CEO Guide To Technology

Podcasts covering such topics as Corporate Cloud Computing, Guide to Widgets, Guide to Video Blogging, and more.

Web 2.0: The New Guy At Work

Silicon Valley loves its buzzwords, and none generates more buzz today than Web 2.0. Unless you're a die-hard techie, though, good luck figuring out what it means. Web 2.0 technologies sport strange names like wikis and mash-ups. And the startups hawking them -- Renkoo, Gahbunga, Ning, Squidoo -- sound like Star Wars characters George Lucas left on the cutting-room floor.

Info 2.0 Enterprise Mashups

This blog provides a forum for industry experts to discuss the technologies, concepts, and strategies that undergird Info 2.0 and the value that Web 2.0 mashups bring to any enterprise.

The Android wars begin tomorrow

T-Mobile's debut of the first phone to use Google's Android OS will give the first real glimpse of whether its backers' hopes for a mobile phone revolution are realistic.

Giving Second Life a second look

Companies are beginning to rethink Second Life. Find out how Joni West has revived Second Life as a place to engage customers.

Jabber



Cisco announced today that it has acquired Jabber, an open-source IM and presence protocol used by Google Talk and Gizmo, for an undisclosed sum.

Cisco will try to use Jabber as a means of improving its messaging offerings in the business world. Jabber's technology enables collaboration across a wide array of presence systems such as, Microsoft Office Communications Server, IBM Sametime, AOL AIM, and Google, which made it an ideal target for the company.

3GSM: Nvida next-generation mobile phone interface

ExitReality is a new technology that has made the entire Internet 3D. By creating an instant 3D world from any web page, ExitReality adds a new dimension to the Internet.

Live Search + Powerset = boost



Microsoft's purchase of Powerset is now starting to plant the seeds for a more powerful search engine.

As a product of Aircell LLC, Gogo provides all passengers access to the Internet, email, text messaging and corporate VPNs from the comfort of their seats while airborne. Aircell has been authorized by the FAA and FCC to use cellular frequencies for inflight broadband communications, leading a Wi-Fi revolution 35,000 feet above the ground. Think of it as a mobile hotspot, equipped with twin turbines and 50,000 lbs of thrust.

Demofall08

DEMO is the launchpad for emerging technologies both as conferences in the U.S., Europe, and China and as a news and information Web site. DEMO conferences and news coverage are where digital entrepreneurs and investors change the game and stay ahead of the curve.

Emerging technologies and new products introduced at DEMO conferences are hand-selected from the spectrum of the global technology marketplace. DEMO conferences have earned a reputation for consistently identifying technologies that will disrupt current markets and change how people use digital technologies.

N96 and N78 get Fring support


Bummed out because the N78 doesn’t offer VoIP compatability right out of the box? Fear not - Fring has got you covered. Apparently using their own VoIP client rather than the Nokia-made client (which Nokia decided not to build into the latest N-series devices) required by other services, Fring has added support for both the N78 and the N96.

If you’ve got an N78 or by some sort of trickery already own an N96, you can grab Fring here.

Tab sharing is now elegant

Are you a fan of widgets? Do you enjoy having lots of small Web apps at hand, arranged into a sort of customizable start page whose features are eminently drag-and-droppable? If so, you might want to give TabUp a few moments of your time. Designed to give users various standard components like news and weather feeds to things meant to be accessed by groups or communities of fellow users. The basic act of tab sharing is how the service’s creators regard its social dimension.

Need help finding that new startup?

Despite the reams of new job postings being released day in and day out, the treachery of the job search has been greatly facilitated with online engines and listing services. And specific to the tech sector, sites like Dice, and even various new media publications have really put strong emphasis on niche positions and connecting the seeking with the seekers. Still, having to browse multiple sites for something like a spot within a startup isn’t especially easy. Enter, HotStartupJobs.

Instant messenger for your social networking site


The toksta* IM is a feature which is available at any time, anywhere. For a chat room, the user must first start a separate application. In addition, users can only chat to people who are in the very same chatroom at the same point in time. On the other hand, toksta*'s instant messenger makes it possible to chat to all users directly via their profile, without having to start an extra application first. Therefore, it doesn't matter what the user is doing in your community at that time or on which site he is. He is informed immediately about the chat invitation. In addition, the toksta* IM also supports audio/video chats as well as text messages.

Docstoc

Docstoc is the premier online community to find and share professional documents. Docstoc provides the platform for users and businesses to upload and share their documents with all the world, and serves as a vast repository of documents in variety of categories including legal, business, financial, technology, educational, and creative. All documents on docstoc can be easily searched, previewed and downloaded for free.

