Giganews Releases Mimo Client with Usenet Search

Giganews is rolling out their new Mimo Usenet browser today.   Diamond members will have free access to the new client and Golden Frog Usenet search beta.  Other subscribers will need to upgrade to a Diamond account to gain access to Mimo.

We wrote about the Mimo technology preview back in June and will be providing more coverage on the final release in the weeks to come.

In addition to the Mimo release Giganews is revising some of their pricing plans on January 1, 2011.  Here is a summary of the changes:

Diamond accounts will increase in price by $5 to $34.99 a month and include extra connections, VPN access and the new Mimo newsreader.
Platinum accounts will include SSL encryption for the same $24.99 monthly price.  Where SSL excryption is currently a $5/mo. add-on.
Silver accounts (50 GB/mo.) will include SSL for $14.99 a month
Bronze accounts (10 GB/mo.) will include SSL for $9.99 a month
Pearl accounts (3 GB/mo.) will include SSL for $4.99 a month

It will be interesting to see the impact of the new pricing.  Those who want Usenet-only access with SSL from Giganews will save $5 a month while new Diamond members will see their memberships increase in price.  New Silver, Bronze and Pearl members will pay $2 more a month and gain SSL encrypted newsgroup access.

The new pricing will roll out on January 1st, 2011.  Current Diamond account members will continue to pay $29.99 a month while new members will pay $34.99.  If you have been considering a Giganews Diamond account we suggest you sign up by December 31st for the savings.  In addition Giganews is offering 50% off your first month.

Giganews Crosses 800 Days of Binary Retention

Congratulations to Giganews for surpassing 800 days of binary retention.  According to their blog post the infrastructure is in place to support another 800 days and then some.  Also keep an eye out for new features in the months ahead.

Let’s look at some of the Giganews retention milestones along the road to 800 days:
– December 30, 2003 – 30 days binary retention
– August 8, 2005 – 50 days binary retention
– December 7, 2005 – 70 days binary retention
– April 3, 2006 – 1,000 days text retention
– September 19, 2006 – 90 days binary retention
– February 1, 2007 – 100 days binary retention
– April 12, 2007 – 120 days binary retention
– July 12, 2007 – 200 days binary retention
– September 19, 2008 – 240 days binary retention
– May 9, 2009 – 275 days binary retention
– June 3, 2009 – 300 days binary retention
– August 7, 2009 – 365 days binary retention
– September 11, 2009 – 400 days binary retention
– March 30, 2010 – 600 days binary retention
– July 7, 2010 – 700 days binary retention
* click any link above to read the associated post on the Giganews blog.

According to the last slide on the Giganews home page they have more excitement coming this year.  We know they are testing a new Mimo Usenet browser and look forward to it’s release.  For now though to learn more about their Usenet services read our Giganews review or sign up for a 14 day free trial.

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Here is the official Giganews blog post:

Giganews first to 800 days retention — and not stopping!

A little over a year and a half ago, we announced that we were going to be the first Usenet provider with a year’s retention. We got to that year, and then just kept going. We hit two years a little while ago, and still kept going. Today, we’ve hit 800 days of binary Usenet retention — and we’re still going.

800 days is just a number, though. None of that retention matters if we don’t also have good quality. For all 800 days, we have over 99% of the articles. On top of that, when we lose servers or disks, you don’t see random articles disappear temporarily. In fact, most customers don’t notice anything at all. Finally, our oldest, 800-day-old articles are stored on the same servers as our newest articles. If you want to fetch posts from 800 days ago, they’ll download just as fast as posts that arrived today.

Our software and systems were designed years ago to handle this level of retention. Today, we hit 800 days of retention, but we’re already ready for the next 800 days and beyond. Please enjoy the retention, and keep an eye out for new features we’ll be rolling out in the coming months.

VyprVPN for iPhone – Protection On the Go

We’ve been using VyprVPN for awhile since it comes free with the Giganews Diamond account.  Lately the iPhone VPN client has come in quite handy.  For long distance travel, around town and even at home using wireless network.

VyprVPN for iPhone is easy to set up and will work over wireless or AT&T’s 3G network.  Those new to personal VPN’s will find the configuration to be quite simple.  In fact the Golden Frog site includes this message:

Within a few seconds you will have a VyprVPN connection up and running on the iPhone.  Then with a couple taps you can connect or disconnect from the VPN service anytime you want.  VyprVPN offers servers in Los angeles, Washington, D. C., Europe and Asia and allows you to switch between them at will.

If you wonder “What is VPN?” or “Why would I use a personal VPN?” then visit the Golden Frog. We have a complete set of VyprVPN configuration guides on NGR covering PPTP VPN setup on Windows 7, Mac OS X, iPhone 4 and iPad.

Favorite Usenet Provider, Newsreader, Search Engine

A month ago we launched a few polls so visitors could vote for their favorite Usenet provider, newsreader and Usenet search engine.  The Usenet provider and newsreader polls were very close with no clear winner.  Nzbmatrix won big in the Usenet search poll.  Here is a breakdown of the most popular in each category.

