Web 2.0 Expo 2009

Time for Web 2.0 to wake up and smell the money

SAN FRANCISCO--Tom Foremski of Silicon Valley Watcher suggests that "you aren't are missing anything if you couldn't make it" to Web 2.0 Expo. That may be a bit strong, but one thing seemed to be almost entirely missing from the show: money.

Yes, there were plenty of sponsors spending money on the conference. There just wasn't much emphasis in the conference program itself on actually making Web 2.0 profitable for more than just Google, despite an entire track dedicated to Web 2.0 business models.

The one session, other than mine, that focused on the topic … Read more

Palm opening WebOS SDK up to developers

Palm is ready to let the world get its hands on the software development kit for WebOS, its next-generation mobile operating system.

At the Web 2.0 Expo on Wednesday, Palm's Michael Abbott announced that the company is ready to let developers start playing with its Mojo SDK, until now restricted to a few dozen select invitees.

He also showed how developers can tap into the messaging stream at the bottom of a Palm Pre using a Palm-hosted notifications service, and provided a link to Palm's past with the announcement of an emulator that will let WebOS users … Read more

O'Reilly: The Web is still learning, but it can teach, too

SAN FRANCISCO--The floor of the exposition hall at this year's Web 2.0 Expo has been a little bit lethargic, to say the least. "It's a lot emptier than last year," said one representative from a social gaming company that had set up a booth. "I think the 'Web 2.0' thing has become a bit of a stigma."

Indeed, these days the term goes hand-in-hand with broken business models and overblown expectations, as much as it does with innovation. With the economy in shambles, attendance at the semiannual conference is down. The show … Read more

Web 2.0 Expo: Mozilla's UI designer talks shop

SAN FRANCISCO--Aza Raskin, head of user experience for Mozilla Labs, could be considered the Doogie Howser of the Web design world.

At the age of 25, he's heading up Ubiquity--one of Mozilla's most experimental projects, along with collaborating on Weave and the concept series. This was after Raskin--the son of the late Apple Macintosh designer Jef Raskin--discontinued his pursuit of a Ph.D. to found Humanized, the company that brought him to Mozilla.

However, at a talk about design at the Web 2.0 Expo, Raskin played down his work on some of Mozilla's latest projects, … Read more

Accosted by Twitter at Web 2.0 Expo

I was not surprised that fully half the walk-up pitches I got at Web 2.0 Expo (as in, people walking up to me and pitching their product before I could barely say hello) were related to Twitter. As we all well know, Twitter as a platform and a network has incredible value, even if Twitter as a company has yet to figure out how to turn it into a cash register. Here are three of the Twitter-related companies you can find at Web 2.0 Expo:

CoTweet is a very clever company that will probably start making a nice … Read more

Web 2.0 Expo 2009: Downsized, but not out

In the run-up to the Web 2.0 Expo, which opens this week in San Francisco, I've heard a lot of doom and gloom about the show, and by implication about every "Web 2.0" company there is. But while the Web 2.0 Expo will be quieter this year than last, it won't be a ghost town. There's life left still in Web startups.

Web 2.0 Expo in 2008 drew about 10,000 people to the Moscone West facility in 2008. This year, according to Expo Co-Chair Brady Forrest, the conference will see … Read more

Lunch.com brings yet another reviews site to the table

There aren't many new companies launching at this year's Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco, which runs Tuesday through Friday. One of the few that are is Lunch.com, which strives to get a little more juice out of user-generated publishing.

Here's the premise of Lunch: You can review anything you want, from a TV show to a restaurant to a food product to a household appliance. I guess it aims to be, sort of, a Wikipedia for opinions. Founder J.R. Johnson, who started building the site after he sold previous creations VirtualTourist.com and … Read more

Adobe partnership makes Facebook's platform Flash-ier

Facebook has partnered with Adobe Systems to make it easier for developers to bring its Flash technology to their social apps, the two companies have announced. Adobe has introduced a new ActionScript 3.0 client library to provide resources to developers who are using Flash on Facebook's developer platform and Facebook Connect product, and will be promoting the possibilities of integrating Flash with Facebook's API on its Web site.

"There just weren't a lot of great tools that officially helped developers put these platforms together," Facebook senior platform manager Josh Elman told CNET News. While … Read more

Please build these Web apps

On Thursday, I put out a call for new Web 2.0 application ideas, telling readers the two best (according to me) concepts would win the two complete Web 2.0 Expo passes I have to give away. And the results are in.

First, I have to say that several of the good ideas have already been done. There are already aggregation services, like PageOnce, that roll up data from personal sites such as banks and social networks. There's an app, OopsImLate, that works with your GPS-equipped smartphone to tell people you won't possibly be able to make … Read more

Win a free pass to Web 2.0 Expo 2009

The annual Web 2.0 Expo kicks off at the end of this month in San Francisco. As in years past, it should be an interesting conference with a ton of useful sessions for those involved in the Web ecosystem, as well as an exhibit hall populated by core Web 2.0 infrastructure companies.

You can get a 35 percent off a conference pass to the event by using the code websf09btd45 on the registration site, or better yet, win a free, all-access pass (I have two to give away) by participating in our contest.

Here's the game: Describe, … Read more