Usually team collaboration tools are separated into distinct categories. You have tools for presentations like GoToMeeting, WebEx, or BudgetConferencing; you have whiteboarding applications like Twiddla's team brainstorming solution and sometimes you have combo solutions like Adobe's Connect Now which lets you whiteboard and web conference at the same time. Or there's Vyew which lets you whiteboard and screen share. Then you have your project or task management tool set which can be anything from Basecamp to Clever Tools to Google Docs or it can even be an enterprise 2.0 app like the newly launched Qtask. Finally, if you just want to share screens live, you have to turn to solutions like Yugma (review), Yuuguu (review), or DimDim.(This isn't an extensive list by any means, FYI).

There aren't many apps that combine all these functions into one. OpenACircle, however, makes a good effort at doing so. The only feature they're lacking is a dedicated whiteboarding tool, but considering the support for everything else from file sharing to screen sharing, it's not worth dismissing the app solely due to that one missing feature. Besides, they're looking into adding that in a later release, if there is enough demand.

OpenACircle Dashboard

OpenACircle's Feature Set

What OpenACircle does provide is an extensive feature set that works well for distributed teams that still need to meet up regularly and share what they're working on with each other. To accomplish this, the app provides the following features, as detailed below.

Collaborate

The core feature to OpenACircle is the concept of the circles themselves. Essentially, a circle is a virtual team collaboration space where everyone can share information and work with each other in an environment focused on one particular area of a task or project.

If you have documents, spreadsheets, PDFs, PowerPoints, or any other type of file, you can upload it to the circle. You can import contacts from your email program and you can invite other members to join the circle. From within the circle, you can quickly launch the other conferencing aspects of the program like web conferencing which is done using web cams or screen-sharing. Every action taken within a circle is meant to be fast and easy, often only one or two clicks away. In a circle, no one person is tasked with being the admin or organizer - everyone can upload files, start chats, or host a meeting.

A Live Room

Presentations and Web Conferencing

Whether you need to share your desktop for a presentation or just have an online meeting with other team members, you can accomplish this from OpenACircle. Anyone can schedule the meeting and invite members to attend. Although a dozen members can participate in a live audio or video conference at one time, OpenACircle limits you to viewing three web cams and one desktop at a time. They claim this to be an intentional design choice because "people talk in same clusters," but the reality is that the system might not be able to support a dozen live cam streams at once. That's not really a big deal for smaller teams, but those teams with more members might wish to see all the faces of the meeting attendees.

Meeting Participants

For anyone who missed the meeting, the recordings are made available for later viewing. What's interesting is that multiple recordings from each member's viewpoint are archived. This means that you could have Bob, who was watching Sue's desktop, saved in one stream and John, who was watching Bob's desktop, saved in another. That's a feature you don't see elsewhere.

Chats

While attending a meeting, you have the opportunity to chat with other members through an integrated text chatting feature. You can even privately chat ("whisper") to each other. Those public chats are later archived within the circle. They could be used for side discussions or even as real-time meeting minutes.

Conclusion

OpenACircle represents an innovative all-in-one solution for small teams. They could be teams in a traditional enterprise or SMB environment who are just looking for a better way to work together or they could also be distributed teams for whom geography is a challenge. Mobile professionals will like it too, as it allows them to attend meetings and have the benefit of team collaboration even when they're on the road alone.

Users today receive 25 circles with as many as 50 people in each circle with unlimited storage. OpenACircle.com will begin charging in January. Anyone who signs up now will receive 90 days free even if they exceed what is currently being provided for free. Pricing is $9.95 for a premium account that incorporates additional circles and additional storage. OpenACircle.com will always have a free version. A fully operable version will be free up to a certain memory limitation (1GB) and over that will be $9.95 per month per user.

You can now join the OpenACircle beta program from the company homepage.

UPDATE: In light of the comments below, it's worth noting that OpenACircle has initially launched Windows-only, but support for other platforms (like Mac) and browsers (including a mobile version) are coming in the future. More specifically, Firefox support is only 30-45 days out.

These sites aren't just simplified versions of our former desktop apps, either. Instead, they offer a number of features that take advantage of their "always on" status. Forget downloading updates and typing in your transactions line-by-line, these new banking 2.0 sites can offer you better insight into your financial situation with no additional effort on your part beyond just logging in.

Mint

Mint.com may be the most popular of the online banking apps today...or perhaps it's just the most hyped. The site currently claims to serve nearly 400,000 users, manages over $12 billion in transactions, and has saved $100 million+ for its users. On Mint.com, you can manage your bank account, credit card accounts, loans, brokerage and investment accounts, and more. The site also provides guides that can help you make big financial decisions like buying a new car or home. The feature which makes Mint unique is their ability to scan through your bank account and credit card transactions in order to help you find savings. They do this by matching you up with offers for new credit cards with lower rates or by negotiating a lower rate with your current company.

