Evite's makeover

The invitation service has overhauled its UI.

New 3.2Gbps Firewire

The IEEE 1394 working group has formally approved FireWire's next-generation standard. The new version defines transfer speeds of 1.6Gbps and 3.2Gbps, is backwards compatible with FireWire 800 and 400, and uses the same cable standard as FireWire 800.

Chat with friends who speak a different language

If you've been on the hunt for a tool that lets you chat with friends or clients that speak a different language, MeGlobe is a really simple solution that does all the work for you.

Sun throws JavaFX hat into Web app ring

Programmers now can start trying out JavaFX for writing rich Internet applications--and seeing if it's worth using over Adobe's Flash and other alternatives.

Emotiv's New Mind-Control Headset for PCs



Its wireless sensors help users run some programs with their thoughts.

With Security at Risk, a Push to Patch the Web

Dan Kaminsky has been urging companies around the world to fix a potentially dangerous flaw in the basic plumbing of the Internet.

While Internet service providers are racing to fix the problem, which makes it possible for criminals to divert users to fake Web sites where personal and financial information can be stolen, Mr. Kaminsky worries that they have not moved quickly enough.

See Dan Kaminsky's website

RollAName

Roll A Name is not a social networking site like any other. This is a site that focuses on visibility and self-promotion, and will help you promote just about anything you want.

By joining, you can maximize your network and your visibility. Use this visibility to start promoting yourself, your business, your website, your blog, your videos, your songs, your photos. Buy, sell and trade anything and everything. You can also find or post jobs... Be Creative!

Olympics enter the '2.0' era

This year's Summer Olympic Games have been seen as China's coming-out party, destined to be as significant for the host country as the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo were for Japan.

The filing cabinet is about to become obsolete

Pixily is a cool scan-by-mail service that launched in early June of this year. The service is similar to Shoeboxed, however, Pixily is all about taking paper clutter out of your life by scanning it in for you and making it both searchable, and able to be organized into buckets. The big difference between the two services is that Pixily is focused less on receipts and finances, and more on day-to-day papers like insurance claims, long cell phone bills (with call lists on them) and little things like birthday cards.

Everything that's scanned goes through optical character recognition (OCR), so you can search for it in the built-in search tool. It also lets you tag, and make notations to documents for the sake of sorting. If you've got digital documents, you can upload them into the mix as well.

Think of this service as Netflix for the office or home.

Kallout

KallOut is the first application to bring "selection-based search" to any web page, email, presentation, document, spreadsheet or PDF. Unlike other search methods that are trapped inside the browser, KallOut serves up content from the most popular sites on the web inside floating information palettes (which we call KallOuts). Using only your mouse, you can now avoid the disruption of launching a browser and let KallOut bring you the best the web has to offer.

Check out the intro on YouTube.

12seconds

"But the shortest works are always the best," wrote the French poet, and video sharing start-up 12seconds is counting on that being true. The simple site, which launches an invitation-only alpha today (500 invites for Webware readers at the end of this post), places a 12-second limit on the videos its users can share.

The idea is to keep the focus on status updates, letting users share--via video--what they're doing in a single moment.

The simple concept of 12seconds is backed up by a simple interface: once you sign up you can begin capturing video directly from your computer's Webcam.

Dimdim

Open-source Web conferencing provider Dimdim has raised $6 million in Series B funding, the company is set to announce on Wednesday.

The funding round, which was led by current investors Index Ventures, Nexus India Capital, and Draper Richards, will enable Dimdim to introduce enhancements to the free service and expand its market reach.

Dimdim competes with fee-based services like Webex. Because it is open source, it could become a platform for real-time communications if it garners enough developer support.
Since its private launch 10 months ago, Boston-based Dimdim has attracted more than 500,000 users in more than 180 countries, the company says.

