With updates to Flock, Firefox, Opera, and even IE, browsers are becoming key factors in how we choose to integrate our online experiences with our daily lives. Each of the above mentioned browsers have key factors that stand out and make them useful to someone, all depending on our tastes. What if you could find a search engine that learned, adapted, and showed you extra content that you would not have found otherwise?
Worio is the social search that has somehow found a way to intelligently learn from your search habits and adapt itself to your likes and dislikes. Worio creator Ali Davar focuses on the search as a form of discovery. He comments that Worio will show you things that you perhaps never even thought of, but are related to your initial search.
The idea of discovery is key to Worio, and information is collected and saved on your habits. The mechanism can be turned off and it will simply function like any other search engine, but the uniqueness also comes in being able to share your favorite links and sites right from the search, without having to rely on social bookmarketing efforts or emailing people. Anyone within your network can see your habits and you can see theirs. Taking this concept a step further, Worio now supports Facebook connect. Now you can directly share your passion, your searches with friends in Facebook and open people up to a whole new world of discovery.
The search looks very promising and has a bright future, we’d love to hear what you think.
Video conferencing used to be a tech heavy, equipment demanding effort that was unheard of for the common person at home. Nowadays with the bevy of online tools available, video conference is accessible to just about anyone with a desktop/laptop and a webcam. TinyChat helps to facilitate such an opportunity by allowing several people to join a video chat room at once, much like a group IM, only this time you can see everyone!
TinyChat recently did a massive update that propels this online application into the forefront of the video chat options. This past weekend they released not just an updated product, but a new site that really highlights their offerings and the creativity of the team behind it. Looking under the hood first, here’s what we find with the update:
New design for main page / Chat pages
“On Focus” Support will alert you of new messages via flashing title and a sound (optional) if the tab or window doesnt have focus.
More intuitive private messaging system
Ability to join a chat with pidgin / Trillian / Any Jabber client – We also have a IRC -> Jabber Proxy in place
Tons of bug fixes, Scalability tweaks and other stuff you wont notice.
Proper Embed system allowing you to make a room to host on your site
Moderation system, so you can kick and ban bad users
This most certainly makes the service that much more attractive to the already booming user base it has established. Their understanding of the social space is also helping them develop strong ties to their expanding community, listening to the request being made by their supporters. Already in the plans for the next update are things such as country flags associated with the user, private messages via command, recording playback, and the ability to boot people from the chat that are not participating effectively.
There is no doubt that TinyChat is going to experience continued growth and their site welcomes its users and new members alike to interact with them. This easy and free to use application is a must have for anyone who continues to have group chat via IM, and does not want to pay for an account with Skype. With the added benefit of embedding it into your site and sharing it across various social networks, this is definitely an option for the vid-curious.
Do you ever wish you could DJ some of the hottest clubs from around the world? Spinning tracks and creating beats that livened up the party and got the people dancing? Not all of us have that opportunity to be an infamous DJ, but thanks to Grammy-nominated artist, DJ, and label owner, Paul van Dyk, his mobile application can put you on a global stage to make your own hot tracks.
There is no doubt that van Dyk is one of the hottest DJ’s around, appearing on Top 10 lists, featured in some of the biggest music publications, and with popularity the world over. His new iPhone/iTouch app gives you the controls that he uses to make your music on the go. Paul van Dyk’s specially created application by Zip Design, developed by Yuza Mobile will appeal to fans, music enthusiasts and professional DJs alike, featuring a BPM Counter, Frequency Analyser, Decibel Meter, Seismic Reader, Virtual Glow Stick, DJ Check List and an Itinerary Manager. This is no doubt the biggest iPhone app for DJ’s, artists, and music enthusiasts to hit the market, and with over 1 Billion apps already sold in the iPhone App Store, there is definitely going to be increasing demand for this product.
“I have had great fun being a part of the development team for my app over the past few months and think that both aspiring and professional DJs will have great fun using it. On a practical level, it includes everything that a DJ needs.”
(Paul van Dyk)
Watch Paul van Dyk’s introduction to the app here:
For those of us that have had to make PowerPoint presentations time and time again, using the same templates over and over again, it becomes increasingly frustrating because you think there is only so much youc an do. Well luckily, with some savvy searching, and perhaps a little creativity on your end, Powerpoint can become something new, thanks to the bevy of templates on TemplatesWise.com.
