Author: Rahsheen on Black Web 2.0

WWDC 2010

The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off on the 7th of June. Rumors already circulated that Steve Ballmer would be speaking about Visual Studio and Silverlight, but these were found to be false. All signs point to the new iPhone being officially released after getting leaked all over the blogosphere. The question is, what new features will the new iPhone bring? Android has been making big moves, so Apple is going to have to come hard. I’m sure they have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Quit Facebook Day

Fed up with the way that Facebook has man-handled their privacy, a few brave individuals have committed themselves to quitting Facebook entirely. Currently, there are about 23,107 angry Facebook users who have committed to quitting the popular social networking site on Monday, May 31st. For this group, quitting Facebook isn’t just about privacy:

For a lot of people, quitting Facebook revolves around privacy. This is a legitimate concern, but we also think the privacy issue is just the symptom of a larger set of issues. The cumulative effects of what Facebook does now will not play out well in the future, and we care deeply about the future of the web as an open, safe and human place. We just can’t see Facebook’s current direction being aligned with any positive future for the web, so we’re leaving.

There are a few things to consider here:

• Facebook has millions of users and, while they may act apologetic, losing a few thousand won’t hurt them.
• If you are hesitant to delete your Facebook, you’re already hooked. It’s crack. Quitting will not be easy.
• There are no alternatives, despite what some may say. They are either too obscure or too much of a pain for the average Facebook user to set up.
• I would bet half of the users signed up to quit won’t actually pull the trigger on Monday.

Google Reader Goes Public and Ping.fm Gets Buzz

Not only is Buzz deeply connected to your Gmail, but it also has ties to Google Reader. Up until now, comments on Reader shares were restricted, requiring you to manually choose who could comment. This restriction killed discussion and turned many potential users off. Now, anyone can leave comments on your Reader shares if you so choose. This feature is opt-out, but I doubt we’ll see any user backlash.

Another boost for Buzz is Ping.fm support. This opens up the door for much more activity and discussion on Buzz as more users will opt to participate there. Now, if only Google would give Buzz it’s own domain and get it out of my Gmail.

WeReward (say that 5x fast) launched today at TechCrunch Disrupt and wants to pay you cash to check-in at local businesses and venues. WeRewards comes from IZEA, the company behind Sponsored Tweets and PayPerPost. Not a shocker that they are moving to monetize the location game as well. I know, you’re looking back and thinking about all the money you missed out on by checking into Foursquare for free.

One smart move by WeReward is that they are not reinventing the wheel when it comes to being a location-based mobile network. Instead, they are simply piggy-backing off of Foursquare’s successful model. When you check-in to WeReward, you can automatically check-in to Foursquare as well.

WeReward works just like any other location-based app. You search for somewhere you would like to check-in and can optionally add a comment along with your check-in. The only difference is that you are also claiming points that ultimately translate into cash.

With all the spoofing and shenanigans that have gone on with Foursquare check-ins in the past, WeRewards has put in some safeguards to avoid being ripped off. Verification doesn’t even depend on your phone’s GPS abilities. In order to collect your points, you have to attach an actual photo from the venue. This can be a photo of you at the place or a photo of your receipt. The details are decided on by the advertiser or business. Once the advertiser has verified your check-in, you can receive your payout via PayPal.

In addition to deciding how you prove you’re actually at a location, the advertiser/business also decides how much you get paid. Each point equates to 1 cent, which offers businesses a lot of room for experimenting. Domino’s is currently offering 25 points (25 cents) for each check-in.

Could this be the future of location-based services? Possibly. While visiting business and earning badges is fun, who doesn’t want their social life to become self-sufficient? What if you could pay for a night out by sharing photos of how much fun you had? Of course, 1 cent payouts are nowhere near enough to take us there, but it’s a start.

Looking at the landscape of paid posts and tweets, It doesn’t seem far-fetched that high-profile people could earn a nice chunk of change this way. Some venues already pay celebs just to show up, why not web celebrities as well?

