I rarely get as excited by a Web 2.0 app or service as I am by ProofHQ, which is an innovative and platform-independent way to manage the whole review and approval process for creative documents. At least for me, the most tedious part of the design process is getting feedback and approval. First you have to make sure the file is in a format that a client or collaborator can read (so that you don't accidentally send out a Word 2007 document to someone who is using Office 2003 and doesn't have the Office 2007 viewer software), then if you are sending something by e-mail, that the e-mail size isn't too large for their mail server. That process has to be repeated for every change or for every new element.
ProofHQ was designed to streamline the entire creative review process, making much of the above process unnecessary.This is how it works: You upload your proof, document or design concept to ProofHQ and enter in who you want to send the proof to. ProofHQ then creates a web-optimized, Flash-based proof that your reviewers or collaborators can view. They just click on a link in their e-mail and have access to the proof or document.
From there, they can add notes, draw in markup and immediately reject or approve a design. You can even embed a "Miniproof" in a blog or wiki, and any comments made either at that site or via the ProofHQ dashboard appear alongside one another. This makes it really, really easy to get feedback and collaboration from lots of different people. As the document creator, you can see who has reviewed or commented on a proof and instantly eyeball if something is approved or if you need to bug someone to give you an answer.
Monday Google unveiled yet another beta site. Google Reader is now formatted for the iPhone. iPhone users tired of pinching and stretching and tapping text only links in the normal version of Reader or dealing with the plain Classic mobile version of Reader can head over to http://www.google.com/reader/i/ to check out the new beta site.
With the iPhone-enabled web-app, Google joins Ask.com in the web-based RSS reader marketplace. Ask.com's Bloglines has had an iPhone version available to users since July 19, 2007. iBloglines was created with less than a 1000 lines of code on a lark by an internal developer who bought an iPhone and wanted better access to the site.
Having a hard time deciding where to live? StreetAdvisor makes those decisions a little easier for renters and buyers. TechCrunch posted about an array of new features added to the website, but since DLS has not yet covered this helpful product that launched earlier this year, and the fact that its starting to generate more street reviews we'll give it a little rundown.
StreetAdvisor plain and simply gives reviews on countries, states, cities and of course streets, sharing information and details that are important to anyone making the hard decision on where to call home. StreetAdvisor's content includes anything from details on community noise levels, traffic, entertainment options and information on local services and businesses. Members on the site can share and rank their street information, as well as upload any photos they might have of the area. They are also encouraged to share such details as life in that area, what the public services, such as what school and healthcare are like, real estate activities, and what there is to do close by.
It's going to take a while we presume, but StreetAdvisor is slowly adding to its database of areas since its launch in private beta in February of this year.
Earlier this year we had a little contest where we gave away 3 shiny copies of Vista Ultimate. Our three lucky winners have had some time to bathe in the cooling waters of Vista, and this past week we heard back from two of them: AJ and Shannon. How did they feel about Vista?
AJ wrote: I must say, that eye candy just added another definition in the form of the snazzy aero effect and other visual goodies. But that's just where the sadness begins for me as I honestly couldn't find anything truly worth a "wow" factor in the functionality of the operating system compared to my MCE 2005. So much so that those totally in-your-face (or shall I say in Microsoft's face) TV commercials where one dude is the Vista and other Apple look like Simon Cowell-ish "brutally honest" 30 second reality shows. I got a kick out of the one where this Matrix-y bodyguard acts out Vista's new "Allow or Deny" function which truly starts treating your every move, pretty much, like you just poked a finger into a bubble boy's shell.
So for me, I give it lightning fast two thumbs down.
Shannon broke it down: Pros Eye candy-- in my opinion Windows Vista has a great look and feel, everything from the redesigned start button to the sidebar to the glass-like windows of the aero.
Integrated and instant search-- the redesigned start menu offers an instant search that allows you to find applications and files instantly I've found this to be an invaluable addition to windows.
Windows Vista is garnering some interesting reviews, but the latest from Forbes' Stephen Manes probably isn't going to get framed on Steve Ballmer's wall anytime soon (that could simply be due to a lack of space though). Stephen chose a fairly transparent title of "Dim Vista" for his review, setting the stage for a long list of usability gripes and tales of staggering un-wow-edness. Stephen finds problems in everything from the Windows Firewall not recognizing when a 3rd party firewall is active, the Control Panel being needlessly redesigned yet again and even WordPad no longer being able to open .DOC Word files. And that's all before he gets to the bugs, quirks and other broken pieces of this nearly 6-year venture.