Wesabe

Wesabe takes what's normally a private activity - financial management - and makes it social. Like other online banking apps, Wesabe lets you see all your bank accounts and credit cards in one place. You can categorize your transactions and see spending and earning summaries. Where Wesabe is different is that it takes your data, anonymizes it, and shares it with the Wesabe community. That aggregate data is then analyzed for patterns and those results are shared with everyone. For example, Wesabe can show the cost of an average transaction at a particular merchant.

Geezeo

Geezeo is very much like Mint.com in that it offers a centralized site to access all your financial accounts including banking, credit cards, loans, etc. Where they are a bit different is in their community aspect. Instead of anonymized data, they offer community-focused areas like Groups and Goals where you can socialize and learn from others who have the same financial concerns that you do. Geezeo also stands out for letting you upload your own bank account data, if you so desire, instead of having to set up accounts to upload into Geezeo automatically. Transactions can also be manually entered. Geezeo offers a mobile app too, that lets you check your balances and available credit from your mobile phone.

Expensr

Expensr is an online personal finance application which was recently acquired by recommendation engine Strands. The site is now being integrated with Strands' recommendation technology to produce a new product, moneyStrands, which analyzes your financial history in order to recommend products and services you may find appealing. The site lets you import your bank account files into their system using a secure uploader. The app will then auto-categorize your transactions. You're presented with a variety of pie graphs and bar graphs that break down your spending to show you where your money is going. You can compare yourself to your peers by tagging yourself with keywords like "young professional" or "college student" and then look at your spending habits versus the average from that particular group. Expensr also offers budgeting tools which can help you plan for the future.

moneyStrands

After acquiring Expensr, Strands has been working to combine its technology with their own recommendation engine. The end result is moneyStrands, still in private beta. Ultimately, the site will offer you a way to aggregate your financial information in one place and see instant snapshots of your finances. Recommendation technologies will present you with services you may be interested in and you can anonymously compare your habits with others. At the moment, Expensr and moneyStrands appear as separate web sites, but perhaps they will become more integrated in the future.

Xero

Where Mint.com may appeal to former Quicken users, Xero.com appeals to former Quickbooks users. This kiwi startup offers daily bank reconciliation as well as invoicing, reporting, A/R, A/P, expense claims, and other bookkeeping tasks. For those considering the switch, a handy page on the Xero web site lets you show your accountant exactly what Xero can and cannot do so that you can analyze whether or not their service is right for you.

Rudder

Rudder made their official debut at the recent DEMO conference in San Diego. Unlike the other apps reviewed here, Rudder focuses on bills more than banking. With Rudder, you can determine how much money you have available to spend while still paying all your bills. The app aggregates your banking and credit card accounts, but the focus here is not on what's taken place in the past (historical trends, spending habits, etc.). Instead, Rudder focuses on the future by letting you know what's left in your account for spending and saving. The best feature about Rudder, though, is that it doesn't force you to log into their site to get this information. The app delivers balances, transactions, and upcoming bills directly to your email inbox.

Green Sherpa

Another app which debuted at DEMO was Green Sherpa. At first glance, the app appears to be very much like its competitors with bank account aggregation, reconciliation, and budgeting tools. However, Green Sherpa offers a combination of features which appeal to those who are making the transition from desktop apps. The app lets you input transactions manually and offers a more advanced cash flow projection than Mint.com does. However, the app's most unique feature is its sharing aspect. You can choose to give other people (like a family member or accountant) access to your data. While that makes Green Sherpa stand out, they've entered a crowded space where competitors already have solid leads, so it may not be enough to win people over.

Buxfer

Buxfer is another app offering a home to all your accounts. It will auto-download your data, categorize your transactions, and help you budget. Buxfer addresses the privacy concerns that many have with banking 2.0 sites by integrating with Google Gears. The app uses Google Gears to store your account login information on your own computer, only syncing back the data collected, not your private credentials. They also offer a groups feature which will appeal those sharing expenses with others, like roommates, for example. You can use Buxfer to track and settle IOUs with others through the site. This makes the app more appealing to a younger crowd, as does its mobile integration. You can access Buxfer via SMS, Twitter, email, on on the mobile web.

Shryk

Shryk is a company which just launched at the TechCrunch50 conference. Their two-pronged approach is designed to help kids achieve financial literacy. The first part of that approach is a service called iThryv which teaches kids about earning, saving, and managing money. This product is sold through banks and credit unions and is also available free to educational institutions. The second part of the Shyrnk platform is WeProsper.org. This is an online community where teachers, schools, and financial institutions can come together and develop new tools and methods to promote financial literacy.

Security Concerns?

For obvious reasons, some people will find the thought of banking in the cloud frightening. This is, after all, data that requires a high level of security. However, with banks themselves offering online services and bill pay, people are beginning to see that "online" doesn't necessarily mean "insecure." In fact, having your banking data stored on servers run by a business may actually be more secure than having a Quicken file saved on your laptop, a device which could be easily lost or stolen. Also, because home users don't tend to back up their data as often as they should, a hard drive crash could mean a complete loss.

