• On GameSpot: So-called 'Halo killer' gets 23 to life
January 23, 2008 4:49 PM PST

Pingie turns your favorite feeds into SMS alerts

by Josh Lowensohn
  • Font size
  • Print
  • 1 comment

A lot of folks have discovered the wonders of going over their monthly SMS allotments because of the alert systems built into popular Web apps like Twitter. But what about getting SMS alerts for other sites, too? A service called Pingie is doing just that, letting you plug in whatever RSS feeds you'd like to keep an eye on (like ours), and sending you a portion of the latest post as an SMS message. The service notes its usefulness for sites like Slickdeals and Woot (two of my personal favorites) as well as news sites for getting the most up-to-date info when away from your machine.

What makes the system nice is its feed-management screen where you can see what feeds you're subscribing to, and add or remove others freely. You can also preview the feed once you've added it, which is a nice way to gauge if you're about to get RSS fatigue, or worse: a massive, overage-inducing SMS onslaught.

There are a handful of other services that do this including Yahoo's Alerts, ZapTXT, RSSFWD, and Web-Alerts.com. It's also worth noting that Pingie is U.S.-only, and Sprint and Nextel customers may have trouble getting messages from Pingie delivered, although according to the devblog, a fix is in the works.

[via Lifehacker]

Drop in an RSS feed, and enjoy a potentially endless stream of SMS messages depending on how active the feed is.

(Credit: CNET Networks)
Josh Lowensohn writes for Webware.com, CNET's blog about Web applications and services. E-mail Josh, or follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/Josh.
Add a Comment (Log in or register)
by john_publisher January 24, 2008 2:34 AM PST
Excellent one!
Mehul Trivedi
mehultrivedi.elance.com
Reply to this comment
advertisement

About Webware

Say No to boxed software! The future of applications is online delivery and access. Software is passé. Webware is the new way to get things done.

Add this feed to your online news reader

Webware topics

As alternative energy grows, NIMBY greens

With more renewable energy projects trying to come online, the country grapples with the balance between local land use and a national push for clean energy.

Google to remake programming with Go

A Unix co-creator is among those behind a language Google hopes will speed computers and programming. Today, Go becomes open-source software.

Inside CNET News

Scroll Left Scroll Right