Keeping up with March Madness: RSS and streaming video

There’s an old Christmas song called “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” While most people would agree that Christmas is indeed such a time, the most wonderful time of the year for college basketball fans is clearly March Madness—the three-week-long tournament in which 65 of the best men’s college basketball teams compete with one another for the National Championship.

For most sports junkies, the preferred method of getting up-to-date information about the tournament is through cable sports networks, such as ESPN. But in recent years, the Internet has become a favored source for the latest information about the tournament. In fact, the CBS network airs many of the games live on its web site. But what if you can’t get to a television or a computer? Don’t worry, because your Windows Mobile phone can keep you up to date without a problem.

The simplest way to get any tournament news is from a web site such as FoxSports or ESPN. Most major web sites have pages designed specifically for mobile phones. Some mobile phone providers, such as Verizon, provide links from their pre-installed homepage.

However, the biggest problem with using web sites to get the latest score for your favorite team is that you generally have to scroll through several pages of unrelated sports scores (though sometimes it’s nice to catch up on the latest NBA scores or NFL trades). You also have to wait for the various graphics and ads to download, and that can be rather tedious—especially if your mobile network’s speed isn’t exactly behaving itself . That’s where RSS (Really Simple Syndication) readers enter the picture.

RSS feeds

One of the most useful programs for sports fans—and other Windows Mobile users—is an RSS reader. RSS is an Internet protocol that allows up-to-date information to be streamed into a device with an Internet connection. Most web browsers support RSS feeds, and Windows Vista includes a program, or gadget, to display RSS feeds on the desktop. There are several Windows Mobile programs that support RSS, and one of the most popular of them is Viigo.

Viigo allows users not only to get the latest news, but also to receive travel information, weather, podcasts, and stocks. And, best of all, it’s free!