NewsBreak: Great for News Reading and Pod/VidCasts

The newsreader NewsBreak has been updated to version 2.0, which adds a lot of new features:

- Full support for audio, video, image, and attachment podcasts: Listen to your favorite podcasts, watch vidcasts, and view attached files and images
- Individual download criteria for each channel that supports podcasts: Schedule podcasts to download when and how you want them to -Built-in support for Microsoft Live Search helps you find all the channels you're interested in
- Save podcasts for later use
- Schedule when and how to download podcasts separately from channel updates
- Choose the maximum memory usage for podcast storage
- Store podcasts in main memory or on a storage card
- Improved menus for one-handed navigation
- Set the maximum number of channels to save
- New keyword icons plus 6 additional icons and an updated appearance

It is available for both Smartphones and Windows Mobile devices.

Below are a few screenshots. I especially love the podcast and vidcast features.

The first screenshot shows the New Channel Wizard that appears on initial setup (and that can be accessed as desired after setup):

This setup wizard has a large number of pre-selected channels for you to choose from. If your favorites aren't in the list, you can add them later through a separate menu that you lets you search the internet for them.

The second screen shows the channels I selected from the list (I will probably add a few more within the next few days, as they occur to me):

The final screenshot is of a preview of a vidcast from "Rocketboom:"

The actual vidcasts, which my screencapture software can't capture, download with great clarity. They of course play within Media Player, or, if you another player set to your default (such as the popular CorePlayer, it plays within it.

Obviously vidcasts, and many of the podcasts, consume a good bit of memory. Hence, as one has always been able to do with NewsBreak, there is an option to save the channels to an SD card.

This is great software and I encourage you to check it out. Using a good newsreader is an excellent way of saving yourself time by avoiding the time of having to surf for information. And, as Ben notes in the comment below, I initially forgot to mention that NewsBreak is being sold, for a limited time, at the incredibly low price of $7.95!