Yippeee! Apple’s latest OS upgrade named Leopard now has an official launch date. It’ll go on sale on October 26th and features 300 new features. A complete list of these can be found here. The Single User License is $129 while the family pack rettails for $199.
Top features to look forward to include a revamped desktop, finder, quick inspector for files of all types, time machine, revamped mail and of course spaces.
Amazon released widgets yesterday. Check out their website for more samples. Essentially, amazon widgets are a cute, eye candy rich widgets featuring amazon content such as CD covers, movie posters or even food products. Bloggers and social network users can embed these widgets on their web pages to add some colour and fun (again??).
The interesting aspect of Amazon widgets is that the website owners can make some cool cash. If for example, a visitor clicks an amazon movie poster, it would lead to the DVD page on amazon for that particular title. If the visitor buys the DVD, then the website owner can earn up to 10% in referral fees. Not bad! Definitely a neat way to get thousands of bloggers to embed these widgets and ultimately promote amazon.com in the long run.
In the widgets gallery, current offerings include slideshow (CD covers, book covers etc), My favourites, Wish List, Product Cloud, Unbox Video Previewer, Amazon Search, Text links amongst others.
I tested out the “My favourites” widget and found the process to be very intuitive and simple. A fast AJAX enabled search and customisation workflow quickly allows you to add items to the widget. You can set display options like widget width, title, colour and design. You’re then presented with options to add the finished widget to your blog of choice.
Overall, a neat attempt by Amazon to cash in on the widget craze and further promote their brand.
It’s official. Yahoo goes the enterprise route. Why else would it acquire Zimbra?? I think this is a great acquisition of a product which offers one of the best messaging and collaboration suites out there.
This move will definitely bring yahoo into the fight club already populated with the two giants Google and Microsoft. All competing for the best comprehensive web apps/mail/collab solution for small businesses and enterprises. Of course there’s one key difference in this fight… Google offers all its products for free right now. Zimbra doesn’t. In fact it charges $25/user/year for a 25 seat package. Prices fall to $18 for 50 seats or more. There are of course fat discounts for educational institutions and Government agencies but won’t they be using Google’s services anyway?
Zimbra, a California based company currently has an assorted suite of open source messaging software. According to their site, Key customers we work with include service providers, higher education institutions, and Fortune 1000 enterprises, particularly in the financial services, retail, and manufacturing sectors.
Their flagship collaboration suite (ZCS) 4.5 has a lot of AJAX functionality built into it which makes managing contacts and information a fluid experience. Zimbra mobile provides over-the-air “push” synchronization to mobile devices without the need for third party software or additional servers for most devices. One interesting feature is “Zimlets” which essentially allow you to push messages onto a 3rd party services to create creative mashups which save time. For eg. there’s a zimlet which allows you to click a phone number in email messages to directly connect using Skype. Another cool zimlet is the SMS zimlet which allows you to drag and drop a mail message and send it as an SMS to an addres book contact.
It’s going to be interesting to see Yahoo’s next steps with this acquisition and where it plans to take this to. It’s not hard to imagine a company using the Yahoo branded zimbra suite for all its messaging/collab needs, using a secure, branded yahoo messenger for internal chat and also have access to yahoo’s other services like maps, groups and mail. Overall, it’s an excellent catch for Yahoo.
I just got my invite to Yahoo’s spanking new social networking site MASH which was launched few days back and is currently in BETA and open by invitation only. I tried it right away and here are my comments along with the listing of all the features and options.
– After I logged in to Mash for the first time, it asked me whether I wanted to import address books from my existing Yahoo account, Windows Live or Gmail. After that step, you land up on your basic profile page.
– The profile page gives you a wide array of options to play with and edit like – your photo, friend list, tags, about me, modules (widgets), Blurts (status messages) and a guestbook.
– When updating your photo, Mash gives you the option to update the photo across all your yahoo accounts. Initially, it picks up the default avatar you set for your Yahoo account.