Review Docstoc at YouTube.

SMS service for the public

Tatango, the ad-supported group SMS service previously known as networkText, spent the last few months in a private beta following a functional and visual overhaul and a round of funding by Bellingham Angel Organization. Now everyone is free to get in on the group texting good times; they’ve opened the doors to the public.

The service is very simple to use.  Check out their blog site.

Promotions made easy

Giving away products can be a logistical pain. For instance, when we give away a T-shirt or laptop, we have to go through hundreds of comments, contact the person, and do a lot of manual processing. A new Y Combinator startup called ContestMachine that just launched makes giving stuff away as easy as putting a widget on your blog.

You create a contest widget by entering all the details of the giveaway: prizes, deadlines, rules. Winners can be randomly chosen by ContestMachine or judged by the blogger. It automates the process of creating giveaways, and opens up contests to any blogger or small business who has a Website. The service is free to try out for up to two contests a month, and then charges $9 a month or $90 a year for more contests.

Draw me a picture

Meet the artist behind the comic written to explain Google Chrome. ..Scott McCloud, and then check out his comic on Google Chrome.

iPod nano 4G?

The Web site MacNN says it has confirmed that there is indeed such a thing as the fourth-generation iPod Nano.

Qik is a mobile video casting service that sees competition from Kyte, Flixwagon, and Livecast.

Qik enables live video casting from a cell phone via any 3G/GPRS/Wi-fi Internet connection. Currently based in Foster City, Qik has been in testing since November 2007. Unlike sites where you have to wait for the video to be uploaded, Qik streams the video straight into the site with a delay of as little as half a second to two seconds.

Overlay.TV is an interactive media company that provides an online video platform. This platform enables users, content owners, and e-commerce sites to monetize and customize their video assets by overlaying contextual information directly onto video and linking to external websites.

Anonymize your phone number

LetsCall.Me is a smart new service for giving out your contact information to others without actually revealing it. At sign-up you get a special vanity URL and the option to have it direct callers to whatever number you provide. People who have your URL and want to call you can simply enter in their phone number and it will call that number to connect them to yours.

Unlike some other services that offer de-centralized calling (see GrandCentral, Jaxtr, JaJah, and iNumbr), LetsCall.Me preserves the caller's number so you can see it before picking up.

Updated Google Piscasa now identifies faces

The phrase 'putting a name with a face', has never been more true.

Socialcast is the only SaaS provider of self-service corporate social networking communities. Our software unites traditional intranet features with social messaging technology to empower employees to expand, create and share knowledge across the enterprise.

Google Chrome

Google has confirmed on its blog that it will launch its new Chrome browser today.

Google said it would be launching Chrome in 100 countries, but it will only be in beta in Windows (Google said Mac and Linux versions were coming soon).

The move by the search giant, although the blog does not say so, is clearly a direct shot over the bow of Microsoft (MSFT), which dominates the browser market with 74 percent share.

Get remote files access

Sugarsync, a pricey but excellent file-syncing and backup solution has a new iPhone application that's downright cool. It gives you access to all the files stored on computers linked up to your Sugarsync account. Better yet, it provides instant updates when a file has been touched by you or another user by utilizing some spiffy push technology.

Android Market, Google's Response to Apple's App Store

Mobile software operating system Android is coming soon, at least on one device–and that device will have a way for third-party applications to get access to users. The Google-led software initiative will offer a service called Android Market, a way to find, maybe purchase and download third-party applications (and maybe other content?). This is like what Apple’s App Store is for the iPhone and iPod. But there are some differences.

Facebook Live Feed

Facebook has recently launched a new feature that takes aim at life-streaming sites FriendFeed and Twitter. Facebook's Live Feed is an evolved version of its hugely popular News Feed feature.

Are you into user interfaces?

Take a look at these 10 very futuristic user interfaces. There are several videos included, so this ones is good to have a little break on what ever you are doing and get some inspiration and new ideas flowing.

There's just too much good stuff to start listing those here, so click on to see all 10 cool UI concepts, nicely listed for you.

iPhone + RSS reader

If you are looking for perfect RSS reader to your iPhone - then Newstand from omz:software is your answer.

Don't worry that there is no lite or free demo version for this in the app store, I can promise that this will be the best 4,99$ you can spend on a RSS reader (that's 3,40 in euros ;).

Newsstand is a full-featured RSS reader for your iPhone with a unique interface. Skim over the latest headlines on a beautiful shelf of newspapers and magazines in landscape orientation or use the powerful Mail-like view in portrait mode to read and organize feeds.