Webware

On Tuesday, ThinkFree Office launched a new Flash-based document viewer called Uni Paper that takes files up to 10 pages and 5MB in size. It works for most common office file types like PDFs, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint presentations. Like Scribd, Docstoc, Docuter, Issuu, and others, it lets users view and search through documents quickly and without the need to have any special office software installed.

If a user wants to make any changes, they can then send that file into one of ThinkFree's various Java-based office document editors, which gets reflected in real-time back anywhere the Uni Paper has been embedded or shared. To make this process a little more streamlined, ThinkFree has also tightly grouped together its document, spreadsheet, and presentation tools into something resembling more of a suite.

This is definitely good news for ThinkFree users who can get a quick preview of any of the files they have stored on the service, but it's not quite as advanced as some of the Flash-based viewers from the competition. It's missing the option to view all the pages of a document at once, and the the directory of publicly shared documents contains very little categorization, or genre-based exploration.

I will, however tip my hat to ThinkFree for wanting to charge into this space. Unlike the rest of these document hosting services, you can actually go in and make edits with a Web-based document editor designed by the very same folks who made the viewer. That's a great way to get people in the door.

I've embedded an example Uni Paper below, and no, there's no way to get rid of the annoying API ad on the bottom.

Last week, I looked at five real estate search sites and discussed their merits as tools for searching for a home. So now that you have that dream house picked out, it's time you get down to the business of finding a real estate agent and researching both the home itself, and the neighborhood it's in--just to make sure it's still a place you want to live.

After all, moving to a new home can't be as simple as finding a home you like and buying it immediately, right?

Find your real estate agent with DoorFly
Once you've found the home you like on sites like Trulia or Realtor.com, you have to find a real estate agent to help you look at homes, secure the best deal, and get you into your new abode. But finding the best real estate agent isn't always easy.

That's where DoorFly comes in. Instead of calling different real estate firms to find the best agent, you can use DoorFly to explain your needs and watch as real estate agents bid to work with you.

When you first sign up for DoorFly, you're asked to provide the area where you'd like to live, your home-buying needs, an affordable price you're willing to pay, and desired home features. That information is then posted on the site and will be viewed by real estate agents who also signed up. Interested agents will contact you and inform you of their knowledge and experience. But here's the kicker--they will also offer an incentive rebate from their commission at closing to sweeten the pot. I found that sometimes that discount is 5 percent of their fee, but it can be up to 20 percent off, depending on the market. Either way, it's a great way to save some money.

Real estate agents bid for your business on DoorFly.

(Credit: DoorFly)

As interesting and useful as DoorFly can be, I was disappointed with its general lack of support. Granted, it's a start-up that few people have heard about, but so far, the site only has real estate agents from Indiana, Missouri, Texas, and North Carolina using the site. That's obviously an issue for those who wish to move elsewhere in the U.S. and one that DoorFly can hopefully address at some point in the future.

DoorFly is a compelling and unique service, and you should look at if you want to buy a home in one of those locations. It's easy to use, the real estate agents offer good deals, and generally, they seem to be knowledgeable.

Research mortgages and neighborhoods with HomeThinking
HomeThinking is designed quite well. When you're brought to the main page, you can quickly and easily find a real estate agent in any of the 50 U.S. states, perform research on mortgages in cities and towns across the country, or gain knowledge about different neighborhoods in major markets. It's a great resource if you're unsure whether you want to move to a specific location.

Heat maps give you a good idea of where property is selling.

(Credit: HomeThinking)

When I started evaluating HomeThinking, I first looked for a real estate agent in both big cities like New York and San Francisco, as well as small suburbs in my area. In all cases, the site returned a slew of real estate agents from companies both big and small. It was outstanding.

HomeThinking's neighborhood search is also a great feature that allows you to compare big cities, as well as mid-level markets like Akron, Ohio. When you perform a comparison, the site delivers a slew of results that examine which areas of the new city resemble your current city, as well as reviews by those who live there.

For example, HomeThinking claims that those living in the Castro-Upper Market area of San Francisco will find a similar lifestyle in New York City's West Village. It's a nice feature, but it would have been nice if more information was available. Simply telling me where to move if I like the scene I live in now won't help all that much.

