Features

The app color codes all the differences between the versions of the document. Hovering over one of the boxes with a different version of a part of the text gives you the option to accept or reject a change. You can also add new text to a document within the app and make minor formatting changes to the text (bulleted lists, italics, bold, etc.). At the end of this process, you can save the newly compiled document for further editing in your word processor. 

CompareMyDocs does have quite a few limitations. It can't handle images and tables, for example, and footnotes simply become part of the text. Because of this, the service works best for relatively straightforward documents as you will have to add all of these assets back into the text after you finish your comparison.

API

TextFlow also launched its new API today. This API, which will be available free of charge, allows developers to integrate TextFlow's document comparison service into their own applications. This would be a great addition to other online office suites and online storage services like DropBox and Box.net, as Josh Lowensohn points out on CNet.

DocVerse currently consists of a 1 MB Office 2007 plug-in that gives Microsoft's desktop software new collaboration and synchronization abilities. Once installed, every time you hit the "save" button in Office, a web version stored online is automatically updated, too. The web version also comes with a link you can share.

If that part sounds a lot like what's already available in Microsoft's Live Workspace, that's because it is. Like DocVerse, Live Workspace users can also install a plugin into Office that keeps files between computer and web in sync.

However, the key difference between DocVerse and any of Microsoft's current offerings is the service's online collaboration abilities. With DocVerse, a group editing feature lets multiple users edit one copy of the same document without having to check it out, then check it back in.

To begin using the software, you can share a document with others using either the URL provided or by entering in the email addresses of those you want to share with. As changes are made, they're synced back to the online version of the document. The DocVerse software then uses a confliction resolution system to deal with any potential conflicts between the updates. As the edits continue, DocVerse automatically creates new versions of the document while saving the older versions in case you need to revert back.

DocVerse users will also see their changes categorized in an in-file "News Feed" which appears in the sidebar of any open document. For users without Office, feedback can be given about the shared files straight from their web browser.

At launch time, the plug-in works with Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 only, but support for Word and Excel 2007 will roll out later this spring as will support for Office 2003. DocVerse is Windows-only.

Some Questions

Microsoft announced the upcoming Microsoft Office Web applications at their Professional Developers Conference in October. With these web applications, due in the next version of Office (Office 14), users will be able to create, edit, and collaborate on Office documents through the browser (IE, Firefox, or Safari). Despite some initial rumors, Office Web Applications will not require Silverlight to run and they'll even  work on the iPhone via the Safari browser.

That obviously made us wonder - how will DocVerse compete with Microsoft's own offering? Says DocVerse CEO Shan Shina, the key will be backward compatibility. Where the official Microsoft Office Web Applications will focus only on the latest and greatest version of Office (he presumes - no one really knows), DocVerse will aim to be compatible with Office 2003, 2007, and the upcoming Office 14. Given that 35-40 percent of the market still runs Office 2003 and 15-20 percent runs 2007, he imagines it will be a while before everyone upgrades to Office 14 - web apps or not.

While capitalizing on the "good enough" trend, the company will also focus on how they can best complement the newer Office 14 when it becomes available. In other words, no matter what Microsoft throws out there, DocVerse plans to provide the missing features.

Try it! (Invites)

To learn more about how DocVerse works, Web Worker Daily has a great hands-on review. Our readers can try DocVerse for themselves by clicking here: http://www.docverse.com?ic=RWW. There are only 200 invites available, so that link is first come, first serve.

Disclosure: Sarah Perez also writes for Microsoft's Channel 10.

In addition, you can post short text messages to your activity streams.

Box.net Is Now a Social Network

With this update, Box.net positions itself as a small social network for businesses. As Jen Grant, Box.net's VP of Marketing, explained to us, the reasoning behind this is that, according to Box.net, social networks work best when they are built around a certain type of content (like MySpace and music). Thanks to its integration with other online productivity services including Zoho, EchoSign, and Scribd, you could potentially run a large part of your business through Box.net and its affiliated services.

According to Box.net's press release, the company currently provides services to over 50.000 companies. As Jen Grant pointed out to us, these are usually small to medium-sized businesses, or groups within larger enterprises. The new features in Box.net will surely help the company to expand its business

EtherPad acknowledges that Google Docs already allows for a similar kind of collaboration, but compared to EtherPad, Google Docs is clunky and slow when you just want to collaborate on a simple text document.

EtherPad would be a great tool if you want to keep collaborative notes during a conference call or meeting, but you could also use it to draft or edit text for a press release or email collaboratively.

No Sign-Up

EtherPad, for example, doesn't require you to sign-up before you start working on your document. You can also just share your workspace's URL with your co-workers and they, too, don't have to sign up. Indeed, you can't even sign up for the service, which may become a bit of a problem if you want to go back to a document you worked on earlier but don't remember the randomly assigned URL.

Google Docs requires you to send an email invitation to all your collaborators, and updates to documents don't appear in real-time.

Features

EtherPad also has a versioning system that allows you, or anybody else with access to your workspace, to save the document at any time.

Developers who want to share code might also find this a useful tool, as it can highlight JavaScript syntax. Looking at EtherPad's heritage, it becomes clear why the developers added this feature. The service was developed by AppJet, an online web programming platform, and is basically a showcase for the next version of AppJet's tools, but was mainly created because the developers at AppJet were looking for a tool that had EtherPad's functionality but weren't able to find one.

Verdict

As is often the case, the most useful tools are those that have a relatively restricted feature set but allow users the freedom to use them as they see fit. EtherPad is one of these services and it will probably become a standard tool for us very soon.

You can find a screencast of the product here, but given that you don't have to sign up for it, you may just as well try it out for yourself (or join this workspace we already created).