The Justice Department has become suspicious of Apple’s sales techniques for selling music online. More specifically, they are investigating Apple’s dealings with major music labels and Internet music companies. This comes according to several people with knowledge of discussions around the investigation. The investigation is just getting started, but those aware of what’s going on say it revolves around the broad dynamics of selling digital music.

One specific instance that keeps coming up according to sources is Apple’s behavior regarding Amazon digital music sales. Some allege that Apple used its dominant position in the online music market to influence music labels and dissuade them from giving Amazon exclusive access to unreleased music. Most who have said anything about the matter only did so in exchange for anonymity. This is a delicate situation that could cause a major stir in the online music market. Apple, Amazon, and a deputy director at the Justice Department Gina Talamona all declined to comment.

Back in March, Amazon ran a promotion called the “MP3 Daily Deal.” It offered consumers the chance to buy select music a day before its actual release. In order to make this promotion work, Amazon needed labels to give it exclusive rights to these songs for one day. According to the report by Billboard magazine, Apple urged labels to avoid this promotion. They even went as far as withdrawing marketing support from iTunes for those who did participate with Amazon.

“Certainly if the Justice Department is getting involved, it raises the possibility of potential serious problems down the road for Apple,” said Daniel L. Brown, an antitrust lawyer at Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton. “Without knowing what acts or practices they are targeting, it’s difficult to say exactly how big a problem this is,” Mr. Brown added. “But it’s probably something Apple is already concerned about.”

Apple has grown from a digital music underdog in 2001, to an Internet media juggernaut in 2010. They are also being investigated in a few other areas, including hiring practices and iPhone development rules. While some may say that this exclusive world of media created by Apple via iTunes is necessary to provide a certain level of quality, it’s also obvious that it gives Apple a lot of power. They control pricing, presentation, and the relationship with music consumers. If these antitrust investigations turn up anything significant, it could bring major changes to the online music and media world.

Audiobox.fm is an end-to-end solution for making sure you have access to your digital music collection wherever you are. Upload your music to the cloud and play it from just about any computer via the browser. There is nothing to download or install. This comes in handy for a variety of situations.

Once you’ve created your account, your first step will probably be to upload some music. A free account will give you access to 1GB of storage. This is probably more than enough for most people, but it depends on what you’re using AudioBox.fm for. One of the primary applications for the service is probably to give you a simple way to play your music on systems you don’t own and can’t install stuff on. This applies for many cubicle workers and people who just don’t have their own computer.

Upload music to your library from wherever you are. Play that music wherever you are. Everything happens inside the browser, which is the beauty of the entire system. There are no streaming limits, so you can listen to your tracks all day and all night with no interruptions. Another important point about the streaming setup is that your music is streamed at the rate you uploaded it. Many other services convert the stream to a lower bit rate at the expense of sound quality in order to save bandwidth.

AudioBox.fm attempts to take advantage of the latest browser technologies. Primarily, this means HTML5 and AudioBox.fm says they’ve built the best player around. In the event that your browser is old or just doesn’t support HTML5, Audiobox.fm will fall back on its Flash origins. Your plays can easily be scrobbled via Last.fm and you can share whatever you’re playing on Twitter.

Once you’ve got your feet wet with the free plan, you can always upgrade to get additional storage and features. Plans start at $3.99/month, which gets you 11GB of storage and access to your AudioBox.fm via a mobile device. You also gain access to the Library Manager so that you can actually edit the metadata on your songs. The other two plans are 7.99 and 9.99. These get you more storage, but you may be interested in other features like Downloading your music and the ability to upload formats other than mp3.

While we are seeing the cloud explode, it seems that playing your music there is not an easy application. One service, Lala, that did do this is gone and it was still not really your music that was playing, but a possibly lower quality copy. AudioBox.fm is offering the real deal at pretty affordable prices. I doubt even a true iTunes in the cloud will provide this much flexibility.

