new Summerboard hacked Springboard that lets you scroll between many different homepages. He's got Google Maps from the iPhone running on there, as well as all the other fun ones like Apollo and the NES emulator. Hit the gallery to see shots of it in action. [Thanks Felix!]
Update: Here's an earlyJailbreak Guide
And here's a list of iPod Touch Compatible Apps
Innovalight CEO Conrad Burke explains to us in an email that the company's technology is based on a liquid silicon ink, which contains silicon nanoparticles. A lot of the other thin-film startups are using non-silicon materials, which (at the moment) can be cheaper than silicon, but also less efficient. Innovalight is betting that its silicon ink and printing process can bring down the cost of manufacturing a solar cell and also keep the cell's efficiency levels up.
The round was led by Norway-based investor, Convexa Capital, with participation by Scatec AS, Apax Partners, ARCH Venture Partners, Harris & Harris Group, Sevin Rosen Funds and Triton Ventures. The company already raised $14 million in its Series A and B rounds. With the new funds, the company says it will move to a new 30,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Sunnyvale, Calif., and hopes to start selling its solar cells in 2009.
Source: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/10/how-to-create-1.html
Seth's post encapsulates much of what IS web 2.0. Web 2.0 is not just social networking. Rather it is the philosophy and business practice of listening and leveraging the power of the people -- whether it is having the community to atomic units of work like tagging photos on Flickr or having members share things like app sharing on Facebook. Most advertisers are so used to one-way media such as TV, print, and radio, they are still using the Internet in the same way -- banner ads, adwords, etc.
Excerpt:
Here are principles I think you can’t avoid:
1. Fire the committee. No great website in history has been conceived of by more than three people. Not one. This is a dealbreaker.
2. Change the interaction. What makes great websites great is that they are simultaneously effortless and new at the same time. That means that the site teaches you a new thing or new interaction or new connection, but you know how to use it right away. (Hey, if doing this were easy, everyone would do it.)
3. Less. Fewer words, fewer pages, less fine print.
[MORE]Seventy-two percent of online users report experiencing " search engine fatigue," impatience and frustration at not being able to find information they need.
Suffering from Information Overload? You Aren't the Only One!: 72 Percent of Consumers Report Having ``Search Engine Fatigue,'' Reports AutobytelIndependent "State of Search" Survey Finds 3 out of 4 Online Consumers Leave Their Computers without Finding What They're Looking For
85 Percent Wish for a One-Stop Shop to Find Everything Related to Cars, Including Purchase, Service and Accessories
IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--According to a new, independent Kelton Research survey commissioned by Autobytel Inc. (Nasdaq:ABTL) and released today on the "state of search," a whopping 72 percent of online searchers are experiencing "Search Engine Fatigue," meaning they become impatient or frustrated when they are unable to quickly find the exact information they need. Of those experiencing this modern day ailment, three out of four physically leave their computer without finding the information they are looking for.
Given that 90 percent of all car buyers1 use the Internet to shop for a vehicle, these consumers are prime candidates to experience "Search Engine Fatigue." In fact, the new Kelton Research/Autobytel survey found that nearly 40 percent of Americans describe finding the "right and relevant" car-related information on the big search engines - such as Google and Yahoo! - as overwhelming and time-consuming. Nearly a quarter of those surveyed said that they have actually put off purchasing a car because they found the overall car-buying process too overwhelming or frustrating.
Considering the size of the automotive industry, estimated by several sources to be well over $1 trillion, including new and used vehicles, accessories, parts, service and repair, and taking into account the thousands of automotive-related sites on the Internet, it's no wonder that online automotive information seekers, in particular, are suffering from information overload.
Survey Shows Online Car Shopper Frustration Growing
When seeking specific car-related information, 86 percent of consumers feel big search engines have limitations or drawbacks. But their frustration doesn't end with the search engines. The survey found that online automotive researchers are also frustrated with third-party sites, such as Autobytel.com, Edmunds.com and KBB.com. More than two out of three (67 percent) feel that these third-party sites are "mostly similar," without offering "substantial differences." Thirty-six percent of consumers indicated they have to visit other websites to make sure they get the comparative information they need to make decisions.
Originally, the Internet helped to eliminate the days and hours car shoppers were forced to spend traveling from "dealership to dealership" to research and find the best deals. Now, in 2007, with the tremendous influx of information available on the Internet across all categories, online automotive consumers appear to be spending more and more time going from "site to site" to gather all the information they need to make informed decisions. Overall, according to the Kelton/Autobytel survey, the average consumer is visiting five different websites to find what they are looking for during the auto research process.
In the survey, when asked to choose from a "wishlist" of what they would like from an automotive website, the largest block of consumers (37 percent) said they would like to have access to the Internet's full range of automotive information in order to receive the most relevant information they are seeking. The survey also found that large percentages of automotive information seekers are looking for services, products and information beyond vehicle purchasing. In fact, 85 percent wish there was a one-stop shop for everything related to cars including purchase, service and accessories.
Alternatives Are Out There
The good news is that innovation in the online search industry is picking up. Vertical search sites that return only relevant industry-specific results have popped up in the travel (Kayak.com) and health (WebMD) categories. Today, Autobytel's next generation consumer website, MyRide.com, officially launched. The site is designed to connect consumers to all things automotive from across the Web, a site where shoppers can find cars, parts and accessories; see thousands of vehicle photos and automotive-themed videos; research to buy vehicles based on the vast amount of available information, including local dealership details; learn from the best automotive publishing brands and writers; and belong to communities focused on their unique automotive interests.
The official "State of Search" study was conducted May 2007 and involved 1,001 nationally representative Americans age 18 and older who have Internet access. The survey results indicate a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent at a 95 percent confidence level.