Powerpoint presentations can get a fresh face lift with these new, unique backgrounds that can ressurect the drab into the fab. By what I can tell, this site has hundreds upon hundreds of new templates for you to use, that are easy to find based on their categories. You can preview them, and download the ones you like. They also include packs for charts and graphis, looped music, and other creative for your presentations that will keep your presentation visually attractive while you share the important information.
I’ve used this site for a few public speaking engagements already, I’ve been very impressed with it, and I recommend you give it a try. As PowerPoint has gotten on in age, it’s nice to see creative sites like this offering the facelift that it has so badly needed.
PayPal seems to have established itself as the premier method for online payments. I have a paypal account which I use on a regular basis myself, but the process can actually complicate even the simplest of situations. In some cases PayPal seems a bit overkill when something easier could be used. This is where Paystr comes into play.
The online application allows you to set up your own web page for collections purposes. The customization far outweighs the impersonal requests that PayPal creates, with the invoices they allow you to create. Instead Paystr really want you to customize your efforts and your attempts to collect funds for a variety of things. The site declares that its services are great for parties, events, games, gifts or whatever it might be you are collecting for.The focus of Paystr is for the user to focus more on the actual project and less time on the actual collections.
The site is free, creating an account is easy, but standard “PayPal” fees apply. The online site accepts credit cards also, to make it easier for you to collect your funds ahead of time. You can set up multiple payment methods and multiple levels of products or services giving your audience options, ease of use, and safety of knowing their payments are secure.
Grooveshark is an application that was reviewed here on Crenk sometime ago. At the time, I didn’t see the relevance of
Grooveshark awarded CNET's Top 100 Webware Award
the application, though it had some good aspects, I just did not feel comfortable with the entire package. It was not long after that post that officials from Grooveshark contacted me for a dialogue encouraging me to take a look at the offerings again, highlighting features I had not really seen the first time around. In the year that I’ve had with Grooveshark, I’m impressed with the continued efforts it’s making to establish itself as a viable music service for users.
CNET was obviously impressed enough to award it the 2009 Webware Winner for Audio and Music. Grooveshark has indeed come a long way and its user base has grown significantly. With this announcement comes features that again make Grooveshark heads above the rest. For starters their partnership with Ping.fm to build Tinysong API, which allows users to take the code and develop webapps that provide access to Groovesharks extensive library of music. It will be interesting to see what developers come up with as we’ve seen with various other online applications, the opening of the API makes it easy for supplementary apps to proliferate the net.
The second feature that was announced deals specifically with the blogging community. Grooveshark has announced that is now has a WordPress plugin that allows integration into blog posts for users to set up their favorite songs for specific posts. You can set up just one song, or a playlist of songs for your readers on your site. An interesting option, at the very least you could create a small station of songs on your, possibly with a widget.
Grooveshark is definitely expanding its platform and appeal, and it should be interesting to see how much further they go in 2009!
Often, users of Digg comment how they enjoy some of the content, but that readers notice that the same individuals get their
HYPick Logo
stories on the front page time and time again. Users that try their hardest to get their stories on the front page fail more often than not, leaving many to wonder if the site is truly leveraging the wisdom of the crowds or if the system is being gamed.
I won’t get into that discussion, you can find plenty of content on that if you search. What I do want to focus on is an alternative to the Digg’s, Reddits, and other supposed community news sites. Enter HYPick, from the creative mind of social media strategist, Oren Todoros. His vision of truly representing the wide swath of internet users is visualized with this social news site that heavily encourages it’s users to HYPE their favorite stories and articles.
On HYPick there’s no specialized voting system, or fancy magic attached to stories, it’s purely at the mercy of the community. Articles with the most activity are ranked higher. So as users come and go, read and comment, links and pass on, the article gains momentum as something the community feels should be read by others.
No good vote, bad vote system, just real people participation!
There is no doubt that the passions of the community will have a voice. Many would call this a level playing field, that will remain to be seen. For now the HYPick community is alive and well and already gaining momentum.
The Purpose
Putting power into the hands of the users has been what most community news sites have been after. Accomplishment is iffy at best, but no one can deny the current reign of those sites that have dominated this arena for several years. HYPick’s unique approach will truly test the vision that Oren and his team have put together.
In order to make HYPick the next attractive playground for user submitted news stories, they have integrated two HYPick specialized widgets for their users.
The first:
HYPick Reader
The reader widget which can be placed on the right side of your site. It provides easy access for your readers to see what is being ranked and spoken about on HYPick, but also gives you the ability to quickly jump to the post of interest.
