Ubuntu App Showdown: Rise of the RSS Clients
Ubuntu App Showdown: Rise of the RSS Clients

                        With just six days left for app developers to craft their submissions for the Ubuntu App Showdown, 
Amongst the massive response thus far known, one type of application has proved particularly popular: RSS clients.
Below I highlight four such entries, all of which, in just over one weeks time, will be available to install through the Ubuntu Software Center.*
LightRead
LightRead has been designed to be stylish, easy on the eyes, and sport as much Ubuntu integration as possible. It’s made by the developers behind popular tasks app Nitro and CSS tool Graditator.

Feature wise the app will have Google Reader integration – including the ability to read items offline; the Unity launcher item will display an unread items count; and App Menu (thus HUD) support.
Una Reader
Una is a ‘Pulse-like RSS feed reader’ with an emphasis on visual browsing, using a ‘grid’ layout to display items, headlines and their sources.

Although there’s no word on whether it will support Google Reader integration (though i’m guessing not) it will sync your feed lists using Ubuntu One, including entries marked as ‘read’.
Feedivore
The developer of Feedivore describes the app as a ‘Pandora like’ client for finding and reading news. Much like Una above, Feedivore groups unread items into a ‘grid’ for easy browsing.
Little else is known about the application at present other than it will use Ubuntu One to sync feeds, support Unity integration, and feature a ‘fleshed out filtering system’ for finding previously read items.

Pressboy
Perhaps the more straightforward of the RSS clients in this list, PressBoy behaves more like  multi-column twitter client than a feed reader
It lets you group multiple feeds into one column (e.g. ‘Linux news’ or ‘Music blogs’), whilst also allowing yout to add as many columns as you like.
I want to use the word ‘power user’ in relation to it, but its categorisation approach will likely win favour with casual users too.

Clicking on a column item opens that item directly in PressBoy itself.
The viewer offers integration with Gwibber should you wish to share a link to the story on Twitter or Facebook.
Which of the above are you looking forward to trying?
*Subject to contest rules
                                            