– Modules are basically the widgets you can add to pimp out your page. Currently, there’s a limited choice in comparison to other established social networks. In fact the list of available modules (as of writing this) can actually be mentioned here without taking too much space 🙂 They are Flickr RSS, Ego Boost, Common Friends, My MoshLog, Blog Modules, Asteroids, Astrology, Pimpmypet, Hover, Kaleidoscope, Amazon Wishlist, Translucency Plus, Karl Marx Paddleball, Last.fm Top Artists, My Youtube videos, Content Blob, World of warcraft Armory, News Ticker, Current eBay listings. Wheel of lunch, Journal, Twitter Status, Mashies (a puzzle game involving your friend’s pics), Mash Pit, The daily word and Swell Picture.
I did try out some like Kaleidoscope which creates pretty flash animations based on your favourite spice! I admit… I watched these creations for quite some time. Very hypnotic and 70s themed 🙂 Another neat module was the classic arcade game – Asteroids (hosted by a 3rd party myspace modworld). Can’t ever get tired of asteroids..
All modules have an option to “remove” and “grab it” while some have an option to “edit” settings at a later stage. On clicking grab it, you can choose another friend’s profile to add this module to. Although I’m not sure how happy friends would be with this once hundreds of mutual contacts keep pushing modules!
One great feature of Mash is the generous amount of AJAX goodness sprinkled all over the page. Adding/editing modules gives you instant feedback without page refreshes.
– In the coming months, Yahoo will open up their module development platform to 3rd party developers. In my opinion, the Mash API needs to be opened up to the Dev crowd really soon. That’s the key. In today’s world of social network overload, proprietary and closed platforms will have it tough to grow beyond a point. If you’re interested in knowing more about being a developer, you can email modules [at] yahoo-inc.com.
– In the profile page, there are a bunch of fields in ABOUT ME which you can edit away. Stuff like “If I were an animal, I would be…” and “My best features…”. I found one field interesting – “What’s most likely playing on my iPod”. Now I am an Apple fan but shouldn’t we also think about the Zune and Archos owners 😉
– Style this profile allows you to change your page’s background image, link / text / border colours. You can also change the background colours of your modules and create hover effects. Here’s a screen shot of my entire page after the initial pimp out routine.
The page styling option does bring back bad myspace memories of impossible reading experiences and huge download times but there’s one neat feature here on Mash which comes to your aid. There is a link called “This is fugly”. If you click that, you get to see the page in a visually toned down style. This is a good one and Myspace could really benefit from having something similar.
– Blurt is an option on the profile page where you enter a one liner describing at best what you’re doing currently. Basically blurts are status updates similar to the ones on facebook. It would be nice to have a blurt feed for friends so I can keep track without actually visiting Mash.
– Tags is an option where you enter keywords of interest like movies, music etc. Clicking on a keyword shows up other Mash members who tagged the same word, thus helping you find people with common interests.
– In the FRIENDS box on the top right, you can add new friends by entering their email addresses. If they’re not already on Mash, you can set up a profile page for them. I like this feature compared to the traditional “send an invite to sign up” route. One key feature which is sorely lacking is the ability to search for friends by name! The search bar on the site just allows you to search the web using Yahoo. You cannot have a social networking site without basic member search.
– Pulse is a feature which takes you to a page which compiles updates and blurts from all your friends. Whether they added a new friend or added a new module… it’s all reported here.
– In your profile settings, there’s an option to allow anyone or your trusted friends to edit your page. This gives them the means to actually play around with modules on your page, change colours and basically play havoc. You do have the Revision History setting to revert to a previously created page style. Needless to say, I’ve turned that feature off for now.
Overall, Mash is Yahoo’s latest attempt at social networking and still needs some work. It’s currently in BETA. It will surely get a lot of early adopters and members purely based on it’s Yahoo! brand and existing Yahoo loyalists will like the idea of their own network to hang out in.
If they can add member search, open up to the developer community, deploy a mobile version and fine tune the overall user experience soon, they have a fighting chance in the ever so crowded me-too networking scene. After all, what they’re offering is far from unique.
Sun Microsystems announced earlier this week that they will sell servers running Windows. My my… it’s a weird world we live in. Former hard-core rivals now trying their hand at an alliance. Scott McNealy (the ex-CEO of Sun) was one of the most famous faces of the anti-microsoft movement. He never let go of an opportunity to deride the mighty Microsoft at any event or press meet. One of his more popular quotes was: “Microsoft is now talking about the digital nervous system. I guess I would be nervous if my system was built on their technology too.”