I can even appreciate how the posts can also show imagery when they appear on this list. HYPick did a great job with this widget ensuring that users of their service will always have instant connectivity to the happenings in the community. Detail wise I’m not too sure if there are limitations to the articles listed on this widget, whether they are selected as highly ranked posts rated by the community, or if any post that is put to the community is automatically listed here. Still, HYPick wants to make sure that the community is always involved.
Of note the widget is customizeable to a point, but again, it shows HYPicks dedication to the opinion of its readers!
The second HYPick add-on is this:
HYPick Website Button
In it’s continued effort to ensure that readers and users alike are constantly connected to the community, you can integrate the HYPick icon onto your site, similar to what Digg and Reddit due with their icons. This will notify readers that your post can be placed on the community site for involvement by all. The icon is set up to be unobtrusive yet functional in its duty.
Overall the entire system seems pretty sound. It’s a new playing in the user submitted news community, but it also provides a platform for those that are frustrated about their lack of appearance on the front page of some of the major players. Now I can’t personally vouch for these individuals, I don’t know what their content is, but HYPick seems to be an open forum for a wide variety of possibilities in the news community. I look forward to seeing what this player can do!
In the words of John Cougar Mellencamp, both the commerical for Microsoft Songsmith and the number of parody tunes that have been released “hurt so good.”
The Songsmith commercial caused a ripple of laughter when the painful commercial made its rounds on the internet. Viewers lamented on the lack of acting as well as the blatent use of an Apple laptop throughout the entire promotion. You can vew the entire promotion here.
Recently, several Songsmith parodies of popular songs have been released using the Songsmith application.Both TechCrunch and This Week in Tech (TWiT) covered these interesting adaptions that almost appear to come from a bizarro world.
Here is “Roxanne” by The Police via Songsmith.
If you’d like to see other tunes mutilated by this Microsoft inception, visit the the article posted over on TechCrunch. Prepare to laugh, cry, or a mixture of both!
In a recent article on the AppleInsider, Apple’s iPhone has outsold the competition in Quarter 4 of 2008. What a way to end the year right? The nearest competitor would be the Android phone which made a splash late 2008 with its amazing interface and design. Many pundits thought that Android would surely topple the mobile phone giant, offering customers a suitable choice in what had been an Apple dominated market.
In the report it was stated that the iPhone outsold Android 6-to-1, which many would consider a slaughter. No doubt Apple had a stellar 4th Quarter, but is Android really the iPhone killer or is this premature celebration?
Reports from Morgan Stanley explain reasons for the massive gap in sales between the two competitors. Noted in the report was Apple’s full use of the quarter with an existing brand that has proven itself in the cell phone market. Morgan Stanley also reports that established 3G network encouraged sales as opposed to T-Mobile’s faster network which only truly hits 25 major coverage areas versus 3G’s over 300 major coverage areas.
Apple also enjoys global mass appeal in over 70 countries while Android was only available in the UK at launch. So with all this said, it’s obvious why the iPhone outsold Android, and to say that it has dominated Android would be misleading.
You can read the full article on Morgan Stanley’s findings here for a further breakdown on the difference between the two companies.
So share your thoughts in the comments below. Do you have an Android mobile? I’d like to hear from both sides about your take on the mobile market.
If you’re into cloud computing, you understand the importance of hard drive real estate and getting files on the go. In the past year more companies are even utilizing cloud concepts to save on expenses. As such, we’ve become accustomed to virtual networks that have linked our personal and professional life together for easier access.
Enter ZumoDrive, which just beta launched on January 16th! This amazing application is set up to function as a syncing system for your files in the cloud. Other related applications all offer various formats for syncing, but essentially do the same thing. ZumoDrive takes what you know to a whole new level and makes virtual connections to the cloud that much more worthwhile!
The Good!
Storage and space are always big issues for your devices. Perhaps not so much on your desktop, but on your mobile devices anything you can do to prevent capping the storage is a good thing. ZumoDrive works in such a way that it tricks the system into thinking that the file is native on the device you are accessing from, basically creating a virtual drive. You are then able to stream your music, watch your videos, work on documents all from your device without having to download the document onto your device.
The concept is made even more enticing by the fact that the application becomes intuitive based on the types of files you regularly access. These files are made ready for instant access from a favorites menu to save you time. The application can even find similar files that it might think you will need in reference to what you are working with.
The Bad!
ZumoDrive offers a price range that users have commented on being high with less total storage capacities. While this might be so, it appears that the offerings are far superior to their competitors. I’m not sure how this will all shake out, but ultimately, this is the only con to this application according to users and readers.
Stay tuned for an iPhone application that will further extend ZumoDrive’s popularity amongst those mobile users!
