Posts tagged Web apps at Download Squad

Posts with tag web-apps

Prism extension for Firefox: Treat any web app as a desktop app

Posted Mar 7th 2008 2:00PM by Brad Linder
Filed under: Internet, Web services, Mozilla, Beta

Mozilla has released an updated version of Prism, an application that lets open web applications like Gmail, Google Docs, or Zoho Writer in a stripped down Firefox-like browser. The result is that you can quickly launch web applications and treat them as if they were desktop applications.

The most noticeable change is that Firefox 3 beta users don't need to download and install Prism as a separate application. They can just install a new Prism extension for Firefox 3. Once installed, you can visit any web site in Firefox and convert it into an application and place a shortcut on your desktop or in your start menu.

If you're not using Firefox 3, you can download the standalone installer for Prism 0.9 for Windows, Mac, or Linux. The latest build also includes the ability to pick an icon for your shortcut, and create a separate profile for each web application.

Bubbles turns web apps into desktop apps

Posted Feb 15th 2008 11:00AM by Brad Linder
Filed under: Internet, Windows, Web services, Freeware, web 2.0

Like having Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Flickr, and other web services at your fingertips, but don't feel like keeping RAM-hungry Firefox open all day? Bubbles is a Windows application lets you run web services in their own individual windows, no Firefox, Opera, or Internet Explorer required.

When you first run Bubbles, you'll see a list of web sites which you can open with the application. You can also add any page you want just by entering the URL. You can start a web app by clicking the "Go" button and you should see icons for each application pop up in your Windows system tray. Click on one to bring up the web app of your choice. Clicking the X bar doesn't close the window, but minimizes it to the system tray. In order to really close a window you'll need to right-click on its icon and select close.

Bubbles appears to use less memory than Firefox when accessing some web pages like Gmail or Yahoo! Mail. But we noticed a window running Google Reader quickly grew to use 50MB. Overall Bubbles seems like a slick and easy to use alternative to Mozilla Prism. But there is room for improvement. For example, when you click on a link in a Bubble window, instead of opening a new Bubble, the program opens your default web browser, which sort of defeats the purpose if you want to do anything besides read web pages.

Bubbles has actually been around a lot longer than Prism, but it works pretty well with modern web applications and supports Greasemonkey. There's even a Gmail notifier that works even with the newer version of Gmail.

[Thanks Jim Mauro!]

OpenBox: Box.net launches web app platform

Posted Nov 13th 2007 11:30AM by Brad Linder
Filed under: Internet, Web services, web 2.0

Box.net is transforming from a service that lets you store your files to a service that lets you store, edit, manipulate, and share your files. That doesn't mean Box.net is getting into the online office/image editing/blogging business. Instead, the company is launching OpenBox, a platform that lets web app developers tie their services into Box.net.

From a user perspective, what this means is you can upload images, text documents, spreadsheets, or other files to Box.net. Then you can click on those documents to share, download, or email them. But you can also open an image using Picnik's online image editor, or send a document as a fax using eFax.

Right now there are just a few services available, including Zoho, ThinkFree, Autodesk, Scribd, Snipshot, Zazzle, Twitter, Echosign, Picnik and eFax. But thanks to open platformy-goodness, we suspect Box.net will add a ton of services soon.

A free Box.net account nets you 1GB of online storage space. You can also get 5GB or 15GB for a monthly or annual subscription fee.

[via WebWare]

Mozilla Prism now available for Mac and Linux

Posted Nov 11th 2007 11:00AM by Brad Linder
Filed under: Internet, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Mozilla, Freeware, Open Source

Mozilla has launched Mac and Linux versions of Prism. What's Prism again? It's a stripped down version of Firefox that essentially lets you load a single web page at a time. No tabs, no useful URL or navigation buttons. But Prism can come in handy if you like to keep a single web site like Gmail open all day, since it uses fewer resources than Firefox.

The Linux build that we tested was a little wonky. Pressing F11 fails to make a window fullscreen. And Prism didn't seem to notice that Adobe Flash was installed, which made it pretty difficult to run certain web apps.