Autobytel has prepared a white paper, "The State of Search," which discusses the results of the survey in more detail. A copy of the "State of Search" white paper can be obtained by contacting autobytel@ruderfinn.com.
Polyvore, founded by ex-Yahoo'er Pasha Sadri (he created Yahoo Pipes) will appeal to the fashionistas out there in the world.
Users install a bookmarket and grab images from around the web (see demo here) - this part is very similar to what Kaboodle, recently acquired by eBay, does.
They then take those images, plus any images others have uploaded, and create "sets" which are ensembles of individual items, put into, say, a complete outfit. Examples are here.
Sets can be viewed by others, commented, rated, shared, embedded into websites (which I have done above), etc. Users can also take items from the sets (or the set itself) and place it into their own collection for modification (Polyvore also links back to the original set for attribution).
Clicking on any item brings up information about it, plus a link back to the original page where it was grabbed. This is where the potential revenue model comes into play - As a user buys that ring on Amazon, for example, Polyvore can get a revenue share.
Sets can be tagged or favorited, and users can befriend eachother (its a social network). If someone uses an item that you originally saved/bookmarked, you get a status point. The site also runs themed contests to encourage competition and usage. Finally, since no new service is complete without a Facebook application, Polyvore has one of those, too.
The fashion industry is just ridiculously huge. We've covered sites that let (mostly) women show off their outfits. And the success of Sugar Inc., which just made its second acquisition , has been phenomenal. My guess is Polyvore will have its share of rabid users, too.
If you search Google for “Demo of the Year” you’ll find my writeup of Microsoft’s Photosynth.
But last week I got the demo of the year that I’ve seen since then. Zude is a new way to create Web experiences. I can’t really call them pages anymore. Anyway, this is a long one — this demo is so cool that we went an entire hour. Rocky also edited down a “Editor’s Choice” which is a lot shorter (only eight minutes).
Zude has some of the coolest JavaScript I’ve ever seen. Anyone have something cooler?
Oh, and this proves that you can take an hour to do a demo and still engage me.
UPDATE: I just asked Rocky and he agrees that this is the coolest commercial thing he’s seen come through my show.
Zude is really aimed at killing MySpace but I love how you can build Web pages, er, experiences.
Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video
Continue reading iPod touch now running Mail, Google Maps, and more
One of the very popular question in the FeedBurner FAQ is about merging XML feeds from different sources (like Blogger, WordPress, Flickr, Twitter, Jaiku) and then syndicate the entire content as one FeedBurner feed.
This is desirable because a single feed makes it extremely easy for your subscribers to track new content and updates from you.
Though FeedBurner doesn't provide any native feed mixing service, you can use the excellent Yahoo! Pipes service to combine two or more feeds and burn them into a single FeedBurner feed.
Here's a step by step guide (or you can watch the video tutorial)
Step 1: Go to the Yahoo! Pipes website and Create a new Yahoo! Pipe here.
Step 2: Drag-n-drop the "Fetch Feed" tab from the Sources tab to the main drawing panel.
Step 3: Add all the different Feed URLs in the same Fetch Feed Module (click the plus icon).
Step 4: Once you are done adding all your RSS feeds, drag the lower circle from Feed Fetch module to the Pipe Output at the bottom.
Step 5: Give some name and save this Yahoo! Pipe. Now run the pipe and you will see a new RSS feed - syndicate that feed via FeedBurner so you can even track the feed subscribers. It's all very simple - watch the video demo below:
Screencast video created using Camtasia Studio 5. [download, 2.5 MB]
Address and send traditional snail mail via email on the cheap with web site Postful. In contrast to a similar service called eSnailer, which sends snail mail for free but requires you to sign up for a "special offer," Postful asks for a relatively low fee of $.99 for the first page and $.25 for each additional page. Whether it's to keep in contact with a Luddite lacking an email address or you just really hate buying stamps and finding a mailbox, Postful is a potentially worthwhile tool. You can even set up unique Postful email addresses for frequent contacts so that, for example, you can include your email-less grandparents in an email you're sending.
from Gizmodo by Jason Chen
Link[Michael Broadbent, the head of Christie's wine department] is a Master of Wine, a professional certification for wine writers, dealers, and sommeliers, which connotes extensive experience with fine wine, and discriminating judgment. He pronounced a 1784 Th.J. Yquem "perfect in every sense: colour, bouquet, taste."
At two-thirty that December afternoon, Broadbent opened the bidding, at ten thousand pounds. Less than two minutes later, his gavel fell. The winning bidder was Christopher Forbes, the son of Malcolm Forbes and a vice-president of the magazine Forbes. The final price was a hundred and five thousand pounds -- about a hundred and fifty-seven thousand dollars. "It's more fun than the opera glasses Lincoln was holding when he was shot," Forbes declared, adding, "And we have those, too."
from Engadget by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Displays, Gaming, GPS, HDTV, Laptops
The initial focus of the joint effort will be the ability to allow users to use a single virtual persona (or Avatar) across multiple virtual platforms, with seamless interworld transactions to be considered later.
Discussions and efforts surrounding standards and interoperability are in vogue this year, as the marketplace for virtual worlds has matured. Chinese Second Life clone HiPiHi announced its intention to lead a push towards standards based virtual worlds in August, and TechCrunch 40 presenting company Metaplace offers interoperability between user generated worlds on its DIY virtual world platform.
IBM has been highly active in the virtual worlds space, both as a user of platforms such as Second Life as a conference and business communications tool, and as a creator with its Active Worlds chat platform. IBM's Italian employee's went on strike within Second Life in late September.
We are revising the terms of service to clarify our intent. The language in question will be revised to reflect AT&T's respect for our customers' right to express opinions and concerns over any matter they wish. And we will make clear that we do not terminate service because a customer expresses their opinion about AT&T.
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