• On TV.com: TOP 10 Shows CANCELED Too Soon
January 21, 2009 6:11 PM PST

Three-way merge: Seesmic, Twhirl, and Ping.fm getting together

by Rafe Needleman
  • Font size
  • Print
  • 4 comments
Share

Two services I use, Twhirl and Ping.fm, and one I don't, Seesmic, are getting integrated this week in ways that will likely help all of the products.

First up, Seesmic CEO Loic LeMeur just announced that the multi-posting tool Ping.fm now supports Seesmic, a video microblog service. Seesmic has a new API, which has made it possible for the Ping.fm team to allow embed a recording function for Seesmic videos within Ping.fm. It's very simple to use the Ping.fm service now to create a Seesmic video, but the real benefit is that you can then easily post a link to the video on another micro-blog or social site, like Twitter, Facebook, Friendfeed, or Plurk (or any combination of them), without visiting any of the sites themselves.

You can now record Seesmic videos within Ping.fm, but what I'm really looking forward to is the capability to post to Ping.fm from within Twhirl.

The AIR app Twhirl, primarily known as a Twitter client (although it also supports Seesmic and Friendfeed) is also getting related new features that should be released later this week. Taking advantage of the same Seesmic API that Ping.fm is using, the client will soon let you record Seesmic videos directly. The current version lets you watch, but not record, Seesmic vids.

Also coming to Twhirl in the upcoming release is support for Ping.fm: You'll be able to use the client as a front-end to your Ping.fm account, which means if you like the Ping.fm service (like I do) for its capability to multi-post items to several services at once, and also like the Twhirl service for reading your microblog feeds, soon you'll be able to take advantage of the Ping.fm functionality without actually leaving the Twhirl client.

Together, these three services make for a nice system for microbloggers, and the set-up makes it much more likely that a user of any two of the products will take up use of the third. I may just start using Seesmic, for example. I would like to see more interface and login integration between the services (you have to have accounts on all three to use them as I described), but for now, this is a very welcome improvement to them all.

Previously: The looming crisis: Personal syndication overload.

Rafe Needleman writes about start-ups, new technologies, and Web 2.0 products, as editor of CNET's Webware. E-mail Rafe.
Add a Comment (Log in or register) (4 Comments)
  • prev
  • 1
  • next
by Splashes January 21, 2009 6:44 PM PST
Heh. Looking at the headline, I can't help thinking that in ten or twenty or fifty years we'll look back and say, "Remember when everybody was giving their companies all those goofy, misspelled names?"
Reply to this comment
by renaistre January 21, 2009 7:07 PM PST
This. Rocks.
Reply to this comment
by Miladinoski January 22, 2009 5:02 AM PST
Fantastic! I love using ping.fm but it's a pain in the a** for me to use the IM client for ping.fm'ing 'cause I already use twhirl.

Thanks to all! :)
Reply to this comment
by seth35--2008 January 22, 2009 5:10 AM PST
I have been using Eyejot with Ping for a few months now. David Geller at Eyejot integrated Ping into his Eyejot This! widget and it's been a great way for me to get video onto my social networking sites. I'll have to check out Seesmic. Thanks for the tip!

See www.Eyejot.com

Also see: http://sethresler.wordpress.com/2008/12/28/my-favorite-web-sites-of-2008/

-Seth
Reply to this comment
(4 Comments)
  • prev
  • 1
  • next
advertisement

About Webware

Say No to boxed software! The future of applications is online delivery and access. Software is passé. Webware is the new way to get things done.

Add this feed to your online news reader

Webware topics

The yogurt makers of tech: Gadgets to avoid

Don't buy these one-trick ponies--unless you like gizmos that gather dust.

Google wants to unclog Net's DNS plumbing

The Net giant, ever eager for a faster Internet, debuts its Google Public DNS service. With it, Google could become even more central to the Net.

Inside CNET News

Scroll Left Scroll Right