What do you think about AudioBox.fm?

Amar’e Stoudemire is pushing the boundaries as a social media entrepreneur, becoming the first celebrity to reward his fans by using group buying. Since the 20th of May, Stoudemire has offered group buys on playoff tickets for Game 3 and Game 4 in Phoenix, AZ on his Facebook page. This is a very creative way to not only reward fans, but to create a viral effect within the social media community and beyond. “

“As an agency that specializes in talent management and online direct marketing, we needed a unique solution to offer the products and experiences Amar’e believes in to his fans. This initiative puts Amar’e at the forefront of celebrity direct marketing,” said Anthony Rodriguez, CEO, Lineage Interactive.

Stoudemire has created a partnership with Atcost.com and Razorgator Tickets in order to sell tickets to fans at a discount. Using Atcost.com, fans can buy the tickets without ever leaving Stoudemire’s page. In addition, fans who share the deal with friends and family get an instant discount. The more you promote the deal, the more money you save on the actual purchase. Atcost is the only group buying platform that offers this ability.

“Group buying is about bringing people together for a collective benefit. Celebrities like Amar’e have vast fan bases that they can directly engage through social media. AtCost’s new partnership with Razorgator Tickets and Amar’e represents a new paradigm in group buying. This is the perfect way to leverage online fan bases to provide value to everyone,” said Michael Reinstein, CEO, AtCost.com

Social media and social networking have almost become standard for any marketing campaign. This is true for major brands and corporations as well as individuals and artists. The focus is to connect directly with your fans and potential customers in hopes of leveraging that community for profit. Most campaigns seem to forget that customers need incentives in order to be active within the community and/or move forward in the sales funnel.

This group buying technique fits perfectly, providing fans with an incentive to spread the word about what they’re purchasing. “Viral” as it relates to social media is a tired buzz word, but it’s still a major component in achieving success. Giving back to your community is also extremely important and Amar’e seems to understand this completely when he says, “I chose to partner with AtCost.com and Razorgator Tickets because they can offer my fans the best experience possible. I thought this would be a great way to give back to the fans that have supported the team all season and get them out for Games 3 and 4. I also look forward to using this new technology to offer my fans additional group buying opportunities.”

Mayor Bloomberg showed up at TechCrunch Disrupt unannounced to share an important contest for NYC and Silicon Alley. Bloomberg will be giving My City Way $300,000 in funding to support development MCW’s travel discovery platform. My City Way provides a simple way to access different categories of venues throughout the city. This includes dining, nightlife, safety, transit, hotels, and more. Their flagship product is the NYC Way application for iPhone/iPod and Android. It won three awards at Mayor Bloomberg’s NYC BigApps Competition and has been downloaded over 300,000 times on iTunes.

My City Way was named a Top 5 travel application by Fox News. It serves as a “location-aware guidebook” that will soon be available not only in NYC, but in over 40 cities around the world. Each city-specific guide is like “50 hyper-local apps rolled into one.” Rather than simply touring a city and checking in at the places you visit, My City Way will help you figure out where you want to go in the first place. It has been tailored for use by tourists and locals, turning your mobile device into a city discovery gateway.

DataRockit, a sponsor of the TechCrunch event, is the leader in data services technologies and powers some of the largest online information applications in the world. Their database holds about 3.1 billion current records related to consumer, criminal, sex-offender, and real estate data. DataRockit opened up their database to developers, posing the challenge to to come up with ways to create safety for communities. My City Way took on the challenge and attempted to incorporate the data sets into their application during the hack a day overnight event this past weekend.

When it came down to the wire, they were not able to integrate everything, but the founder plans to continue the work they began. This data will be included in both their iPhone and iPad apps to provide features related to consumer issues, crime within the city, real estate and sex offenders within the city.