Challenges

Although there are a number of sites to choose from in this competitive space, there are still some challenges to overcome. For one, because almost all these companies are U.S.-based, the banks they support are U.S.-based as well. This leaves potential international customers without a way to participate. Some of the companies state in their F.A.Q.'s that they plan to add support for more banks worldwide in the future, but that's only likely to occur if the company can first gain a foothold here in the U.S.

Another issue with these sites is that there is almost no support for small community banks and credit unions. Unless the site allows you to import your transactions manually (which somewhat defeats the purpose), you're out of luck. Why is that almost all major banks are available yet so few of the smaller banks are? This is the type of service that could help keep smaller banks more competitive with their big bank counterparts, so you would think some of them would be interested. Is the burden on the banking 2.0 sites to help smaller banks get online or is it up to those institutions themselves? Perhaps the banking 2.0 sites need to be working a way to automate the import of transactions from any bank, regardless of whether or not the institution itself supports the site. The first company to come up with a solution like that could really set themselves apart from the rest of the pack and gain a whole new set of customers in the process.

Conclusion

Banking 2.0 is still very much an emerging technology trend. Yet with the young generation of digital natives now entering the workforce and starting their careers, you can be sure that they will have an impact on this space. They will expect their banks to support not only online banking but also other online money management tools such as these. This is not a generation that's known for their brand loyalty, so you can bet that they will be all too happy to change banks if they decide they want to use one of these services and their bank isn't supported.

Banking 2.0 represents only one aspect of the growing trend that is cloud computing. Just as other desktop software is being threatened by new online apps, desktop financial management software is threatened as well. These banking sites go up against expensive and unwieldy desktop software while offering their services for free and finding you savings. In our current economy, that activity gives banking 2.0 the potential to go mainstream fast.

To get started with SemantiFind, you must first create an account. You can then download the browser plugin which installs the SemantiFind toolbar. This plugin is available for both Internet Explorer and Firefox.

To begin using SemantiFind, you must go to www.google.com - the service won't work from iGoogle or your Google search box in your browser. After you enter your search term in the box as usual, you then are prompted to indicate the precise meaning of your term before starting your query. This is done through the use of a drop-down box where specific terms and their definitions display. For example, if you were searching for "Georgia," you would be presented with the option to select either the U.S. state or the former soviet republic.

Once you've selected the word which matches your search term, you'll then be taken to the search results page. The results are simply Google results as you would normally see them, but the extraneous noise from items that don't match your desired query will not display (in theory).

When you find a page you like, you can then mark it as being relevant and useful with one click of the "Semantify" button on the toolbar. This page will be then be included in your future searches and will also become a part of the SemantiFind community so others may benefit, too. Those "semantified" pages will display at the top of future search results in a separate box.

Does It Work?

Unfortunately, SemantiFind is one of those tools that's good in theory, but not so good in practice. When performing some test searches, results were not as precise as they should have been. For example, in the above-mentioned search for "Georgia," a search for the U.S. state returned Google results for the country as well. Also, the SemantiFind search box included a link to a Valleyway story about the Russian invasion of Georgia the country. Obviously, whoever marked that story as relevant to a search for the U.S. state made a mistake, but that just goes to show why search engines that rely on people to filter the results might not work. Human error shouldn't be a factor in web searches.

Without the "community" element to SemantiFind, the technology could have potential if they would work on providing more accurate results. However, "wisdom of the crowds" is the precise angle they're going for with this tool as they believe it will lead to the best results. We're not so sure, but it's still nice to see some innovation happening in the semantic search space.

Affordable Film Distribution On Any Site, Any Social Network

MeDeploy is a new digital media distribution platform that just launched last week at DEMO. With this solution in place, any filmmaker, whether a big Hollywood studio or small indie artist, can get access to all the tools needed to manage and distribute their content to any web site, social network, or mobile device. The platform offers features like media transcoding, content management, media storage, delivery, anti-piracy tools, and secure credit card processing. Films can be sold as digital rentals, download-to-own videos, or video-on-demand sales.

Instead of offering pre-made templates or store-widgets, MeDeploy offers a white label solution for sales, marketing, and distribution on any web site anywhere on the web. It provides the necessary tools for doing so in the form of widgetized bits of code. These aren't just simple "blog widgets" functioning as ads, either. The site provides cut-and-paste code for several different types of functions from "add to cart" to "watch trailer" to something called a "balloon widget," which pops up additional info about a title when you hover your mouse over an item, like an image for example.

A Balloon Widget In Action:

The code samples can be pasted into any web site, blog, or social network, including Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Imeem, and other networks on the OpenSocial platform.

Why This Matters

Although some filmmakers may be technical, they shouldn't have to be advanced web developers in order to market their movies on their own sites or social network pages. (Of course, if they are technical, the developer API and documentation are available). By offering a white label solution, customers don't have to leave their current location in order to buy or view the films - the media can come to them instead, no matter which site or social network they're on at the time.

