The Inquisitr » regator

Regator’s iPhone app is all sorts of win

Duncan Riley — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 01:15:03 +0000

Social media discovery service (and RSS reader of sorts) Regator has launched an official iPhone application, delivering Regator recommended reads on the go.

The Regator iPhone app includes the ability to browse posts from over 500 topics, search Regator’s extensive archive of blog posts, and the a ability to view the most popular blog posts across the blogsphere by topic at any given point in time.

The app serves as a trends tracker, offering the latest trending topics based on real time, or near real time data being processed by Regator. Other features include the ability to share posts via email, Facebook, or Twitter, and a related posts features that highlights content on other sites on the topic you are looking at.

On a positive note (and one of the reasons we’ve always loved Regator) content featured on Regator links out to the source site, so you click thru to read the post where it was published, and everyone wins.

The price you can’t beat, because it comes in at the magic number of $0. Well worth the download if you want to keep up to date with the latest and most interesting content across the blogosphere. You can download the app on iTunes here.

Regator gets a makeover

Duncan Riley — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 02:01:06 +0000

Directory/ RSS Reading site Regator has launched a new look after taking feedback from users.

The new, cleaner look includes a simplified design, thumbnails accompanying posts that feature images, a prominent search bar for posts and blogs and improvements in rich media handling.

Search on the site have been revamped to increase search accuracy and speed, and the site has added more hand picked blogs over 500 categories.

We first wrote about Regator back in July when I noted that it’s a smart service with a lot of potential. The new look is a definite improvement, and more visually appealing. The service tweaks also add to the strong core base product. If you haven’t visited Regator before (or lately), take a look.

Regator

Things we missed: Regator, Heekya

Duncan Riley — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 23:35:24 +0000

I must pay more attention to email…I must pay more attention to email….

Regator Launches

The excellent directory 2.0/ emerging RSS Reader Regator has launched. See our previous coverage here and here.

Scott Lockhart writes:

We’ll be adding new social media integration, depending on demand over the next few weeks, and are also working on a mobile version, an iPhone app and a variety of widgets. At the end of the day we are looking to keep the site easy to use for mainstream users as well as more geeky types and that means not bloating it with features just for the sake of features. Sometimes easier said than done, but we’re going to give our best shot.

Heekya

David Adewumi writes:

Heekya is changing the way consumers create, share, and discover stories. Heekya allows consumers to easily integrate images, video, sounds, and words to create interactive stories that can be shared with family, friends, and the world. Heekya is Wikipedia for digital media stories.

We built Heekya to allow users to collect disparate media from their personal archive or from across the web, create an interactive story that reflects the breadth and expansiveness of real world narratives, provide location and time-based context to that story, discover interesting stories happening around them, and connect the world’s stories together on both a micro and macro level.

Demo video below:

Regator

Heekya

Regator now supports OPML, personal feeds + extra invites

Duncan Riley — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:00:02 +0000

Directory 2.0 service Regator has moved towards becoming a RSS reader with support for OPML importing and the ability to add individual feeds.

The challenge for the Regator team was to offer an RSS reading service without compromising the site as a destination for high-quality, hand-selected blog content. The compromise: Regator users can now upload OPML files and add individual blogs to view on their personalized My Regator page, along with their favorite Regator blogs. However, blogs uploaded will only be visible to the user who added them, and not shared across Regator, well at least not automatically. Each blog added is automatically nominated for inclusion in Regator’s main database, but are added and categorized for all users to see only if Regator’s editors determine that they have frequently updated, relevant, original, well-written content.

Also new to Regator is the ability to share posts via Facebook, Twitter, and email, with sharing on other sites to be added on demand. Regator is also looking to offer users a unique URL where they can share posts with friends in the near future.

It’s an interesting compromise, and one that in practice works well. Single focused services have a difficult time becoming sticky at a time of hyper-competition in the space. By becoming both a recommendations service and RSS Reader, Regator becomes more appealing as a destination people will regularly want to use.

The service is set to launch August 6, but if you want in now, we have 50 invites for Inquisitr readers. Visit Regator and enter the code inquisitr to give Regator a shot. Our previous Regator coverage here.

Regator

What ever happened to blogrolls?

Duncan Riley — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 02:18:11 +0000

Once upon a time in the land of the blogs, the blogroll reigned suprmeme. Everyone had a blogroll, and it was a great way to discover new and interesting blogs. But somewhere along the way blogrolls fell out of favor, and you don’t seem them much at all today.

I’m just as guilty here at The Inquisitr. The template doesn’t really allow for a old fashioned blogroll, and I’ve not tried to create one. And yet I miss the comradeship a blogroll use to offer, a way of sharing links to sites and people you liked or were friends with, and if you were lucky, you’d get a link back.

Google is at least partly to blame. The hysteria surrounding link=nofollow and blogs being punished for paid links made many would-be blogroll owners particularly shy of blogrolls.

Unlike other areas of blogging, where today we see great new services (such as in the commenting space) nothing has seemingly popped up to replace blogrolls. Outbrain offers contextual links across sites, which is a handy feature, but it’s not a blogroll replacement. Something like Regator, but offered white-label could be another possible alternative. Inquisitir iQ wasn’t created as a blogroll alternative, but it’s the closest way I’ve got today to sharing links to content and people I like (and I’ll be adding some new pages next week).

So what happened to the blogroll? Is there any alternatives you’re aware of? Or am I being overly sentimental? Leave a comment below or reply via video in the Seesmic embed with your thoughts.

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100 Regator Invites for Inquisitr Readers

Duncan Riley — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 00:39:12 +0000

We wrote about smart directory 2.0 service Regator yesterday, and overnight we’ve managed to get out hands on some invites for those who want to try it out, but missed out on grabbing a code elsewhere.

Visit Regator here and enter the code “inquisitr” to sign up. First 100 get in.

Our full review of the site here. The other question I had was about the nationality of the site. Founder Scott Lockhart is a Sydney boy who relocated to the Unites States six years ago, so although it’s not really an Australian startup, I’ll claim it half one anyway