We all know that AvantGo Mobile Internet Channels allow you to download your favorite Web content to your Palm OS device and that the channels are usually built as small versions of the corresponding Web sites. But what you may not know is that channels can be built to let users personalize their content. This is a very useful feature for both developers and users.

In the enterprise, valuable corporate information is often stored on the Web. If an AvantGo channel were created, it could provide access to this same information to the mobile workforce. Of course, some information is only going to be relevant to particular individuals. By creating a customizable channel, you can allow your workforce (or any other group of readers) to access only the information they need, saving time and memory on their handhelds.

Let's take a look at some examples of this feature in a real world context, and then we'll begin to look at how you can create these kinds of channels.

Examples of customizable channels
If you're a My Yahoo user on the Web, you can sign up for the Yahoo Channel at AvantGo (at http://www.avantgo.com). Once you have the channel downloaded to your PDA, you'll see the message, "Hello, Guest - Sign In" at the top of the screen just bellow the Yahoo logo, as shown in Figure A.

FIGURE A

You'll see this message on the Yahoo Channel login screen.

Tap on "Sign In" and enter your Yahoo username and password. Next time you synchronize, you'll be receiving your personalized information from My Yahoo. After synchronization you'll also be able to personalize the content of certain topics, such as "Weather" and "Stock" on the channel itself, without needing to go to the My Yahoo site on the Web.

To take advantage of personalization in the Yahoo Channel, you need to be a Yahoo registered user and have personalized content on the Web.

Now I invite you to install the Reuters Channel, and you'll notice some differences.

The main difference is that you don't need to be a Reuters registered user on the Web. In fact, there's no "Sign In" option on the channel either. Instead, you'll have some topics with no hyperlink and the "Add category" option beside them, in this case with a hyperlink. Needless to say, when you tap on "Add," you'll be able to add that category and its content to your PDA.