While Stephen's review doesn't have a happy ending, it could serve as a cautionary tale for anyone still considering a move to Vista. At the very least, Stephen recommends waiting until Service Pack 1, and with the way things are shaping up, we're tending to agree.
The folks over at Mobile Review have been spending some quality time with a pre-release version of the next version of Windows Mobile, code-named "Crossbow." For the most part, they're not particularly impressed with the feature set of this update, due out in 2007, and they already have their eye on the next version, code-named "Photon." But that won't be out until 2008.
So what has Microsoft changed in Crossbow?
Well, the icons have all been redesigned with a 3D look, and all the sounds have been changed. And those are probably the most notable differences.
Under the hood, devices seem to boot a little faster, and applications are more responsive. Crossbow will still come in two versions, one for Pocket PCs, and another for Smartphones. But Pocket PC users will now have access to Smart Dial 2.0, allowing them to search through their contacts and make phone calls.
The mail client will include support for messages in HTML, and Microsoft has integrated Windows Live Messenger, Live Search, and Live Mail.
Text prediction has also been updates. You can add words to the dictionary, or erase changes made to your dictionary to reset the dictionary to the factory default.
If you have a few hours to kill, I highly recommend checking out the Mobile Review post for a more thorough look at the details and a ton of screenshots.
Seeing a bunch of lean code jockeys building the next generation of web browsers is a reality TV show I'd watch. Since that's probably not happening any time soon, I'll take the next best thing: Read/WriteWeb's Web Browser Faceoff, by Alex Iskold. Iskold reviews six of the latest crop of web bowsers: Firefox 2, Internet Explorer 7, Safari, Opera 9, Flock, and Maxthon. I highly recommend reading his entire round-up, but in case your attention span ain't what it used to be, here's what he concludes about our trusty browsers:
IE7: "Solid release, which is going to help Microsoft maintain the market leadership in the near future"
Firefox: "We think that Firefox is going to continue narrowing IE's lead, but await with interest the next major version!"
Safari: "It's a clean and simple web 1.0 browser, but needs a major feature boost in order to be a contender even on the Mac."
Opera: "We can see why fans like this browser, but a bigger future depends on spicing it up and poring in the marketing dollars."
Flock: "Great productivity browser for web 2.0"
Maxthon: "Need to apply Occam's Razor (i.e. make it simpler), but definitely could be a contender because of solid service integration."
"Even though IE and Firefox are far ahead today," Iskold concludes, "we see that other browser like Flock and Maxthon are ramping up support for the latest web 2.0 services - making themselves stand out and attracting early adopters. ... Faceoff bottom line: This round of browser competition is going to be at least as interesting as the Netscape vs. IE ten years ago. And hopefully less one-sided!" Hear, hear!
Despite many technologists' belief that IE7 should undergo another beta cycle or two before it's release candidate time, this morning Microsoft released Internet Explorer Release Candidate 1. According to General Manager Dean Hachamovitch, the release "includes improvements in performance, stability, security, and application compatibility," and apart from those users won't notice too many differences. "A release candidate is fundamentally different from a beta," says Hachamovitch, "With the exception of a very short list of issues we're aware of and working on, we think the product is done." Microsoft is soliciting user feedback on the release candidate and plans to release the final version of IE7 in Q4 of this year. Paul Thurrott has a brief review of IE7 RC1 up on his site, in which he concludes, "It's not a perfect browser, but IE 7 is hugely improved, and even in this prerelease version is worth considering." Oh, and for keyboard-centric users (like me), there's a new quick reference sheet of all of IE7's keyboard shortcut at the IEBlog.
Light Reading, a telecom magazine I'll admit to never having heard of before, is running a very thorough comparison of the web's many, many video sharing sites. If you're in a hurry you might want to skip to this table, which ranks 44 sites according to ease of use, upload and storage limitations, and "other stuff" including format flexibility, editing, distribution, and privacy options, but the site graces the Top 10 offerings with more thorough reviews. But in case you're as lazy as me, I'll just list the Top 10 with their scores (out of 100) here and the other 34 after the jump:
The first release of Freespire, the community-driven (a la Red Hat's Fedora) Linux distribution from Linspire, is due in a couple of weeks, but the first release candidate is now available and DesktopLinux.com is running an early look at it, which gives a good overview of what we can expect in the new platform. Out of the box, Freespire has support for a wide variety of media formats, including proprietary ones like Windows Media, QuickTime, and Real. One of its stand-out features is the Click-and-Run (CNR) system, which lets you install a wide variety of software with one click over the internet. CNR costs $20 per year to use and includes both commercial (for which you pay) and open source software. Linspire has a modified KDE desktop which is designed to be comfortable for Windows converts. DesktopLinux.com says concludes that Freespire is "a fine Windows replacement desktop for home users," but could use better Network support. Click through for the full review.