A Social Network Widget for Brain Damage Films

Who knows how many indie films are sitting out there unseen and unknown simply because the filmmakers can't afford to market them. Similar to how blogging CMS platforms leveled the playing field for online publishing, tools like this one from MeDeploy can do the same for filmmakers.

Pricing

Prior to MeDeploy, the only options for distributing paid video content like movie downloads were very expensive enterprise digital solutions that only large studios and TV networks could afford.

MeDeploy's Dashboard

Although MeDeploy was designed to help the indie filmmaker, that's not to say that it can't cater to the large studios, too. The company offers two pricing tiers: MeDeploy Indie ($19.95/mo) and MeDeploy Professional ($199.95/mo). With the Indie account, a filmmaker has everything needed to get started with online distribution. When their catalog and distribution needs change, they can then upgrade to Professional, which is a more customizable and scalable solution ideal for larger distributors, studios, and broadcast networks.

Any filmmakers out there who want to test the waters prior to signing up can get started with a free 30-day trial: just visit www.medeploy.com.

For more information, check out their presentation from DEMO, embedded below:

Was this what the tech industry had come to, I wondered? No, that was just what the tech blogosphere had come to. This year's DEMO conference proved to me that technology innovation is still alive and well.

There have been some questions rattling around in the back of my mind for a while now about the tech industry. Why are so few apps crossing the chasm to achieve mainstream appeal these days?, I wondered. Besides Twitter, have we seen many apps become breakout hits? (And I'm counting Twitter because CNN is pretty mainstream in my book). And even more important than mainstream appeal, are any apps solving real-world problems? Do startups even exist anymore that are addressing these types of things? Or was everyone just trying to re-invent Twitter a million times over?

Now, don't get me wrong, I adore web apps, social media, and Web 2.0, but do I think that all my personal toys will hold the same level of fascination for everyone? No. A large part of the world is still quite happy spending only portions of their lives online, not every day, day-in, day-out. (I know, it's shocking.) Getting these people enthusiastic about technology means we need to start addressing some of the issues that they have today. In doing so, we can have a much bigger impact on the world as a whole.

Solving Real-World Problems Is What DEMO Does Right

One of the most prevalent themes that emerged from DEMO was that many the startups presenting there were really thinking about the problems people face when dealing with technology. I don't recall any presentations whose pitch was: "It's like ___________, but for __________." Instead, they were presenting new ideas. Some of the things truly blew me away: a single sign on for the web? Amazing. A portable plastic e-ink display as thin as a pad of paper? Incredible. Tools that extend the power of democratization to artists and introduce new ways for them to actually make money again? Awesome.

DEMO Statups Are Forward-Thinking

Not only were there startups addressing real-world issues, there were others thinking ahead to the future. Take for example, Tikitag, who was building "an internet of things" using RFID chips. Or SemantiFind who built a semantic search engine on top of Google. Or Echo Nest, a developer site that aims to power the future of music. These things aren't sure bets - they're apps for the world of the future. You want to see what emerging technology really looks like? Just look around DEMO.

Themes From This Year's DEMO

Mobile Is Everywhere

There were a few themes that jumped out at me from the conference. One: mobile is hot. So many applications and solutions were either addressing a need had by mobile users of were at least incorporating a mobile offering to complement their app. And the one question everyone wanted to know when reviewing a mobile app was "will it be on the iPhone?" (Companies: Rocketron, Clintworld, Dial Directions, Maverick Mobile Solutions, Pvt. Ltd., SkyData Systems, Inc., G.ho.st, Message Sling, WebDiet,Inc., Xumii, Inc.)

The Web Democratizes Everything

Another theme was the re-invention of the business model for online artistry. From online films, to music, to photography, companies were trying to create strategies that would finally help indie artists make money again. Not only were there sites that offered revenue opportunities, there were also new professional-level tools being delivered to everyone, too. Similar to how CMS systems like WordPress let everyone become a publisher, these new tools can help everyone can publish and distribute their music, films, and photos. (Companies: MeDeploy, MixMatchMusic, Ltd., Photrade, The Echo Nest Corp.)

Social networking is, in fact, "like air."