Zynga, a game network for social networking

Zynga, which specializes in games for social-networking sites, has received $29 million in a new funding round led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Institutional Venture Partners.
The round, announced Wednesday, also includes funding from previous investors Union Square Ventures, Foundry Group, and Avalon Ventures.

Out with the old, in with the new

Commuto is a smart swapping community that's been designed to undermine the in-person swap meet of the past with an online system that finds other people with items you want automatically.

Like Craigslist's wanted section you can list items you're looking for, be it electronics, text books, video games, or any other common good. You can also list items you own but are looking to pawn off.

Like Craiglist, Commuto is all about keeping things local, so there's no integrated payment system or way to auction off your goods. Instead, you just get in touch with the other person and arrange a swap. It's delightfully simple and will work great as long as there are enough users in your area. There were only eight items in my neck of the woods, so your millage may vary.

Look to the Clouds

Search Cloud is a search engine that uses weighted keywords to determine relevancy in its results. When entering search terms you can change which words or phrases need priority over others by changing their size from one to five.

Apple's next-gen Macs to have something special under the hood

A new generation of personal computers on the way from Apple Inc. may sport some of the most significant architectural changes since the Mac maker made the jump from PowerPC processors to those manufactured by Intel Corp., AppleInsider has learned.

Another snippet.

Baynote

It's a sort of social science of the mouse - the point-and-click kind.

Cupertino start-up Baynote has created search and navigation software that derives results from what people do on a Web site, including where the mouse moves.

Visit the site.

Sprout

Build web content in a flash. Sprout's mission is to make it quick and easy for anyone to build sophisticated rich media web content. We are based in Honolulu, HI and San Francisco, CA, both of which just happen to have some good surfing.

Cuil [pronounced COOL]

Cuil’s founders worked with other search engines and knew that tinkering with old systems wouldn’t work. A fundamentally different approach was needed. So they've developed new architecture and algorithms that can handle the exponential growth of the Internet and organize results that reflect its enormous complexity. See the site here.

Read the BusinessWeek article

Publishing 2.0

Publishing 2.0 is a blog about how technology is transforming media.

Doodlage

Ok, it's a warm summer day and thought I'd throw this one in for fun. Check it out.

Knol

Think you are an expert on a subject? Well, Google's got a proposition for you.
Google's Wikipedia competitor, Knol, is open.

Go2Web2.0

Orli Yakuel has put together the largest online directory for Web 2.0 applications worldwide, which is a labor of love for her. Check it out.

Let the guessing begin

Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer's decision to warn financial analysts Monday that Apple's fourth-quarter gross margins will be negatively impacted by a "product transition" should be enough to get the rumor wheels turning: of course, it doesn't take all that much.

Apple is roaring back!

Apple is moving up the charts, toppling Acer to become the third largest PC vendor in the U.S., according to a survey from Gartner.

Trouble in paradise

Apple continued to have problems with its new MobileMe service over the weekend and into Monday, with several users unable to access their e-mail.

Mixi

Japan’s biggest social network is called Mixi, launched in February 2004 by the company of the same name. Drawing in one in five web users in the country, Mixi now boasts over 15 million members. The site ranks sixth on Alexa Japan and racks up over 14 billion page views monthly.

Tracking bugs virtually

Scientists are using the power of the web to track and find real disease outbreaks. Every hour, HealthMap, an infectious disease-tracking website, feeds off of news, public health list serves, and the World Health Organization's online pages to survey the spread of infections. With help from Google, the program has identified 95 percent of all disease outbreaks, sometimes days before the WHO or international disease control agencies can announce them.

Most recently, HealthMap detected the salmonella outbreak in the U.S., which has sickened over 1,000 people, long before the Center for Disease Control announced that it was happening. By alerting officials and doctors to the most likely diseases in their area, the web tool could help make health care much more efficient and precise.

