Besides having a funny name, MyGads allows you to remember things that you might not always have the answer to. This web 2.0 service allows you to input information that you want to remember later, then when you need the information, you can either send the service an instant message or text message from your phone with a keyword to retrieve the information.
For instance, if you want to remember "My Birthday," then you could create a statement similar to "My Birthday - 12/06." You could then text or IM MyGads to retrieve the birthday. This service has unlimited uses and might just get you out of a sticky situation, say, remembering your anniversary or wife's birthday.
FreshBooks rolled out their API yesterday, a little early it seems as they were outed by TechCrunch.
FreshBooks is an online tool that users can create, send and manage invoices, track time and accept payments with. This new API will allow developers and businesses to integrate the FreshBooks billing platform into a variety of services and solutions they may offer, allowing for a little streamlining to take place.
The FreshBooks API support materials include an update blog, scripts, samples and examples. There is also a forum to guide developers along the way in creating their timers, planners, and widgets.
Wetpaint has entered the widget market like so many other companies seem to be doing lately. Wetpaint is an online hosted service that lets users create their very own blog/wiki on their topic of interest, than connects you to others that have the same interests. DLS covered the news of Wetpaint opening to the public last June. Their service has upgraded and has now added the ability to embed widgets into a webpage with an easy edit button. The widgets can be anything from a calendar to YouTube clips. The new widget service stems from increasing customer demands to have more customization abilities. Business customers have been another target for the company. They have been using Wetpaint's wiki service to build community sites. Wetpaint makes it easy for customers since there is no code involved. The service is free to users, and has no cap on storage limits.
The Zend PHP framework will now play nice with Google Data in a collaborative effort that puts the elves to shame. The component built by Google and Zend lives in the top level and not under Zend_service, which makes it more accessible and is mostly because the Gdata service is a protocol of its own, not merely a service wrapper. Google's component isn't the first to be included and follows the likes of Amazon, Yahoo, Flickr, and others to allow PHP developers to use data much easier through the Zend framework.
The new version of the Zend framework is out (version 0.60) as of last week, so go check it out when you get done going through your stocking one more time. The new framework has many bug fixes and features as you might expect, but that is why you can download it and have fun yourself.
Reuters is reporting that Cingular is set to announce a new partnership with MySpace today, offering a paid Java-based client on their phones with access to the popular social networking site. An extra $2.99/month will bring photo sharing, email checking, blogging and friend searching to about 90 percent of Cingular's handsets in the coming weeks. Video, strangely, won't be featured at the service's launch (strange because of Cingular's big push into video services as of late), but is said to be on its way some time in 2007.
Given that plenty of other social networking sites like Facebook and Vox offer mobile access and even download clients for free, this venture rubs me the wrong way. On the upside, however, MySpace is where I spend roughly .3 percent of my time (hey I have an account for the same reasons as everyone else: marketing myself), so I'll be happy to hang on to my $2.99, thankyouverymuch.
Google has announced what is quite possibly the largest update to Google Reader since its inception, bringing an entirely new UI, more keyboard shortcuts, new bookmarklets and a whole lotta results from user feedback to the table. Overall, as a Google Reader fan for some time, I am pleasantly surprised by this wholly positive and usable update, but it isn't without a few confusing quirks.
The first and most noticeable update is the radical change to Google Reader's UI, bringing it more in line with the tried and tested UI of many other online readers, but still with much of the Google engineers' unique genius baked in everywhere. Above you can see Reader has adopted the typical folder/grouping system on the left, while headlines can be listed on the right.
If your software or web design project is struggling through the fog, let Porchlight show you and your team the way. This web-based project management and bug tracking service offers user-specific milestone and project tracking, so members of your team only need to see the tasks that matter to them. Email updates and RSS feeds for projects, as well as a subscribe-able calendar for upcoming milestones are but a few of the appealing features for this project management app targeted towards software and web nerds alike. Check out more screenshots after the bump, try out the service for free or check out Porchlight's pricing to see if a plan fits your needs.
OSNews writer Adam Scheinberg has written a review of two popular photo sharing services, Flickr and Picasa Web Albums, on his blog. Apparently, enough of the OSNews readers liked the review so much that they pressured him into posting it to OSNews, which made me think there just might be something to it.
To be honest, I think he does a good job of reviewing both services objectively, so I don't want to ruin his conclusion. I personally am an iPhoto and Flickr user since I'm on Mac OS X, but I've heard great things about Google's Picasa, and I've poked around with Web Albums since Google released an uploader app and iPhoto plugin for Mac OS X.
Check out Adam's review of the two big-hitters and see what you think. You might even learn something new about these services.
It appears that Napster might be ready to say uncle, ZDNet is reporting. The company has stated they "do not have our heads in the sand regarding an M&A (merger and acquisition) transaction", which is more or less a nice way of saying they just might be licked. Over the march quarter their 512,000 strong subscriber base fell 7 percent as they transitioned to its free website model, but excluding 4,000 university subscriptions, their number of paid subscribers actually grew 26 percent year-over-year.
An analyst from Stifel Nicolaus & Co also cited in ZDNet's article said "Napster's still trying to find a working business model, which is bad from an operating standpoint", also noting that they see an increased likelihood that the company would sell, especially since the possibility came straight down from management.
Either way, things don't sound so good for the renegade-come-legit digital music service. Also of note is their website; it might be the fact that I'm on a Mac, but their site seems dishearteningly bare these days. not even a remnant of the hip Flash site they built when they offered the web-based free model. I guess time will tell what happens to the music libraries of all those subscribing users.
