In all this iPhone madness, it seems time to shine some light on an amazing application for the BlackBerry. Viigo is an enhanced RSS reader, allowing you to choose from a selection of over 3,000 feeds (they call them “channels”), as well as any custom feeds, allowing you to follow the updates of any site you wish. There is a major overhaul to Viigo in the works under the name Project Tango, which includes the same RSS feed reader, plus the addition of Weather, Sports, and Entertainment. Audio & Podcasts will join the Beta line up in the future, but the current strength of this application is in the feeds. As you read you can email the article to yourself or others, click to view the web site, or even save it for continued reference (it will be replaced by newer feeds if you do not save it).

My personal favorite feeds to read on the go are: BerryReview.com, BlackBerry Cool, Cool Tools, MakeUseOf, and Mashable. I probably subscribe to at least 50 feeds, but I’d never admit to it!

To get a copy of Viigo, just go to http://getviigo.com/ or http://getviigo.com/beta from your mobile browser.

Viigo is my #1 most used application on my BlackBerry Curve. What is your favorite BlackBerry application?

You know you’ve got options, but you don’t know what they are. Well, I’m going to try to make things a little easier for you and provide a breakdown of two of the big guns in town.

1. WordPress.com
a. free hosting available, or the option to host offsite
b. a decent selection of pre-designed templates that are somewhat customizable (via CSS)
c. the ability to edit CSS (NOT the HTML) at a cost of $15 per year

2. Blogger.com
a. free hosting available, or the option to host offsite
b. a decent selection of pre-designed templates that are very customizable
c. the ability to edit anything and everything! There isn’t one piece of your web site that isn’t configurable or customizable.

I spent several days struggling with WordPress, trying to customize a blog so it would have the features that I was looking for, but WordPress really makes this tough. Everything was a challenge. Aside from the limitations, there are quirks made of bad design that just make things overly difficult. Want to have a picture in the sidebar? In WordPress you actually need to begin a blog post, upload the picture, copy the URL it created – and only then can you can add it to the sidebar. To get it from this half-created post, you go back to your Design area, select Widgets, and add a TEXT widget (linking to the URL you just copied). Yes, to add any images to the sidebar, you have to step through several hoops that aren’t logical. Why isn’t there a Media Gallery?

After realizing it was important to me to have the ability to add some javascript widgets from MyBlogLog, I gave up on WordPress entirely. They don’t allow ANY use of Javascript on your site (if you are hosting on their servers). If you host WordPress yourself, you are then able to edit the HTML as well as the CSS, and have a larger selection of templates from which to choose. So I do want to throw that out there (WordPress may actually be useful for some), but, I don’t think the actual interface is any different and that is a big drawback. Their interface could use an entire redesign to make the blogging experience more useful, as well as enjoyable.

Blogger removes a lot of the limitations WordPress imposes, even if you go with hosting on their site. What took about two days in WordPress took me about an hour in Blogger, to reach a point where I was happy and ready to write. The design is user-friendly and logical. Everything works just as it should, and, you can do just about anything. You can even upload other Blogger templates (WordPress does not allow you to upload any other templates than what they provide). Want it your way? Go to Blogger…

Recently I came across what appears to be a hybrid telephone! The Vtech 6110 slightly resembles a Treo or BlackBerry, but it isn’t a cell phone. Since this is NOT a cell phone, it’s very surprising to see a full Qwerty keyboard and mention of full IM and text messaging capabilities. Upon reading about this phone in Wired, I had to explore further…

As it turns out, this phone can act as a normal landline phone and use your home wireless (broadband) connection to allow you to IM and text message your buddies. You can even use it as a Voice over IP phone if you have cut the landline cord, making this a very flexible option.

Sounds great doesn’t? Well, I must admit I was quite intrigued. So intrigued, I read the fine print and discovered what I consider to be major flaws for such a phone. If you’re going to go as far as provide your customers with a semi-cell phone, you should go all the way and make sure it has syncing capabilities. The Vtech 6110 can store 50 addresses, which sounds great until you realize it is a stand-alone system. Who is willing to retype contact information that is already stored in at least three other places? Who would enter in all of their buddy contact information?

I began to wonder who exactly this phone is for, as it certainly isn’t for the cell phone-enabled community. That’s when I realized, this phone would be a great ALTERNATIVE for someone who isn’t allowed a cell phone, such as a teenager – who can then text message and IM anyone they want (while at home) and not have to worry about additional charges or monthly fees. All in all this seems like a great idea, but with poor execution. What do you think, would you find something like this useful?

These days there aren’t too many things cooler than a new iPhone, and it’s always fun to open new toys. Better yet, use OTHER toys to open your new toys!

Photo by ntr23