A couple of week's ago, we wrote about iFoods.tv, which was attempting to create "Facebook for foodies." Recently, I was contacted by a very similarly named start up: iFood.tv (notice the lack of 's'). If iFoods.tv (s) is trying to become Facebook for foodies, then iFood.tv (no s) has already nailed MySpace for foodies.
As you might have guessed, iFood.tv is a social network built about users sharing and discussing recipes. Though it supports text/photo recipes, the site really emphasizes videos.
The Rugby World Cup has just started and many people all over the world are glued to their TV sets - especially in my home country New Zealand, where rugby is a national religion. iGoogle has come to the party, by offering a group of Rugby World Cup widgets (Google calls them "gadgets") to help you follow the action. For tech newbies, iGoogle is a personalized start page where you can install widgets (a.k.a. mini web applications) to access interactive Web content (full review here).
The Official Google Australia Blog has details of the rugby widgets: featuring live scores, team information, rugby news, stadium locations, local information, rugby fan videos, results and rankings. You can access all of that by clicking on the link to add the ‚ÄúRugby 2007‚Ä? tab to your personalised homepage.
We reported earlier today about Microsoft's 10-point list on why Google Apps isn't ready for the enterprise. Now Zimbra, an innovative Web Office startup focused on messaging and collaboration, has added to the anti-Google Apps chorus - specifically citing Sarbanes-Oxley compliance issues. Zimbra says that since all Google docs and files are stored on Google's servers, public companies would face big Sarbanes-Oxley compliance issues if they deployed Google Apps. [Update: Bob Warfield points out that "there is no requirement by SOX that data has to be on a company’s own servers, just that the data be carefully controlled and audited."] The solution? You guessed, it: deploy Zimbra instead.
Blog search engine Technorati today announced a new feature: topics. Topics is a river-of-news style aggregator of posts from top blogs in the areas of Entertainment, Technology, Politics, Sports, Business, and Life.
According to Technorati, the topics feature was seeded with popular blogs that were chosen by taking into account a combination of "Technorati Authority, frequency of posting, use of relevant tags, links to related subject matter and general topicality."
Today TravBuddy, a social network built around travel, announced that it has hit the one million user mark. The network was launched in 2005, but over the past six months has seen its membership grow 100 fold. Why the big increase? One reason is clear: Facebook.
In May, TravBuddy launched an a Facebook app called the TravBuddy.com Countries Visited Map, which lets users put a flash map on their profiles displaying which countries they've visited. The app has just under 500,000 users, all of which have signed up for an account on TravBuddy as well.
Up till now, Microsoft has been very quiet about the nascent Web Office threat from Google. But today, in response to the news that IT systems consultancy CapGemini has partnered with Google to sell Google Apps Premier Edition (GAPE) to enterprises, Microsoft issued an email listing 10 "top questions that enterprises should ask when considering the switch to GAPE." The questions read more like reasons why enterprises shouldn't choose Google Apps. This list was first published by Mary Jo Foley, who says it was an unsolicited email from a Microsoft "corporate spokesperson".
The 10 reasons make for fascinating reading - and show just how concerned Microsoft really is about not only Google Apps, but Web Office in general. Here is a copy of the email list:
Ajax13, the makers of a web application suite that includes ajaxWrite, ajaxPresents, ajaxSketch, ajaxXLS, and ajaxTunes, today officially released their web operating system, ajaxWindows.
ajaxWindows is a full featured web OS deployed in a browser window using JavaScript. It has a familiar Windows like desktop feel, complete with a task bar, start menu, and desktop icons. It acts as a launcher for many popular web 2.0 sites and applications -- and lets you add menu or desktop icons for each. It also supports a range of desktop widgets and all of Ajax13's applications operate natively.
Google is being sued in an Australian court for "potentially misleading consumers," reports News.com.au. At issue are the sponsored ad spots Google sells at the top of some search results above the first organic result. The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) alleges that Google has encouraged deceptive practices among businesses by selling the advertising in that top position on its search results pages, while telling consumers that its results are organic.
Specifically, the ACCC names online car dealership Trading Post, which purchased sponsored ads on Google in 2005 for search results relating to searches for the names of other New South Wales car dealerships. The ACCC argues that by using the name of those dealerships in their ads, the Trading Post links appeared to point to the official dealership web sites or implied an affiliation that did not exist. The ACCC alleges that this is a breach of Australia's Trade Practices Law.
The first in a series of posts about how to run a startup and develop a product, written by guest author Matt Rogers of Aroxo - a person-to-person trading exchange for consumer electronics, computer gear, whitegoods, and more.
The aim of many entrepreneurs is to take a business idea and convert it into a professional and functioning business on a low budget. This is typically called “bootstrapping” and it is fraught with potential pitfalls and dangers. But when done well it can really help get a company going fast, professionally and without the founders having to give up much (if any) equity - or bankrupting themselves.
Over the next 5-6 posts I’ll outline the process which I’ve now followed at several corporates and which I’ve honed to work with my own startup, Aroxo. I’ll discuss what skills you’ll need, how to write your requirements, how to source developers and designers, how much to budget, how to agree a development contract, how to manage your vendors, how to plan your release, all the documentation you'll need, and much more.
UK newspaper The Guardian is reporting that Google has partnered with major IT consultancy and outsourcing specialist CapGemini, to sell Google Apps to enterprises. CapGemini, which is also a partner of Microsoft and IBM, will keep the $50 per user fee that Google charges for Google Apps Premier Edition. They will also make money off services. CapGemini currently manages about a million desktops for corporate clients.
Interestingly, CapGemini's strategy is to "mix and match" Microsoft and Google office products - so it seems Google Apps will be a complement, moreso than a replacement, for Microsoft Office. Google too seems to be pushing the complement line. Robert Whiteside, Google enterprise manager for UK and Ireland, is quoted as saying: "If you look at the traditional desktop it is very focused on personal productivity. What Google Apps brings is team productivity."