Why the iPhone will jumpstart demand for wireless broadband

The new iPhone is a true game-changer and July 11 2008 will down as a red letter day for 3G wireless and Wireless Broadband. Why? The immediacy of the data at your fingertips is huge. Imagine, looking up anything, anywhere this is what a PC-centric society we are turning into wants.

Would you like chat with that log-in? Meebo unveils 'Community IM'

Web-based instant-messaging company Meebo has taken a new step forward: bringing its IM technology to partner sites.

Amazon Plans an Online Store for Movies and TV Shows

In a significant step toward vanquishing the local video store and keeping couch potatoes planted firmly in front of their televisions and computers, Amazon.com will introduce a new online store of TV shows and movies on Thursday, called AmazonVideo on Demand.

Yahoo Radically Opens Web Search With BOSS



When you’re the distant second player in web search, you’ve got nothing to lose by making bold moves. So it makes sense that Yahoo has adopted an open strategy with the following idea in mind: woo developers to build on top of your technology, and then display your advertisements to more eyeballs throughout the long tail of the web.

Browse Del.icio.us Bookmarks Visually With FavThumbs

FavThumbs is a mini-project from Ryan Sit, CEO of Swurl, that allows users to browse through their Del.icio.us bookmarks visually in a grid or coverflow view.

Can you trust your business to Google's cloud?

Cloud computing, in which software runs not on PCs or company servers but instead on computers on the Internet, requires something of a leap of faith both technologically and culturally. Those making the move must get accustomed to a reliance on somebody else's computing infrastructure, and that can be scary.

The Mobile Web Hasn’t Arrived, But It’s Getting There

The most hyped feature on the new iPhone is faster access to the Web, thus begging the question: What is the state of mobile Internet use?

Niche search companies

Below are some niche firms that refine web search by collecting and organizing data:

Real Estate
Trulia
Zillow

Jobs
Simplyhired
Indeed

Travel
Kayak
Farecast

Four cool innovative start-ups

A few people asked what are the cool innovations out there. Despite the current economic climate, there are still a lot of innovation companies launching new services.

Why Google's 'Lively' is great for telecommuters

Today is the day virtual worlds go mainstream. The reason is that Google has launched its own 3D virtual world called Lively. It's free. And it changes everything. Especially for telecommuters.

Newer, Faster, Cheaper iPhone 3G

Software and online store will widen its versatility, but there are hidden costs.

Web 3.0 - Could it unseat Internet giants like Google?

Microsoft's acquisition of Powerset signals the building of a future when the world could have access to virtual “software agents” who “roam” across the Web, taking care of the day-to-day hassles of humankind. It's called a "Semantic Web" and it really could change the Internet at a fundamental level.

Tracking the News: A Smarter Way to Predict Riots and Wars

Whether news of current events is good or bad, there is always a lot of it. Worldwide, an estimated 18,000 Web sites publish breaking stories in at least 40 languages. That universe of information contains early warnings about everything from natural disasters to political unrest — if you can read the data.

Listening Post's Top 10 Hottest Music Sites

Change is the only constant in the music business, and that goes double for the digital music business. Nonetheless, here's a list of the 10 hottest digital music websites in the world.

10 Awesome Gadgets You Should Grab for 2008



During the six months since CES, some toys had us sitting up, smiling and paying attention. Here are some top gizmos so far this year, ranging from the practical (surge protectors and hard drives) to the downright silly (a dancing robot).

10 things you might not know about robots

Robots that are humanoid, such as this traffic controller in Tokyo, may be going in the wrong direction. In the future, many theorists believe, robots won't need to look like people to fit in.

Ten tips for securing Linux desktops

You might find these suggestions to be pure common sense, but maybe you'll see a means of security you never thought of before. If you're a new Linux user, these tips are a great place to start to ensure that your Linux experience is a good one.

Microsoft says willing to restart Yahoo talks

Microsoft Corp on Monday said it would be willing to reopen talks to buy all or part of Yahoo Inc, but only if a new Yahoo board is elected, a major boost for investor Carl Icahn's board slate.

