Ajax Girl

Google acquired hosted wiki service Jotspot in October 2006. The service immediately stopped taking new users, although existing users were supported. Now, nearly sixteen months later, Jotspot has been relaunched under the Google Apps team, as Google Sites.

Google Sites looks absolutely nothing like Jotspot, other than the fact that both are hosted wikis. All of the structured data templates launched by Jotspot in July 2006 have been stripped out. Users now have a choice between just five basic templates - a standard wiki, a dashboard where google gadgets can be embedded, a blog-like template for announcements, a file cabinet for file uploads, and a page for lists of items. Instead of creating structured templates, users will now simply embed spreadsheets, presentations and word documents from Google Docs, as well as Google Calendars, YouTube Videos and Picasa Albums.

Like Google Docs, Google Sites wikis can be made private, shared with others, or made public. Users can select from a variety of templates, but cannot yet customize the look and feel of the site. Somewhere down the road, Google says, they’ll release an API for the new service as well. Editing is done with a rich text editor that allows for basic formatting.

Google Sites is a free product, with limitations on support and storage (10 GB). Users can upgrade their Google Apps account to a standard edition, also free, and map their own domains to the site. A premier edition is also available for $50/user/year that includes a service level agreement, support and more admin capabilities.

All wiki pages have RSS feeds associated with them to allow users to track any changes.

Existing Jotspot users will continue to be supported on the old platform for the near future, and they will also be given instructions for porting their Jotspot wikis to Google sites.

In an interview today, Google’s Management Director of Enterprise Matthew Glotzbach called the combined products under Google Apps a “Microsoft Sharepoint killer” because it’s allowing businesses to collaborate without all that expensive Microsoft software. It may not be a Sharepoint killer yet, but Google Apps constitutes 2-3% of Google’s total revenues. Some point soon, its going to start hurting Microsoft.

Sample screenshots:

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.

Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/242512819/

Thursday morning LinkedIn will roll out a new site-wide design featuring a tab-less header and a persistent left column with personal, account-related options.

LinkedIn is also adding status updates with which users can broadcast their current activities (professional or otherwise) to their connections and/or networks.

Just as when the company added portraits, these updates feel like an attempt to mimic Facebook. The new design bestows upon LinkedIn a similar layout to Facebook’s, with the page divided into a header, a thin left column, and a wide right one. Facebook has also had featured status updates for quite some time.

There are differences, of course, between the two. LinkedIn has decided to place a box at the bottom of the left column that continually reminds you how many connections you have, how many people have recently joined your network, what your status is, and more. The homepage will also have modules that you’ll be able to drag around to reorder.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/242512820/

Google has quietly updated the look of Google Docs, offering a more Microsoft Office (pre 2007) like interface.

First spotted by Philipp Lenssen, the changes aren’t huge, but visually they’re pleasing. Gone is the Google Docs blue background toolbar with its unique layout. In its place is a grey toolbar that will be immediately familiar to users of other offline and online office packages. Fonts now have a dedicated box with the list being rendered in the particular font listed. Text sizing also gets a familiar drop down box as well.

The changes have been rolled out across the three core Google Docs products (Writely, Spreadsheets and Presentations).

Although still not as fully featured as offline alternatives, and even some online competitors as well, Google Docs has gained strong support in the first adopter community and is slowly finding a market in the business world as Google pushes its corporate packages. The new look will make it easier for new users to immediately use Google Docs and that will help sell the package.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/242500874/

Quarterlife, the made for MySpace TV show that became the first internet show picked up by a TV network has bombed.

According to Nielsen Ratings for Tuesday night, Quarterlife managed only 3.86 million viewers for its 10pm debut on NBC, compared to the fan resurrected but short second season of Jericho with 6.9 million viewers and Primetime: What Would You Do Now? with 7.6 million viewers.

Although no decision has been made as to whether Quarterlife will return for a second outing next week, these poor figures would suggest that Quarterlife may not have a long life on NBC.

