Webware

We've often thought that real-time traffic reports was an obvious use of interactive technologies, but for some reason they're still not universal. (These thoughts typically come to us while stuck on a freeway, which is often.) But a German GPS software company called Navigon says it will "radically change" this sluggish pace of development with a free service that will be offered with GPS services right out of the box, according to Twice.

The company, which is working with ClearChannel's Real Time Traffic, has made a deal with the Porsche Design Group as the first … Read more

The team behind the popular browser extension FoxyTunes is hard at work on a new mashup site that integrates the music controls of FoxyTunes with an aggregation tool to give you more information and media about your favorite musical artists and new discoveries.

Each FoxyTunes Planet artist page has several customizable widgets. There are Flickr photos, YouTube videos, albums for sale from Amazon, and even various Internet radio stations such as HypeMachine and Last.fm where you can listen to the band's other songs. If you're like me, you might be listening to a Shoutcast feed on iTunes … Read more

Clippings is a superhandy Firefox browser extension that allows you to easily paste text from a list of saved clipboards. It may sound boring, but using Clippings for Web forms and multiple e-mail signatures lets you complete those tasks more quickly, saving your keystrokes for something more important, such as actual communication.

Clippings installs as a contextual menu. Right-clicking an empty form or writing area lets you select a saved snippet from your clipboard. It took me only a minute or two to set up a fairly extensive list of commonly used entries.

The big question: How is Clippings better … Read more

PowerSnap is a small and free Windows application that merges photos on your home computer with those on the Web photo service Flickr. Its purpose is simple: provide users with a way to view and manage all their photos, online and off.

PowerSnap has a Flash-based interface that lets you navigate, tag, and arrange your photos. It's similar to what you'd get with most photo browsing applications (see iPhoto or Picasa). What sets PowerSnap apart is its Flickr-user tracking, which essentially lets you create RSS feeds for Flickr members. You can add as many Flickr usernames as you … Read more

Getting burned on airline ticket-price increases stinks. Today, the ticket-price guesstimating site Farecast (our initial Farecast coverage here) rolled out a new feature called Fare Guard. This $10-per-ticket service lets you lock down the lowest price provided by Farecast for seven days. If the price of the ticket goes up during that time, you can still purchase it at the original, locked price.

In essence Fare Guard is ticket-price travel insurance. Unfortunately, while the service covers any fare increases, it recompenses your expenses after the fact. That means you'll be waiting for a check in the mail from Farecast … Read more

Plenty of blogs have recently been buzzing about Joost, the new online video site devised by the creators of Skype and Kazaa, which was formerly known as the "Venice Project." I've been beta testing it too, but rather than posting a basic walkthrough, I'd like to know specifically what kinds of questions you have about it. So, post your Joost inquiries in the comments of this thread, and I'll answer each one in an upcoming thread about my experience with the beta.

You can be as general as you want ("Is it really going … Read more

Dan Ackerman asked, "What happens the day after Vista's launch?" earlier this month, but what happens the night of Vista's launch? If you must have Microsoft's forthcoming OS the second it becomes available (a week from tomorrow, January 30), you have a few midnight-hour options. CompUSA will open its 230 stores next Monday shortly before the clock strikes 12, while Best Buy will do the same thing at about 15 of its stores. Both retailers will have Vista-equipped desktops and laptops priced to move, along with helpful staff on hand to assist you in choosing … Read more

Flash guru Michael Battle has created a 3D version of Digg. You can zoom around all the popular stories on Digg's technology page using your mouse and scroll wheel. It's not exactly the most useful interface, but it's a ton of fun and it's very slick. If you get lost, just refresh your browser. There's also a complete list of advanced navigation instructions here.

Seeing Web sites in 3D reminded me of the 1995 movie Hackers, where a young Jesse Bradford hacks into a complex computer network by flying around a magical city of what … Read more

Witnessing a crime in New York is unfortunately common. Luckily, so is having a camera phone.

To take advantage of that, last Wednesday New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a program that lets witnesses of crimes or other "dangerous living conditions" use their camera phones to transmit images or video to the police by using 911 or by uploading their shots to the city's Web site.

I propose New York creates a mashup of sorts. Think Flickr and Yelp together. A place that lets people easily tag and geotag their media, along with creating an easy … Read more