You may not be familiar with the company Tronical but you will know their work because they are responsible for Gibson’s Robot Guitar tuning systems. Well judging by this video it appears that Tronical are about to launch some standalone systems that can be retrofit to pretty much any guitar be it a Les Paul [...]
Archive for November, 2008
The Next Massive IM and Social Networking Aggregator?
Power.com: The Next Massive IM and Social Networking Aggregator?
There aren’t many sites with 5 million users that we haven’t heard of, but Power.com is just that, and it’s a name you might be hearing a lot more of after it launches in the US today.
Previously available in Brazil and India, the site bills itself as a ‘Meebo for social networking’ of sorts, allowing you to simultaneously login to accounts on both social networking services like Facebook and MySpace and instant messaging networks like MSN.
From there, you can view new activities from friends on those services, see who’s online across all of them via a buddy list, and use the ‘Power Communicator’ to simultaneously send a message to your friends on any site you have synced with Power.com. In other words, if your friends are spread across many social networks, you can see an aggregate view of their activities and message them on their native network, all from inside the Power.com interface.
Isn’t this just like Friendfeed?
Not exactly. For one, the instant messaging aspect is something Friendfeed doesn’t have – if you’ve synced your Facebook, MySpace, and MSN accounts with Power.com, you’ll get a buddy list that shows all of your friends who are signed on to those services, even if they don’t use Power.com. Additionally, Power.com is far more of a two-way communicator. In addition to aggregating activities from your friends across multiple services, it lets you respond to them and send messages to their native app.
So it’s like Facebook Connect, Google Friend Connect, etc?
Still a bit off. While those services will let you access your friend’s list on third-party websites, Power.com isn’t looking to be your universal profile or social graph. And, it doesn’t matter at all if your friends use it – you’ll still be able to communicate with them using Power.com so long as you’ve synced your account.
How does it have 5 million users already?
Initially, the only social networking service supported by Power.com was Orkut, which, is big in Brazil and India. These are where most of Power.com’s users are currently – Alexa shows that the site is in the top 1,000 in both markets. Additionally, the service has lots of built in viral marketing. For example, when you send a message to friends on other networks, it includes a ‘Sent by Power.com’ message (like Hotmail circa 1996). Power.com also has a communicator app that is added to social networking profiles, allowing friends to contact you through it (similar to MeeboMe widgets).
Will it take off in the US?
At launch, Power.com supports Facebook, MySpace, Hi5, MSN Messenger, Orkut, and YouTube. While there is certainly some overlap between those services, Power.com will become much more valuable when it adds LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, AOL, and Skype, all of which are expected to be added soon.
Ultimately, you end up with a combination of an aggregation service like FriendFeed, a multi-protocol IM tool like Meebo, and an all-in-one email application. Like Meebo, getting started is as easy as logging in with one of your existing accounts on one of the supported services, making user acquisition a breeze. The viral features mentioned above should presumably have the same big impact in the US, further fueling growth.
Despite flying under the radar in the US, Rio-based Power.com has already raised $6 million from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, in addition to well-known angel Esther Dyson. The company has 70 employees.
(Via Mashable!.)
YouTube Widescreen
YouTube a few minutes ago announced that they’re officially changing the size and aspect ratio of the standard video player on the site.
We’re expanding the width of the page to 960 pixels to better reflect the quality of the videos you create and the screens that you use to watch them. This new, wider player is in a widescreen aspect ratio which we hope will provide you with a cleaner, more powerful viewing experience. And don’t worry, your 4:3 aspect ratio videos will play just fine in this new player.
For all videos uploaded in the standard 4:3 aspect ratio, they’ll appear inset, but the increasingly more common 16:9 videos will fill all available space.
What do you think… will this increase your YouTube enjoyment factor? Last time we asked, you weren’t overly enthusiastic. Has your opinion changed?
(Via Mashable!.)
