Webware

Double Vision (download) is the latest tool for people who don't like doing work while at work. This small piece of software lets you casually surf the Web inside of other programs, then hide the window with a simple keyboard shortcut.

The browser itself is just a reworked version of Internet Explorer, although it won't import any bookmarks from there. You can, however, enter in any Web address, or pick from a small selection of sites from Double Vision's content portal.

What makes the software so special is that you can control the transparency of the browser window and continue to interact with whatever application it's partially blocking out. This is useful for keeping an eye on your e-mail inbox or IM window while surfing somewhere else. The makers of Double Vision are pushing it as a simple way to watch how-to software videos while using the software (note: this excuse only works if you have one monitor).

Transparency isn't Double Vision's only forte; it's got a few other tricks. For instance, you can cut out a specific part of a page just to get at the content. This is especially helpful when visiting YouTube since you can pull out the player and move it to a less conspicuous part of your screen while watching. Hitting the "boss" button combination will also cut out any sound from that video when it's not the front-most application.

This reminds me quite a bit of a now-defunct site called Workfriendly.net, which would skin Web sites to look like a Microsoft Word document. With Double Vision, you'd simply be able to keep working in Word while enjoying the very best of ninja cat.

See also: Ghostzilla

Spanish news site Expansion reported Tuesday that Google plans to launch GrandCentral, an online voice communications service, in Spain sometime during 2009. According to the report, Google will allow voice calls to be placed for free, but each will be linked to the voicemail service. Currently, GrandCentral is only available in the U.S.

UGO Entertainment and its parent company, Hearst Corp., announced late Tuesday that it will acquire 1UP.com and its associated sites, GameVideos.com, MyCheats.com, and GameTab.com. A release from UGO asserts that with 1UP and the affiliated sites joining its own network of gaming properties, they will reach 40 million unique visitors each month. In announcing the sale, 1UP parent company Ziff-Davis Media noted that it will close its last remaining print publication, Electronic Gaming Monthly. The magazine was not included in the sale to UGO.

WorkLight, a company that provides Web 2.0 services for businesses, released a report Wednesday detailing how the enterprise is using widgets and social networks to generate business. According to the report, 87 percent of surveyed companies are planning to use online services to improve customer service and acquire new customers. It also found that companies are currently using widgets and social networks to identify and capitalize on specific business needs, as well as increase engagement and their reach.

Webcarzz, a company that's working to develop a virtual world that will target boys, has built an online tool that allows children to create their own 3D vehicles. Dubbed CarStructor, the app provides tools to customize 3D cars, trucks, planes, and motorcycles. Eventually, those models can be placed into the Webcarzz virtual world when it's released later this year. Developing vehicles with CarStructor is free with registration.

At Tuesday's Macworld keynote speech, Apple announced a handful of upgrades to existing software. Of the changes, one of the biggest is the budding online integration found inside two of its software suites: iLife and iWork. The "2009" versions of both of these software packages show a more balanced approach by Apple in integrating third-party services alongside pushing users toward its own online efforts.

Apple's 'collaborative' element of iWork revolves around storing the files in an online share called iWork.com. (Click to enlarge.)

(Credit: Apple Inc.)

In the case of iWork, is a tight integration with a brand new online component called iWork.com. The site, which launches later this month in conjunction with the software release, lets users upload files for sharing with others--up to 1GB. When using any of the three applications included in the iWork suite users are able to export whatever they're working on right from a link on the top of the screen. Once the item has been uploaded it can be shared with other users who can download it in whatever file formats you specify, or leave little sticky-note comments.

This is far from online word processing solutions offered by Google, Zoho, Thinkfree, and others, but continues in the direction of 2007's photo galleries and Web e-mail applications that were offered as a part of Apple's MobileMe service. Notably missing from this new online service is a way to actually edit the document right in your browser, and instead requires downloading a local copy then re-uploading.

Additionally iLife's iWeb application has been updated with both Facebook and FTP integration. Now, whenever you make changes to your site you can have it send out a notification to your Facebook news feed, letting your friends see that you've made an update. And with the FTP integration there's no more messing about with third-party FTP applications to update changes you've made to an iWeb-created page. You can now simply plug-in your server information and have it sync up.

This is going to solve a lot of headaches for people who wanted to use the WYSIWYG site creation software without ponying up to pay Apple to host it for them.

Another big change is in iPhoto, which now offers built-in export support for both Facebook and Flickr--two of the most popular photo-sharing sites on the Web. Exporting to both of these services was previously possible with third-party plug-ins, however Apple's new solution works right out of the box. Any changes you make to uploaded photos within the software will be automatically sent back to these places. This means that you can replace a previously uploaded photo without manually having to visit the site and re-upload.