Originally designed as a solution for e-commerce sites, the service strangely called Adam is not complicated to use. However, the company does estimate that the time it takes from mashup creation to having it live on your web site could be approximately 20 minutes. That's a little bit longer than just linking to a PDF or even uploading it to a document-hosting service like Scridb or Issuu. Still, the extra time may be worth it because Adam lets you create a truly interactive document by allowing you to add videos, HTML, stylized text, and more to what were previously just plain files.

For those familiar with designing web pages, the process may seem familiar. To add content to a document on Adam, you select various "hotspots" in the document and then add the content you want to mashup. This is where you would paste in any text, images, music, or videos you want to appear when the user mouses over that part of the document. The service currently integrates with other content providers including YouTube, flickr, metacafe, Veoh, vimeo, and imeem.

The best way to understand what Adam can do, though, is to view some sample of it in action. You can check out a mashed up floor plan or you can see all the content providers in use on one document.

Adam doesn't provide anything that a talented web designer can't already do on their own, but like every service that comes out of the Web 2.0 movement, it's about letting everyone have access to the tools that previously only skilled professionals knew how to use. If you want to try Adam for yourself, you can sign up here.

EtherPad acknowledges that Google Docs already allows for a similar kind of collaboration, but compared to EtherPad, Google Docs is clunky and slow when you just want to collaborate on a simple text document.

No-Sign Up

EtherPad, for example, doesn't require you to sign-up before you can start working on your document. You can also just share your workspace's URL with your co-workers and they, too, don't have to sign up. Indeed, you can't even sign up for the service, which may become a bit of a problem if you want to go back to a document you worked on earlier, but don't remember the randomly assigned URL.

Google Docs requires you to send email invitation to all your collaborators and updates to documents don't appear in real-time.

Features

EtherPad also has a versioning system that allows you, or anybody else with access to your workspace, to save the document at any time.

Developers who want to share code might also find this a useful tool, as it can highlight JavaScript syntax. Looking at EtherPad's heritage, it becomes clear why the developers added this feature. The service was developed by AppJet, an online web programming platform, and is basically a showcase for the next version of AppJet's tools, but was mainly created because the developers at AppJet were looking for a tool that had EtherPad's functionality but weren't able to find one.

Verdict

As is often the case, the most useful tools are those that have a relatively restricted feature set, but allow users the freedom to use them as they see fit. EtherPad is one of these services and it will probably become a standard tools for us very soon.

You can find a screencast of the product here, but given that you don't have to sign up for it, you could just as well try it out for yourself (or join this workspace we already created).

However, it's unknown at this time if the iPhone version of the Documents To Go application will function exactly the same as its predecessors. The company would not confirm anything else beyond the fact that they are indeed working working on an application and that they expect it to be available in early 2009.

iPhone Edges Closer To Business Use

Surprisingly, the competition for the Documents To Go iPhone app may come from Microsoft themselves, who confirmed at this week's PDC event that their new Office Web Applications suite will be available as a technical preview by year end. According to Microsoft, Office Web apps will work in IE, Firefox, and Safari browsers. We're hoping that means iPhone's Safari browser, but we won't know until testing begins.

Until then, something like a Documents To Go iPhone app could push the iPhone even closer to enterprise adoption, especially considering that the phone now works with Microsoft Exchange Server. Currently, Office files arriving as email attachments can be viewed on the iPhone, but making changes to those files is not possible. Providing editing tools may be the final step towards getting the iPhone past the barriers of I.T., where there are still holdouts claiming the iPhone isn't a business-ready device.

You can sign up here to be notified when this app becomes available.

Auto-Extracting Data

To use this new feature, you begin by uploading documents into Mumboe as usual, a process that involves nothing more than browsing for the file on your PC and uploading it to Mumboe. The OCR software in the system will scan the document's text and make the text searchable. Once complete, you can then select the new "Auto Extract" button which lets you automatically extract the key details from the document such as the parties involved and the agreement term. Those details are displayed for your reference along with the exact place in the document where they were found. You'll also be able to see an excerpt of the text contains those key words and phrases. You can choose to save the data as is or edit it as you see fit. If the system extracts terms you don't need to track, you can simply discard those items and keep the rest. When you're finished, just click "Done."

Pulling out the details:

Why This Matters

For consumers and every one else outside the target audience, Mumboe and other similar types of applications seem dry and boring. But for those in need of better tools, mainly those working in the legal profession, they will see this auto-extract capability as one sexy new feature. Why? Because according to the International Association for Contract and Commercial Management (IACCM), poorly managed contracts result in over $153 billion in missed savings and revenue per year. Give our current economic conditions, those numbers cannot be ignored.

The only hurdle Mumboe has to overcome is the lawyers' (a typically conservative bunch) fear of moving to an online application. Their, in our opinion, misguided fear and mistrust of any sort of cloud app keeps them doing business the old-fashioned way - reading through pages and pages of documents themselves instead of enlisting the aid of some "new fangled" system to help them out. But for those who do take the leap, their efficiency will increase dramatically. If there's any occupation that understands the concept of "time is money," law would be it, and that's why Mumboe has a shot.

How To Join the Beta

The Mumboe auto-extract features are in private beta at the moment, but you can sign up to join here: https://app.mumboe.com/registration/beta_promotion_index. Mumboe will give out invites to RWW readers exclusively.

More About Mumboe:

]]>Discuss]]> http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/law_20_news_mumboe_uses_semantics_to_pull_data_from_contracts.php http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/law_20_news_mumboe_uses_semantics_to_pull_data_from_contracts.php Enterprise Wed, 01 Oct 2008 06:40:00 -0800 Sarah Perez