But HomeThinking's best feature is its mortgage resource page, which takes an in-depth look into everything you ever wanted to know about mortgages in the location to which you're planning to move. Whether you're researching suburbs or big cities, the site will deliver the risk of a sub-prime mortgage crisis, leading lenders in the area, the average loan size, number of rejected applications, and much more. It even shows a heat map detailing where the majority of people are trying to buy homes. HomeThinking's mortgage research tool is best I've seen.

Microsoft has enjoyed a stranglehold on the Office suite market for well over a decade. But now that the Web is slowly becoming a quasi-replacement for the desktop, Microsoft Office has some stiff competition in the form of online Web Office apps. And although they may not appeal to the spreadsheet maven that relies on Excel's power, each offers functionality that diminishes the need for Microsoft's products.

So, in the time between now and when the software giant delivers the much-anticipated online version of Office, our options are far from few. Here are three that might fit your needs:

Google Documents

Although it's best known for its search and advertising businesses, Google's Office suite is one of the best on the Web.

Creating documents, spreadsheets, or presentations is as simple as signing up for an account and using Google's menu page to decide what to create. The word processor in Google Docs is the standout app. It sports the familiar spelling and grammar check available in Microsoft's Office suite. Even when online, I found operation seamless. Returning to saved files from Google's server meant I could work from any computer at any time -- a luxury that's not so easily attained with Office. The capability to view and save documents in HTML along with Office-compatible file types is also a welcome addition.

But for as appealing as Google Docs is, the company's Spreadsheet and Presentation apps don't offer anywhere near the kind of customization and power already available in Excel or Powerpoint. Spreadsheets can expand to only 600 rows -- a useless amount for many companies -- and although simple formulas like "sum" are available, the product is lacking more sophisticated functionality to make it useful to business professionals.

Google's Presentation app is fine for users that need to create a quick, simple presentation in a short amount of time, but it lacks the power and sophistication of Powerpoint due to its limited number of transitions and templates.

Google Docs is simple and extremely reliable in a pinch. Its collaboration features, including real-time collaborative editing, cannot be beat. But with a laughable spreadsheet app and a barely useful presentation app, it doesn't take long to find out Google Docs is no replacement for Office.

ThinkFree Online

ThinkFree Office Online is not only one of the most respected online Office apps on the market, it's the best. ThinkFree Online offers all the "must-have" features available in Microsoft Office like a rich toolbar, a ruler bar, and an interface that offers simplicity and delivers the same feel as Word, Excel, or Powerpoint. Creating a document is simple and working with spreadsheets is a treat thanks to the tens of thousands of rows it provides, along with just about any formula that comes to mind. That said, ThinkFree Online doesn't support Pivot Tables, which could prove troublesome to those who rely on them. For everyone else, switching from Excel to ThinkFree's spreadsheet app won't require a learning curve nor a concession.

The main issue plaguing ThinkFree Online is that it suffers from performance issues. Although the company claims its app will pop up as quickly as a desktop application, I found it slightly slower than Office 2008 on my Mac. It also took longer to save documents in ThinkFree Online than any other app evaluated in this round-up. Worse, and perhaps the deal-breaker for some, the company's Presentation app is hardly usable and doesn't compare on any level to Powerpoint. In fact, it's even worse than Google's Presentation app.

Though it suffers from some quirks like slow load times and its presentation app is practically useless, ThinkFree Office Online's word processing and spreadsheet apps make up for it and make the company's online suite the best on the Web.

Zoho Office Suite

If online Office suites were measured solely on the number of apps they provide, Zoho would win without any argument. Aside from the basics -- word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations -- Zoho delivers a full-featured Wiki, note taker, organizer, Web conferencing, and more.

While it's nice to have the option of using Zoho for almost any need, its word processor is outstanding and boasts many of the features offered in ThinkFree's app, as well as Microsoft Office. Even better, the apps load quickly and saving happens in a flash. Simply put, Zoho's Writer word processing app is a fine alternative to Word.

For as useful and appealing as Zoho Writer is, the company's spreadsheets and presentation apps fall flat. Zoho's spreadsheet application offers just 50 rows and fails to provide support for complex formulas, though it does support simple operations like "sum" and "average." In essence, Zoho's spreadsheet application is really only useful when an elementary operation needs to be performed and a calculator isn't readily available. And although Zoho's presentation app allows for sharing with friends and groups throughout the world, it offers just a handful of design options, creating a service that offers little customization and even less appeal.