And yet, his servers WILL be running Microsoft software from now on. So is this yet another example of the “If you can’t beat em, join em” routine? Early last year, Apple started bundling Intel processors in their macs… an unbelievable development at that time. Within months, 3rd party solutions allowed you to run windows on the mac. Apple had always touted the enhanced performance of its PowerPC processors versus Intel chips and yet…..
In the handheld arena, Palm (to the absolute horror of their fan base) started to bundle Windows Mobile on their smart phones two years back.
So what lies in the future for the IT industry? The common trend in all these developments is that the all and mighty Microsoft seems to be penetrating every possible software installation with its pervasive Windows OS. Be it handhelds/PDAs and even servers of former rivals.
Once upon a time, Sun had it all…. it’s own line of processors, servers, a proprietary OS, thin client computing solutions. But eventually, free Linux based Intel powered servers got cheaper over time and Sun started to lose out big time. Today its flagship OS – Solaris is free for all. It’s server rates are slashed heavily. And now with windows based servers, it can offer existing clients some neat windows virtualisation solutions.
Windows Virtualisation for existing clients is obviously the main benefit for Sun. Let’s get real on this… IT departments in the market for new windows servers will stick with Dell or IBM.
Anyway, time will tell how this move will impact Sun and its brand equity. Till then, I can only imagine what Scott is going through right now 🙂
The Mozilla foundation announced today that there have been 400 million confirmed Firefox downloads spread across 3 years. Not bad stuff for one of the original “alternate” browsers 🙂
One of the main reasons Firefox succeeded in challenging the dominant IE (Internet Explorer) browser was that they opened up their platform for 3rd party developers really fast. It has the largest collection of 3rd party add-ons and plugins across multiple categories like music, movies, bookmarks, dictionaries, themes etc. The list keeps growing monthly.
I also like the idea of special releases like the “Firefox Campus Edition“. It features a lot of extras like access to music, sites and useful information for students in a nice free package. It features Foxytunes to listen to music while surfing, Zotero for taking quick notes and of course Stumble Upon!
Firefox has a legion of fans and an ever growing developer base working hard to make this the most open and flexible browser in the market. It’s probably a matter of time before this application becomes the major browser out there and sheds its “alternate” tag. It’s about time.
It’s a sales statistic most companies would love to shout about. Apple recently announced that it clocked a million sales of its revolutionary iPhone.
That’s a million pieces sold in barely 3 months. Wow!! To put this in perspective, note that Apple took nearly 2 years to sell a million iPods! With the new iPhone price cuts and the holidays around the corner, they could easily sell another 1.5 million by the year end.
Now if only they would release the iPhone in Asia real soon 🙂
My feature predictions came true! The new iPod Touch from Apple now features the revolutionary touch interface of the iPhone and it also features wifi. The iTunes music store is now wifi enabled so users can purchase music directly on their iPods… thus bypassing the computer. Sweeeeet 🙂 The iPod touch is even slimmer than the iPhone and includes Safari for full web browsing. Prices are $299 for the 8GB model and $399 for the 16GB one.
The iPod Nano and an iPod classic were also launched but not much to report there besides upgraded specs, sizes and prices. Who would want to go click-wheel when the Touch option is there. 🙂
The biggest surprise of the Apple event was Steve reducing the rates of the 8GB iPhone by $200! It now retails for $399.. right in time for the holidays. This price cut could well make the iPhone the holiday best seller this year. Although current iPhone users were irked with the massive price cut just weeks after they stood in line and splurged on the handset. Poor things.
Good Ol’ Stevo came to the rescue of his faithful customers and handed out $100 rebate coupons. How nice. I don’t see the real need for Apple giving in to price cuts so soon. The whole point of technology is that gadgets get cheaper and have double the features in less than a year. Some analysts are guessing that Apple did this to make sure they’re on track for the target sales figures. With a major price cut, volumes should make up for it long term. By the way, the iPhone is on track to ship the millionth unit by this month.
All in all, I’m dying for the iPod touch to come to India reaaaaal soon. I want one now! Greater chances of that coming here before the iPhone does.
Apple is all set to launch new iPods today. You might think that after the runaway success of the iPhone, why would Apple be interested in the iPod platform anyway? After all, wasn’t the iPhone touted as the best iPod yet? The UI was way slicker than a hardware click wheel AND it’s a phone too.
