Ajax Girl

I’m no musician, but I was always under the impression that they sort of kept their song writing secret until they were ready to play it to the world. If that’s accurate, new startup JamJunky may not have much of an audience. They provide a place for song writers to write their lyrics, upload songs in progress and share them with friends. Artists can also write notes about their work.

Friends log in and view the work and comment on it blog-style. The artist can then incorporate feedback into the song.

If there are any song writers out there I’d love to hear your feedback. This doesn’t sound like the type of environment that an artist would want to work in, but like I said, I’m no musician.

CenterNetworks wrote about them today as well and included a nice overview video of the product.

The founder of the company, James Thomas, also created Skinnyr.

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Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/120412132/

Earlier this month we announced VOIP startup Jajah had accepted $20 million in series C investment from Intel Capital. Tonight, Jajah has announced that they’ve added a co-lead to the round: Deutsche Telekom (T-mobile).

The initial news of the investment was rushed out by Intel with Deutsche Telekom holding off announcement of their investment until today. Deutsche Telekom’s investment in Jajah marks the first investment of a telco in one of the VoIP startups. Jajah expects to use the money in an upcoming marketing push and to further their business development efforts.

Aside from the financial support, the announcement marks a second key relationship. Jajah’s relationship with Deutsche Telekom is expected to come with some advantages, including increased reach into Asia and Latin America and lower calling rates based on DT’s status as a first tier provider (particularly Germany). Jajah had earlier stated their deal with Intel would provide JAJAH access to their community of product dealers, OEM customers and developers, as well as access to Intel’s range of VOIP patents.

CEO Trevor Healy says Jajah was an attractive investment for DT because their VoIP service doesn’t require customers to abandon the existing PSTN phone networks that telcos run. Although Jajah announced 2 million users in March, but Healy expects the company to reach 5 million by years end. Currently 40% of Jajah calls originate within the US, with 60% originating internationally.

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Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/120403861/

Games search engine Wazap is coming to America.

The German company isn’t entering a market dominated by the News Corp owned IGN, Yahoo and Google without backing. Funding of $11.9 million in rounds led by Wellington Partners and Partech International sees Wazap well cashed up in its quest to conquer the American market.

Wazap indexes 84,000 different sources for gaming information. A small percentage of the indexed data is displayed by Wazap based on quality, user recommendations and publisher submissions.

Even without the benefit of a large English speaking user base during testing, the game indexing and reviews are extensive. Wazap does share similar features to other gaming review sites. Magazine reviews are scored, screenshots and cheats are available. The defining feature is in the delivery. Wazap doesn’t bury user generated game reviews and data through pages and pages of long winded reviews. Wazap sticks to its core as a games search engine by providing multiple sources of data in an accessible form. User reviews lead results with external information following down the page.

In April Wazap saw traffic of 16 million unique users on 250 million page views. The Alexa data for Wazap gives the site a ranking 1435 worldwide with Wazap being the 144th most popular site in Japan and 612th in Germany.

These are remarkable numbers, a sign that as a gaming destination Wazap is likely to find success in the largest gaming market of them all, the United States.

The English language version of Wazap launches in June.

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Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/120394389/

Some of you are going to love playing the game above. PlayMyGame is a new German site that lets users customize simple games with a their own picture. I’ve added a boxing game above with my picture (hint: if you really want to beat me, learn to use the uppercut).

There are other games - dancing, shooting a superhero, etc. Lots of fun.

The tools to create a customized game are very easy to use - setting this up took just a couple of minutes. Once games are complete they can be embedded into a website.

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Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/120350188/

We realize that it is an incredible tough job to keep up on what is happening in the Ajax community as it is so broad. We aim to bring you a few posts a day to take some of the burden off of you, but what about broader terms?

We are starting a new monthly roundup that aims to summarize what was important in the preceding month, based on our opinion, but more so on what you, the community, thought of the postings (rating and page views).

We are going to experiment with formats, but by splitting up the content, you can also get a feel for the ajax library landscape over time. Please let us know what you think, and if there is anything else that you would like to see.

Although it is a bank holiday in the US (memorial day), we realize that: a) some geeks don’t care and are working / browsing. b) most of our audience is not in the US. So, for you, we have the first roundup:

High Level / Big News

The big recent news is the emerging talk about the new platform wars of Silverlight, Apollo, JavaFX, and how the Open Web fits into all of this. Episode One may be the browser wars, but maybe Episode Two is the plugin wars?

The press has gone a little nuts on Silverlight and JavaFX. Both are just name changes, and we have known about WPF/E and F3 for quite awhile now. I couldn’t help by have a little fun myself.

On the Ajax front, a very interesting paper was released on a trusted implementation of cross domain access, which will be huge for mashup developers, and we are seeing more and more usage of dtrace to debug apps for Ajax, or Rails.

