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A while back we introduced you all to a series of feed readers that are available for use on your BlackBerry. We provided detailed reviews of each RSS reader and gave each of them a rating to indicate which were the strongest of the group. When the available list of BlackBerry RSS readers was exhausted, we went ahead and ranked each feed reader for you in order of best to worst.

The clear winner in our testing was in fact the Viigo RSS Reader. With it’s ease of use, slick look and feel, comprehensive feature set, simple navigation and great content freshness, Viigo came out head and shoulders above the rest of the pack.

While on our trip to the CTIA conference in Las Vegas earlier this year, the BBGeeks team had the opportunity to meet with and build the beginning of a great relationship with the Viigo squad. They were extremely knowledgeable about the feed reader culture (which is growing every day) and were more than glad to start the ball rolling on some pretty cool partnership ideas that we think will be great for both BBGeeks and Viigo alike.

Our first foray into the partnership with Viigo comes in the form of a co-branded RSS reader which, along with looking pretty darn slick, offers you, our loyal readers, the opportunity to show your support for the site and keep up on all the latest news, videos, podcasts, contests and breaking stories that we aim to bring you each and every day.

In an effort to encourage downloads of our new co-branded Viigo reader, we hereby present to you the latest how-to guide from BBGeeks.com.

How to install and use the BBGeeks co-branded Viigo RSS reader

First things first, you will have to head on over to the official BBGeeks/Viigo landing page and click on the direct download link which is on the right side of the page. If you wish to have the download link sent directly to your BlackBerry, simply enter in the email address which is associated with your device and click the submit button.

Once you have either downloaded the files to your desktop or had them sent OTA to your email address, you are ready to complete the installation. Simply click the link in your email to enable the install, or use the BlackBerry Desktop Manager to load the required .alx file onto your device.

Upon installation of the co-branded Viigo reader you will be prompted to set up an online account with Viigo. While you can access most of the functionality of the application while browsing as a guest, it is suggested that you sign up for an account. When you have an account with Viigo, your data, preferences and feed subscriptions will all be maintained independently of your BlackBerry device. This not only means you will have access to all of your subscriptions through a web interface (manipulating data on nice large monitors is so much easier), but also that you will be able to swap devices at your leisure, knowing that your settings and preferences have not been altered and will not require a new configuration.

Extended Feature Set for the BBGeeks/Viigo co-branded RSS Reader

Automatic subscription to all relevant BBGeeks.com RSS feeds
When you download the co-branded BBGeeks/Viigo reader you will automatically be subscribed to all of our daily feeds. These include: The regular BBGeeks news feed which contains all of the BlackBerry news updated consistently, and the BBGeeks Store feed which contains the latest and greatest applications, games and accessories that are currently available for purchase in our online store. Also included in the list, but not available until the official release of the co-branded Tango reader, is our podcast feed which will make every one of our BBGeekCasts available to you for listening at times that are convenient for you.

You will also note that our reader has both the BBGeeks.com logo and the Viigo logo at the top of the reader screen. While this does not offer anything in the ways of “features”, it does make it possible for you to show your support for BBGeeks.com by letting the world (or anybody that happens to be looking over your shoulder) know that you visit the site regularly and that we provide top notch information to those involved in our community.

Traditional Feature Set for the BBGeeks/Viigo co-branded RSS Reader

The outstanding Viigo Channel library
Having the co-branded reader installed on your BlackBerry means that in addition to the pre selected BBGeeks feeds, you will have the ability to subscribe to more than 5000 additional channels of information.

Feel like catching up on your entertainment news? no problem, you can add channels from up to 14 available entertainment categories. These include comics, Bollywood, fashion, music and movies among others.

To add a new channel to your pre populated list, simply click your trackwheel while browsing your feed list. In the menu display you will see the option to “Add Channel”. Click the add channel link and then navigate first to the type of channel you want, then drill down further until you have found what you are looking for.

You can subscribe to as many of the Viigo channels as you like and if your specific need is not reflected in the list the you have the option of entering in a URL to subscribe to the exact feed content you desire.

Keyword Alerts
For each channel you are subscribed to, you can set up keyword alerts to notify you of a particular topic being discussed. For instance, let us say you are interested in more news on the BlackBerry Bold and its pending release in Canada. If you wanted to know when BBGeeks.com mentions the Bold, but don’t have time to scan all of our feed posts, all you have to do is set up a keyword alert.

Setting up a keyword alert is quick and easy. When browsing your subscribed channels, highlight the channel you would like to set up an alert for. With the channel highlighted, click the trackwheel and choose “set Channel Alert”. You will be taken to a new dialog box which has the channel name and a place where you can enter keywords to tell Viigo to watch for.

From now on, anytime your keyword is mentioned you will see an indicator next to your selected channel to let you know that your keyword has been mentioned. These items will also appear under the “My Alerts” section at the bottom of your channel list.

Support for various web reader synchronization
There are more than a few major web readers that have made an impact online. Of these readers, Viigo offers integration support for three of the big ones. These include Google Reader, My Yahoo! and Bloglines.

Getting access to your online reader accounts via the co-branded Viigo reader is as easy as logging into your “My Viigo” account and choosing the appropriate web reader from the list that runs down the right side of your screen. Once you have selected a web reader to integrate into your Viigo results you will have to enter the URL for your specific feed and a username and password if applicable.

When the process is complete you will see that your web reader content is now visible right there on your BlackBerry.

Sharing news items with friends
Sharing news items with friends is as easy as you would think. Whenever you are reading a news item in any of your feeds, whether it is an abstract or the full article, click the trackwheel. From the displayed menu choose send via email. Clicking this option will display a list of all your BlackBerry contacts. Choose the appropriate contact from your list and click the trackwheel once again. You will now have the option of sending via email or straight to their BlackBerry messenger if there is available contact information.

The Future of the Co-Branded BBGeeks/Viigo RSS Reader

Many of you who are reading this have already downloaded the Viigo 3.0 Beta. While we realize that it might be a little much to ask you to take a step back in functionality just to get some BBGeeks branding onto your Viigo display, we would like to give you the heads up on what is coming down the pipe as far as our co-branded reader is concerned.

When the offical release of Tango is made public you can rest assured fellow BBGeeks that your currently installed co-branded BBGeeks/Viigo reader will automatically upgrade to the latest and greatest RSS reader available!

Please head over to the RSS reader download page and show BBGeeks.com some love. We look forward to bringing you many more custom applications in the future and we appreciate you helping us spread the word.

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