Zoho is simple. And although that may not be a bad thing for those who don't need all the power Office or even ThinkFree Online offer, it's not suited for anyone who needs to go above and beyond simple operations like writing letters or performing simple mathematical operations.

ThinkFree, a company that specializes in "next-gen" office productivity solutions, announced Tuesday that it has launched its ThinkFree Netbook solution, which will deliver word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation applications for Netbooks running Intel's Atom chipsets, like the Asus Eee PC or the Acer Aspire One.

According to ThinkFree, its Netbook Edition offers a simplified user interface and compatibility with Microsoft Office 2007 files. Most importantly, the software is optimized for a small screen and features integration with ThinkFree's online service that allows users to collaborate with each other and synchronize documents on-the-go.

The Eee PC has another office productivity suite.

(Credit: Asus)

"In today's digital world, document collaboration and real-time synchronization is a vital part of staying on top of business," Su Jin Kim, ThinkFree's CEO, said in a statement. "Netbook users are demanding applications that are built to not only meet, but make the most of, the unique characteristics of this new device category (and) Netbook OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) can now offer their customers just that by pre-installing a customized, device-tailored version of ThinkFree Netbook Edition."

ThinkFree isn't alone in the market for Netbook office applications. Asus Eee PCs ship with Sun Microsytems' StarOffice (download) installed, and even Open Office (download) can be downloaded onto Netbooks. And as long as users have an Internet connection handy, they can perform office productivity tasks on services like Zoho and Google Docs.

ThinkFree's Netbook Edition is available for Windows XP, Vista, Linux, and Mac OS X and will work fine on 800x480 and 1,024x600 displays. A free trial copy of the software can be downloaded now on the company's site.

Think Secret, the Apple rumor Web site, will no longer be published, under the terms of an undisclosed settlelment with Apple Inc. The site issued a small press release on the matter late last night, with Think Secret's publisher Nick Ciarelli noting, "I'm pleased to have reached this amicable settlement, and will now be able to move forward with my college studies and broader journalistic pursuits."

The site was sued by Apple in 2005 regarding leaks about upcoming hardware and software products that later came to fruition, including an updated iLife software suite and the Mac mini desktop computers that were showcased at the Macworld Expo in 2005.

Think Secret was being represented by attorneys in conjunction with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and in March, the site had attempted to get Apple's lawsuit dismissed on the grounds of it being a First Amendment violation, although to no avail.

The news is certainly a big hit to other large Apple rumor sites including 9to5Mac, Mac Rumors and AppleInsider. Sites like these encourage news tips and leaks about upcoming or unannounced Apple products, which is what got Think Secret into trouble in the first place.

MTV has just launched a new social-networking community for youth activism, ThinkMTV, which is designed to network members both online and offline around causes ranging from climate change to HIV/AIDS. While as a standalone network it's not particularly momentous or innovative (although few names come to mind in the "social networking with a social conscience" space that specifically target the MTV demographic), ThinkMTV is worth noting because it's the first major operation to be unveiled as part of MTV parent company Viacom's new Flux social networking initiative.

MTV representatives told CNET News.com in an interview that ThinkMTV had largely been created as a result of the "Just Cause" study that the company had enacted about a year ago, in which 80 percent of young people surveyed said that community and social action was important, but that only 19 percent said they were already very involved.

Some brief and recent history: last week, after some rumor buzz, Viacom unveiled Flux's framework without a high-profile debut. It's a distributed platform, created out of what was once the social networking start-up Tagworld (which Viacom invested in), that will ultimately bring community features to many of the media giant's pop-culture brands as well as external partners. Prior to Thursday's official beta debut of ThinkMTV, the Flux functionality had already been integrated into some smaller niche sites.

Sign-ups for the beta of the Flux community on ThinkMTV had been open for some time now, and a bare-bones Think site was accessible (sans social networking features). The full site includes information resources, multimedia content, and means for members to network both as socialization and as a way to rally for the various causes involved. ThinkMTV has bolstered its community with some big-name nonprofits: The "founding partners" at the launch are the Case Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Goldhirsh Foundation, and MCJ Foundation. The site will also (naturally) be celebrity-heavy, with usual suspects like Leonardo DiCaprio, John Mayer and Bono connected in one capacity or another.