• “Ajax is now an Endangered Species”
• JavaFX Script: Iris: Example of combining Java applets and Ajax
• Subspace: Enabling trusted cross domain Ajax
• Dtrace Firefox to get inside the black box
• Implementing a syntax-higlighting JavaScript editor in JavaScript
• One-Line JavaScript Memoization
• 210 Ajax Frameworks and Counting
• Heap Feng Shui in JavaScript and HeapLib

Browsers and Standards

Alex Russell thinks that the future of HTML is more important than any other worries on the Ajax side, and we agree. Everyone is watching the new W3C group, and although the group has taken on HTML 5 from the WHATWG, we wait to here how it will get tweaked. The group has been a little quiet.

• IE 8: Opt-in for standards compliance
• HTML 5: Positive Momentum

Ajax Librarys

The core Ajax libraries are flourishing. They are getting more and more lean, mean, and solid. It becomes harder and harder to choose between then, and we are getting abstractions on top, such as Ext JS that are providing even more functionality.

Dojo

Dojo has announced a new 0.9. If you are watching this closely you will see that this is a big deal. This isn’t a slightly different Dojo. This is a revolutionary Dojo. The biggest complaint on the library has been the feeling that it is too bloated (it is incredible comprehensive). Do widgets need to be abstract enough to grok SVG and HTML (when the community is only using the HTML ones)? Does the remoting support need to bundle every funky transport layer? No. And, the Dojo team has realized this and has taken things into their hands and has revamped the framework as a lean, mean, beast that checks in at roughly the same size as Prototype. There is now ONE dojo.js instead of having you package, or grab, one of many.

Dojo is being reborn as we speak, and the results are exciting to see.

• Dojo 0.9 Update

Prototype
Prototype chucks along as a fantastic, solid, “I just want to add a bit of Ajax guys, not boil the world” Ajax library. Version 1.5.1. was released, and it gets faster and cleaner than ever.

• Prototype 1.5.1 Released
• New Prototype DOM Builder
• ProtoPacked 2.13: Protoype + Script.aculo.us == 32kb
• Slide.js: Prototype-based Carousel

jQuery

jQuery seems to be going from strength to strength. Maybe that is why idiots decided to DOS the project… they don’t like success. The simple plugin architecture is allowing people to add functionality easily to the library without bloating it. Somehow the implementation has resulted in many more plugins in the community than elsewhere.

• jQuery.com DOS Attacks
• Flash Tooltips using jQuery
• jQuery Roundup: Rails, Wordpress, and new plugins
• Interface Elements for jQuery

GWT

I was asked a lot of questions on GWT at JavaOne (no surprised based on the conference). It seems to be picking up steam, and many Java programmers are enjoying the choice.

• QueWeb Customer Care GWT Application

Mootools

Moo always has a nice little following that produces a lot of content. This month was no exception.

• MooTools 1.1 Released
• MooTools Video Tutorial
• Moo Image Gallery

Conclusion

As the month comes to a close, we are looking forward to seeing the new platforms solidify over the summer, as frameworks go from alpha to beta to live.
The Ajax Experience Call for Papers Closed, and we are once again amazed at the community who made our choices incredibly tough.

Ben and I sat down and went through them all with the first pass acting as a “lets mark the must-haves first and then go back” walk through. Once we were done with that we already had chosen more content than we could fit in.

We can’t wait to see you on July 25-27 in San Francisco.

As always, if you see anything that you feel the community would enjoy seeing, please email us and let us know so we can cover it on the site.

Source: Ajaxian
Original Article: http://ajaxian.com/archives/monthly-ajaxian-roundup-for-may-2007

Attention management ticker Particls from Faraday Media moves from private testing to a full public beta launch today.

Particls is an alerts platform that conveys attention data. Particls evaluates incoming information and ranks it based on “Personal Relevance”. Particls then uses an “Output Adapter” that provides only the amount of attention required for the relevancy of the alert based on a policy of “Diminishing Attention Consumption”.

In layman’s terms, Particls displays news it thinks a user will be interested in based on history, feeds and a list of keywords. Think a smart RSS reader that scrolls on your screen.

Setting Particls up is fairly straight forward. Buttons are immediately integrated at a browser level and adding feeds, keywords and filters is simple. Customization options are extensive but are not for the non-geek inclined; there’s too many options and it’s raw data driven, no user friendly WYSIWIG color charts or sizing options.

The results are exactly as promised. Items of interest are scrolled based on your attention preferences, and the ability to tweak priority allows for extensive filtering that delivers relevant and topical news.

Particls offers free API access to developers and publishers are able to customize Particls with co-branding and site specific data. For those interested in trying Particls a TechCrunch flavored version is available for download here, Windows only at this stage though a Mac version is planned.

Whilst the technology behind Particls alone should make for a compelling service, the format is not going to be for everyone. Tickers are a love them/ hate them thing with little middle ground. For those on the love side of the ticker debate, Particls may well become a must have for the desktop.

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Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/120318948/

We’ve followed new telephone management startup GrandCentral since it’s debut in September 2006. The company has deservedly received a lot of blogger and mainstream press: Tim O’Reilly said “The Web 2.0 Address Book May Have Arrived” when talking about it, and the New York Times did a long overview article in March.

