Posted by Matt on September 25th, 2007
At DEMOfall07, coComment is releasing version 2.0 of its web application. As the name suggests, coComment allows people to discover, track, manage, and share comments on the web. With the release of version 2.0, coComment gears more towards a social network based on website comments. Newly introduced are several features that further promote the sharing of comments and conversations with your friends. coComment also does a decent job of aggregating comments of similar topics, allowing users to search for conversations on issues they are interested in. Find out more from their demo video here.
I have mixed feelings on this one. Allowing users to track the numerous comments they have placed on the web is a great idea and I have always said comments hold some of the best and probably the most valuable social opinion on the internet. However, the real question that will make or break coComment is, “Does the demand exist?” I personally don’t have any problem keeping track of all the comments I make on websites, and the average user definitely does not comment enough to warrant another login and password to use coComment.
Posted by Matt on September 24th, 2007
Coverage of DEMOfall07 companies this week starts with IdeaBlob, a company funded by Advanta, one of the nation’s largest issuers (through Advanta Bank Corp.) of small business credit cards. Just launched today, IdeaBlob.com is an open and dynamic community where anyone can post their business ideas. Community members vote on these ideas and provide valuable feedback and advice. In a full on blitz for launch traffic, every month for the next six months, IdeaBlob is giving the idea with the most votes a check for $10,000. $10,000 is a lot of bank for most people, and more than enough money to get a web startup off the ground these days. And according to the official contest rules, the winners are not entitled to give IdeaBlob any holdings in the business. Have a popular idea, win $10,000.
Basically every week, which IdeaBlob calls a ’sprint’, the ideas with the most popular votes are put into a finalist list. On the final ’sprint’ of the month, users can only vote on the ideas in the finalist list. In order to combat abuse in the system, one must register to vote and can only vote once per ’sprint’.
While the initial contest will attract plenty of users the first six months, I do not see potential in this site for carrying a lasting community. The site in its current state has little to promote user collaboration and communication. There are no forums to discuss certain markets or industries of interest and the ‘Advise’ section seems incomplete and detached from the rest of the site. Maybe it just seems bland because of the lack of initial content. Regardless, if you have a business idea, you really have nothing to lose. Though it seems some might need to look elsewhere to fund their ideas. According to IdeaBlob:
“Entries must describe an idea for a legitimate business that may be lawfully operated in the United States that does not involve alcohol, illegal substances, tobacco, firearms or pornography in any way.“
Guess I’ll have to find funding for my latest Facebook App, “Smoking Drunk Chicks With Guns”, elsewhere. Shame.
Posted by Matt on September 24th, 2007
DEMOfall 2007 starts this week, with about 70 companies presenting. For those unfamiliar with the DEMO conference, here’s a great explanation straight from their about site:
“DEMO is the premier launch venue for new products, technologies and companies. For more than 16 years, DEMO has established a reputation for identifying and presenting to an elite audience the products most likely to have a significant impact on the marketplace and market trends in the coming year. Each product is carefully screened and selected by DEMO’s Executive Producer, Chris Shipley, one of the top trend spotters in the personal technology product industry. DEMO is held two times a year; one in February, and one in September.”
This year, DEMO is being held in Sheraton Hotel, San Diego, CA. Coverage of DEMOfall07 companies begins today here at The Webosphere. Stay tuned for in depth previews and product offerings.
Posted by Matt on September 24th, 2007
According to Garett Rogers, a new version of Gmail is currently being tested. Basically one of the many users who help Google translate their products, spilled the beans on a portion of text needing translation. The screenshot below clearly implies the beginning of testing of a new UI. It seems Gmail 2.0 could be a reality sooner than later.
Possible new features? Well, Google Gears is already a given, but aside from new ways to group emails, custom filters, or even Google Reader integration, the new Gmail may be more tied into the social trend Google seems to be heading towards. Just this past week, rumors were set having Google opening up there platform for developers to have access to Google user data via new APIs. Following this new open and social trend, Gmail 2.0 could introduce a new way for users to share their ideas, photos, and videos with their current Google contacts. Personally, I am looking forward to a Google social network offering. The Google standard of ease of use and the possible integration with all their other products would be very useful.
Posted by Matt on September 23rd, 2007
- - Happy Birthday Grandma!
- - “Oh! Thank you son! What’s that?”
- - It’s your new wireless digital picture frame loaded with FrameMedia. Now you can have new pictures of your grandkids without me having to visit.
- - “What’s that Pepsi ad doing next to little Timmy’s face?”
- - Oh thats nothing. Look! It says its 80 degrees in Japan. Neat.
FrameMedia is a new startup based in Wellesley, MA that provides streaming content for the wireless digital picture frame business. Okay, so there’s not so much of a wireless picture frame business, but FrameMedia is banking on projections that by 2008 up to 8 million digital pictures will be sold, a large number of them having WiFi capabilities. The startup allows users to setup a RSS feed that can stream personal photos to wireless picture frames, along with news, weather, and business headlines.
