As we mentioned two months ago, Google will no longer be developing the Jaiku codebase, but Google volunteers will be available to offer support.

According to a post on the Jaikido blog last week, "JaikuEngine differs from Jaiku in a few key ways. Although core features like the website, SMS (in the US only) and IM bot still work, feed fetching and international SMS are no longer available."

Google points out that the problem with feed fetching is not specific to Jaiku and all real-time communication services face challenges maintaining freshness when using poll-based systems. As for the international SMS scaling issues, Google explains that the issues were more financial than technical and suggests using IM on "capable mobile devices."

The new JaikuEngine will also include support for OAuth, the open standard authentication protocol that Twitter recently began experimenting with in an effort to give users more control and confidence in their interactions with third-party applications.

It will be interesting to see what the next few months bring.

Jyri Engeström, co-founder of Jaiku and now a product manager at Google, said that he agrees with Dave Winer that it's time to break out of Twitter. "There should be lots of platforms, and they should talk to each other. Jaiku doesn't do that yet, but now there's a decent chance that it soon will," he wrote on his blog today.

Here at ReadWriteWeb, we are great fans of Twitter. And certainly, it holds the market share when it comes to micro-blogging services. But, we'd love to know what you think. Will JaikuEngine inspire developers enough to give Twitter a run for its money or will the service again slowly wither away? Let us know in the comments.

You can find ReadWriteWeb on Twitter, as well as the entire RWW Team: Marshall Kirkpatrick, Bernard Lunn, Alex Iskold, Sarah Perez, Frederic Lardinois, Rick Turoczy, Sean Ammirati, Lidija Davis and Phil Glockner.

Now, we're tentatively raising our hopes once again. As VentureBeat reports, Jaiku is back after several days spent offline in a move to Google's datacenters as they continue their move to Google's App Engine service, the Google answer to Amazon's web services stack. In addition, there is now a brand-new TOS that existing users must accept upon login, which brings the original up to Google standards, presumably.

However, what's most exciting is that users now have unlimited invites to share with their friends, a step we hope is just the first of many in Jaiku's rebirth. Yet, as exciting as a Google Twitter-like service is, so much time has passed that Twitter has the market share and mindshare of those that want to participate in a micro-blogging community. Jaiku has a long battle ahead if they truly want to compete now.

Setup

Posterous' setup process takes minimalism to the extreme - you don't even have to register. Instead, after sending your first email to post AT posterous.com, you will receive an email with your new blog's address. Those addresses, however, don't always look too pretty (think chris-hr12.posterous.com).

While this is not necessary, it's probably best to actually create a login at posterous and register an email address with them. Thankfully, once you register your email address and chose your own URL, all your posts will be transferred over to your new one automatically. Registration is dead simple as well - just enter your email address and a password.

Posting to Posterous

When posting to posterous from the site itself, you are presented with a rich text editor, not unlike the editor in Tumblr or Wordpress.

The best way to post to posterous, though, is through email, especially because the web interface can't handle uploads (yet?), while email attachments are handled quite beautifully. Posterous accepts pdf, doc, ppt, jpg, gif, png, and mp3 files.

If you send an mp3 file, posterous will create a flash player for it in the post. If you send more than one photo, posterous will automatically create a gallery for you (see screenshot). This works especially well when sending pictures right out of a photo application like Google's Picasa.

Documents are displayed through Scribd's flash interface.

Posterous can also handle most HTML tags and when sending a YouTube URL, it immediately embeds the video in the post.

Networking Still Needs Some Work

Posterous has some social networking functions, with user profiles and the ability to follow other users. There is nothing revolutionary here. However, it isn't possible to search for users, making the ability to follow quite a bit less useful. Posterous will recommend you some users to subscribe to, but without the ability to search for your friends or even just for keywords, this part of the application clearly needs a bit more work.

Security

The email interface, while posterous' strongest point in terms of usability, is also its weakest point in terms of security. Email addresses are easily spoofed. While posterous claims that they are able to filter out messages not send by you and will notify you if they suspect a security breach, there is probably a good chance that a nefarious user could send potentially incriminating posts to your blog.

Verdict

Security issues aside, posterous is a very cool new service. The ease of posting to it is going to make it very attractive to even novice users. While most blogging platforms always allowed for posting by email either directly or through a third-party service, few bloggers ever made much use of it, as the email addresses were always cryptic and the process often simply didn't work.

Posterous would also work very well for those who want to send quick updates from their mobile devices. There is, after all, no need to install any apps - simply send an email and be done.

While the microblogging/lifestreaming field is quite crowded, with Pownce, Twitter, Tumblr, Jaiku, and too many others to name, posterous might just be different and simple enough to set itself apart from the rest.