The contest terms are as follows:

• Contestants can be individuals or teams
• No cost to enter and no purchase required
• Proposals must include:

1. Full description of application, its uses, capabilities and function
2. Wireframes or mock-ups
3. At least 2 potential user scenarios
4. Proposals must be sent to disrupt@datarockit.net by June 7, 2010

The winning proposal will be announced on June 14, 2010, the final day of New York’s Internet Week. At that time, the selected individual or team will have until September 1, 2010 to fully build out a prototype model of their application. The partnership between DataRockit and the winning application will include:

• Data necessary to run the application
• Data infrastructure and hosting servers
• Developer support and access to DataRockit’s development team

In an update about the state of the Twitter platform on their blog today, Twitter has slipped in a section devoted to the demise of paid tweet services. These include the likes of Ad.ly, Magpie, Sponsored Tweets, and others. Many Twitter users are probably rejoicing at this announcement as paid tweets have been a point of contention for quite some time. Other users, including myself, are anticipating the end of an income stream. Who is most concerned with this announcement? The companies that have built themselves on this concept of paid tweets. What will they do to survive?

As our primary concern is the long-term health and value of the network, we have and will continue to forgo near-term revenue opportunities in the service of carefully metering the impact of Promoted Tweets on the user experience. It is critical that the core experience of real-time introductions and information is protected for the user and with an eye toward long-term success for all advertisers, users and the Twitter ecosystem. For this reason, aside from Promoted Tweets, we will not allow any third party to inject paid tweets into a timeline on any service that leverages the Twitter API. We are updating our Terms of Service to articulate clearly what we mean by this statement, and we encourage you to read the updated API Terms of Service to be released shortly.

Why are we prohibiting these kinds of ads? First, third party ad networks are not necessarily looking to preserve the unique user experience Twitter has created. They may optimize for either market share or short-term revenue at the expense of the long-term health of the Twitter platform. For example, a third party ad network may seek to maximize ad impressions and click through rates even if it leads to a net decrease in Twitter use due to user dissatisfaction.

Secondly, the basis for building a lasting advertising network that benefits users should be innovation, not near-term monetization. Twitter is uniquely dependent on and responsible for the long-term health and value of the platform. Accordingly, a necessary focus of Promoted Tweets is to explore ways to create value for our users. Third party ad networks may be optimized for near-term monetization at the expense of innovating or creating the best user experience. We believe it is our responsibility to encourage creative product development and to curb practices that compromise innovation.

To summarize, Twitter believes that the current crop of paid tweet services are short-sighted. They are not innovative and don’t really offer value to Twitter users. It’s easy to see why they may think so as most of these services are working off of the most obvious monetization strategy, charging advertisers to rent a user’s Twitter followers. Twitter also points out that these services are not necessarily concerned with the success of Twitter itself. They are simply focused on making a quick buck off of the popular microblogging service.

To be clear, Twitter is not simply placing a ban on any third-party making money from it, but are specifically concerned with the paid tweets model. They are not targeting applications or services that simply place ads around Twitter content. It will be interesting to see which services will be able to shift gears and innovate their way out of this. While it seems like all is lost, there is still room for success. For example, MyLikes already allows you to share sponsored likes via an embed code that you can place on any website.

Were you making money from paid tweets? How does this announcement effect you?

Editor’s Note: We consulted our staff writer/IP lawyer Latoicha Givens for a more in depth analysis of the situation and her conclusion was as follows:

“Basically Twitter can change any term or condition of the API rules/terms of service agreement as they see fit.

The short and skinny. Twitter is going to roll out their Promoted Tweets Ad program very soon and they do not want to compete with third party ads. They need to gain some control over the advertising because they have to start making money. I am sure they want all the advertising to go through their program so they can become profitable.”

