As of now, the Jetpack library only features a small number of extensions. Users can browse Jetpacks by tag, author and popularity (though the most popular Jetpack (a Google Wave add-on) currently only has 24 downloads. Nonetheless, quite a few interesting Jetpack add-ons have already found their way into the gallery. These include a tool that translates text with Google Translate, a browser-based image editor from pixlr that can be invoked from the right-click menu in Firefox and a plugin that displays tabs with thumbnails in the left sidebar.

Give it a Try

To get started with Jetpack, you have to install the Jetpack plugin first. After that, just head over to the Jetpack Gallery and install a few of the plugins. To manage the installed Jetpacks, point your browser to about:jetpack.

Now head over to the "Gadgets" section in Settings. For any of the gadgets listed below, all you have to do is enter in (or even better, copy and paste) the gadget URL provided into the box. Click "Add" and you're finished!

Twitter Gadget

The Twitter Gadget is a recent favorite of ours. Once installed, it provides a box where you can update your status, check your friends' timeline, read your replies and direct messages, and view your favorites.

Gadget URL: http://www.twittergadget.com/gadget_gmail.xml

Google Map Search

Need to look up an address which was just emailed to you? The Google Map Search lets you do so without having to leave Gmail. Just enter the location in the box provided and click "Search."

Gadget URL: http://www.google.com/ig/modules/mapsearch.xml

Facebook Gadget

Can't get enough Facebook and aren't up to installing the Xoopit Gmail plugin? Another option is the Facebook gadget which lets you get your latest Facebook notifications, check on your friends' updates, view photos, and even perform Facebook searches right within the gadget itself. The first time you install it, you'll have to authenticate with Facebook to give the gadget permission to access your account.

Gadget URL: http://www.brianngo.net/ig/facebook.xml

FriendFeed Gadget

If you're more of a FriendFeeder than Facebooker (or maybe you're both), another gadget you'll probably like is the FriendFeed gadget. This one is a Google Gadget repurposed for Gmail and it just displays your Home Feed, nothing more. There are no settings to customize and the layout hasn't been configured specifically for the small size of the Gmail sidebar. However, it is scrollable and you can "like" and comment within the gadget. If you need your FriendFeed everywhere, it's not a bad option.

Gadget URL: http://friendfeed.com/embed/googlegadget/spec

Digg Gadget

The Digg gadget lets you check out Digg's top stories within your Gmail sidebar. You can choose to just see News, Videos, or Images, or you can view all the stories. You can also use the drop-down box to pick which sub-section of stories you're interested in seeing (Technology, Politics, Science, Gaming, etc.). If you scroll over to the right, the gadget lets you access your friends list and your settings, which is, by the way, the area where you'll need to enter in your Digg username.

Gadget URL: http://digg.com/goog/ig.xml

Honorable Mentions

Here are a few other gadgets you may find of use. These aren't our personal favorites, but perhaps they will be yours:

World Clock: http://gad.getpla.net/poly/clock.xml

Google Translate: http://www.google.com/ig/modules/dictionary.xml

Ask a Word (Dictionary, Thesaurus, Encyclopedia): http://www.openinventions.com/spellcheck/openinventions_spellcheck.xml

Delicious Gadget: http://www.labpixies.com/campaigns/delicious/delicious.xml

MySpace Gadget: http://hosting.gmodules.com/ig/gadgets/file/100080069921643878012/myspace.xml

Flickr Gadget: http://hosting.gmodules.com/ig/gadgets/file/100080069921643878012/flickr.xml

Remember the Milk (Task List): http://www.rememberthemilk.com/services/modules/googleig/rtm.xml

Bit.ly URL Shortner: http://hosting.gmodules.com/ig/gadgets/file/107368512201818821991/bitly-shortener.xml

Orkut Scrapbook: http://hosting.gmodules.com/ig/gadgets/file/105297062528314471242/doomer_orkut_scrapbook.xml

Wikipedia Search: http://www.google.com/ig/modules/wikipedia.xml

Google Calculator: http://calebegg.com/calc.xm

Currency Converter: http://www.ac-markets.com/forex/currencyconverter.xml

Quick Links to Google Services: http://blakewest.googlepages.com/googleservices.xml

Gmail supports iGoogle gadgets, too, so you can actually add any gadget you want. Just find your favorite gadget, click the "share this gadget" option, and then copy the URL that ends with ".xml." However, be aware that not all gadgets will look good when smashed into the Gmail sidebar.

Ambient News is a new Firefox add-on written by Mozilla developer Atul Varma and is currently available as an alpha release. The add-on tracks your browsing habits, learning which sites you visit most frequently. It then pulls the headlines in from those sites and displays them for you in a beautifully fading list every time you open a new tab in Firefox. If you see something that interests you, just click the link and you'll be taken to the web site where the headline originated. Privacy advocates, rest assured - no data is shared outside your browser.

Intelligent Agents to the Rescue!