Steven Frank, founder of Mac software company Panic Inc., certainly thinks so, and I agree. With the slew of new web apps that are being introduced almost on a daily basis, it's becoming a pain to create a registration for each one, verify, then jump back in to finally start playing. Not to mention this process completely breaks that initial 'ooh, a slick new [insert service here]!!' excitement.
I think it would be great if these hot new web 2.0 startups would offer a public, no-registration-required sandbox to further boost their convenience and cool factors, but what about you, DLS readers? Are we splitting hairs here, or might this be a good idea? Sound off.
By now you've probably heard about Zune, the new Microsoft iPod killer reportedly out later this year. Possibly you saw this on Engadget, or this on Microsoft-Watch, maybe somewhere else. But what does it all mean?
First, Microsoft is way behind the eight ball. Apple has such a lead in this market that, at this point, it really isn't funny anymore. This may be a classic "tortoise and the hare" story if Apple sits on their laurels and Microsoft comes up with a killer device. In my not so humble opinion, however, neither of these two things will happen. Microsoft's device may have some advantages to Apple's little white player, but there is no way that it will completely uproot the iPod Universe. Apple has done a good job of embedding the iPod into our popular culture, and it's clear that the company doesn't make a habit out of doing nothing. Apple's agile business strategy, led by some of the brightest minds of our time, is on the offensive.
Ultimately, it will be interesting to see what Apple shakes the grape vine with next. I am a little worried for Apple in the gaming department, since Apple isn't a major player at this point, and it's one place Microsoft has a clear advantage. What is going to help the next iPod stay ahead of Microsoft's Zune initiative?
Awhile back Google started beta-testing Gmail For Your Domain,
a hosted e-mail service that lets you use Gmail's slick webmail interface for e-mail addresses from your own domain
name. It's still a closed beta, but a blogger at Science Addiction managed to get his domain on the list (go here to try for yourself) and has written a review of the
service (if the site is down from Slashdotting,
the author has a mirror here). Beta
testers get 25 free 2GB e-mail accounts with all of Gmail's standard features including spam blocking and Gmail chat,
plus an easy administration panel, e-mail lists (i.e. alias addresses for whole groups of users), color scheme and logo
customization, and a few more bits and bobs. The author says that setting it up is painless and the experience is
satisfying. He also says that the interface hints that Gmail For Your Domain will include some form of paid service. No
word yet on when it will be available to the general public.
FreshBooks rolled out their API yesterday, a little early it seems as they were outed by TechCrunch.
Wetpaint has entered the widget market like so many other companies seem to be doing lately. Wetpaint is an online hosted service that lets users create their very own blog/wiki on their topic of interest, than connects you to others that have the same interests. DLS covered the news of Wetpaint opening to the public last June. Their service has upgraded and has now added the ability to embed widgets into a webpage with an easy edit button. The widgets can be anything from a calendar to YouTube clips. The new widget service stems from increasing customer demands to have more customization abilities. Business customers have been another target for the company. They have been using Wetpaint's wiki service to build community sites. Wetpaint makes it easy for customers since there is no code involved. The service is free to users, and has no cap on storage limits.
The Zend PHP framework will now play nice with Google Data in a collaborative effort that puts the elves to shame. The component built by Google and Zend lives in the top level and not under Zend_service, which makes it more accessible and is mostly because the Gdata service is a protocol of its own, not merely a service wrapper. Google's component isn't the first to be included and follows the likes of Amazon, Yahoo, Flickr, and others to allow PHP developers to use data much easier through the Zend framework.
Reuters is reporting that Cingular is set to announce a new partnership with MySpace today, offering a paid Java-based client on their phones with access to the popular social networking site. An extra $2.99/month will bring photo sharing, email checking, blogging and friend searching to about 90 percent of Cingular's handsets in the coming weeks. Video, strangely, won't be featured at the service's launch (strange because of Cingular's big push into video services as of late), but is said to be on its way some time in 2007.
OSNews writer Adam Scheinberg has written a review of two popular photo sharing services, Flickr and Picasa Web Albums, on his blog. Apparently, enough of the OSNews readers liked the review so much that they pressured him into posting it to OSNews, which made me think there just might be something to it.
Steven Frank, founder of Mac software company Panic Inc., certainly thinks so, and I agree. With the slew of new web apps that are being introduced almost on a daily basis, it's becoming a pain to create a registration for each one, verify, then jump back in to finally start playing. Not to mention this process completely breaks that initial 'ooh, a slick new [insert service here]!!' excitement.
By now you've probably heard about Zune, the new Microsoft iPod killer reportedly out later this year. Possibly you saw this on Engadget, or this on Microsoft-Watch, maybe somewhere else. But what does it all mean? 
Awhile back Google started beta-testing Gmail For Your Domain,
a hosted e-mail service that lets you use Gmail's slick webmail interface for e-mail addresses from your own domain
name. It's still a closed beta, but a blogger at Science Addiction managed to get his domain on the list (go here to try for yourself) and has written a review of the
service (if the site is down from Slashdotting,
the author has a mirror here). Beta
testers get 25 free 2GB e-mail accounts with all of Gmail's standard features including spam blocking and Gmail chat,
plus an easy administration panel, e-mail lists (i.e. alias addresses for whole groups of users), color scheme and logo
customization, and a few more bits and bobs. The author says that setting it up is painless and the experience is
satisfying. He also says that the interface hints that Gmail For Your Domain will include some form of paid service. No
word yet on when it will be available to the general public.