Some may suggest that Quaterlife’s failure to make a successful cross from online to network TV isn’t a positive for future shows following the same path; certainly it doesn’t make things easier. A first failed experiment won’t necessarily mean the crossover idea will fail again in the future. As more and more people turn to the internet for entertainment, the volume of professionally made video content will continue to increase, and sheer numbers would suggest that Quaterlife may become the first of many crossovers to come as television networks scramble to find new content that viewers want to watch.

(via RWW)

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.

Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/242483422/

Online video provider Akimbo has reinvented itself again as a white label video service provider and has taken a new round of funding.

Akimbo’s new white label video solution includes an advertising system and “supports multiple business models including ad-supported, transactional, subscription, download-to-own, download-to-burn, pay-per-minute, gift cards and account credits.”

The new round of funding came from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, and Zone Ventures, although the amount was not disclosed. Existing investors include AT&T and Cisco and funding before the new round was $31.7 million.

San Mateo based Akimbo has had a colorful history. Initially starting as a VOD integrated hardware and content provider, it later abandoned the hardware model for an internet only solution that offered a software interface for Microsoft Windows Media Center Edition. That service was discontinued in August 2007.

The first client for the new Akimbo is MavTV.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/242462785/

Google is continuing to try to disrupt Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo, and, we’ve heard, may even be considering a bid to acquire a significant chunk of Yahoo’s stock (keep reading though, we’re calling this a long shot at best).

Google clearly wants to see the status quo continue in the search space, and would rather fight a fragmented market than a single, stronger, Microsoft/Yahoo. That’s why they weighed in shortly after the initial Microsoft bid, saying “Microsoft’s hostile bid for Yahoo! raises troubling questions.”

Sources with knowledge of the deal are saying that Google also hired veteran M&A expert George Boutros as Credit Suisse the day after the Microsoft bid was made, to advise them on how to respond to the deal. That advice, one source says, may be leading Google to place an unsolicited bid to acquire just under 20% of Yahoo’s stock at an inflated price.

The goal isn’t so much to close the deal, which would almost certainly be opposed by U.S. regulatory agencies. But rather to throw another curve ball at the Yahoo Board, which is already dealing with the Microsoft bid and a likely challenge to their board seats this June. If the Yahoo Board, particularly the outside board members, were preparing to fold to Microsoft, a Google bid might give them pause. And any delay buys Google time - during which other factors can come into play to stop the deal.

“It’s a relatively cheap way for Google to confuse the situation further, and, potentially delay or disrupt a Microsoft acquisition” said one advisor to the deal, requesting to remain anonymous.

While multiple sources have confirmed that Google is being advised by Boutros, only one is saying that Google might be preparing to place a bid in the next couple of weeks. Credit Suisse analyst Heath Terry said last November “Over time, Google will continue to gain share until they have effectively reached 100 percent.”

Arbitrageurs, who today hold as much as 20% of Yahoo’s stock during this risky period, have not heard this rumor, either, according to another source. These are the guys that hire private investigators to track executives and known advisors, monitor private jet traffic and otherwise gather information about possible M&A deals through any legal (and sometimes not so legal) means at their disposal. Generally they hear rumors first, and trade on the information before the press gets their hands on it. For example, some arbitrageurs say they had already factored in News Corp.’s possible Yahoo bid days before we broke the news. The fact that the arbitrageurs holding yahoo stock haven’t heard anything about this makes the rumor significantly less likely to be accurate.

Assuming Microsoft does not back away from its bid, look for them to nominate their own slate of directors for the Yahoo board a few days in advance of the March 13 deadline. Google, or anyone else who might try to disrupt this deal, will likely make their move before then.

Thanks to Nathan Lipson at TheMarker (he’s currently shaking down sources in New York) for comparing notes with us on the rumor mongering.

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.

Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/242415793/

Online image editing startup Picnik has announced that users will now have full access to all of Picniks editing features for free.

