Mippin does socialized mobile content feeds

If you're looking for another way to read Web content on your mobile phone, there's a new solution called Mippin that will let you browse and sort through popular Web feeds about as easily as you can using a desktop RSS browser. The service was created to tackle the problem of so many sites not offering a "mobile" version for cell phone users.

Browse your feeds by favicon, or the top stories voted on by the Mippin community.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Mippin serves a variety of feeds, which can be browsed and sorted by genre. You can also search by URL, and the service will do its best to convert the content into something resembling a story, with images in the right places. Unlike Google Reader's stark text approach, Mippin goes a little more visual, taking whatever pictures are on a post and adding them as a thumbnail next to the headline. It's a pleasing effect, and makes browsing headlines a little more enjoyable--similar to what Reddit Media has done on its site. The service supports itself through small text ads that bookend some of the feed directories and stories, but you won't find any annoying banners, click-through links, or story interruptions.

The real draw to the site is its directory, which is truly massive. There's page after page of links to good content. You can save the feeds you like to your "My Mippin" section, and share any particular story via e-mail or SMS. There's also an option to send it to Twitter, which unfortunately sends the Mippin-ized version of the story instead of its original link. In addition to its directory, the service also keeps track of what stories and feeds are getting the most play, and promotes them on the start page. You can also vote on a site's feed as being good or bad. The highest ranked sites have their own separate listing from the categories section, complete with a percentage of how many readers liked the feed.

Is Mippin that much better than Google Reader mobile when it comes to feeds? I'm not completely sold. While Mippin makes browsing a little more appealing, Google Reader still trumps Mippin by showing you what you haven't read, along with quick snippets of the article to help you decide whether to click on it. Google Reader also gives you a few more sharing options, depending on what the origin site offers, and shows you are any story comments. Nonetheless, I'm digging Mippin's approach--it's very fresh, clean, and useful, if you're looking to get some reading done on the go.

See also: Mowster, Bloglines Mobile, NextBlast ,NewsGator Mobile

[via Blognation]