At Yahoo, a Threat from Within

Fleeing executives' gripes: the Microsoft saga, the Google deal, and cumbersome decision-making.

Michelin Guide Goes Web 2.0

The famous red-covered hotel and restaurant guides turn interactive, community-centered, and free. And the effort is boosting book sales.

Top 10 TED Talks

With 50 million views since we started posting video two years ago, TEDTalks have become a powerful cultural force.

To celebrate this milestone, we're releasing a never-before-seen list: the Top 10 TEDTalks of all time, as of June 2008.

Straight-to-Web video camcorder is easy to use

The Flip Video Mino is the fourth generation of Pure Digital's popular straight-to-Web mini camcorder, designed to make shooting and sharing low-resolution videos very easy.

Apple cuts SSD-based MacBook Air price by $500

With the price of NAND flash memory continuing its steady sequential decline, Apple Inc. this month cut the price of its Solid State Drive (SSD)-equipped MacBook Air by half a grand, AppleInsider has discovered.

Broadband Internet? No Thanks

A new study suggests that attitude rather than availability may be the key reason why more Americans don't have high-speed Internet access. full story

Jobs of Web 2.0

Life will become different as we walk further into the future.

After Steve Jobs

Fresh questions about Jobs' health revive an old dilemma: If the illustrious Apple CEO were to leave (for any reason), who could possibly fill his shoes? more

Pownce

Pownce is a way to send stuff to your friends. What kind of stuff? You can send just about anything: music, photos, messages, links, events, and more. You can do it all on our web site, or install our lightweight desktop software that lets you get out of the browser.

The Internet's Undersea World

WidgetWebExpo - Widget Analytics

What makes a widget sharable? I mean, what if you could just copy the source of a link and place it on your own site? Does that make it a widget or does the piece of content have to come with a sharing mechanism in order to cross the bridge over to widgetdom?

See the presentation on YouTube below.

Zembly

Zembly is the place to create social applications, together.

With zembly, you easily create and host social applications of all shapes and sizes, targeting the most popular social platforms on the web.

'New York Times' goes social with TimesPeople

The New York Times has added a new feature to its Web site that takes a few cues from Facebook and Digg: TimesPeople, now in beta.

The age-old Magnifying Glass goes digital

People who lose part of their sight to macular degeneration, diabetes or other diseases may now benefit from some new technology. Several portable video devices that enlarge print may help them make the most of their remaining vision.

More Cool Adobe AIR Applications


Adobe AIR applications are nice looking and not so memory-hungry applications. If you don’t already have Adobe AIR installed you can download it for free from Adobe’s website.

New Technology Brings Second Life and WoW to The iPhone

Second Life and World of Warcraft are two the most popular multiuser games, but generally require a laptop or desktop computer. Until now. 3D Streaming technology developed by Comverse and Intel allow 2nd Life for mobile platforms by using a powerful backend server, to compute and render scenes, then smartly compress and stream to a mobile phone.

Redesign A First Step In Bringing Order To The MySpace Chaos

Los Angeles based social network MySpace, which has 115 million monthly visitors worldwide (Comscore, April 2008), will be launching a redesign of its site next week. The first phase of the project, internally called “MySpace 2.0,” will launch on Wednesday June 18.

Dell E and E Slim revealed, taking on Eee and Air in one fell swoop

Dell is wanting to keep up with Apple's design talents. Think they're on the right track?

Starbucks offers new flavor: Free Wi-Fi

Thirsty for more business during the worst slump in its history, Starbucks will try to lure more customers by offering two hours of free AT&T Wi-Fi a day.

Jimmy Wales Reboots His 'Google-Killer'

The Wikipedia founder launches his community-powered search engine--again.

Ballmer predicts the death of all print media in 10 years

In an animated discussion with Washington Post editors and reporters, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer offered his far-ranging views of upcoming changes in technology and the media.predicting that in 10 years all media will be delivered via the Internet and professed that he is confused by Google's moves in the mobile-phone market.

