Webware

The Asus M50 is one of five laptops to incorporate the Splashtop technology, under the name Express Gate.

(Credit: Asus)

Five new laptop models from Asus will incorporate DeviceVM's Splashtop instant-on software, the software maker said Thursday.

The Asus M70T, M50V, M51T, F8Va, and F8Vr will be the first laptops on the market to include the "rapid-start platform."

We've seen the technology, which Asus has licensed from DeviceVM and rebranded as Express Gate, before. It was first introduced last fall on a single Asus motherboard, and recently expanded to Asus' full P5Q series of motherboards.

Splashtop differs from the intant-on media players already found on many laptops because it's actually an embedded Linux OS with both Firefox and Skype. The advantages are threefold: The quick on/off feature means you don't have to wait to load Windows when you want to hit the Web--a boon for travelers who just want to hop online for a few minutes while waiting to board a flight. It also means you can turn off your laptop while in transit, instead of wasting battery life on standby mode. And the Linux base means the Splashtop browser isn't vulnerable to viruses that target the Windows OS.

The laptops announced Thursday are expected to be available at the end of June or early July. More laptops featuring the Splashtop technology are expected in the coming months, though a detailed release schedule hasn't been released yet.

Last October, I covered my first motherboard for Webware: the Asus P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi-AP (check out the video).

It was a Webware story since it was, at the time, the only motherboard to ship with "Splashtop," an embedded Linux OS with Firefox and Skype. With this capability, 15 seconds after you hit the power switch, you could be online.

The idea is that it makes it possible to shut down the PC when you're done with it, yet still be able to pop online in a hurry to check something on the Web.

The browser works just like Firefox. Because it is Firefox.

The only problem with the P5E3 was its eye-popping price: $350. It also requires ultraexpensive DDR3 RAM. But apparently, the Splashtop experiment has been a success, and Asus is releasing new, more down-to-earth motherboards with the feature.

The "P5Q" series of motherboards will launch this month, and Asus expects to ship more than a million in the first month of production. AnandTech reviewed one of the models, the P5Q3 Deluxe (no mention of Splashtop, though).

Asus laptops with Splashtop will also ship this year. The company already ships a series of Linux-based Eee PC ultralight laptops, but these don't use the Splashtop technology, which comes from DeviceVM.

Personal rant: Asus, I'm mad. I just built a new Vista PC using one of your P5E motherboards. I wanted the embedded Linux feature but didn't want to shell out for the P5E3 Deluxe. I would have waited. You could have told me. More on my Vista build in this Real Deal podcast, Rafe builds a new PC:

I just got a chance to try out a Webware PC: a computer built around the new P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi-AP motherboard from Asus. What makes this motherboard be hardware for Webware is that it has a Firefox Web browser (running on an embedded Linux operating system) burned into ROM. It also has Skype. You turn it on, and in fifteen seconds (I timed it), you can be in Firefox and surfing the Web.

You can also boot it into Windows, or whatever OS you have installed on the hard disk. Boring.

This built-in browser has a lot of great things but some drawbacks too.

In the plus category: This alternate operating system, provided by DeviceVM to Asus, is fast and convenient. There's no giant OS to boot before you get into your browser, which is a slimmed-down version of Firefox, not some weird, quasibrowser that doesn't do what you want. There's a Flash plug-in installed so most modern sites render properly. Flash videos play just fine. The system saves all your settings (including bookmarks) in memory, so you don't have to start from scratch every time you fire it up.

The P5E3 motherboard has nearly everything built in that you'll need. Connecting to a network--wired or WiFi--is fast and easy. Skype has access to the board's audio in and out ports.

Because the DeviceVM platform doesn't have access to the hard disks connected to the motherboard, the system is very secure. So if, say, guests wants to use your PC to check their Web mail, you can boot them into the ExpressGate environment (that's what Asus calls it) and not worry about them junking up your PC. You might want to clear your private data from the Firefox cache first, though.

The browser works just like Firefox. Because it is Firefox.

And this motherboard is "green," at least in theory. Many people leave their PCs on all the time, because launching a browser from a cold PC can take several minutes. With this setup, you can turn off the PC when you're done browsing, and when you need to get back online, you can be there in seconds.

If you work primarily online--using browser-based tools like Google Docs for productivity, Salesforce.com or Basecamp for business operations, Meebo for IM, and so on--this setup is just great.

Should you get one of these motherboards just for its ExpressGate feature, though?

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(Credit: Yoink'd)

Like most of us who spend considerable time in the Web 2.0 universe, I love to embed content on blogs and social-networking home pages. YouTube is loaded with countless hours of entertaining videos, but it wouldn't be nearly as popular without the ability to embed those wacky movies all over the Web. Now, a new online service called Yoink'd hopes to capitalize on the embedded-video craze by providing a free method of compiling, presenting, and sharing Web videos with your friends.

Yoink'd is essentially an online media player that uses AJAX and DHTML to search for, collect, and share online video files. It is an entirely self-contained, Web-based application. All of your preferences and playlists are saved within the Yoink'd Mediabox itself. There's no profile page or settings page you have to visit each time you want to add videos or change your preferences. To me, that's the beauty of Yoink'd. The entire application lives in the embeddable widget. Once you pop it on your blog, you'll never need to visit the Yoink'd site again. ... Read more

This morning, SplashCast, the media syndication service, is launching MyPodcastNetwork, a new feature that lets users create a single player to aggregate and play audio and video content via RSS feeds. If you're a podcast listener, you might already be using an aggregation service such as iTunes or Odeo to pull in your favorite shows. What's neat about doing this on SplashCast is that you can mix it in with other audio, video, and pictures in one big mashup, then share your creation with others by embedding it on blogs or social networking profiles.

