Here's a new service I can't wait to use--in part for its good looks, and also for its attempt at combining several different news and social services together in a user-friendly manner. It's called Streamy, and the easiest way to describe it is a mashup of Google Reader, Meebo, Del.icio.us and Twitter. The emphasis however, is on Web content, and how to make it both easy to read and share with others.
Like AOL's Mgnet, which I took a look at yesterday, Streamy provides customized newsfeeds based on your interests and viewing habits. You can build up your own set of RSS feeds and see what your friends are up to in real time. There's also a built-in IM component to let you chat and share story links without leaving the site. Streamy has its own proprietary IM network for Streamy users, but it also lets users log in to other IM networks like AIM.
The front page of Streamy gets its stories from the most-read items by Streamy users. In that regard, it's similar to Spotplex [review], although from the looks of the preview screencast, it offers a whole lot more.
No word yet on when Streamy will be opened up to the public. In the meantime there's a defunct signup page, and a whole lot of blue.
- Original Signal rolls out meme tracker. The single-page aggregation service has added a new front page to their Web section. The page displays the top 10 most popular stories at any given time. The new service uses an algorithm that decides when a story is worthy of being on the front page without any additional user interaction required beyond browsing the site. Something similar was done with Spotplex, which we checked out last month.
- eJamming launches. The virtual garage for musicians to 'jam' in different geographical locations launched their AUDiiO service this morning. The app has versions for both Windows and Mac OS X, and is free during the testing period. Previous coverage here.
- Google updates mobile search. Google has simplified and optimized search results for fewer clicks while using the mobile version of the search engine. They've also added location memory, so you don't need to reenter what area you're searching in. What may be the neatest addition is a personalized version of Google's mobile homepage, which can be set up with your favorite tools or services.
- Museum takes a cue from Flickr. Web services such as Flickr and Gmail have pioneered the use of tagging, making it easier to sort through large collections of pictures and words. Taking a cue from this movement, museums are beginning to add tags to pieces of art with description-based words. Steve, a collaborative research project, offers free open-source software for them to get started. The goal is to make collections easier to sort through for people who can't remember the name or creator of a work of art. (CNET News.com)
- Adobe Remix goes live. Adobe's free Web-based video-editing tool is now available to all Photobucket users. The tool, which we covered last month, lets Photobucket users string together and edit video clips taken from their digital cameras. Since our hands-on, Photobucket teamed up with PumpAudio to provide more music tracks to add to videos. The company also redesigned their front door earlier in the month, placing more emphasis on user photos.
Spotplex is an interesting take on social-voting sites. If you're familiar with Digg's system of user voting for story promotion, you'll notice that Spotplex takes a slightly different approach, counting click-throughs per link to promote stories to the front page. For blogs or Web site owners, submitting stories is automatic if you add a piece of code to your site. Spotplex then crawls and adds your content to the list of upcoming stories.
Spotplex has an arguably better system for site owners to add stories and to keep track of how popular a story is without using third-party analytics. The system becomes problematic with obscure links, which are common of Digg front page content. There's also a lack of editorial freedom when compared to submitting a story to a site like Digg or Netscape, where you can create your own description and add relevance to the site's readership.
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
Interestingly enough, Spotplex has employed tags instead of categories, which Digg users often find limiting. Spotplex stories can have several tags, which leaves the possibility for abuse or mislabeling.
What currently limits the Spotplex system is the lack of user interaction. There's no way to comment or effectively disagree with a story that's been posted. From a content provider standpoint, this is great, as it forces visitors to use your comment system and interact with your site. However, as a Digg user, I will often read a popular story or link I don't think is very interesting and want to talk about it in the same place I found it, something that Spotplex currently can't do.
Keep an eye on this one.
[Found on TechCrunch]
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