Tools now available to all users include advanced edit tools, special effects, additional fonts and shapes. The service will be ad supported, but those wanting an ad free experience can sign up for Picnik Premium for $24.95 a year.

Why the change? This is how Picnik spins it:

We want to make everyone feel like a photo editing superstar. Picnik is already the world’s leading online photo editor, but there are still a lot of people living tragic, gloomy lives believing that powerful photo editing tools cost hundreds of dollars, come in unopenable boxes, and are impossible to use. By offering an ad-supported version of Picnik, we can make much richer, deeper, and ultimately better photo-editing functionality available to more people around the globe: Photo editing awesomeness for everyone.

The more likely reason: they can afford to do so due to the money they’re getting from Yahoo for the Flickr deal, and in the face of increased competition (both existing and future) Picnik needed to offer more. Still, Picnik was a good package before this announcement, and now it’s better again.

See our February 2007 review of online Photo editing sites here.

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.

Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/242447517/

San Francisco based Crunchyroll, a sort of YouTube for anime and other mostly Asian video content, raised a $4 million round of financing led by Venrock Associates, with partner David Siminoff joining the board of directors. The company, which launched in the summer of 2006, was founded by three HotOrNot employees. Our sources tell us that HotOrNot founders Jim Hong and James Young also participated in the round.

We first covered the company in August 2007, and noted that they rely almost exclusively on copyright infringing content. Users, of course, flocked to the site. In July 2007 it had 1.3 million unique visitors (Comscore). In January 2008 that jumped to 2.6 million uniques, and 245 million page views.

Last year the site charged users a premium fee of $6 and included advertisements around content. We pointed out that this weakened their reliance on the Digital Millennium Copyright safe harbor provision, which protects service providers from liability for content uploaded by users. Today the site announced that there are no longer any ads, although the premium account option remains. It looks like they hired some lawyers.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/242446320/

Fav.or.it, the RSS reader with integrated commenting (a story TechCrunch UK broke), has launched its beta, though you’ll still need an invite to get in while they scale up.

With Fav.or.it you can make comments on blog posts from within its reader - no need to click into a browser to the original post. Disqus, the distributed commenting system, will be using the fav.or.it API. So if you use Disqus for comments, fav.or.it users will be able to leave comments too. Fav.or.it is more feature rich than Google Reader and has community features like story voting, sharing, tagging. The site already has lots of feeds to pick from and an approach called slices. Some developers are already building features on top of Google Reader’s shared items data, such as ReadBurner and RSSMeme. But fav.or.it is as early as any of those guys, so it’s still a wide open game.

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.

Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/242434825/

So the rest of us can’t quite cry along with Robert Scoble - not just yet - but the attendees of TED had the opportunity to do so today when Microsoft presented the startgazing software we wrote about last week called WorldWide Telescope.

Microsoft has launched a website for the service that says “coming in spring 2008″ and provides a FAQ sheet along with a couple video montages of people reacting to the product. These videos don’t show the product in any substantial way but rather serve to further the hype (apparently it wows not only tech bloggers, but children, well-renowned professors, and other experts as well).

Few people have seen the product yet, but based on the testimonials on the website, it better be significantly better than the existing Google Sky, which launched last August as part of Google Earth, and the open source Stellarium (which is hugely better than Google Sky already).

Below is the only screenshot of the product that has been published so far. From what we can gather from the website, WWT is built on top of Microsoft’s Visual Experience Engine. It will also sport these features:

- WorldWide Telescope is an observatory on your desktop, allowing you to see the sky in a way you have never seen before; individual exploration, multi-wavelength views, stars and planets within context to each other, zoom in/out, and a capability for anyone to create and share a tour of the universe.
- The Visual Experience Engine delivers seamless panning zooming around the night sky.
- WWT delivers seamless integration of science:-relevant information including multi-wavelength, multiple telescope distributed image and data sets, and one-click contextual access to distributed Web information and data sources.

The product is based on Jim Gray’s SkyServer and is therefore considered an extension of his work.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/242421859/