Free RSS Feeds on your Kindle

[Hadrien]

Feedbooks provide an easy way for Kindle users to download and read RSS feeds directly on their device:

1. You can create a file for a single feed: http://www.feedbooks.com/feed
2. ... or you can create a newspaper with multiple feeds: http://www.feedbooks.com/newspaper/create
3. Generate a Mobipocket/Kindle file and transfer the file to your Kindle through USB or e-mail
4. Once the file is on your Kindle, you can directly update your feeds inside the file, through the link on the cover or in the main menu of the file
5. You can also subscribe to these feeds/newspapers from the main website and download those subscriptions from the mobile website: http://feedbooks.mobi

Here's an example, just add this file on your Kindle to read the feed from Mobileread: http://www.feedbooks.com/feed/743.mobi

Help page on Feedbooks: http://www.feedbooks.com/help/kindle#rss

[TadW]

In what way is this different to me displaying RSS feeds as HTML text and running the result through mobigen?

[Hadrien]

Originally Posted by TadW

In what way is this different to me displaying RSS feeds as HTML text and running the result through mobigen?

- No need for a desktop computer: you update directly the feeds from your device
- You get a TOC and can add multiple feeds to a single file
- Much easier to use

[lovebeta]

Hadrien,

I just took a look. It is very sleek. Thank you so much for the support of our kindle users, especially considering that you are working on your own platform at the time.

The format are even more friendly than the one generated by Mobipocket reader. However, did you strip all the pictures? That's kind of important for a gadget blog IMHO.

[Hadrien]

Originally Posted by lovebeta

Hadrien,

I just took a look. It is very sleek. Thank you so much for the support of our kindle users, especially considering that you are working on your own platform at the time.

The format are even more friendly than the one generated by Mobipocket reader. However, did you strip all the pictures? That's kind of important for a gadget blog IMHO.

Sure, but for Feedbooks we don't have a vertical approach like Amazon.

Pictures won't be available for the first release, it takes too long to download. I'd like to make sure that everything works well and fast enough first, for all 3 formats. I'll work on the pictures once we've reached this point.

[Donnageddon]

Sweet, Hadrien!

The RSS feeds look very promising, but I also just tried the book download from your guide for the Kindle... worked like a charm!

Many thanks!

[Hadrien]

Updated the template: I've added both next and previous links to easily skip between stories. With both those links and the TOC, it should be fairly easy to browse through such a document with multiple feeds.

[Hadrien]

I can now output multiple feeds into a single Mobipocket file (TOC + links to skip between the items of a feed available too).

[Hadrien]

Made another change to the template: on the first page, I've added a link to update the file. This way, even if you don't generate a specific guide for your RSS/newspaper you'll be able to update a feed.

The only problem that users might experience is related to updating a file a few times everyday. Since the Kindle can't support having 2 files with the same name, the Kindle browser will display an error message. But if you only download the feed once a day, you shouldn't get the message.

I might add a more precise date (not just day/month but also hour/minute) to get rid of this problem.

[Hadrien]

Last modification before the final release of this feature: I've modified the templates a bit.
- on each feed, you'll have an element to update the guide in the menu of the book (when you select the upper right corner of the page on the Kindle)
- on each newspaper, you can now access the different elements through the same menu

Should be online next week or early July.

[Elsi]

Originally Posted by Hadrien

Last modification before the final release of this feature: I've modified the templates a bit.
- on each feed, you'll have an element to update the guide in the menu of the book (when you select the upper right corner of the page on the Kindle)
- on each newspaper, you can now access the different elements through the same menu

Should be online next week or early July.

Hadrien ... I'm so excited. Thank you for your work on this.

[Hadrien]

Originally Posted by Elsi

Hadrien ... I'm so excited. Thank you for your work on this.

I hope this will turn the Kindle into a useful device for RSS feeds too, not just e-books.

Of course this will also work with all Mobipocket devices, for example iLiad users will be able to directly download those Mobipocket files on their device too.

[Laurel]

Hadrian, you are amazing!

[Hadrien]

Made another small change: in a public newspaper (when you create a newspaper on Feedbooks, you aggregate several RSS feeds. Such a newspaper can be public or private.) you'll be able to directly update within the file. This way a separate guide, like we do for public domain books, will only be necessary for private newspapers or if you'd rather list all your subscriptions in the same place. If you have a blog or a website, this will make things very easy for you: just ask your visitors to drop the Mobipocket version on their device once, and they'll be able to update whenever they want in the future.

I've also changed the behavior for links: we don't remove them anymore.

I'd love to see a blog specialized in book recommendations: every day, it would recommend a book, with a short review and directly link to the book. Loved the review ? Just click on the link and you'll be able to download the book.

You're publishing your new novel using a blog ? Add a link to the Feedbooks output and your readers will be able to update your novel as soon as a new chapter is available.

I could imagine a dozen similar applications and I'm sure that people will find much more great use for this.

I'll focus on getting everything ready for a release now...

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by lovebeta

Hadrien,

I just took a look. It is very sleek. Thank you so much for the support of our kindle users, especially considering that you are working on your own platform at the time.

The format are even more friendly than the one generated by Mobipocket reader. However, did you strip all the pictures? That's kind of important for a gadget blog IMHO.

Hey, with all his experimenting on a Kindle his own product will be mature right out of the box.

Dale