All in all, for a 0.8 release, we're not complaining. But there's still some work to be done.

[via Chip Cuccio]

Adobe launches Buzzword public beta

Posted Nov 7th 2007 6:00PM by Brad Linder
Filed under: Internet, Office, Web services, Adobe, Beta, web 2.0

Looking for an online word processing application but you don't fancy Google Docs, Zoho Writer, or ThinkFree? Adobe has launched a public beta of Buzzword. Previously, you could only access the online writing/collaborating application with an invitation.

Buzzword is a slick web application that looks unlike any other word processor we've sen. It supports tables, images and page breaks. You can create and store documents online, share them with other users, print or download them. The one thing you can't do is insert hyperlinks in a document.

[via Digital Inspiration]

Mozilla WebRuner becomes Prism, brings web apps to the desktop

Posted Oct 26th 2007 8:30AM by Brad Linder
Filed under: Internet, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Web services, Mozilla, Beta

Oh experimental applications, they grow up so quickly. It seems like just last week we were telling you about Mozilla WebRunner, a stripped down version of Firefox with no tabs or URL bar. And now WebRunner's all grown up and has a new name: Prism.

OK, all grown up might be an overstatement. But Mozilla has outlined their goals for the simple web browser: to let you access web applications without firing up Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, or whatever it is you're using to read this site.

Here's how it works. You download and install Prism. The first time you run it, a window will pop up asking you for a URL, name, and where you'd like to "install" the application. Installation basically means creating a shortcut on your desktop, Start Menu, or Quick Launch Bar. To "uninstall" a web app, just delete the shortcut.

While you could argue Prism is just a glorified way of making desktop shortcuts to web pages, something we've been able to do for years, it's a bit more than that. Because Prism doesn't feature all the bells, whistles, toolbars, and add-ons of Firefox, it's a very light weight browser. And if you just want to access Google Reader, Gmail, or Zoho, that might be enough.

Eventually, Mozilla may integrate Prism with Firefox. In other words, there would be a toolbar menu that says "make this a desktop app." Any time you visit a website that you want to open with Prism in the future, you could click a button to activate the Prism settings menu.

Apple unveils WebApps directory for iPhone users

Posted Oct 11th 2007 6:06PM by Brad Linder
Filed under: Internet, Web services, Apple, iPhone

While the rest of the world is still scratching their heads trying to figure out why Apple doesn't officially support third party applications on the iPhone, Steve Jobs and company wants to highlight just how many applications you can run -- by visiting web sites optimized for the iPhone.

We're not saying a Web apps directory is a bad idea. In fact, it's nice to have a single place to go for a list of online services that look good on a small touch-sensitive screen. But we'd be more impressed if you could calculate tips, convert measurements, or play Soduku without firing up Safari.

And honestly, we'd have thought Apple would have put together this list as soon as the iPhone was launched and kept it up to date. As it is, dozens of 3rd party websites and blogs have started keeping track of all the applications out there.

#	Blogger	Posts	Cmts
1	Brad Linder	98	7
2	Joey Celis	65	1
3	Jay Hathaway	52	14
4	Lee Mathews	27	31
5	Drew Olanoff	15	12
6	Christina Warren	11	3
7	Nancy Messieh	9	0
8	Kristin Shoemaker	9	5
9	Danny Mendez	5	0
10	Emily Price	4	0
11	Adam Maras	4	1
12	Dolores Parker	3	2
13	Ian Dumych	3	1
14	Todd Ritter	2	0
15	Nik Fletcher	2	0
16	Christina Clark	2	2
17	Gordon Finlayson	2	0
18	Patrick Beeson	1	3
19	Sue Polinsky	1	0
20	Victor Agreda, Jr.	1	3

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Prism extension for Firefox: Treat any web app as a desktop app

Bubbles turns web apps into desktop apps

OpenBox: Box.net launches web app platform

Mozilla Prism now available for Mac and Linux

Adobe launches Buzzword public beta

Mozilla WebRuner becomes Prism, brings web apps to the desktop

Apple unveils WebApps directory for iPhone users

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