Asterbox is here!

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I’ve been very busy the last few months as I have been developing mobile client software called Asterbox for startup company named Asterbox, LLC. I have to say that I am very proud of the application even as it is still in beta.

Asterbox - Mobile Google Reader - Feed items Asterbox - Mobile Google Reader - Feed item

What is Asterbox? Best way to find out is to visit the asterbox site at www.asterbox.com. Here are few screen shots of Asterbox running on my Nokia N80. Current version is basically a mobile version of Google Reader. Asterbox shows you the latest items from your Google Reader account and you can read them, star them, share them or tag them. Usability is beyond any mobile browser experience. You can use your phone’s directional pad to navigate though lists and items and activate different actions through handy action menu bar. Go ahead and check it out.

  • nikola

    hi there. could you send me an invite so i can test it?

  • Tomeg

    The asterbox.com webiste is down for some time now :(
    How can I download this? I really NEEEEED a great RSS mobile reader.

    FreeRange is great, but it’s free only for max 10 feeds. Well… there is solution to combine multiple RSS feeds into one, thus I can pack maany feeds into those 10 that free FreeRange support. However this is problematic as most “feed combiner” websites limit the number of entries in the combined feed. Probably only Yahoo Pipes is OK with that. But anyway this seems to be a clumsy solution.

    LiteFeeds is a bit cool but it’s not enough. And Nokia WidSets is practically … crap, at the moment.

    I will still try the client that you have published on your site Tommi.

    But anyway I need something that synchronises feed status with the one that I can view from PC. So Google Reader comes here. Thus I really NEED a mobile dedicated Google Reader client. Especially because on my Opera Mobile (Nokia 9500) the WAP version of Google Reader just does not open correctly :( And anyway I would prefer a Java application than a WAP page.

    Do you suggest anything else than Google Reader? :)

    And anyway – how can I download the Asterbox??? :)

    Thanks in advance!

    Best Regards,
    Tom

  • Tomeg

    Hey, asterbox.com has been down recently!

    How can I download the app? Please help me! I need a Google-Reader-mobile-client!

    Thanks in advance!

    Tom

    PS. I’ve posted a reply here (maybe two days ago) and it didn’t show up. Strange… Anyway I’m posting again, hope it works this time.

    Please help me ASAP guys! Thanks in advance once more! :)

  • Tomeg

    PPS. Okay, my comment was “awaiting moderation”. That’s why it didn’t show up immediately :)

  • http://www.substanceofcode.com Tommi Laukkanen

    @Tomeg: I’ve been told that they are planning on releasing the Asterbox source with Open Source license. So keep your eyes on that, hopefully that will happen really soon as the app itself is really great.

  • Tomeg

    Thank you for response!

    Ok, let’s see how it goes as open source.

    But why can’t I have niw the one that they have already released for free? What’s wrong in getting this, as they have already given it for free? Is it because it needs to communicate with their servers and now these servers are down? Because I don’t see any other reason WHY O WHY couldn’t I just install the .jar file that they’ve already released.

    And by the way – why can’t they have a working webpage??? http://www.asterbox.com doesn’t respond (on port 80)! Their web server is down! They should at least have just a message “Hello, we are happy that you visited us. Please stay tuned for the OpenSource release” and optionally give an RSS feed, so I could stay tuned. Man, this is not complicated to set up a webpage like this! Oh, and an e-mail address to send questions, or a web form to do that.

    Sorry for my complaining language… Please don’t get me wrong, I don’t target it at you, I don’t blame you. It’s just that you’re the only person, so I am just sharing with you what I think, and I have a little hope that maybe even you know some answers to these questions :)

    Best Regards!

    Tomeg

  • hefangshi

    I’m looking for this app, if anyone have a copy, please mail me. My e-mail is hefangshi#gmail.com

  • Aidan

    Hi there, any update on if the code for this will be available open source? I think there’s a number of people keen to continue this project and the code would substantially help.
    Thanks!