Wireless Social Networking To Generate $2.5 Trillion By 2020

Wireless social networking products, services, applications, components, and advertising will generate more than $2.5 trillion in revenue by 2020.

Is a New Digital Video Service Derailing Amazon.com?

So what's with the recent downtimes for Amazon's website? The New York Times article sheds some light on this topic.

Is Google Wanting to pick up Digg?

More Digg rumors for your viewing pleasure.

26 Tricks to Help You Tame Google Calendar

Google's free online calendar makes it easy to track your schedule from anywhere, but many of its best features lurk beneath the surface. Here's how to handle Gcal like a pro.

Speed Test on the latest Web browsers



Here's the latest speed test results conducted on Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera 9.5, and Safari for Windows. Take a look at the full (and somewhat unexpected) findings here.

The iPhone FAQ list

There's still a lot of stuff left unsaid about the newly announced iPhone. How does activation work? How will first-gen iPhone users bring an iPhone 3G onto their plan? Does the GPS work for driving? How much will games cost on the App Store? Here are some answers.

Microsoft: We only wanted to buy Yahoo if quickly

In the wake of Yahoo's decision to go with Google, Microsoft's Kevin Johnson explains in a memo why it was no longer willing to buy all of Yahoo.

With iPhone 3G, Next Cellphone Battle Will Be Apple vs. Google



Here's how Google Android could really take down iPhone 2.0 in the upcoming code wars.

Social anxiety, meet social networking

As many surveys have suggested, fear of public speaking is one of our strongest anxieties. The following won't help: These days, the audience could be skewering you on blog sites -- not after your presentation, but during. And just about everyone in attendance could know about it, except you. full story

Corn farmers take anti-Google fight to Washington

If you think there's something a little odd about a bunch of corn farmers lobbying Congress to hold hearings on the details of a Google-Yahoo advertising deal, you may be right.

How Android Will Change Your Shopping Experience Forever

Android application scan finds pricing and metadata for anything with a barcode. You will be able to source detailed reviews, search online/offline stores for better prices, get directions to other local stores, preview cd's (yes people still buy cd's unbelievably!) and check for books in the local library.

An Easy Wiki...please!

How many of you have said "I won't build a Wiki". If you haven't tried starting one, I'll save you the trouble. It's a colossal pain in the ass. First you have to find the right Wiki engine for your purposes and your server technology. Then you have to decide whether you want to pay for licensing it, or find a version that does what you need for free.

You're wondering: isn't there an easier way to do this in a Web 2.Whatever world? Well, of course there is. Tt just came out this week. It's called Nuospace, and it's a fully web-based, no-coding-required Wiki platform that aims to be a one-stop home base for documents and content that require group collaboration and editing.

3G iPhone Patent App Surfaces: IM, Blogging App, Vid Conf

The US Patent and Trademark Office has recently published an extensive patent application, seemingly for the 3G iPhone and software version 2.0, both now expected to be released next Monday, June 9th.

Femtocells represent signal of change

Devices help improve indoor cell phone coverage, but are still in test phase.

5 Things: Finding People Online

By now, even your toddler knows where and how to locate just about anything on the Web. But unless your friends are all dialed in to the same social network, a white-pages-style directory for finding actual people is often harder to come by. These five services aim to change that.

Wikia Search Offers User-Edited Results

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales is trying out the technique that succeeded in putting together an online encyclopedia—opening it up so that anyone can edit it—to improving search results. Wales' user-edited search engine Wikia Search is now out of alpha and open to the public for edits.

Go to Wikia Search

Gmail Gets 13 Experimental New Features


Google will start rolling out Gmail Labs, an experimental area of new Gmail features that will be familiar and very welcome to users of the Better Gmail Firefox extension. More here.