If you want to check out Twitter API Terms of Service Agreement check out the following link: http://dev.twitter.com/pages/api_terms

Offisync is currently the top rated application in the Google Apps Marketplace. 216 users have taken a second to say how much they like it. This is because Offisync let’s you do what may seem impossible at first: integrate Microsoft Office on your desktop with Google Docs in the cloud. Many users, forced to choose between the desktop and the cloud, could suddenly breathe a sigh of relief. Offisync gives you the best of both worlds.

Installation

Offisync was actually around before the Google Apps Marketplace even existed. Installation is a two step process depending on how you plan to use it. For users who just want to connect their desktop Office suite with their standard Google account, simply download the Offisync software and follow the installation instructions.

If you want to use Offisync with your custom domain on your Google Apps account, you will also need to install Offisync from the Google Apps Marketplace. It’s a quick process to install and activate it, only taking a few clicks of your mouse. After that, all users on your domain will have access to use it.

What To Do With It

Now that you’ve got everything installed, putting it to good use is easy. When you start up Office, you will find that you have a new Offisync toolbar (or menu, depending on your version of Office). Your first step will be to add your Google account. You can do so by navigating to the Offisync toolbar and choosing Settings. In the Accounts dialog, click Add and enter your Google email address and password. If you’re using Google Apps, be sure to enter the correct email address at your domain.

Now, you will have full access to your Google Docs folders. Simply choose Open on the Offisync toolbar. Perform web and image searches from the toolbar and insert the resulting content directly into your document. As you edit your documents locally, just be sure to use the Offisync Open/Save options to stay in sync with the cloud.

Other Features

If you opt for a premium account ($12 per year or a one-time payment of $30), you will have access to a few additional features:

• Edit your files stored on Google Sites.
• Co-authoring for your documents – This lets you see, in real-time, changes made by those you have shared the document with.
• Save your documents in native Office format – Offisync usually converts your document to Google Docs format in order to store it, but this feature lets you store your document in Google Docs without converting and without losing any important formatting.

Offisync should help ease the transition from Google Docs if you plan to switch to the new Office 2010. If you just like the feel of editing documents locally, but being able to access them from anywhere, this also works. Regardless of the situation, Offisync may be just what you need to make dealing with documents easier.

Do you use Offisync yet?

YouTube Turns Five

The most popular video sharing site on the Internet turned five this week. They have a channel dedicated to the event where users can submit videos detailing how YouTube has affected their lives. YouTube receives over two billion views each day. According to Google, this is almost double the combined prime-time viewing audience for all 3 major television networks. The bulk of their traffic comes from outside of the US, though. YouTube also recently launched a localized South African version of the site.

Springpad Launches for Android

Springpad (getting started guide) has released an Android app, which only makes it more viable as an Evernote competitor. Just as the web interface does, the mobile application adds extra data to whatever you store. This helps to easily create a useful database of stuff with less manual labor on your part. You can also share your items across the social web.

TweetDeck Web Interface

At the Google I/O conference, attendees got a glimpse of an HTML5 interface for TweetDeck, the popular Twitter client. If you were to ask people why they don’t use TweetDeck, one of the primary answers will be that it’s an Adobe Air application. Many users just don’t want that type of overhead. An HTML5 interface for TweetDeck is currently under development and, by the time is actually released, should include support for Google Buzz. The desktop version recently added Buzz support.

Extension.fm Gets Funding and Goes Public

Audio discovery service Extension.fm is an extension for Google Chrome that collects audio streams as you browse the web. You can listen to these as you browse or access them later. It’s pretty different from other services like Pandora and Last.fm in that you probably won’t end up with anything close to a cohesive mix centered around a single artist or band. It provides for a very interesting experience which is now open for all to try.

Twitter Makes Tweetie Free and Dominates App Store

Twitter seems to have accomplished exactly what they set out to do in their purchase of the Tweetie app on the iPhone. A simple change in name from Tweetie to Twitter and the app now dominates the App store. The fact that it dropped in price from $2.99 to free probably helped as well. Most importantly, this change should help Twitter better control the experience for new users.

