Alertle, a Toronto, Ontario startup is an RSS Reader that is focused on breaking out beyond the more technically inclined crowd that uses services like Google Reader and Bloglines.
The company, which has been bootstrapped so far, has been making quick progress. I have used their reader a few times in the last month and there has been obvious progress on the UI and the general flow of the applications.
When you first log in, the most noticible difference between Alertle and other RSS readers is their focus on “bundles” of feeds. While most readers come with a large set of default feeds, Alertle takes it a step further and provides almost 20 bundles, each with well over a dozen feeds. These include bundles like “Life”, “Autos”, “Videos”, “Nasdaq” and more.
Alertle really goes beyond just being a feed reader and really offers an easy way for a novice user to change how the browse the web in general. Their interface is relatively easy, but does take some getting used to (at least if you approach it from a traditional feed-reading mindset like I did), but I have found that it grows on you. My one complaint is that the titles of the feeds, which appear below nice large icons, are often cut short and are hard to read. I would prefer to have the titles displayed clearly and in full somehow.
I was able to easily import my existing subscriptions from Google Reader using OPML, and I think that with a little tweaking I could really get used to this interface. I really appreciate how uncluttered the display window is for the news item that is currently being read, and the list of unread posts is also clear and easy to navigate.
Alertle plans to generate revenue through advertising and potentially by offering a premium product for enterprise customers. I can imagine that there will be other revenue opportunities for them as well if they manage to build up their user base, such as charging for inclusion as a default feed and generating revenue through Google search referral if they can convince users to make Alertle their default homepage.
@Jevon: Glad that you liked Alertle and thanks for your feedback :)
I think RSS is becoming increasingly mainstream and would be widely used within the next few years, just like other common software tools (like word processor, email, browser, etc). Millions of websites already publish RSS feeds, so the technology infrastructure is already in place. Now, “where” those RSS feeds get read is still a very nascent market though. The approach taken by existing feed readers hasn’t quite been ‘good enough’ in my opinion. So Alertle grew from that need – to look at RSS from a fresh perspective. And with its interface and features, I think its ideal for reading feeds. Its simple, yet powerful enough for both mainstream and power users alike. Infact, we’ve had users telling us how they preferred it over both Netvibes and Google Reader.
So we’re really excited and looking to continuously improve and grow Alertle and make it available on different platforms as well (such as the iPhone) in the weeks and months ahead ! We are planning on demo-ing Alertle at the next DemoCamp in Toronto..
Thanks
PS: The name of our startup is actually “Zytran”. “Alertle” is the name of our product :)
@Jevon: Glad that you liked Alertle and thanks for your feedback :)
I think RSS is becoming increasingly mainstream and would be widely used within the next few years, just like other common software tools (like word processor, email, browser, etc). Millions of websites already publish RSS feeds, so the technology infrastructure is already in place. Now, “where” those RSS feeds get read is still a very nascent market though. The approach taken by existing feed readers hasn’t quite been ‘good enough’ in my opinion. So Alertle grew from that need – to look at RSS from a fresh perspective. And with its interface and features, I think its ideal for reading feeds. Its simple, yet powerful enough for both mainstream and power users alike. Infact, we’ve had users telling us how they preferred it over both Netvibes and Google Reader.
So we’re really excited and looking to continuously improve and grow Alertle and make it available on different platforms as well (such as the iPhone) in the weeks and months ahead ! We are planning on demo-ing Alertle at the next DemoCamp in Toronto..
Thanks
PS: The name of our startup is actually “Zytran”. “Alertle” is the name of our product :)