We've passed the point where tools are being described as "a social network for ______." If a site is an online community, you can now assume that it will incorporate the social networking aspects that you have come to expect: profiles, friend lists, etc. The difference is that now, more people are giving thought to how their site's social networking feature should more accurately reflect real-world relationships. The ubiquitous "friend" is on its way out to be replaced by levels of friendship and familiarity along with which various levels of access are permitted. (Companies: Giftag, Familybuilder, Koollage, Paidinterviews, TravelMuse, TurnTo Networks)

You've heard the term "Enterprise 2.0" a lot lately because this is an area that's really taking off. Several companies are trying to address the needs of team collaboration and each one of them has their own take on how to do it the best. Will we soon have hundreds of team collaboration suites to choose from or will a few clear winners emerge? We'll just have to wait and see. (Companies: Creately, crowdSPRING, DOCCENTERMeWorks, OpenACircle.com, Toolgether)

There are more places to watch online video today than ever before. Several of the companies at DEMO were attempting to organize the vast amounts of online video into an easy-to-use interface so we can find, watch, and share more of the videos that are out there on the net. Others want to make it easier to watch videos on any device. Video is going to be a big part of the net's future, so we need more innovation in recommendation engines and more standardization of video formats so we can move video across devices.(Companies: Awind Inc, beeTV, ffwd.com, Inc., Invision TV, LLC, RealNetworks, RemoTV)

About UsableLogin

UsableLogin is a new application from Usable Security Systems which allows you to choose one simple code word and use it to log into any web site. That codeword can be as simple as your dog's name ("fido") or your favorite color ("pink"). Why is this possible? Because the code word is just one layer of security - behind the scenes, the software creates another password for you for the actual web site. The password it creates is strong, complex, and highly secure, just as we know passwords should be.

How It Works

To use UsableLogin, you simply download the browser plugin. After you pick a background image and your easy-to-recall pass code, the login box will appear consistently across every web site you access, whether that's Facebook or your bank.

Web sites can also choose to support UsableLogin by putting a small bit of JavaScript code on their site.

Here's what UsableLogin sign-in boxes look like:

When you log in to a web site, UsableLogin cryptographically combines your simple code word with secret data pulled from separate sources: your computer and Usable Security's servers. This data is combined to create a secure verifier which is used as your complex password. Your code word is never stored and web sites never see it.

UsableLogin can be used on any web site that accepts passwords. It will also work on any operating system and browser.

UsableLogin on Gmail

The Usable Login Dashboard

From the UsableLogin homepage, you can manage all your accounts and view your history - when you last logged on and from which computer. You can also authorize and deauthorize computers from this dashboard, so for example, if your laptop was lost or stolen, you could make sure that no one who got a hold of it could log in to your accounts.

Security Made Easy

Ask any I.T. professional about "multi-factor authentication" and they'll tell you how much more secure it is against attacks. Think of it this way: on your front door you have a doorknob with a lock - that's the extent of protection you have today. Add a deadbolt to the mix, and even though your door's lock is so much easier to pick, the extra lock (the deadbolt) makes it much harder to get into your house. That's multi-factor authentication. (OK, it's actually much more complicated than that, but that's the easiest way I could think to explain it.)

If you want to learn more about UsableLogin, you can watch their entire presentation from DEMO08 here:

UsableLogin will become available in early 2009. You can sign up on their homepage to be notified when it's released.

Before delving into the company's business model designed to pay artists for their work, it's important to note that MixMatchMusic is also working to solve another problem musicians face: finding others to collaborate with. On the site, musicians can upload either whole songs or just stems. Other artists can search through those uploaded items to find the pieces of music that they need to complete their work.

Browsing for Music

At first, this sounds a lot like what sites like Rifflet and Kompoz both offer, but there is something that MixMatchMusic has that those sites don't: the MixMaker. The MixMaker is an online sequencer built right into the site, sort of like GarageBand in the cloud. Instead of having to download items and work with them in software-based mixing tools like GarageBand or ProTools, musicians can mix and remix the different tracks while still online. This makes it easier, faster, and more rewarding to experiment with the music the site contains.

The MixMaker

Getting Paid

Of course, the most notable difference between MixMatchMusic and other sites is that here, there's a big focus on artists getting paid for their work, whether it's an entire song or just a stem...or even a ringtone! When a musician utilizes another's music to make their own creation, that transaction is completely transparent. Musicians are able to monitor when their work is downloaded, in progress, or sold. And when a sale occurs, contributing musicians share $0.85 on every dollar that the site makes on sales.

Marketing Tools

Like both Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails have done in the past, musicians can also invite their fans to remix their work. This is done by using something called the Remix Wizard, a completely customizable widget that can reside on either a musician's homepage or MySpace page.With the ReMix wizard, an artist can upload pieces of music like a guitar riff, drums, or vocals into the MixMatchMusic web site and the widget will allow fans to click on the widget to remix their own creations. The fans can then make their creations available for download on MixMatchMusic, too.

ReMix Wizard

Conclusion

MixMatchMusic stood out because it's taking the concept of an online community for musicians to a whole new level. The site's MixMaker tool is rather robust for a cloud-based app and the widgets they provide will also help draw more people to their site. However, it's their model for paying artists that deserves the most attention. Will people be willing to pay for downloading music? Well, that seems to work for iTunes. But for those who are truly immersed in the music community, iTunes alone with their commercially available selections of music can't satisfy their need to discover underground, indie tunes own their own.

Still, the concept of putting songs/stems online is not new, so we'll have to see if musicians explore deep enough into MixMatchMusic to see how it's different than the other sites they're already using today.

