ReadWriteWeb

Dashboard software-as-a-service provider Netvibes and enterprise Java platform builder eXo have teamed up to create Netvibes Studio, a cloud-based development environment for building cross-platform widgets. Widgets built with Netvibes Studio can run in any browser, and can be deployed instantly into the Netvibes environment. Better yet, they will work in most major widget platforms, including iGoogle, Windows Vista, Apple Dashboard, Live.com, iPhone, Opera and more.

Since the device's release 2 months ago, many have praised the iPad for its media consumption capabilities while admitting that media creation is not its strong suit. It may not be the best device to compose a day's worth of emails, but watching video and reading books and news on the large touchscreen is certainly a compelling experience. Feeds are one of the most efficient ways to quickly consume large amounts of information from the Web, and feed reading service Netvibes is bringing their popular Web-based experience to the consumption-friendly iPad.

In late November, ReadWriteWeb asked the question, Can Netvibes pull off integration of real-time feeds into its existing dashboard product?. At the time, early testers were just gaining access to Wasabi beta. As of today the service will go live to the public concurrent with CEO Freddy Mini's presentation at the Le Web conference.

In the Web 2.0 heyday, Netvibes had that star appeal that few companies ever experience. Their platform for creating personal dashboards rocketed in growth. Web innovators sang its praises. But you know the story. Netvibes struggled to find a business model.

The next version of popular web dashboard service Netvibes will push "near real-time" updates from feeds to the browser, a dramatic change in how the service works. Those feeds will be served up along with the standard suite of functional widgets the company has always provided.

As the number of real-time feeds available around the web has rapidly grown over recent months with the rise of real-time publishing technologies, the big question has been: when will a major feed reader consume these feeds? Google Reader may be too complex and too slow-moving to be first; that Netvibes is going to steal the show should be no surprise.

Personalized web platform service Netvibes announced their new Netvibes Labs section today. Labs will give users an early peek at new features being developed for the Netvibes platform, along with the widget wishlist: an area to make widget suggestions and vote on the best ideas. At launch, Netvibes Labs will have three projects available for testing, a theme designer, a tag cloud app, and a tool for 'spring cleaning' old or unread feeds.

Last Friday I wrote a post titled Netvibes Appears to Be Dying. My conclusion was based on downtime by the service, a recent history of repeat problems with the site, concerns about the viability of the start page sector in general and with the Netvibes business model in particular. Anger that this site I depend on was failing me again was a big factor in the post as well.

After making that post, we received a torrent of feedback, most of which was very negative. I also spoke to Netvibes CEO Freddy Mini and he shared with me some facts, figures and perspective from within the company. Based on that conversation I want to revise my statements about Netvibes and to apologize for the angry, caustic tone I took in the post.

Popular start-page service Netvibes may be in its final days as a viable product. The service has been suffering frequent, extended downtime, hasn't been fully functioning even when up and can't possibly be making as much money as its backers hoped it would.

Update: Please see our follow up post on this topic - I Was Wrong; Netvibes is Not Going Down The Tubes.

Start-pages are highly customizable services that display RSS feeds and lots of other little tools inside widgets on a page. The most successful have been MyYahoo and iGoogle. There used to be a horde of startups trying to enter this market but the energy is largely gone. When your startpage doesn't load, your personal entry point into the web has failed you and it can really put a damper on your day. That's where Netvibes is right now. Update: The site is back up again. If you want to export your feeds and try one of the many alternatives, now's your chance. It turns out though that Netvibes still has a lot of very happy users, as you can see in the comments. We're glad to hear it and despite our deep frustration and worries that the company isn't doing well - we really hope we're wrong.

Netvibes, one of the many personalized homepage products available today, has just announced a new feature which allows users to share anything from their Netvibes pages - not just tabs, but also articles, widgets, and RSS feeds. This new feature allows those items to be shared via integration with two of the most popular social networks: Twitter and Facebook, the latter being powered by Facebook Connect. What's not to love? As it turns out, based on the comments found on the Netvibes blog, users are not happy about this change.