There were a lot of cool new technologies and services launched at Google I/O. As always, Google is making big moves in many different directions. There is now no denying that Google and Apple are in direct competition in multiple areas. Here are a few announcements that stood out.

WebM

WebM is an alternative video format to the current H.264 being used for many HTML5 applications. The problem with H.264 is that they will start charging a licensing fee for it’s use in 2015. This has made some uneasy about devoting too much energy to the H.264 format and the proposed HTML5 standard as it relates to video. Licensing fees could be too much for your average developer or startup. WebM provides a free and open, high quality choice for those looking to get into the HTML5 game with no danger of fees in the future.

Google TV

While sites like Hulu and YouTube are challenging traditional television in terms of viewers, there still seems to be something missing in the experience. Many of your shows aren’t available, for one. Also, the experience of finding and watching videos on the web far exceeds that of the interface from your standard TV. With that in mind, Google has developed Google TV, which aims to combine your standard television experience with the power of the web. They have already partnered with sites like Jinni.com and Rovi and developers can start optimizing their sites for Google TV right now. It remains to be seen exactly how things will pan out, but we can already see that this could be a huge game changer for black media.

App Engine for Business

App Engine is the platform that has allowed countless developers to create web applications without the need to worry about scalability or storage, probably the most boring parts of the process. Creativity in development and design can flourish when the back-end stuff is being taken care of. App Engine for Business takes this idea to the next level, allowing enterprise-level development on the same platform as Google itself uses. Listening to feedback from enterprise customers, Google has added the necessary features at a reasonable cost of $8 per user.

Android Froyo

Probably one of the most anticipated segments, the features announce for Android 2.2 (codename “Froyo” after frozen yogurt) didn’t disappoint. One of the most notable new features in the ability to not only tether your Windows or Linux computer, gaining access to the net via your 3G phone connection, but you can also use that connection to create a mobile hotspot for up to 8 devices. As part of this announcement, it seems that Google has quietly launched a competitor to iTunes that seems to do all the things you wish iTunes would. For more details, visit the Android Developers blog.

Other Announcements

Google has finally launched an API for Buzz, which has already been integrated into clients like Tweetdeck and Seesmic. For me, the fact that Buzz is locked away inside my Gmail has been a huge deterrent to actually using it, so this may be a huge step forward for Buzz. Google Latitude has also got a new API, which could definitely cause some disruption among location-based services. Google Storage for developers is basically competition for Amazon S3 and may succeed in stealing away some Amazon S3 customers who want to consolidate and simplify operations.

For more details and videos, visit the Google Code Blog.

Microsoft Security Essentials, while not some flashy new piece of software, is probably one of the most overlooked. Even some who have heard of it have yet to actually download and install it. Being more of a tech person, I always find it surprising how vulnerable many people are when it comes to their computer’s security, especially when Microsoft is offering most of what they need completely free.

Protection from viruses, malware, and spyware is a group effort. While you may have your computer secured, people you contact or collaborate with may not. This is how these malicious programs are able to thrive. Conversely, if you are the one who doesn’t have the proper protection, you are not just putting yourself at risk, but everyone that you deal with. This includes friends, family, and even your customers and fans.

That being said, it’s of utmost importance to make sure you are not part of the problem. While many new computers come with some type of antivirus and/or spyware protection installed, these are usually trial versions and chances are yours has already expired. Microsoft Security Essentials is a free download. You don’t need any technical knowledge to get going. It provides multiple levels of protection and doesn’t overwhelm your computer.

What MSE really offers is real-time protection from malicious activity on your computer. This means that it keeps you safe from viruses, spyware, and other malicious software all the time. While it does run regular scans, it also keeps an eye on your computer and attempts to block any suspicious activity the moment that it happens.