Last week, VentureBeat reported that Twitter decided to hire Pivotal Labs, a company they described as a "quiet but impressive group of big-gun, for-hire developers." Pivotal Labs have already worked with other clients like salesforce, lumosity, DiscoveryMining, Bringo, and many others.

Today marks the first day that Pivotal is on the job, and the job is rebuilding Twitter. Originally designed as a CMS (or blogging) system instead of a messaging system, Twitter doesn't just need to be tweaked - it has to be entirely rebuilt. That's a big job, but given enough time, there's no doubt that the Pivotal Labs team can help to make that happen.

Too Little, Too Late?

The only question now is whether or not it's too late. The early adopter crowd has already found themselves obsessed with the latest shiny new object, FriendFeed. While no replacement for Twitter - that's really an apples/oranges comparison - FriendFeed enables conversations among its users, and those threads are easier to follow than the conversations taking place on Twitter.

Others are looking into Plurk, the latest take on 140-character micro-blogging, this one with timelines, the ability to sharing multimedia, and the use of cliques (groups of users).

However, the real threat lies in what's going on with Jaiku. Rumor has it that this Google acquisition hasn't been abandoned like everyone currently believes. On a recent episode of TWiT, Steve Gillmor said that he talked to Jaiku co-founder, Jyri Engeström, who is apparently very busy moving Jaiku to the Google app engine...and embedding Jaiku presence throughout everything in the Google universe.

The Jaiku blog even hints at their big plans, noting "...also, contrary to some voices out there, we DO have plans for future development..." and when discussing the Google App Engine move, "the Google App Engine enables applications to leverage powerful Google technologies and scale up to millions of users without infrastructure headaches."

Now, why would they be worrying about millions of Jaiku users if the service was being abandoned?

It seems like Jaiku is getting ready for its big reveal, and, when it does, will Twitter still have a shot? Will the Twitter community stick with Twitter even when Jaiku shows up in everything Google? Will people see Jaiku's feature set that includes things like threaded conversations and make a switch? Would you?

Here's a brief look into the services that you've recommended to us as alternatives to Twitter:

Pownce

Pownce is a great micro-blogging tool with added functionality that Twitter misses. Extra features include sharing links, files, or events and the added ability to group usersany or all of his/her contacts. You can easily add links to your profiles on other networks, add IM profiles, and also websites. You can even change your Pownce theme. See our in-depth review of Pownce for more details.

Jaiku
Jaiku is another micro-blogging tool and great alternative to Twitter. The functionality of Jaiku is similar to Twitter and Pownce, including the ability to import RSS feeds into your stream. Unlike Pownce, you cannot message files to other users. Another downside is that the service has been invite only since Google acquired it in October 2007.

FriendFeed
FriendFeed is a social aggregator rather than a microblogging tool. However, backed with a strong and growing community, users can post to their FriendFeed lifestream just like on Twitter in addition to importing RSS feeds and various content shared on other social networks. Recently the service has added "rooms", which can function like groups and restrict certain messages or items to a select group of individuals.

Brightkite
Brightkite is a mobile social network that extends Twitter-like functionality to its users. Essentially, users can update the service via their mobile phone and post location statuses along with a note or an image of their choice. Unlike the other alternate services, there's no simple way to reply to another user.

Other Online Alternatives
We've already covered a few other micro-blogging tools in addition to what's been listed here. However, why not take a visit to the platforms that started it all. While instant messaging may be a little old school, we're still using it to connect with others. There's also IRC, forums and messageboards to consider. They may not be the "hottest" alternatives, but these services are what paved the way for services like Twitter to take shape. You can also try doing conference calls via Skype or visiting those AOL and Yahoo chat groups. Meebo anyone?

Offline

If you'd rather not make a switch to another service, try these offline alternatives to Twitter:

• Phone
• Events
• Parks
• Meetings
• Fairs
• Parties/Clubs

The best way to help Twitter deal with their issues without being negative and to also get your social fix is to take a break from the service. When's the last time you called some of your online friends? What about the last time you left the house to socialize? Take a break from the online world and socialize with those that are within your immediate area to physically meet and greet you.

Give Twitter A Break

The biggest problem with most of these alternatives is that they don't quite compare to Twitter's large community following. It has taken me 3 months to build my own network of over 700 followers on Twitter. Not many of us would be willing to put in the time to build our connections somewhere else. So, if you're deciding to head elsewhere, send a Twitter message out to your followers letting them know about the move. Don't forget to note whether or not your move will be permanent. You never know who'll end up following you. You can catch me over on FriendFeed (profile) and Pownce (profile) while I wait for Twitter to come back around. What are your plans?