As Michael Calore of Wired notes, the add-on is a great workaround for the biggest usability problem facing RSS. "Many people don't know what it is or how to take advantage of it," he writes. "The first hint that a feed exists is a funky orange or blue icon. Click on it and, in most cases, you get prompted to load another application. Sometimes, you just see ugly, raw XML output."

But since we're mostly web geeks here at ReadWriteWeb, we're more enthralled with another aspect to this tool: its intelligence. As we mentioned not too long ago, cloud agents are on the rise. The term, coined by blogger Chris Arkenberg, refers to automated agents that help us better deal with the volumes of data we have to sort through every day. Although Ambient News isn't necessary a full-on cloud agent - it doesn't actually work in the cloud - it can still certainly be considered an agent, especially since it helps us sort through a barrage of information in a new way.

Other Alternatives

Ambient News is not the only alternative to the traditional RSS Reader. Over the past year at ReadWriteWeb, we've also made mention of other alternative news readers like Feedly, which puts a magazine-style interface on top of Google Reader. Another popular RSS reader is Snackr, an Adobe AIR app that scrolls headlines across your screen like a news ticker. Then there is, of course, FriendFeed, a lifestreaming application that's quickly becoming an alternative way to share information among the early adopter set.

Alternative RSS readers aren't for everyone, though - journalists, bloggers, researchers, and the like may still need to use a jam-packed feed reader in order to seek out the elusive info they seek on a regular basis. But for those of you who are more casual web surfers and blog readers, alternative RSS readers are a less stressful way to get your news without the news getting to you.

For example, visiting the site Twitter.com could alert you to the availability of the TweetDeck AIR application.

Before you get too excited, understand that App Discover does not quite work just yet - it's only a proof of concept. In order for it to work, the add-on created by Dion Almaer (who blogged about on Ajaxian) requires the developer to enter a link tag to their web page in order for the it to find the available apps. Because of its newness, no developers have done so just yet.

If App Discover became popular, it could be further customized to include user preferences so you could let the app know what sorts of apps you want to be alerted about - e.g. yes to Greasemonkey, no to Titanium apps. It could also include a social feature which would let you know how many of your friends had also installed the app being suggested.

We love the idea of this Firefox add-on, so we put the question to you developers out there - would you support this add-on? Please?

When we looked at Songbird in the past, many readers were quick to point out the player's sluggish experience, tendency to crash, and bugs. Whatever negative experiences you had before that drove you away from the software, now is the time to get it another shot.

This time around, the player felt fast, lightweight, and stable. It imported our iTunes library without a hitch, even the DRM-protected purchases and the accompanying metadata.

As we played tracks, an add-on called mashTape, one of the six default add-ons, let us delve into artist info, discography, links, news, and scroll through flickr photos and YouTube videos. Others that ship with the player out of the box include Last.fm, Concerts, and SHOUTcast radio.  With these installed, you can sync your tracks to Last.fm's online service, check out upcoming concerts in the area, and stream music over the internet using the player.

In addition, there are over 70 add-ons available for download from the Songbird site, including the recommended add-ons like LyricMaster, which puts the lyrics to your favorite tunes in the Songbird sidebar and MediaFlow which introduces a visually appealing cover flow view of your music.

Songbird is based on Mozilla's Gecko engine, the same engine that powers Firefox. And like Firefox, Songbird also allows for tabbed browsing and themes, as well as the above-mentioned add-ons. The customization and extendibility Songbird provides are really what make the software so compelling.

What's Missing

Of course, in pointing out Songbird's strengths, we would be remiss if we left out its weaknesses, too. Major features found in iTunes are still missing from the 1.0 release. Songbird can't automatically download album art, watch folders, offer feed management, or rip CDs. The roadmap promises these features are coming as is broader video support. However, considering it took the company two years to get to this point, some people may have trouble believing the promised February and April 2009 dates the roadmap lists.

For iPhone and iPod Touch users, iTunes will still be necessary as only iTunes allows for syncing those devices and the installation of apps. Even iPod users have reason to worry that Songbird will break at some point given Apple's tendency to shut down attempts to reverse-engineer their software.  

Why Apple Should Be Scared

Focusing solely on the missing features that make Songbird feel incomplete is near-sighted to say the least. Fast-forward to next year and you'll have a lot less to complain about. Remember, too, that the web browser you know and love as Firefox 3 didn't start off complete with an awesome bar, integrated add-on installer system, and full-page zoom, either.

What Songbird delivers is something Apple can't: a more open version of iTunes that runs on PC, Mac, and Linux machines. Apple's locked-down and closed iTunes player lets Songbird comfortably find its niche as the open, alternative music player, much as Firefox became the alternative web browser.  If the company ever reaches the point where it can match every one of iTunes features and provide the customization aspect, the decision to switch will become a no-brainer. Why have less when you can have more?

Today's Songbird is no iTunes killer...at least not at the moment. We're just not there yet - maybe we'll never be - but we're definitely enjoying watching the company give it a try.