With so many Americans getting their news online instead of in a daily newspaper, SpinSpotter decided to use the power of the web and all its many users to combat the growing trend of media bias. How? Simple: by making you the editor. With the new browser plugin from SpinSpotter, you can edit and share any sign of bias on the web.

The first step to becoming a SpinSpotter is to get the browser plugin, "Spinoculars." At the moment, this plugin is Firefox-only, but IE support is coming soon. After it's installed, you can begin to spot and share the media bias you find on the web. When you see a word or phrase that you feel is biased, select the word then click the "create spin marker" button. For example, in the demo they showed an article where someone was being identified as a "guru," - they disagreed that the person deserved that accolade. You can then correct the text with a word or phrase you feel would be more appropriate (ex: analyst, not guru).

When you come across an article that other users have identified as being biased, the "S" icon on the toolbar will light up. To see the Spin Markers left by other users, you can switch Spinoculars on. When "See Spin" is selected, you'll be shown the original text. When "See Edits" is selected, you'll see how the other user or users have edited the text. The various Spin Markers created are also rated by the community as a whole from lowest (1) to highest (5). With the Spin Level slider bar, you can choose what level you want to see. As you adjust this slider to only show the highest rated Markers, you'll see fewer edits.

What's Bias?

When you're leaving a Spin Marker on a page, you must also identify what kind of spin it is. These rules come from the company's own Journalism Advisory Board and the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics. From a drop-down box, you're provided with a list of choices to choose from. These different types of spin include: Reporter's Voice (the reporter is writing to convey meaning beyond supported evidence), Passive Voice (the subject of the sentence isn't the person performing the action; not identifying who did it!), Biased Source (the reporter doesn't disclose their view or affiliations or those of their source), Disregarded Context (the reporter leaves out parts of an event without giving equal weight to the full aspect of what happened), Selective Disclosure (the reporter fails to mention a critical element of the story), Lack of Balance (the reporter fails to give equal voice to both sides, or all sides, of a controversial story), Over-Reliance on Press Releases (the reporter reprints a press release as if it were a news story).

Share Your Findings

In addition to sharing your findings with the SpinSpotter community, you can also share the article through other online services like Digg and StumbleUpon, or you can email the article to your friends.

See It In Action

Want to see want Spin Makers look like? Check out this video from YouTube:

After signing up for the Alerts.com service, you can choose from all sorts of pre-configured alerts. For example, the site offers alerts for things like news, weather, gas prices, flight info, price watches, CraigsList, sports scores, press releases, birthday reminders, horoscopes, Amber Alerts, and so much more.

However, what really appealed to me was that you had the option to configure your own personalized alerts which could be anything you need to remember to do. I'm also excited to see an RSS Feed Alert option, as well. With this alert, you can monitor feeds for keywords and receive messages immediately or on a scheduled basis via email or SMS.

Types of Alerts

Configuring Alerts

You can see an overview of the different alerts you subscribe to on your personalized homepage, a page which somewhat resembles iGoogle and its gadgets. There's also a handy "list view" which presents the alerts in a list so you can easily sort through them and turn them on or off as desired. This page also displays how many alerts have been sent out so far.

Editing an Alert

Business Model

Alerts.com is an ad-supported service. Specific advertising is inserted into the emails, texts, and voice messages sent out. The ads will be relevant to the type of alert requested by the user. This doesn't seem like a bad deal to get this sort of useful tool for free.

The platform is open and an API is currently available so that developers can create unique reminders, alerts, and notifications of their own.

The company is currently working with other third parties to expand their reach. Through their partnerships with iSAFE.org and AI Life, they will be able to reach out to 16,000 schools and eight million students in the next year.

You can sign up to start receiving your own alerts today, too. Just click here.]]>Discuss]]> http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/have_the_news_come_to_you_with_alerts.php http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/have_the_news_come_to_you_with_alerts.php Products Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:00:00 -0800 Sarah Perez Directly after Invision.tv's demo, another startup with a similar goal presented: ffwd (pronounced "fast forward"). Like Invision.tv, their web app also offers you a way to browse through internet video from one portal - the site at ffwd.com. However, their take on how this browsing should look and feel is a bit different. Which one will you like better?

With ffwd, the idea behind the app is to create an online version of a TV remote control. No, it doesn't look like a picture of your remote on the screen, but the way you can click a button to see new channels is reminiscent of the TV channel surfing experience.

At first glance, the site appears to be much more "Web 2.0-ish" than their competitor, Invision, but I've heard others who think Invision had the better app. But where Invision.tv's site can seem a bit busy, ffwd's is simple and easy to use. It doesn't look like you would need to read any "getting started" instructions to start using ffwd.