Feeding the Twitter addiction

Twitter - the exploding social Web phenomenon that lets users post 140-character updates to the simple question "What are you doing?" and follow the posts of friends - is very addicting.

Google Gadgets open-sourced for Linux

Google has announced the official release of Desktop Gadgets for Linux and is distributing the source code under the open-source Apache software license.

The 100 Best Products of 2008

This year's tech gems--as picked by PC World editors and readers--will leave you more productive, connected, and entertained.

The best free private journal on the web

Penzu is the most realistic re-creation of paper I've seen on the Web thus far.

Like.com’s Creepy, But Effective, Facebook Ads

You’ve heard of contextual ads triggered by keywords on a Web page. Now, get ready for contextual ads triggered by images on the page.

7 Habits of Highly Innovative People

Have you ever looked at super creative or innovative people, and felt they are special beings blessed with gifts? Creativity is actually more psychology than intellect.

iGoogle Artist Themes NYC Launch Event




What if the Google homepage had been designed by Dolce & Gabbana? Or Philippe Starck? Or the Beastie Boys? Get a behind the scenes look at our iGoogle Artist Themes NYC Launch Event.

Live-blog from your phone with Jott


Live-blog from your phone with Jott Free voicemail-to-text service Jott can help you nail down post material while you're on the go with a phone call, but you can also use the service directly with a number of blogging platforms, including Blogger, Typepad, LiveJournal, Tumblr, and WordPress. If you're hosting your own blog, you can still use Jott's voice-to-email service in conjunction with your platform's email-to-post function to indirectly get your thoughts up online, even while you're miles from your keyboard.

Wetpaint might be one to watch

TechCrunch's Michael Arrington has alerted us to a dark horse candidate in the race to dominate the land of wikis. Wetpaint, is a Seattle-based service it's positioning itself to be a player in niche social networks, not just mini-Wikipedias.

The easy-to-create wiki service pulled in 3 million page views in March, according to ComScore numbers, compared with 3.8 million for Ning, the well-funded social-network creator helmed by Marc Andreessen. Wetpaint also claims 900,000 wikis have been created, far more than the 263,000 that Ning counts (though who knows how many of those are legitimate and/or active). While Ning's way ahead in traffic, a few months ago Wetpaint released a set of features to ramp up social-networking activity on the site, with friends lists, news feeds, member profiles, and Yelp-style "compliments" now in the mix.

One stop photo captions made simple with SuperLame

Here's a fun tool for play around with over the long weekend. It's called SuperLame, and it's a simple tool for adding speech bubbles over photos. It's missing out on some of the special effects found in other similar tools like Comeeko, but what it lacks in versatility it makes up for in flash and user experience. It's simply a joy to tag up a photo with captions, speech and thought bubbles. Best of all, the end result is total eye candy.

Control BitTorrent downloads from Facebook with Morret

So much for Scrabulous being an end-all diversion on Facebook. Try Morrent instead, a simple tie-in to the popular BitTorrent software uTorrent that runs right in Facebook (read: sans software) and lets you monitor your torrent downloads and uploads from wherever.

Big Blue Embraces Social Media

IBM has been encouraging social networking among its employees with in-house versions of Web 2.0 hits such as Facebook and Twitter.

The (Virtual) Global Office

Moving beyond Second Life marketing, many companies are infiltrating virtual worlds for employee meetings, mixers, and recruiting.

Virtually Bridging Corporate Gaps

Setting Sun

In light of a surprising third-quarter loss, analysts sound cautionary notes and CEO Schwartz announces plans to lay off up to 2,500 employees.

7 Cool Bluetooth Gadgets

Bluetooth revolutionized electronics 10 years ago with its wireless technology that enables devices to communicate with each other. Here's a look at some of the latest. more

Where does Google go next?

Yes, it's making gobs of money. Yes, it's full of smart people. Yes, it's a wonderful place to work. So why are so many people leaving?