days -
commission blueprint -
conversationalhypnosis -
conversational hypnosis -
cure for bruxism -
declutter fast -
driver checker -
earth4energy -
earth 4 energy -
easy member pro -
easy tv soft -
eatstopeat -
eat stop eat -
fap turbo -
fatburningfurnace -
fat burning furnace -
fatloss4idiots -
final sync -
final uninstaller -
fitness model program -

Anonymous said...

Dry penis sizegenetics Dry and flaking sizegenetics within the penis can often lead to soreness if left untreated. Dry sizegenetics can occur as being the result of friction from sex or from sensitivity to certain cleansers as well as the sizegenetics that are often found in condoms. Treating the sizegenetics along with a moisture-rich formula (shea butter is often recommended by dermatologists for sensitive penis sizegenetics) can help to keep the sizegenetics smooth and supple now to retain its natural hydration.Penis rash Penis rash, which may result from dry sizegenetics, sensitivity to chemicals as in soaps or sizegenetics, or fungal infections, may cause soreness, itching and discomfort.
http://sizegenetics-reviewx.tumblr.com/

Anonymous said...

the broader turn to account of the [url=http://www.ddtshanghaiescort.com]escorts shanghai[/url] mechanical man arm Utterly the utilize of software or a change in the annex, the mechanical man arm can be with no re-assembled