Still missing from both of these suites is a true online companion. While iWork.com offers a free (for now) way to share big files outside of e-mail, and without the need for a subscription to Apple's MobileMe service, you still have to do all the work on your computer--and your computer only. With the Facebook and Flickr integration you can't pull down photos you've previously uploaded for editing on the software's new editing tools. I'm also sad to see that despite the promising integration with Google Maps in iWeb last year, there's still not a way to import and export from Google Docs and Spreadsheets in Pages and Numbers respectively.

Maybe next year.

Users can now export photos to both Facebook and Flickr right out of the box in the new iPhoto.

(Credit: Apple)

Click here for more Macworld Expo coverage from CNET News.

On most days, I put my hands on two to five new Web 2.0 products. I write up some of them, but pretty much forget about all of them by the time I wake up the next day. A few things do stick with me, though. Here's a list of products I am actually still using, weeks or months after the initial review:

Chrome

Google's new browser. Who needs it? If you have to ask, you haven't used it. (See all our Chrome coverage.)

Why I like it: Very fast. Very stable.

Areas for improvement: Extension support! I would use Chrome full time if I could import my favorite plug-ins, especially the password keeper Roboform. Also, Mac and Linux versions.

Evernote

This note-taking app has finally and completely replaced OneNote for me (it was a slow transition). It's a great place to store all your thoughts. It has a good search feature and it's good with photos--it even OCRs them in the background. Cool new feature: iPhone notes are now geo-encoded, and you can filter your display of notes by location. (Read the review from March.)

Why I like it: Fast, reliable, and synchronizes across my PCs, my iPhone, and the Web.

Areas for improvement: I would like it if the text editor were keystroke-compatible with Microsoft Word. Shortcut keys I'm used to don't work in Evernote. It slows me down.

OtherInBox

Alternate in-box for bacn--the e-mail status updates you get from social services and commerce sites. (Read launch review from September 8.)

Why I like it: Can set up a new filter (actually a unique e-mail address) for a new service on the fly. Really does decrease load on my main in-box.

Areas for improvement: It's still in private beta, and the features aren't all built-out yet (like receipt tracking). Could be faster.

Bonus: I just got 500 new invitations to the OtherInBox private beta for Webware readers. Get yours.

TripIt

A good place to collate all the planning data that goes into a vacation or business trip. I use it to create a printed itinerary before each of my trips, and I e-mail a copy to my family too, so they know where I am. Nothing that can't be done with a calendar app or word processor, but it's much faster with TripIt. (Read first take from September 2007.)

Why I like it: Makes organizing trip info easier. Saves time.

Areas for improvement: Needs an iPhone app. (The mobile Web site is nice, but isn't fast enough when you need trip info ASAP.) Also, could do better at parsing e-mail confirmations you get from non-mainstream sources,

Twhirl

Best desktop Twitter and Friendfeed client from the company that's behind Seesmic, which I never use. Updated frequently with new features. (Read initial review from March.)

Why I like it: I use multiple nanoblog accounts, and Twhirl does a great job of letting me see and write to all of them separately. Good support for photo uploads.

Areas for improvement: I would like the promised option for single-pane view of everything. Also a Ping.fm-like feature to post to multiple nanoblogs at once.

Extra: Dead to me

There are some products I used to love, but have (or want to) stop using. These apps, for example, are in the process of becoming dead to me:

NetVibes. A useful single-page aggregator, but it's slow to load and the log-in screen is a pain to get through whenever your browser forgets your identity. I'm seriously thinking of switching over to iGoogle.

Trillian. The instant-messaging aggregation app still works, but it loads up almost as slowly as Outlook. No excuse for that. I'm in the process of switching over to Pidgin.

If you're one of the millions of people who does some occasional Web browsing while at work, chances are sooner or later you're going to click on something you probably shouldn't. In most cases, you don't know what you're getting into until it's too late--a situation developer Pratham Kumar (maker of the now defunct 2View) has solved with a small and simple Firefox extension called No-NSFW (download).

Dangerous links are flagged as NSFW.

Once installed it will give you the heads-up every time you mouse over a link. You'll get a small warning in the lower right hand corner of your browser that either marks it safe (SFW) or not safe (NSFW) with color coding to match. If someone hasn't voted on a page, it's simply left unrated.

Other people with the extension curate the ratings. To vote on a site you're on, you just need to click the small eyeglass button right by where the warnings pop up and mark the page. Each time users vote on a page, those votes are tallied up--a number that will shift with the tide of its safety rating.

The extension works with both Firefox 2 and the latest beta of Firefox 3.