Many programs aim to do this, but Microsoft Security Essentials does it well. Not only that, but it stays quietly in the background until you need it rather than randomly bogging down your system. While some MS software in the past has been a bit resource intensive, MSE is surprisingly efficient. It is kept up-to-date with the latest security information and software updates. Once installed, any user can tell if there is a problem: when you’re green, you’re good.

Once you download and install Microsoft Security Essentials, your work is pretty much done. It will keep itself updated and run scheduled scans without your interference. Don’t end up looking bad and infecting your customers. Take the easy way out.

Are you using MSE yet?

Reinforcing the old saying that content is king, Yahoo has decided to purchase Associated Content. This move puts a network of over 380,000 freelance content creators at their disposal. According to Yahoo, Associated Content boasts 16 million unique visitors each month. AC’s editorial staff picks through 50,000 articles, images, and audio and video clips every month. Yahoo will be able to leverage this never ending flow of original content to drive traffic to it’s search engine and web properties. This traffic should help to boost ad revenue.

“Together, we’ll create more content around what we know our users care about, and open up new and creative avenues for advertisers to engage with consumers across our network,” said Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz in a statement on Tuesday. – via BusinessWeek

The specific terms of the deal have not been disclosed at this time, but sources say Yahoo shelled out around $90 million. The deal should be finalized by the third quarter of this year. While this seems like a win for Yahoo as it competes with it’s long time rival AOL, many feel this may have been a bad decision. Associated Content does generate a lot of content, but some think this is at the expense of quality.

It looks like Carol Bartz has decided that the way for Yahoo to survive is to add to the proliferation of content that is being produced for the sole purpose of garnering search traffic. That ‘content’ is often just glorified keyword wrappers that do little to actually help a reader but plenty to sucker them into an advertising trap. via Marketing Pilgrim

As TechCrunch points out, many are also scratching their heads because this move seems to go against their overall strategy and brand image. Many trust Yahoo for the quality of their content, but AC doesn’t operate within the same arena. Being open to any content creator, you will inevitably come across things that just don’t make the grade.

We will have to wait and see exactly how Yahoo plans to take advantage of this acquisition. Yahoo has already planned to open up the site internationally as it is US-only at the moment. It’s possible they have other tricks up their sleeves that may serve to increase the quality of content available. They could also be planning to just leverage the community of content creators in some way. What better type of community to have than one already focused on generating content?

Microsoft will be launching the next generation of Hotmail or possibly of web mail in general. The new version is being called Hotmail Wave 4 and it will pack a feature set very similar to what Gmail currently offers. In some cases, it will take things to the next level. Boring email attachment and links are automatically displayed as previews. Threaded conversations, ridiculous amounts of cloud storage, and advanced search will all make an appearance.

Hotmail Wave 4 helps you work smarter and be more productive. You can do more with your email without ever leaving your inbox. If someone sends you a bunch of photo attachments, you can view them as a photo gallery rather than downloading them all or opening too many browser tabs. The same goes for documents and presentations. Taking things a step further, even links to photos and videos are handled intelligently, embedding the content directly in the email. If you receive a document that requires editing, you can do so right inside of Hotmail and send it back as a reply. No need to even download the document locally.

Hotmail is the #1 web mail client worldwide and is only second to Yahoo in the US. Gmail has been running a close 3rd for a while now. While Hotmail Wave 4 is stomping on Gmail’s toes by adding tagging, smart filtering, and conversation views (rather than simple chronological order), it is completely destroying Gmail as far as handling attachments.

• Gmail has a maximum size of 25MB for attachments. Hotmail is giving you 50MB per attachment.
• Hotmail will let you attach 10GB of data to a single email. Not only is this a ridiculous amount of data to be able to send, but it’s 400 times what Gmail will let you do. This will let you send just about anything you want via email: entire photo albums, a few mixtapes, full-length movies, etc.
• Instead of downloading documents, editing them, and then sending back as an attachment in your reply, just edit the document in Hotmail as your reply in one step.