One of the more unique aspects of ThinkMTV promises to be the "Action Badges," which could be considered the digital-age version of scouting merit badges. They aren't part of the initial launch, but will be rolled out in coming months; users can earn them for real-world actions like volunteerism or blood donation, or by submitting video or photo content to the site.

The new community will additionally be a platform for existing MTV activism campaigns, ranging from the company's ongoing partnership with the Gates Foundation to the "campaign dialogue" series that it's organized in conjunction with MySpace in advance of the 2008 presidential elections.

MindMeister is a "mind mapping" tool that launched last month. If you're unfamiliar with mind mapping, it's somewhere between brainstorming and an organizational chart. If you've ever had to help plan a party or put together an outline for a project, mind mapping is one of the ways to organize and order your thoughts. MindMeister replaces legal pads and crumpled up pieces of paper with an online workspace that can be revised and manipulated. Users can create ideas and connect them to one another, or build their own hierarchies--it's essentially a giant canvas.

Users of Google Docs and Spreadsheets will feel right at home, as the tool shares similar features for versioning, autosave, and collaboration. There's also built-in Skype integration, assuming your collaborators have provided their Skype username. While there's no built-in chat, users can fire up a text or voice chat on Skype by clicking on another collaborator's name.

For users who don't feel like logging in to add a quick idea to their mind map, MindMeister has a few tools that help out. Called "Geistesblitz" (meaning "mind flash"), these tools consist of a widget for OS X and Vista, and a browser extension that installs itself as a search engine in IE and Firefox's search box. When you come across something you feel like writing down, you can just enter it in, and it will be sent to whatever mind map you've chosen as the default.

MindMeister offers two tiers of service--one free, and a paid premium version that runs about $4 per month. The premium version gives users an unlimited amount of mind maps, as well as the option to embed them on blogs and Web sites. I've embedded a sample mind map after the jump.

Several exhibitors at next week's Web 2.0 Expo are recreating the desktop workspace experience by using new Web technologies such as Ajax and Adobe Flex. This isn't a new idea, but what is interesting is how many of them have forgone creating their own tools and stuck to integrating existing Web services in a stylized portal platform.

Zcubes attempts to emulate a desktop workspace with nearly 30 different tools that mimic desktop applications. With most of the tools relegated to things like casual drawing, comic strips, and Web browsing, the emphasis of the suite is fun.

G.ho.st (Global Hosted Operating SysTem) calls itself a "virtual computer," which for the most part is true. The service borrows some style cues from Windows XP and has floating widgets like what you'd find on YourMinis. It uses Pandora as a music jukebox, and Meebo as an IM client. G.ho.st users also get 3 GB of free online storage, which can be used for saving things while away from a home PC.

Sparc integrates Thinkfree Office, 50 GB of online storage, instant messaging, voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and a DVD conversion tool. Sparc is a little different from the other two apps, as it requires a small, self-running Java download to get going. We're interested to see the pricing and partnerships with this one, as 50GB of Web storage isn't something that's being handed out for free these days.

See also: Peepel, YouOs, Xcerion.

Related: Web OS: coming to a desktop near you

I just got a new ThinkPad T60, and I've become a bit obsessive about it. I've been hanging out on the ThinkPad forums and reading the ThinkPad designers' blog. And I just found something for ThinkPads that's so cool it actually made me giggle: The Google Maps Thinkpad controller app, a.k.a. gmaps, by Tatsuhiko Miyagawa, an engineer at Six Apart. (The YouTube video below is his.) It uses the orientation and motion sensor of the ThinkPad hard disk's Active Protection System to enable you to navigate your Google map by tilting your laptop. Tilt left, your map goes left, and so forth. It's a hack. It runs only in IE, requires you install ActivePerl (free), it doesn't resize to a big screen, and it doesn't work with Google Earth--now that would be even cooler. But it's fun, and I dig it.

I found this when I was looking for a ThinkPad version of SmackBook for Macs. Couldn't find one for Windows, but if you have Linux on your IBM or Lenovo laptop, there is SmackPad.