To find podcast or show feeds, SplashCast is also launching a new directory with about 200 programs. If your favorite show isn't on there, you can add its RSS feed, and it will automatically be added to the general directory for others to pick up and subscribe to. I've embedded a player below, with a smattering of podcasts from CNET's podcasting network.

This is really neat, but I probably won't be using it. One of the reasons I use iTunes to subscribe to podcasts is so I can take them with me for listening on the go. However, for people who like to listen to podcasts on their computers, this is a nice way of saving some hard drive space and avoiding the need to install a jukebox application, or visit various sites to listen to, or watch their favorite shows.

Kyte.tv is a new service that lets people create their own TV channel. It's a bit of a mashup between a live blogging tool, a social network, and some of the live Internet TV channels we've been seeing lately with Justin.tv, and UStream.tv. Although, instead of strapping a camera to your head, you can use a cell phone.

The mobile client is a small Java application for several Nokia and Sony Ericsson phones that allows Kyte.tv users to upload photos and chat with others in a Kyte.tv channel. The mobile live blogging component is called "Lifecasting" which lets users upload pictures from their camera phone in real time. You can set it to automatically take a picture every few minutes, or every time you click the shutter. Either way, photos will show up on your channel instantly and viewers will get a visual notification that you're "live."

Kyte.tv's interface lets you swap between programs, chat, and live polls.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Kyte.tv channel owners can create as many channels as they want and add music, photos, videos, polls and text. A channel consists of a display screen, a playlist, and integrated chat room. Each channel also gets its own custom URL and branding, which is chosen by the channel owner. Alternately, there's embed code to place the entire Kyte.tv experience on a social networking profile or blog post (like we've done after the break).

One thing to note about adding music: you can't upload your own tracks. Instead you have to pick from a small selection of music from indie music service IODA. It's a lot like the music integration you get with Photobucket's video Remix tool.

What Kyte.tv has done really well is the live chat room. While it's lacking admin controls and private conversation options, you're getting the same chat experience on your computer and your phone. It's also really easy to use, as long as you're handy with your phone's keypad.

Kyte.tv is a fun service that opens up a lot of options for live blogging. Like we've seen with Twitter, mobile blogging has exploded with the help of easy-to-use tools that can be used and accessed on multiple platforms. Likewise, live video broadcasting has become something normal people can do with services like Pocketcaster and UStream.tv. Kyte.tv is happy medium between the two.

We'll be broadcasting live at various points during the day, so to visit our Kyte.tv channel, just click the read more link below.

We got the tip today about a brand new service called Bubble Guru. Its goal is simple: to give your blog or Web site visitors a short pop-up video message that runs and closes without any user interaction required. You can also record and send message to friends via e-mail. For viewers, there's no escape--the talking bubble will follow them as they scroll down the page.

Annoying and obtrusive, yet compelling

(Credit: CNET Networks)

The service is by no means a full-fledged video blogging tool; it falls into a strange subcategory between video messaging and a pop-up advertisement. It's also a little early in development, offering no way to save and track the messages you've created. For now the service is free, but a paid subscription version is on the way for about $10 a month.

We thought long and hard about the usefulness of this for the casual user. In truth, video embedding services from YouTube or Viddler is much more user friendly. Users can turn those videos on and off at their discretion and pass any interesting ones along to a friend. That, however, isn't the point of Bubble Guru. This service is all about grabbing your attention, which it does very well. We've embedded one for you: to see what it looks like, click "read more" below.

Microsoft unleashed its Soapbox Web video platform to the unwashed masses yesterday, taking the service out of private beta. We covered Microsoft Soapbox in September. The service has a clean and simple layout, and manages to keep both the MSN moniker and the often-clunky Windows Live Login (formerly .NET Passport). What baffles me about this is that despite having access to all your personal information, Soapbox won't parse your Windows Live ID to fill in simple profile information like your name and location, unless you've recently gone through and updated it since opening a Hotmail account in the 90s. Nor will it go through your Windows Live e-mail to see if you want to share any videos that have been sent to you by friends. If Microsoft is aiming for no-nonsense integration with its Web services, it's sadly not there yet.

That being said, Microsoft did add the ability to post videos in your blog, which was one of our original Soapbox criticisms. The catch is that it has to be a Windows Live Spaces blog. Alternatively, there are the standard permalinks and embed codes for you to send to friends or put on your blog or Web site.

Below I've embedded one of my favorite videos. Note the fact you can access both share codes and description from the player itself. Neat.

Box.net is a file hosting service for individuals and groups. They've got a really great customizable widget you can put on your blog or Web site that lets you share files with anybody. Even better, the Box widget provides instant previews of images and music. The files reside in your Box.net storage area, which provides its users with 1GB of free storage and more with paid plans. As the widget owner, you can even upload files through the widget, without having to manage things at Box.net. It doesn't get much simpler.

[via SexyWidget]