My view is that this is a very smart move. What would make the new iPods worthwhile of a launch? For one, there are still millions of users who would prefer to stick with their current phone and network and yet be able to have the new UI experience on their iPods. The unique UI and navigation style of the iPhone is a sales magnet. Combine that with the cult status of the iPod and you’re golden.
Most users are still content with carrying two devices – a phone and an iPod. Simply because battery life issues wont haunt them. If I listen to hundreds of songs and watch video on the iPhone daily, how much juice is left for 3 hours of talk time on a daily basis? Keeping the multimedia companion separate as an Ipod solves this vital problem.
Another feature that might be a reality today is Wi-Fi iPods. Allowing users to download content from the iTunes store directly would be an excellent step forward. Since the Microsoft Zune already has wireless digital music capabilities, this seems like a feature Apple wouldn’t want to ignore anymore.
Low pricing for an all new UI experience seems possible going by Apple’s history. They typically launch updated and fresh products at the same rates or even lower ones. So we might see a sub $200 iPod featuring the radical iPhone UI and bumped up hardware specs.
Frankly, the ultimate thing would be if Apple launches an iPod with ALL the features and usability of an iPhone with just the phone module missing. So with wifi, we could see youtube, google maps, browse the web, download and purchase digital music and video, store hours of content and still have a very small form factor besides having great battery life. Phew!
All in all, I do see a lot of possibility in keeping the iPod platform alive and fresh with new announcements despite having the iPhone in the same stable. Let’s wait and watch!
The Gphone rumours are going on overdrive. However, there seems to be a high degree of skepticism from the mobile user community on whether this phone will deliver something special. That’s understandable considering that we still have no idea of what that one KILLER feature will be.
Why would I want a Gphone (assuming that’s the final product name)? Rumours suggest it’s Java or Linux based, has the standard productivity apps, mail and browser. Not sure about the multimedia capabilities. Judging by these specs, there’s no REAL reason for anyone to drool or wait in line for a Gphone. With these suggested specs, Google can only hope for the cult status the iPhone achieved within hours of announcing it earlier this year 🙂
The key question is…. what’s that one KILLER feature? Killer features in rival phones in the past have been UIs (iPhone), Push Email (Blackberry), web browsers delivering a near-desktop experience (Symbian Nokia E series), High-resolution digital imaging amongst others. Here’s my point – Even if Gphone packs all these specs, it’s STILL not revolutionary by today’s standards. So what’s their game… pricing? An ultra low cost handset (I smell cheap plastic)? Free talk time and messaging for life?
– Logic says that search could be a powerful feature across all elements of the phone’s UI. After all, search is Google’s forte. But how much search functionality is needed on a phone? How much data does the average mobile user store anyway on a phone or SD card which warrants super fast search and indexing? Most phones help you to quickly locate a contact in the address book by typing a few letters anyway. Same goes for quick dial, calendar entries etc.
– Tight integration with all Google online properties seems to be the next logical killer feature. Out of the box support for Gmail, Gtalk, iGoogle mobile start page, notebook, Google maps/earth, web/local data search, mobile optimised Orkut and Youtube…. you get the picture. The entire Google ecosystem on the phone. That would definitely be worthwhile for a hardcore Google user to migrate to.
– Another possible killer feature could be unlimited free calls and text messages for life! In exchange, Google ads would run on the UI header or would pop up while a call is connecting. Each text message would also have a text link ad at the footer. After all, advertising is what made Google rich. They know how to milk advertising in support for free services. This brings me to another point – privacy. If you are going to have ads on the phone, they need to be targeted. And for that, you need to have all the info on each user, his location, sex, age group and interests. Don’t know how many users would be comfortable with getting profiled for ads.
– The killer feature could even be a hardware one like a wafer thin form factor. A phone so thin, it looks anorexic compared to Motorola’s Razr 2. But the credit for that would go to the phone manufacturing partner which finally works on the project…. not Google. Rumours have suggested this company could be HTC and Samsung.
– If there’s one killer feature I really want from Gphone or any phone right now, it’s SUPER battery life. I’m talking at least 48-72 hours of heavy duty usage including wifi, phone apps, multimedia and voice calls. Now THAT.. i will gladly pay for.
Till then, let’s just enjoy the rumour mongering and await the official Google press releases!
:: Tech Trod :: 