Blogger and web designer Christian Watson has posted a round-up and comparison of ten web-based image editing suites along with a very informative comparison table. The editors in question are Cellsea, ImageAuthor, LookWow, NetImager, nexImage, Phixr, Picture2Life, PXN8, Snipshot (formerly Pixoh), and VicImager. His ultimate choice is Cellsea, though in the comments Beau Hartshorne points out that Cellsea began its life as a ripoff of Snipshot's JavaScript code.
Rejoice, fellow Backpack users, for 37Signals today added a much-requested new feature for paid users: a calendar. As you may come to expect from the traditional KISS approach of 37Signals, the calendar is incredibly easy to use and enter appointments into. It's also 'smart', as it can figure out what events like "January 7 Catherine's birthday" and "6:30pm Dinner" mean, and it will place them where they need to go. Users can also create multiple calendars and assign unique colors to each, and events are pleasantly drag-and-drop-able between days. Unlike Google Calendar, this Backpack Calendar can remind you of events no matter which calendar they are entered into, however the reminders (at least for now) are set at a static 30 minutes before the event. Calendars are also shareable and subscribe-able via the iCal format, and just as with Backpack pages, calendar addresses are able to be reset, should you find a need to stop sharing one down the road. The one thing I haven't tested yet is whether this calendar has any kind of accessibility via Backpack mobile. If you try this out, sound off.
As a paid Backpack user (just the Basic $5 plan), I have to say: I am pleased. I retreated from using Google Calendar a little while ago, in part because of the silly limit of only being able to receive reminders for events in the Personal calendar, and no others. Plus, this is another great reason to start using my Backpack account even more, especially since I've found a killer offline Backpack client by the name of Packrat, which I've blogged on TUAW. One downer that I can see from this new calendar being a paid-only feature, however, is that (as far as I know) free account users don't have any way of testing it out. I guess freeloaders (just kidding) could spend the $5 to 'temporarily' upgrade and test it out, then simply downgrade if they aren't happy. Ultimately, I think this calendar feature is almost worth the $5 alone for any Backpack user looking for a little more organization in their lives.
ExtremeTech is running the sort of round-up article I've been waiting to see: Opera 9 vs. Firefox 2 vs. Internet Explorer 7. While the latter two are both in beta, ExtremeTech gives them all a thorough go-'round. The review also includes some revealing benchmarks, testing their memory usage with and without a bunch of open tabs (spoiler: IE wins with one tab, Opera wins with a bunch) as well as their start-up time (Opera is the best, and Firefox is the worst by a wide margin) and Acid2 standards test performance (Opera). ExtremeTech gives all three browsers high marks and doesn't declare a "winner": Firefox wins points for security and extensibility, Opera impresses with its mature tab implementation, and IE7 seems to have done quite a lot of catching up.
Oh, how we love the Top 10 lists. TechWeb's Alexander Wolfe has written a Top 10 list that's actually one Top 6 list and one Bottom 4 list: Top 10 Windows Vista Hits & Misses, i.e. what's awesome in Vista and what ain't so great. Here's your basic spoiler:
Hits:
Sidebar and gadgets
Pretty Aero interface
Media Center integration
Windows Media Player 11
Non-intrusive DRM
Flip 3D task switcher
Misses:
Installation problems
Lousy performance
Bad Search and security behaviors
Steep memory requirements for Aero
Wolfe concludes that "Vista is very strong on its consumer presentation skills, but has made less of a business case for corporations to upgrade from Windows XP," and that he would be willing to pay the OEM price of about $85, but not the $199 or $299 that we've been hearing for a retail copy.
Microsoft has released build 5456 of Windows Vista to its closed testing group, the first test build since the public release of Vista Beta 2 a couple weeks ago, and Windows guru Paul Thurrott has his usual screenshot-packed overview of what's changed in this version. Thurrott wasn't especially pleased with Beta 2's bugs but says build 5456 "makes up a lot of lost ground," and that "it's hard not to view this build and not believe that Microsoft is absolutely back on track." He praises the build's much quicker setup time, networking enhancements, performance improvements ("much speedier than was Beta 2"), and "a new high-resolution mouse pointer." Head over to Paul Thurrott's Windows SuperSite for all of his notes on the release and a pile of new screenshots.
Earlier this year we had a little contest where we 
Windows Vista is garnering some interesting reviews, but the latest from Forbes' Stephen Manes probably isn't going to get framed on Steve Ballmer's wall anytime soon (that could simply be due to a 