All this is free if you allow FrameMedia to send ads along with the content. Yes, advertising on your digital picture frame. You can get the content ad free if you fork over $5/month.
Frame Media co-founder and CEO Alan Philips, a former executive of uLocate and ZDnet/CNET Networks, explains FrameMedia’s purpose:
“We’re seeing the frame market take off from the hardware standpoint, but no one is addressing the software and content…”
I think Alan is going to have trouble competing with the current killer app for these digital photo frames. Family photos. Really though, people like seeing pictures of their love ones. Yes, I know sometimes you just don’t want to look at that picture of your ugly mother in law, but digital picture frames really don’t need more content. No one wants weather, news, or business headlines on their picture frame. We’ve got the television or computer for that. I think most people would be fine with a modified Flickr’s RSS feed. Either way, imagine if a black hat got a hold of your grandmother’s digital frame’s RSS feed. A big schlong next to poor little Timmy.
Posted by Matt on September 21st, 2007
Zuckerberg just shat in his pants. Currently rumors are circling around that big boy Google is planning to open up wide like a two dollar whore like facebook did four months ago. Coming as soon as early November, the big number will offer a set of APIs allowing developers access to iGoogle and Orkut user data. API’s for Gmail, Groups, and other Google offerings may soon follow.
Unlike Facebook, Google is allowing this API to be accessed from outside of Google web applications. This is a huge medieval glove slap in the face to Mark Zuckerberg, and Google might have enough financial backing to win this duel. While no one I know uses Google as a social networking application, everyone I know has a Google account. This allows the thousands of smart developers out there to create social networks using Google users data. These social networks can be built into iGoogle through widgets, even integrated with Gmail and Google Calender.
Facebook can’t compete with Google
Despite what others think, Facebook’s reign as a leading social network won’t be sustained by its current application. It is not the end all for social networks and it will be replaced by something better in less than 5 years. Sadly, I simply do not see enough innovation coming from Facebook. The facebook apps cluttering the network have alienated many of the original users of the product. If they don’t come up with something good soon, a Google based offering might come and steal their thunder. This Web 2.0 fad of openness and APIs may be the end of King Zuckerberg.
Posted by Matt on September 21st, 2007
Mozilla Firefox’s god awful memory leaks might be a thing of the past once the third edition rolls around. Various people have been working hard at patching up what is commonly known as the browser’s biggest fault. Though sometimes touted as a feature, memory leaks has plagued the browser since the beginning. As I type this, my window of Firefox is pissing away a whopping 167 Megabytes of my hard earned memory.
Only one window and it’s on the google homepage right now. Mozilla slaps my face with the fox tail every day like this. Lets just hope Firefox 3 comes sooner than later. It’s estimated to be released sometime at the end of this year.
Posted by Matt on September 21st, 2007
In Day 2 of the Intel Developer Forum 2007, Intel gave the audience an in depth view of what they feel the future iphone will look like. Now this have no bearing as to what the actual future iphone’s appearance will look like, but its interesting to see nonetheless. Intel’s technology will begin to shape the tech we’ll see in future mobile devices. Color me impressed. I think thats around #DE34DE.
Posted by Matt on September 20th, 2007
Amazon just launched a new offering for bloggers looking to make some more bank through affiliate marketing. Great. More blog spam. Sixteen embeddable widgets display Amazon products through various means. From a custom made product slide show to a full on Amazon product search, all sixteen options will certainly add their own flare to the ever growing amount of dull and annoying embeddable widgets.
To the left is the widget they call the “Product Cloud”. Obviously, its just a damn tag cloud full of affiliate links. Really, who the hell would click that thing. Still, it IS a tag cloud. Tag clouds are awesome. Amazon is so hip. All they need now is a facebook app. They’re already behind in that respect.
Posted by Matt on September 19th, 2007
Hear ye! Hear ye! Today marks the first of many entries to grace the pages of TheWebosphere.com. Let me try to give you a quick run down of what kind of content you will see here.
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First and foremost, up to date news on the latest Web 2.0 companies and their offerings.
Everyone’s into this Web 2.0 thing. The whole world is on Facebook. I overheard a mother the other day tell her 10 year old daughter to get off her cellphone. She replied, “I’m Twittering, bitch”. Yeah, 6th graders are tough.
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Second, in depth articles on the latest trends and technology in the consumer web space.
How has the evolution of Facebook as a development platform changed the way companies position their consumer web offerings? Should I change my CakePHP based website to use RubyOnRails? Is the SecondLife phenomenon going to stand the test of time? Do rhetorical questions inspire curiosity and intrigue?
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Third, no porn.
Not sure what kind of porn one would expect at a website called TheWebosphere.com. Maybe some weird image involving spider webs and bowling balls. Yeah really. No porn.
Seeing as I will probably be updating this site multiple times a day, this post will probably be buried pretty quick.