The basic idea around GrandCentral is “one phone number for all your phones, for life.” As we change jobs, homes and cell phones, there are a lot of phone numbers to keep track of, and keeping everyone up to date with your most recent phone numbers is a real cost. If you use GrandCentral you can give out a single phone number. What happens when that person calls that number depends on his/her relationship to you, and what you are doing at the time.

Our follow up coverage wasn’t entirely positive. In late March we noted some hiccups with the service that led some beta testers to abandon it. But we’ve continued to use the service, covered its mobile site launch, and in general I think it is one of the standout startups of the last twelve months.

For those of you who aren’t using it yet, I’ve put together my user notes over the last couple of months. There are a lot of features to get used to, and to get the most out of the service you should be aware of at least some of them.

This is a service to keep an eye on - They are certainly still working out some of the bugs, but the GrandCentral team has created a truly useful service with less than $6 million in capital. I would not be surprised, given this acquisition climate, to see someone pick them up in the near term.

Here’s the TechCrunch Quick Guide to GrandCentral:
(more…)

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Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/120237460/

Ambient Sound Investments, a company established by the four co-founding engineers of Skype, have invested in the Hong Kong based 3D social networking company Frenzoo as part of a Series A round of investment aimed at expanding the service through out Asia.

ASI owners include Priit Kasesalu and Jaan Tallinn, Senior Developers at Skype, Ahti Heinla, Chief Architect at Skype and Toivo Annu, a former Skype Head of Engineering.

Frenzoo enables users to connect with friends by becoming “budding fashionistas”. Users can express themselves by personalizing 3D characters, and can mix-and-match a variety of branded clothes, footwear, accessories, furniture and lifestyle items.

Frenzoo utilizes a “RealFashion 3D Engine” that simulates a user’s character, clothing and living environments in true 3D, leveraging recent advances in graphics hardware. The Frenzoo application is a downloadable program offering native social network browsing and instant messaging.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Frenzoo is currently in closed beta with a launch date scheduled for the second half of 2007.

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Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/120207730/

Venture capitalist Josh Kopelman rips into MySpace today as he applauds Facebook’s new developer platform.

Facebook’s timing is perfect. They just released an API that gives third party developers deep access to Facebook functionality and it’s 20 million users. Not only can these third party startups get a widget placed on people’s Facebook profiles, but they can also get viral distribution through users’ news feeds and access core Facebook features. Using the tools that Facebook made available, developers could build new versions of some of Facebook’s own applications, like Facebook Photos. Users can then remove those default applications and add the new ones. Like Microsoft with Windows, Facebook is now competing with application developers on its own platform.

This isn’t all just talk, either. The most popular third party application, iLike, has nearly 400,000 users just a couple of days after launching and 10x what they had just last Friday. That means nearly 5% of Facebook’s users have now included it on their profile.

Kopelman’s post looks at the new reality from the perspective of a startup. MySpace is a minefield - startups want access to their users but suffer from the very real possibility of being banned, either temporarily or permanently.

Facebook is viewing things from exactly the opposite position: they are giving startups access to Facebook’s core feature set, and allowing them to show advertising and conduct transactions with users without even asking for a cut. This is exactly why I called Facebook the Anti-MySpace last week. Kopelman goes on to say:

Think about it. If you ran a venture-backed company and had to decide whether you wanted to focus your effort on: (a) a property that welcomed you in and let you keep 100% of the revenue you generate or (b) a company with a vague policy that doesn’t let you generate any revenue, which would you choose? I don’t think it’s even a decision. It’s an IQ test.

Kopelman estimates that $250 million has been invested in widget companies in the last 18 months. When these startups think about where to spend their resources, they’ll be weighing MySpace’s relative size advantage (MySpace has 100 million users, growing by 300,000 or so per day. Facebook has 20 million users, growing by 100,000 per day) to the open and transparent nature of Facebook’s approach. On balance I agree with Kopelman. Startups can build a very large business on the back of Facebook. The MySpace path is much riskier.

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Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/120182983/

The highlight of the D conference in San Diego later this week will be a 75 minute session with Bill Gates and Steve Jobs on stage at the same time. No one is suggesting the two will be making any announcements - the topic is “where consumer technology has been, and where it is going.” But this will certainly be a session that a lot of people will want to watch. I’m hoping that they make a video of the talk widely available.

The last time Bill and Steve were on stage together was at MacWorld in 1997, when Microsoft invested $150 million in Apple and announced plans to broaden its software offerings for the Apple platform. Steve Jobs was there in person; Bill Gates participated via satellite. A video of that session is here.

Bonus Archive Material:

Steve Jobs on Microsoft: “The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste…they don’t think of original ideas and they don’t bring much culture into their product…they make really third rate products.”

Bill Gates on Apple: “To create a new standard, it takes something that’s not just a little bit different. It takes something that’s really new and really captures people’s imagination…and the Macintosh of all the machines I’ve ever seen is the only one that meets that standard.”

Steve Ballmer on the iPhone: “It doesn’t appeal to business customers because it doesn’t have a keyboard.”

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Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/120177791/