Crenk

Last week I ran into a small problem when trying to put an audio book onto my iPod.  The audio book was in .wma, or Windows Media Audio format, my iPod doesn’t like that format.  A quick Google searches lead me to one of the simplest pieces of conversion software that I’ve used in some time.

Switch is a multi-platform dead simple program to use.  Simply tell it where the directory of files lives that you want to convert, point it to the directory where you want them to end up (or the same one), along with what format you want them converted into and click a button.  I seriously wish more software was this easy to use.

On my core 2 duo Macbook with 2GB of RAM it took about 4 hours to convert 12 .wma files into 192 kb/s .mp3’s.  This isn’t a five-minute job to do, and I fully expected it to take some time, so plan ahead.

Sound quality, to my untrained ears was identical.

Ease of use for this multi-platform software, being able to handle dozens of file formats and being free means this small app will stay installed for some time.

Image via Wikipedia

Portable applications on a key-chain drive makes the idea of a portable office a reality. Whether you have a 1 gig, 4 gig, or even 512 mb, you can carry your files with you everywhere you go.

App-Stick gathers as many portable apps as possible and houses them under one “roof”. With various portable app sites available, some of them may lack what you are specifically looking for. With App-Stick, the site breaks down into categories to make searching easier, and downloading is a breeze. Like something specifically? You are able to comment on the apps you like or dislike most, and even rate them for future users who come to the site.

There is no special software UI to install as with the original Portable Apps program. Still the UI is not what you really want, though a nice touch, the real need is the apps themselves.

Visit App-Stick and get what you need for business on the go!

Since Twitter is a growing phenomenon and they have just about to gain some more funding for the service, we thought we would provide you with a list of some of the best Twitter applications out there in the market today. The applications has been broken down into desktop, mobile and web. Make sure you test them out and let us know which is your favourite.

Web Applications

• Twistori
• Twitterfeed
• Terraminds
• Mobypicture
• Summize

Mobile Applications

• Twitter Answers
• Hahlo
• Cetwit
• Twittai
• Twapper

Desktop Applications

• Twhirl
• Snitter
• Twitteriffic
• Twitteroo
• Tweetr

Everyone seems to be talking about Adobe Air these days. The applications have been really taking off and they seem to so slick in design and functionality. A month or so ago Seesmic made the acquisition of Twhirl, which made Twhirl the first Adobe Air based application to be acquired. Since then Air seems to have become even more popular.

Up until the last few days there has been only one place to find a full list of Adobe Air Applications, and that has been in the Adobe Air marketplace on the Adobe site. However, a new marketplace has launched and it is called FreshAirApps.

FreshAirApps is written on the ExpressionEngine software and really has some great functionality and design. On FreshAirApps applications are showcased and then users can vote for the best applications. Currently, there are only a totally of about 500 applications written on Adobe Air, so the marketplace will be starting off slowly, but will soon pickup speed in the coming months. FreshAirApps also shows users how to implement and install Air apps through the tutorial section.

That all being said Air is easy to install and their are already great applications on the platform, such as eBay, FineTune and NASDAQ applications.

It has just been announced by Imeem that they are now supporting OpenSocial on the Imeem Media Platform (http://www.imeem.com/developers).

Here is what imeem is releasing today:

· Full support for the core OpenSocial JavaScript APIs, including access to people and relationships on imeem as well as access to data persistence APIs

· Added support for the OpenSocial gadget xml, making it easy for developers to specify their entire application in the OpenSocial gadget xml standard

· imeem-specific OpenSocial extensions, making it possible for developers to access imeem’s media metadata through the OpenSocial JavaScript APIs. This includes the ability to get back a specific user’s media, search for media in imeem’s vast media library, as well as get access to music, video, and photo content on imeem.

Developers will be able to port their existing OpenSocial applications and place them into the Imeem network. Currently Imeem has over 24 milion users and this is now sure to increase because of this integration. OpenSocial is now reaching over 300 million users every month and Google just keep signing new member every month.

Twitter is now a service that has been on the rise for over a year. This being said there are more and more Twitter related applications being launched, but still no monetization strategy for Twitter directly.

Last week Twhirl, a Twitter Adobe AIR application was sold to Seesmic, making this the first AIR application which has been acquired, just showing the popularity of Twitter and AIR.

Other applications out there are, Spaz, TweetStats, Twitterholic, Twitter Fan Wiki, Snitter, Twitstat, Twittervision and over 100 more applications. In coming weeks I will be running through some of these applications and actually work out which ones are worth using.

In terms on monetizing this is an interesting issue for Twitter to develop. At present Im not aware of their monetization strategy. I think they have some very basic options to choose from. 1. display advertising. The ads can be displayed at the bottom of the right hand side bar. This seems like a simple way to monetize the site and also very unobtrusive. 2. Sponsored Tweets. Messages could be sent to a certain demographic of Twitter users, obviously for a tailored price. 3. There also might be a way to monetize friend following. We all know the more followers you have on the site, the more discussions your have and potential for clicks off Twitter to your own site.

Are there any more monetization strategies I might be missing?

Adobe AIR is having quite a buzz at the moment around the web. They are trying to bring more of the web directly on to your desktop, and they seem to be having quite a successful time achieving this. AIR actually stands for “Adobe Integrated Runtime”, and this article looks at some of the best free applications using AIR.

Twhirl - Twhirl is a Twitter tool. It delivers all your latest tweets directly onto your desktop. It will also allow for multiple account sign-ons if you have more than one account. No more refreshing of your Twitter home page, Twhirl is the way to go. Download it here.

Finetune - Finetune has to be one of the most impressive music tools in the marketplace at present. The AIR application syncs all your playlists and let you hear the best music around straight from your desktop. The interface for Finetune is just world class. It is so clean and very web 2.0 shinny finished. Download it here.

Google Analytics - This has to be one of the most popular AIR tools out there. Google Analytics is one of the most used traffic analysis tools and this desktop AIR version allows you to do everything as if it were on the web, but a little quicker. Download it here.

Color Browser - This tool is great for designers and is the AIR version of the popular Kuler, from Adobe. Pick the colors, save them, go back to reference what you’ve one in the past and what you’re currently working on. Download it here.

NASDAQ - The dynamic application gives users instant insight into extremely detailed trading activity in the market at any time during the day. Investors can use Market Replay to help validate best execution and Reg NMS compliance. Brokers and traders can use the tool to reconstruct the events around their trade to determine whether there was a missed opportunity or an unforeseen event. Download it here.

eBay Desktop - With all the amazing features already found on eBay, this desktop version will blow you away. It has a much slicker and simplified search tool and desing. Download it here.