Windows Live Skydrive and Silverlight are the technologies behind the scenes that makes this all look like magic. Email has been around forever, but hasn’t really changed much. Gmail pushed the boundaries, but is still just scratching the surface. The new Hotmail will allow you to do those things you’ve always wished your email did.

I just wonder how long it will take Gmail to notice they are being left behind. It will also be interesting to see how many Gmail users jump ship and how many dormant Hotmail accounts get put back on active duty. Look for the new Hotmail this summer.

Threadbox is a service that claims to help workgroups “increase productivity by harnessing conversations, files, dates, and opinions.” Most of our daily communications and collaborations go through email and many existing solutions for collaboration don’t seem to take this into account, sometimes making them difficult to learn and adapt to.

The real time discussion tracking, file sharing, schedule coordinating, project managing, decision making tool that works right alongside email – and just might replace it.

It Starts With a Thread

A thread is simply a collection of all the items related to a discussion within Threadbox. They are in essence the same as a thread on any other communications platform, except for including features like file attachments, to-do lists, conference calls, events, and group opinions.

Anyone can start a thread and then invite others to it via email. Anyone on the thread can post messages and other items. A unique posting email and email notifications for new items in the thread make it easy to add content and integrate Threadbox with your existing email workflow. The posting address for the thread can be customized so that your participants can easily remember it.

Threadbox takes a page from the Posterous book, allowing you to start a thread simply by emailing start@threadbox.com in addition to starting a thread from the website. In either case, you get a link to your shiny new thread and the option to add participants. While Threadbox can be tightly integrated with your email, you still have the option to work from the web inbox and forego emails entirely.

Privacy

Threadbox threads work just like mailing lists. If you have been invited, you can see what is being posted. Only participants of the thread can see the content, but this does not prevent this content from leaking out of the system. This isn’t a major concern for most individuals and organizations, but is worth noting given current privacy concerns around Facebook, Twitter, and Buzz. In short, Threadbox is probably no more insecure than the email you would otherwise be using anyway.

Other Features

Threadbox keeps to it’s word in providing a simple interface for complex communications. Other services do have a similar layout, but Threadbox has done a good job of keeping the focus on the threads in their user interface and documentation. Once you’ve got the basics of creating and interacting with a thread, the rest flows as naturally as posting a status update.

Threadbox is free to use with up to 1GB of storage. For some organizations, you may want to investigate Threadbox PRO for 20GB of storage, enhanced security, data exporting, custom URL, and conference call recording.

Threadbox promises more features in the future, like SMS and IM notifications. Definitely an awesome tool for independent professionals and organizations with clients and partners to collaborate with.

What do you think about Threadbox?

YouTube currently get about 2 billion views per day, 70% of those views are from outside of the United States. It only makes sense for them to step into those locations that are feeding the site and set up locally. This new setup will give South African users more opportunity to increase exposure.

“There’s something on YouTube for everyone, from amateur to professional content, the unexpected to the emotionally affecting, the educational to the entertaining. We’re very excited to bring a local version of YouTube to South Africa and we look forward to continuing to improve the YouTube experience for our South African users.” -Chad Hurley, YouTube Co-Founder

South African video blogger KhayaV has been using YouTube since 2006, and was even able to buy Youtube likes since 2009. He says, “YouTube is a fascinating platform where people from different cultures and countries all over the world are active participants in a global conversation. By giving people the power to broadcast themselves, YouTube helps increase our understanding of each other, one clip at a time.”

YouTube has already secured partnership agreements with a number of South African media companies including the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and e.tv. These partners will attempt to leverage their channels on the site, possibly expanding their offerings to cover a variety of news, sport, soaps, dramas and comedies.

One major focus is to make sure the site and the videos load and play quickly for all visitors. This includes places where bandwidth may be scarce. To this end, users have the option to view YouTube using the beta interface. This cuts things down to a bare minimum to deliver videos in as small a number of bytes as possible. You can opt-in and try out Feather to see how it works.