• Tumblr - Tumblr is a microblogging application that also allows the inclusion of activity streams from other services.
• Onaswarm - Onaswarm, which is in private beta, is a dedicated lifestreaming app that supports a wide variety of other services.
• Jaiku - The chief function of Jaiku, as a presence app similar to Twitter, is enhanced by letting users aggregate activity from outside services.
• Lifestrea.ms - Lifestrea.ms -- in closed beta -- is a dedicated activity stream aggregator that quotes our review in the company line by calling itself a "standards based nerve center."
• Soup.io - Similar to Tumblr, Soup.io is a microblogging application. It also supports outside status updates for 11 services and any RSS feed.
• FriendFeed - Due to being founded by a bunch of ex-Googlers, FriendFeed might hold the crown for most talked about lifestreaming app. It supports nearly 30 web sites.
• MyBlogLog - MyBlogLog, which specializes in creating ad-hoc social networks around blogs, just got into lifestreaming with an update last night.
• Profilactic - Profilactic supports 135 sites. Yes, 135 sites. As well as the ability to add your own. Have fun.
• iStalkr - iStalkr is a hub for your social media activity and that of your friends and family, with a unique approach to lifestreaming that puts your life on a timeline.
• Correlate.us - Correlate.us creates a river of activity for a handful of supported sites, and graphs which sites you use the most, all with the design sensibilities of del.icio.us.
• ProfileFly - Focused on social networks, ProfileFly creates a replacement profile that mashes up status updates from your existing social profiles.
• Second Brain - Second Brain takes takes a slightly less automatic approach to life streaming by asking that you categorize and group your activity into collections. See our review.
• Explode.us - Explode.us is a social media search engine that also offers "a profile to consolidate your various online presences."
• liveZuu - A lifestreaming application that supports 28 networks and offer a Facebook app.
• OneSwirl - A newer dedicated lifestream aggregator that celebrated its first public release today.
• Socialthing! - Currently in closed beta, Socialthing! is a promising lifestreaming service that offers a nifty-looking iPhone optimized version. They're planning to release the service at SXSW.
• iminta - iminta keeps you up-to-date on what your friends are "in to" and lets you share your own activity stream.
• Plaxo Pulse - Most famous for helping to get Robert Scoble temporarily banned from Facebook, Plaxo's Pulse product lets you aggregate activity from a wide variety of third party services.
• Identoo - A fairly standard social streaming site.
• Escaloop - Escaloop is a free-form lifestreaming app that lets you combine up to 20 RSS feeds into a single stream (yeah, there are other RSS mixers out there, but Escaloop is notable on this list for specifically targeting lifestreaming).
• Hictu - Hictu is a video microblogging app that supports importing activity streams from outside services.
• Life2Front - Life2Front's LiFE-Line activity stream feature is a functional activity stream aggregator, if not the most attractive.
• 30Boxes - The online calendar app also has lifestreaming capabilities.
• Readr - Readr mashes 21 different sites into a single profile feed.
• Suprglu - Suprglu pulls content from the web services you use and then republishes them in blog format.
• Where is me? - A lifestreaming app that pulls from 11 services or RSS feeds.
• Slifeshare - Lifestreaming via a Mac OS X application (Windows promised soon).
• MovableType ActionStreams - For do-it-yourselfers, MovableType offers a lifestreaming plugin for their blog platform.
• SimpleLife - More for the DIY set, SimpleLife is a lifestreaming plugin for Wordpress.
• WP Lifestream - Another lifestreaming plugin for Wordpress.
• RSS Stream - You guessed it, a third lifestream plugin for Wordpress.
• oneConnect - Yahoo!'s oneConnect mobile service includes activity stream aggregation features.
• Facebook (?) - Rumor has it that Facebook will be opening up the news feed to outside service updates.
• Socialstream - Nothing has come out of it yet, but this Google funded academic project at Carnegie Mellon University into lifestreaming has garnered a ton of press attention.
• Jeremy Keith's Lifestreaming Script - Jeremy Keith's lifestreaming script was one of the first and inspired some of the services on this list.

Are there any we missed? Which is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below.

Tumblr

For a recent episode of Read/WriteTalk Sean Ammirati sat down with David Karp, the founder of Tumblr. Tumblr is a platform that makes it easy to create Tumblelogs - which Wikipedia defines as:

A variation of a blog, that favors short-form, mixed-media posts over the longer editorial posts frequently associated with blogging. Common post formats found on tumblelogs include links, photos, quotes, dialogues, and video. Unlike blogs, this format is frequently used to share the author's creations, discoveries, or experiences without providing a commentary. One of the many tumblelog sevices is tumblr.

Read more...