A Personalized Channel on ffwd

Channels

On ffwd, there are tons of channels to choose from. Some may be dedicated to your interests (music, celebs, sci-fi, travel, etc.). Others may be web shows you enjoy (Ask A Ninja, Onion News, Boing Boing TV). There are even channels dedicated to TV shows you like, and like Invision, support for Hulu means you have access to viewing full episodes here.

ffwd TV Show Channel

However, where ffwd differs from Invision is in its recommendation engine. Although both use their own proprietary algorithms to learn what sort of content you like, ffwd lets you kick start your recommendations thanks to FriendFeed integration. After syncing the service with FriendFeed, you can help customize channels by pulling in data from iLike, Twitter, LinkedIn, and your Netflix queue. Why they won't just parse all of the data in your FriendFeed is unknown, but perhaps they'll support a few more services later on. For example, it seems only natural that grabbing your Last.fm likes from FriendFeed would make sense. Then ffwd could help you find relevant music videos based on those artists.

FriendFeed Integration

Still, even partial FriendFeed integration kicks it up another notch above Invision.tv, and since it appears that they support most of the same channels that Invision does, it may come down to personal preference. I found that I prefer ffwd, but I'm curious what you think.

Decades of research on learning patterns in the fields of cognitive science and neuroscience have shown that the there is an optimum time to review what you're studying in order to absorb and retain the information. It's the moment right before you're about to forget what you just learned. But when is that time? It's hard for us to know when that moment is, but iKnow's software does. It's also personalized to you - iKnow!'s rate and approach are different for each individual. To calculate this particular rate, the software starts off assuming you're an "average" learner. As you respond to questions, the speed, accuracy, difficulty of the question and other considerations are taken into account to calculate what your ideal rate of learning - a degree above or below that initial average.

Listening To A Word On iKnow

In addition to the pure educational aspect of the program, iKnow! is also a social network where learners can add their own content for others to study. This content can include lists of words (parts of the body, days of the week, etc.). Users can also import data from sites like YouTube, flickr, and popular Japanese video sharing site, Nico Nico Douga. Structured data like that from Freebase can be imported as well. This content can be incorporated into the program and used by everyone.

At launch time, Cerego announced that they would soon open their learning APIs so developers can build their own custom applications and content for any topic using the iKnow! technology. For more information, visit www.iknow.co.jp.

The SkyData application is designed specifically for smartphones, as its target demographic is the traveling business user, not the consumer. At the moment, the app works on Windows Mobile and Blackberry, but an iPhone version will be ready by year-end, they say. At DEMO, the app was shown on Windows Mobile, but they did give a quick peek at both the Blackberry app and iPhone version, too.

The idea with SkyData is that you now have one screen from which you can easily access all the data and info you need. But it's more than just ease-of-access that makes SkyData interesting - it also integrates with your phone, too. For example, you can add your LinkedIn contacts to your phone's contacts from the app's menu.

Social Network Integration

From the SkyData application, you can dive into your contacts, no matter where you have them stored. You can access email contacts like those you have in Outlook, Gmail, or Yahoo Mail, but you can also access social network contacts like those on Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo, or Jigsaw.

CRM Integration

At the moment, SkyData integrates with Salesforce.com, but NetSuite and SugarCRM will be coming soon. They will then be followed by Microsoft and Siebel. What's unique about SkyData is, again, the app/phone integration. As you view emails, calls, and text messages, you can access all the info stored in SkyData with only a couple of clicks from within those messages. That adds a new layer of contextual information to the day-to-day communications that you recieve on your mobile device.

Pricing

The SkyData Personal Edition is free to use and combines social networks, Facebook, and related news. The Business Edition offers the CRM integration for $9.95 per month. Both editions are in private beta.

Too Much?

The scenario envisioned for using SkyData involves a traveling business person, such as someone who does sales, preparing for a meeting with a client. From this one app, they can quickly get a refresher on all the relevant information they have access to about that person, the company, and the market in general. They can even find a nearby restaurant where they can wine and dine them later after the meeting has concluded.

However, with the vast number of services and networks supported, it's possible that instead of being a convenient one-stop-shop, it's mashup overload.

Would you want all your networks mashed into one and available on your smartphone? Or would that be too confusing? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

The goal behind HeyCosmo Concierge is great: save you time. However, its practicality makes me wonder. The service implements advanced telephony technology to help you complete tasks. The easiest example of this would be making dinner reservations. Instead of you calling restaurants one-by-one in order to find an 8:00 PM seating for a party of five, you could use HeyCosmo Concierge to do the dialing for you. With an automated, but customizable, message, its robo-dialer immediately contacts all the restaurants in your area (and this can be narrowed down by cuisine, too) and asks the recipient of the call to press (1) for yes, we can accommodate you, (2) no, we cannot accommodate you, etc. in response to the initial recorded greeting and question. The particular questions and how they are phrased can be specified by you. You can also record your own voice if desired. At the end of the messages, an ad will play, which is how the service makes money.

After placing the call, you'll see results return immediately, in real-time, and next to each listing you'll see the status of the call and then how the person on the other end responded (1, 2, 3, etc.) or if there was no answer.

