“Watching Microsoft in the company of Google and Facebook is a bit like watching your dad trying to be cool.” - Economist on Microsoft’s online initiatives, 26 June 2008
Archive for the 'Technology' Category
Google Reader has got an upgrade and the site is looking extremely slick now. There are a lot of interesting features that have been added to enhance the usability and online experience for the users. No wonder the company is calling it - “Inbox for the Web”.
There is a new look and feel, folder navigation has become easy, unread item count changes as you scroll down the feeds, and one can now mark items as read or unread. Feeds can be read on a per blog basis, or you can see a consolidated view of all the new feeds. Another neat addition is the one-click sharing of posts with friends. The size of the feed window has also expanded to make it easy to read and scan through the feeds.
I happened to reach a turning point in my online life - as Google has put it. As soon as I was done reading the feeds, I hit NEXT and this is what I got:
Some interesting links to check out:
- Yahoo has launched a revamped My Web site with a lot of new features, and a new AJAX-based user interface.
- BYOMS - A new service that lets you build your own mobile search. An easy way to search preselected sites by using an IM tool or a mobile device. As of now, the service works only with AIM. But a neat idea worth checking out.
- Google Spreadsheets is going to be launched soon. The service is inviting limited testers as of now, and is in the final stages of a beta launch. The application looks useful and has a great possibility of becoming popular than other similar services that are currently online.
A recent study by Boston Consulting Group and Businessweek has ranked the top 100 most innovative companies in the world. The study outlines a very interesting trend.
“The way you will thrive in this environment is by innovating - innovating in technologies, innovating in strategies, innovating in business models.” - IBM CEO Samuel J. Palmisano
Apple tops the list followed by Google. The major innovation plays for these companies can be seen from the likes of iPod and Google Earth - the products spearheading a revolution in the industry. It is also nice to see that some of the companies, which are a part of the list, do not operate in the hi-tech domains. So the innovation process seems to be catching on in lots of different domains in myriad ways. The whole article on BusinessWeek makes for a very insightful reading.
Here is what BusinessWeek writes about Apple and iPod -
The iPod launch involved no fewer than seven types of innovation, including networking (a novel agreement among music companies to sell their songs online), business model (songs sold for a buck each online), and branding (how cool are those white ear buds and wires?). Consumers love the ease and feel of the iPod, but it is the simplicity of the iTunes software platform that turned a great MP3 player into a revenue-gushing phenomenon.
Also check out out this interesting slide show. The most innovative products in the last year can be found here.
After the launch of Google Page Creator, the next introduction that the company has come out with is the Google Calendar. I will be posting my experience with Google Calendar soon, but let me tell you that I am liking what I see :-). At least on the face of it, this calendar seems to differentiate itself from other services currently online. And integration with Gmail would be a big plus in increasing its usability. Here is a screenshot of the Google Calendar…
You can read a review on TechCrunch.
Nokia has recently launched its Nokia M-Blog service for India, wherein you can directly post pictures to your blog that is hosted on the Nokia site. I had recently reviewed Mabber, and how the application might not find a lot of users in India due to the high-priced Advanced GPRS, which is a requirement to run the app. However, Nokia M-Blog application takes care of this issue, and easily connects to the servers. It is nice to see one application that belongs to Web 2.0 and easily works with the basic GPRS (aarrrggh!!!) subscription in India.
For now, you can only upload images to the blog site. Along with the image upload, there is an option to add a caption for the image. I would like to see more text capabilities in this application, to rate it as “The Blogging Application”. A single image upload took took less than 20 seconds for me. The quality of the image remains a concern though. Incidentally, the application reduces the size and the quality of the image so that it can be transferred over a WAP/GPRS network. But that is one issue that I am ready to overlook for now.
I also have set up my own blog to test out the service and the ‘coolness’ factor. I am testing this application right now, and will post an update soon. Till then, check out the service at the Nokia M-Blog site for India.
Just got a beta invite from Mabber for their new mobile chat application, which is built on the jabber framework. A very neat application which works both on the web as well as on a mobile phone.
Here is a screenshot of the application in the beta stage:
On accessing the website and logging in, the site launches an Instant Messenger window that provides access to the following gateways - Yahoo, Hotmail, ICQ and AIM. The interface is good with the ability to categorize users and IM functionality is also fast. You would see another excellent use of AJAX in this application. I think AJAX is to Web 2.0 what Javascript/Flash was to Web 1.0.
The new technology is going to reduce the sms messaging charges for sure, but at the same time the rising GPRS access charges from mobile companies would be a bother for this new application. The USP of this service is to provide a means to chat with others through this app with the assumption that data transfer (read GPRS on a GSM network) will always be priced lower than the price of a single sms. So one can chat for long without spending too much money. However, for a place like Mumbai where Hutch charges 10p per 10kb download, long chats could be an issue.
Another thing to be noted is that the application does not work if you have a basic GPRS subscription. You would need the advanced GPRS connection (priced at INR 499 by Hutch Mumbai) to use this app. Further, the popularity of GPRS and Internet access through mobile phones is a trend still in its infancy in India. So these kind of applications might take some time to pick steam in India. However, on a positive note, technologies like these are redefining the mobile communications space and as the innovation persists, this would also put a lot of pressure on the mobile service providers to think of new ways to gain revenue. And as for those who have web access through their mobile devices, this should prove to be a better means to communicate compared to sending sms.
There is not much visibility on the business model but the company might go for subscription-based models in future. The token that I received for mobile access is valid till 1 March 2006. Operating in an emerging space, here is wishing Mabber the very best.
Thanks to TechCrunch for providing the invite. You can check out the review of Mabber there.
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