Onaswarm

Onaswarm is a new lifestreaming application from Toronto's David Janes and BlogMatrix. Marshall Kirkpatrick wrote that Onaswarm is a smart, interesting service that combines groups, microformats and flashes of really good usability.

It's very text-centric and clearly better for geeks than it is for the artists who like Tumblr, for example. The Onaswarm site architecture and navigation need a substantial overhaul to improve usability, despite some nice touches.

Read more...

Lifestrea.ms

Lifestrea.ms is a powerful new lifestreaming service from Germany that you'll want to keep an eye on. Marshall checked it out and said that it's a real testimony to the potential of the new web that anyone would even try to create something like this company has. Currently in private beta, we hope the company will fix its usability issues and launch soon. Send an email to beta@lifestrea.ms if you want on the list for an account.

Lifestreaming aggregates all your inbound and outbound activity online, see Tumblr or FriendFeed for other examples. If everything under the covers at Lifestrea.ms can be made as good as the front page of the site, then we'll be in great shape. That page alone is a marvel to witness.

Read more...

Soup

Watch out Tumblr, here comes Soup. According to Josh Catone, Soup is an easy to use tumble blogging application that includes two killer features: social networking (kinda) and outside activity streams. It's sort of a cross between Tumblr, Pownce, and a social activity aggregator.

At its core, Soup is a microblogging app, and a pretty easy to use one. Their tumble blog set up supports text, link, quote, image, and video posts. Sign up is a snap (you can actually begin posting to your tumble blog before creating an account), and like Tumblr, Soup blogs can be mapped to an outside domain.

Read more...

Jaiku

Jaiku can aggregate and automatically republish stories from your other activity streams: blog posts, del.icio.us links, Flicker photos, even Twitter updates. In this regard, it is a lot like Tumblr (another service that has a huge lead on it traffic-wise). We think this is the part of Jaiku that Google was interested in when it purchased the site -- Jaiku as an activity stream aggregator, not Jaiku as a presence app.

We heard last summer about a Google sponsored project at Carnegie Mellon University called "Socialstream." Socialstream's goal was to "create a system for users to seamlessly share, view, and respond to many types of social content across multiple network." The idea was basically for Socialstream to be a hub for all of your social networking activity -- whether that was on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Digg, or Flickr -- all of your attention data would be collected in one place where you could manage and share it.

Read more...

Finally, you may want to check out What's Next on the Web: a RWW Toolkit for 2008, which features Open Data as one of the 5 big trends Marshall Kirkpatrick compiled resources for. Lifestreaming is a type of web app that will benefit greatly from open data, so check out our toolkit to prepare yourself.

"As for Jaiku, it appears to have fallen through the cracks at Google and is rapidly sinking as a result of neglect," wrote Ars Technica's Ryan Paul on Tuesday. "Unless Google takes some decisive action soon, the service might not retain its existing user base for much longer."

While Engström's blogged response disputes that Jaiku is being neglected, there is no doubt that the service has lost considerable ground to Twitter -- ground it can't afford to lose. According to Compete, Jaiku's traffic peaked in October 2007, around the time of the Google acquisition, but has fallen steadily since (off nearly 30% last month). Twitter, meanwhile, has continued gaining, up over 10% last month. Though Jaiku's traffic is still way up on the year, it is off since the Google purchase and the service still attracts just a tiny fraction of the visitors that Twitter does.

Can Jaiku ever catch Twitter in the presence app market (or Tumblr in the microblogging market, for that matter)? That seems unlikely. But that's also not what I surmise Google wants to do with Jaiku.

What really sets Jaiku apart from Twitter, is that it can aggregate and automatically republish stories from your other activity streams: blog posts, del.icio.us links, Flicker photos, even Twitter updates. In this regard, it is a lot like Tumblr (another service that has a huge lead on it traffic-wise). I think this is the part of Jaiku that Google was interested in when it purchased the site -- Jaiku as an activity stream aggregator, not Jaiku as a presence app.

We heard last summer about a Google sponsored project at Carnegie Mellon University called "Socialstream." Socialstream's goal was to "create a system for users to seamlessly share, view, and respond to many types of social content across multiple network." The idea was basically for Socialstream to be a hub for all of your social networking activity -- whether that was on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Digg, or Flickr -- all of your attention data would be collected in one place where you could manage and share it.

This is an ambitious project, and to work it means that social networks need to embrace data portability -- something that we're seeing begin to happen right now (maybe). If the Data Portability Working Group actually realizes their goals, and social networks tear down the garden walls and let users export their data, and if I'm right about Google's plans for Jaiku (which, I'll point out, is complete speculation on my part), then Jaiku could become a very important service this year.

What do you think? Would it make sense for Google to take Jaiku in this direction? Or have I completely lost it? Let us know in the comments below.