HeyCosmo Concierge

The technology behind this is pretty impressive, but my concern is for the people on the other end of the call. Would they think this recording is spam? Would they realize it's just a recording and hang up? Did I just save my time at the expense of theirs? Based on the number of restaurants dialed with no response, I think it's entirely possible that the answer in many cases would be "yes."

The reason? Phone trees. After years of navigating the annoying phone trees in an effort to reach an actual human being when dialing up customer service, there's a profound distaste for automated greetings and messages that's still very prevalent in our culture. And unfortunately, without willing participants on the other end of the line, HeyCosmo Concierge won't be effective.

HeyCosmo Blaster

However, the other app by this company, HeyCosmo Blaster, might have some potential...at least among the mobile-savvy kids, teens, and young adults of Gens X, Y, and Z. Blaster is a simple social planning app. To use, you just enter in a date, time, and place to meet along with the names and numbers of your friends.

Blaster, like Concierge, immediately dials your friends and presents the menu choices you specified. (i.e. "Press (1) from Meet at 1:30 PM at the mall," "Press (2) to meet at Katy's house at 2:00 PM," etc.). Organizers can then see the results in real-time and pick the most popular choice.

HeyCosmo Blaster

Although the technology is essentially the same as that of Concierge, the difference here is that you can have a personal conversation with your friends, family, or other group of message recipients beforehand: "Hey guys, since there's so many of us, I'm going to use this new mobile tool from now on to organize our __________ (Fill in the blank: meetings, study groups, classes, meetups, parties, etc.) Your phone number will also show on their CallerID, so they will know it's you. Since your friends will be expecting the call, the responses are bound to be a notch above those that come from Concierge, which is essentially a recorded message beamed to perfect strangers around your city.

As for who this service appeals to, my vote goes with the younger crowd. Obviously, anyone could use it, but with this group, mobile devices are glued to their hands, so here it has a better chance of success.

Learn More

You can visit HeyCosmo's web site and check out all their services here: www.heycosmo.com. Concierge and Blaster are both also available as Blackberry apps; an iPhone app will arrive in a few weeks.

Note: HeyCosmo also has another service, HeyCosmo Prankster, which was not demoed today. As a 10-year-old, I would have loved it. As an adult, I have to say that it's just plain wrong.

You can watch videos right on the site in their own custom interface which is consistent no matter which site's video you are viewing. You can also click through to visit the original web site, if desired. When you're finished viewing, you can share videos with friends and leave comments and recommendations - an experience common to most internet video sharing sites. As you're watching a video, you can continue browsing for more videos while keeing the current video playing in the right sidebar.

You can also customize Invision.tv so it matches your interests. Like YouTube, you can subscribe to channels and create playlists, but Invision.tv lets you embed those playlists on your own web site or blog. However, what's different about this site compared to many other video portals is that, behind-the-scenes, their recommendation engine is scouring the site to find new video choices to present to you which match up with the type of content you find interesting. Here at RWW, we like recommendation engines so we're looking forward to giving this one a test drive.

The focus: over 50% is broadly in the Business category. Without looking at past Demo years, that looks like a shift: less Valley, more Biz.

Silicon Valley 20 (28%)
East Coast US 18 (25%)
West Coast US 10 (14%)
Central US 9 (13%)
Europe 7 (10%)
Asia 6 (8%)
Other 2 (3%)
Total: 72

The US focus (79%) is clearly self-selecting. A conference in London or Shanghai would look different. To have nearly the same number from East Coast than from the Valley looks like a shift. The Other West Coast (e.g. Southern California, Seattle) is not surprising as Demo is in San Diego.

The focus categorization was a bit more open to question. This was based on a quick look at the site's front page. Initially we were looking at two categories only - Consumer or Business. Within Business we then saw two interesting sub-categories - Infrastructure (a product that becomes part of another product) and Professional (selling to individuals or very small businesses but with a primary purpose of making money). Lumping both Infrastructure and Professional into Business gives us 54% for Business:

Consumer 32 (44%)
Business 25 (35%)
Professional 7 (10%)
Infrastructure 7 (10%)

As Consumer services are mostly ad funded and advertising gets cut in a recession (and we clearly have a consumer recession in the US) this shift makes sense.

Doing this 30 seconds per site look at 72 brave new start-ups is totally unfair. They each deserve a rigorous analysis. However 30 seconds is often what you get to make an impression. Most sites failed that test. Many had me totally puzzled figuring out what they were offering.

The following got marked as "take another look". This is purely a quirky look based on personal interests:

• Usable - really, security that is user friendly? Sounds impossible, but worth a look. Great URL
• ffwd. Great URL for video site. But yet another video service?
• BeeTV. The only service I have actually used. (I thought Demo was launch only i.e. no existing services?)
• BestBuy - what are they doing that hits the innovation radar?
• Rudder - personal finance space is ripe for innovation.

What do you think? Is the nexus of innovation shifting from the Valley and from Consumer to Business? And if anyone has done a similar analysis for TC50, please share in the comments.