Favorite Usenet Provider Poll Results:
Astraweb received 28% of the votes
Giganews received 24% of the votes
NewsDemon received 23% of the votes

Favorite Newsreader Poll Results:
Newsleecher received 17% of the votes
Alt.Binz received 17% of the votes
SABnzbd received 14% of the votes
GrabIt received 13% of the votes
Forte Agent received 12% of the votes
NewsBin Pro received 10% of the votes

Favorite Usenet Search Poll Results:
Nzbmatrix received 37% of the votes
Binsearch received 11% of the votes
Newzbin received 9% of the votes
Newzleech received 9% of the votes

Congratulations to the winners.  If your favorite service, software or search site missed the cut this time around stay tuned as we’ll be bringing more polls and interactive features to NewsgroupReviews in the near future.

Usenet Celebrates Two Years of Binary Retention

Usenet celebrates an exciting milestone today as Giganews passes two years of binary retention.  Quite an accomplishment considering five years ago 50 days was the best around and we were very happy to have it.

Astraweb is also nearing at 720 days of binary retention.  Other Usenet providers including NewsDemon and UseNetServer are well over a year and a half of binaries.

Giganews also offers 2,600+ days of text retention.  That’s over seven years of text posts.  If you need to find some old school newsgroup posts try Google Groups.

Keep an eye on our Usenet provider section for daily retention updates.

VyprVPN Setup : Windows 7, Mac OS X, iPhone, iPad

We recently added VyprVPN setup guides to NGR.  They include step by step instructions along with screenshots for setting up a PPTP VPN connection to any Vypr server (US, Europe, Asia) in either Windows 7 or Mac OS X.  For those who would like to use Vypr VPN on your mobile devices we also added iPhone and iPad guides.  Read our review of VyprVPN to learn more about the service.

For those more adventurous here is a summary of each guide without the screen captures:

Windows 7 Setup – (full VyprVPN Windows 7 setup guide)

1.  Click Windows Menu then Control Panel

2.  Click Network and Internet

3.  Click Network and Sharing Center

4.  Click Setup a new connection or network

5.  Click Connect to a workplace

6.  Click Use my Internet connection (VPN)

7.  Enter a VyprVPN server address and VyprVPN as the description

8.  Check Don’t connect now and click Next

9.  Enter your Username and Password

10.  Check Remember this password and click Create

To connect go to the Windows Taskbar and click the network icon.  Click on VyprVPN and then Connect.  To end your session click on VyprVPN and Disconnect.

MAC OS X Setup – (full VyprVPN Mac OS X setup guide)

1.  Click Apple and then System Preferences

2.  Click Network

3.  Click the (+) icon to add a connection

4.  Choose VPN, PPTP, set service name to VyprVPN and click Create

5.  Highlight VyprVPN on the left

8.  Enter the VyprVPN server address and your username

9.  Click Authentication Settings, enter your password and click OK

10.  Click Advanced and choose Send all traffic over VPN connection, Ok, Apply

To connect via Mac OS X click on Apple – system preferences – network – VyprVPN – Connect.   To end your session click Disconnect.

Apple iPhone Setup – (full VyprVPN iPhone setup guide)

1.  Tap SettingsGeneralNetworkVPN

2.  Tap Add VPN Configuration

3.  Choose PPTP and enter VyprVPN in the description

4.  Enter a VyprVPN server address

5.  Enter the Username and Password

To connect to VyprVPN via iPhone toggle the VPN setting to ON.  To disconnect toggle the VPN setting to OFF

Apple iPad Setup – (full VyprVPN iPad setup guide)

1.  Tap SettingsGeneralNetworkVPN

2.  Tap Add VPN Configuration

3.  Choose PPTP and enter VyprVPN in the description

4.  Enter a VyprVPN server address

5.  Enter the Username and Password

To connect to via iPad VyprVPN toggle the VPN setting to ON.  To disconnect toggle the VPN setting to OFF

Usenet Provider Comparison : Server Ratings

New to Usenet?  If so visit our Usenet provider area to compare all the current options, trials, specials, etc.  The rest of this post is meant more for those who have been around newsgroups for awhile.  Perhaps have tried a few providers or been happy for years with their current service.  In either situation we want to know what features you expect in a Usenet provider and other factors that make a difference when comparing services.

When Newsgroup Reviews started out we had to decide how to rate and compare providers.  Binary retention was a clear factor at the time.  With Giganews in the lead at 120 days.  There were a few other differentiating factors between providers like Easynews web interface but for the most part the focus was on retention.

Roll forward a few years.  As storage costs went down retention skyrocketed and continues to rise.  Instead of talking about which provider’s are moving past a month or even 100 days of retention we now see services like Giganews and Astraweb around 700 days and several others between 400 and 600 days.  All of the top Usenet providers listed on NGR offer over a year of binary retention.

At what point does retention become less of a factor?  Never?  Or has it already?  We plan to ask the question soon in a new Usenet poll.  Before doing so we need your help.