We just interviewed Dan Cohen, CEO of the start page company Pageflakes. I'll be honest: While I like the product a great deal, I don't love the business. The personal home page market is dominated by Yahoo and Google, and to some extent Microsoft. As good as their products are, the upstarts Pageflakes and Netvibes (which is what I use) have less than a 4 percent share of the market, according to TechCrunch.

Cohen makes the point that Pageflakes is easy to set up, making it a great product for the general consumer. I'll give him that. The product is a snap to use. But unless his backers are going to be comfortable with Pageflakes running a distant fourth or fifth in this market, Cohen's going to have to do some clever maneuvering to pop this company ahead of the leaders.

Unless, of course, the goal isn't to actually build an ongoing business, but to get it acquired before the funding runs out. Few CEOs will admit to that strategy, but from the funder's perspective it's usually the desired outcome. On that front, Pageflakes has good--but not unique--technology, and a focus on usability that the big companies would do well to emulate or acquire. The value of the Pageflakes audience, if the goal is to be acquired by a much larger company that already has large consumer user base already, is limited.

Cohen worked on both Yahoo's and Google's start-page projects, which means he knows this market and knows what he's up against. He feels his start-up can innovate more quickly than the big companies. But will that be enough? I don't care how good this product is, this venture is a big, big gamble.

See also...
Working Webware Episode 1: Can Zoho steal Microsoft's customers?
Working Webware Episode 2: All about Ning;
Working Webware Episode 3: Flock's Future.

Does the world need yet another browser? That's the question Dan Farber and I put to Flock CEO Shawn Hardin in our latest Working Webware video interview.

I'll disclose right now that Flock is my default browser, and I love it. I find it more stable than Firefox, probably because it doesn't need two dozen add-ins to function the way I like--it's all built in.

But does that make a business? Hardin explains the model, which is pretty straightforward: search advertising. The little built-in search box in the upper-right of the browser generates Yahoo affiliate fees for Flock, which add up quickly. Hardin says Firefox, which has the same business model, made more than $65 million in revenues in 2006. Flock doesn't have as many users as Firefox, but its user base is growing 50 percent a month, Hardin says. Of course that expansion rate can't be maintained forever, but it's impressive nonetheless the competition.

Flock is based on the Mozilla open source engine, as is Firefox, and Hardin says the Flock team shares its own improvements back into the codebase, to the benefit of Firefox and other Mozilla browsers.

See also...
Working Webware Episode 1: Can Zoho steal Microsoft's customers?
Working Webware Episode 2: All about Ning.

On Episode 2 of Working Webware, ZDNet Editor in Chief Dan Farber and I talk with Ning's CEO, Gina Bianchini. We delve into the company's platform strategy and how Bianchini plans to compete against other enablers of social networking. Then we kick the CEO out of the room and talk about the company's prospects.

Ning is a very strong social network platform, and the platform business, in this market, is the place to be. We have enough companies trying to rope people into engineered communities. Ning doesn't do that; it lets its users build their own neighborhoods in the ways they want.

Bianchini is a savvy CEO and a tough interview. She engages at a level of remove more typical of one running a much larger company. That will serve her well when, and if, Ning gets to that scale that she's aiming for.

See also: Working Webware Episode 1: Can Zoho steal Microsoft's customers?

Dan Farber (Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Between the Lines blogger) and I have a new video show: Working Webware. Each episode, we're going to pick on one hapless Web CEO, interview him or her, and then analyze their prospects.

For our first show, we sat down with AdventNet's CEO Sridhar Vembu to find out about Zoho's office productivity suite and how the company plans to compete against Microsoft and Google. We analyzed the company's business model and argued about Zoho's chance for success in the emerging Web 2.0 office software market. Running time is 9 minutes.

Recently, Zoho improved the offline functionality in Zoho Word, bringing it a small step closer to competing directly with Microsoft's Office Suite.

After watching the video, Vembu replied in an e-mail:

I agree we face a massive challenge. Here is why I feel optimistic: at AdventNet, we get about 1.5 million downloads of our IT Management & Security products (they range from network/systems/app management to help desk and a lot in between). These products target SMBs directly. We count in excess of 25,000 organizations as customers. We have relationships with nearly a thousand resellers world-wide, and we are establishing tiered distribution partnerships around the world. That business is growing at a really fast clip.

I believe there is a huge untapped opportunity in the SMB segment for Zoho. That is why we are investing heavily (Zoho division alone has now 200+ people in engineering). Fortunately, our AdventNet business is doing extremely well to be able to afford the investment.

Of course no one can predict the future, but based on the response we are seeing for Zoho, I am really optimistic. I believe just as the desktop software industry had room for players like Adobe and Intuit to thrive in the face of Microsoft, we will carve out a space for ourselves in the online application business, assuming a Google-dominated world. Execution is the key, as always.