The poll will present a list of Usenet provider features and ask which is most important to you.  Here are the general factors we are considering:

  • Binary Retention
  • Completion
  • Performance (speed)
  • Price
  • Reliability (uptime)
  • Support

A few providers have started offering extra features like VPN access and online storage.  We would like to know which of these features appeal to you when choosing a provider:

  • Mobile Access
  • Newsreader
  • Online Storage
  • Usenet Search
  • VPN Access
  • Web Interface

Can you think of anything we’ve missed on either list?  If so please email your suggestions to feedback (at) newsgroupreviews.com by July 23rd so we can finalize the new Usenet polls.  Then come back and cast your vote.  Thanks to everyone who has voted in our current polls and those who have shared additional feedback.

Mimo Usenet Browser : Giganews Technology Preview

Giganews has teamed up with Golden Frog to bring Diamond customers Mimo and Golden Frog Usenet Search.  The Mimo Usenet browser is currently being offered free of charge to a select group of loyal Diamond customers as a technology preview meaning that Mimo is still in the development stage.  The preview is meant for functionality testing and to gather user feedback.

We don’t know that much about Mimo or the related Usenet search engine yet but Giganews has a page available for those included in the Mimo preview and others who would like a future invite.

From previewing the Mimo page we can see that Golden Frog has packed some nice features into their Usenet client.  They mention its optimized for faster downloads, browsing and searches.  The client includes Giganews accelerator technology.  It supports thumbnail images, includes search functionality and allows you to filter based on binaries, text and images.  Auto unRAR and PAR features are also part of Mimo.

The Golden Frog Usenet search engine supports searching binaries across all groups.  Since Giganews is offering the technology preview we assume it can handle their industry leading 700+ days of retention.

Were you invited to the Mimo technology preview?  If so let us know what you think of the new Usenet browser.  Better yet let Golden Frog know as I’m sure they’d appreciate the user feedback.

If you would like to receive a future invite to test Mimo then click the “Request an invite” link at the top of the Mimo preview page.  It will direct you to login to your Diamond account via a special invite page.  Doing so will automatically add you too the Mimo tech preview waiting list as shown below.

Read our Giganews review to learn more about their Usenet services or sign up for a Giganews Diamond account and request an invitation to test Mimo.  Assuming they send out future invitations based on request date you might want to sign up soon!

Giganews Crosses 700 Days of Binary Retention

Giganews just set a new record for binary retention by crossing the 700 day mark with no end in sight.  The service continues to innovate.  Late last year Giganews added a VPN service (VyprVPN) and has since made it free to Diamond customers.

How far will retention go and will Giganews continue to pull away from the competition?  One thing we do know – if the count continues to increase on a daily basis Giganews could hit 1,000 days of binary retention on May 4th of next year.  In 30 days they will be at two years of binary retention.  An amazing accomplishment considering they led the industry at 275 days last May.

Giganews has led the industry in binary retention for years now.  Those of us around awhile remember when getting access to a month of retention was a huge accomplishment.  Now the challenge is finding Usenet search engines that can handle 700 days.

Let’s look at some of the Giganews retention milestones along the road to 700 days:
– December 30, 2003 – 30 days binary retention
– August 8, 2005 – 50 days binary retention
– December 7, 2005 – 70 days binary retention
– April 3, 2006 – 1,000 days text retention
– September 19, 2006 – 90 days binary retention
– February 1, 2007 – 100 days binary retention
– April 12, 2007 – 120 days binary retention
– July 12, 2007 – 200 days binary retention
– September 19, 2008 – 240 days binary retention
– May 9, 2009 – 275 days binary retention
– June 3, 2009 – 300 days binary retention
– August 7, 2009 – 365 days binary retention
– September 11, 2009 – 400 days binary retention
– March 30, 2010 – 600 days binary retention
* click any link above to read the associated post on the Giganews blog.

According to the last slide on the Giganews home page they have more excitement coming this year.  To learn more about their Usenet services read our Giganews review or sign up for a 14 day free trial.

Escape the Heat This Summer : 5 Great Usenet Offers

Escape the heat and enjoy unlimited newsgroup access this summer.  New to Usenet?  No better time than now to give it a try.  Below is our list of the top 5 summer Usenet offers.  Visit the Usenet specials section of NewsgroupReviews.com for a complete list.

1.  Giganews

Giganews is offering a World Cup special which includes unlimited Usenet access, 50 connections and SSL for $19.99 a month.  Read our Giganews review for more details.

2.  Astraweb

Astraweb is offering unlimited Usenet access, 20 connections and SSL for $11 a month or $96 a year.  Read our Astraweb review for more details.

3.  Supernews

Supernews is offering unlimited Usenet access, 30 connections and SSL for $9.99 a month.  Read our Supernews review for more details.

4.  UseNetServer

UseNetServer is offering unlimited Usenet access, 20 connections and SSL encryption for $10 a month.  Read our UseNetServer review for more details.

5.  NewsDemon

NewsDemon is offering unlimited Usenet access, 50 connections and SSL for $10.95 a month.  Read our NewsDemon review for more details.