Voices, If You Have One, You May Be Eligible
Whether you’re a voice actor looking for work, or you’re on the other side of the divide and seeking someone to play a vocal role for your brand, script, etc., Voices.com may serve you well.
Today it gets even better. The marketplace for spoken word has been refashioned to play a broader role still for (most) all things audible.
A Prettier Paint Job
Visibly altered, Voices continues to serve the membership it’s built for over a year now, but it’s also looking to draw more people into the mix. The update includes talent profiles for all forms of advertising – TV, radio, movie trailers, jingles – as well as recordings for things like video games, cartoons, podcasts, audiobooks, documentaries and more. Talk about an all-in-one venue.
Search Gets Better
Of course, with growth in database comes a need for more powerful search, and Voices has made its interface a bit more intuitive and easier to parse.
As a buyer of talent, you can look for names you’re interested in by keyword, gender, voice ages, languages and union status. An escrow program, meanwhile, promises to guarantee satisfaction for everything, whether it’s a singular buy or a ‘bundled’ services.
Voice Profile Management Made Easier
The extra effort to streamline the Voices operation is evident from the homepage to the individual user’s page. Profiles are maintained in four parts: profile, demos, store, and feedback
Plus, so-called work ‘leads’ have been translated to ‘jobs,’ and auditioning has been enhanced with more direct communication from the get-go. Also, voice products, as they’re called, can be marketed in the Voices Store or on personal pages.
Refinement: Plain and Simple
The resounding theme here, as the company itself proclaims: improvements, improvements, improvements. Voices is larger, but tighter. More technically productive, but simpler to use. It’s evolved, really. That’s probably the best way to say it. It’s hard to make something of Voice’s proportions into a truly elegant thing, but Voices may well have done just that.
(Via Mashable!.)
New Traffic Light Prototype
Art Lebedev has released its Luxofor traffic light prototype that takes a totally different route – it uses a square lens that light up thanks to extremely bright diodes, making it much more visible to all road users (pedestrians and drivers alike). According to Art Lebedev, the use of square light is able to fill up the same space taken up by a round lens more completely. Too bad this is but a concept at this point in time, so it remains to be seen whether their ideas will be accepted by road safety councils and local authorities in the future. Judging by their past pricing structure and hard economic times, we think we might be stuck with round traffic lights for a long time to come.
(Via Ubergizmo.)
Fiio E5 Headphone Amplifier
At first glance, people might mistake the Fiio E5 for some sort of cheap iPod Shuffle clone. Upon closer inspection, however, they will realize that this is not even a digital audio player, but in reality is a clip-on headphone amplifier that functions as a volume booster for your favorite portable media player. It comes with an Apple-style clip, measuring a diminutive 44mm x 38mm x 12.2mm. Despite its small size, it still packs in a pretty impressive performance, capable of 150mW (at 16O; or 12MW to 300O) power output with under 0.009-percent distortion at 10mW. This makes it 30% more powerful than its predecessor, and can last for up to 20 hours of continuous audio playback before requiring a recharge. The Fiio E5 is tipped to retail for less than $20.
(Via Ubergizmo.)
Google Adds Themes To Gmail
For some time Firefox extensions have allowed users to redesign GMail but now Google has released some official themes that allow you to jazz up the interface. There are 30-odd themes available that can be access through Settings.
At the moment, the themes are being rolled out so you may not be able to see the option yet. More at the Official Gmail Blog. [via]
(Via A Welsh View.)
20+ Firefox Plugins to Enhance Your YouTube Experience
There is no arguing that YouTube is the most popular video sharing site out there, but that isn’t to say that there aren’t things about it that annoy users. With that said, there are a wide array of plugins for Firefox to make the YouTube user experience that much better. Here are over 20 that will let you save your favorite videos before they disappear, stop them from autoplaying when you come to a page, and more.
Roofus Helps You Shovel Snow
Having kids is a good thing – once they’re old enough, you can always boss them around the house with this thing called ‘chores’, and shoveling snow from the driveway is one of those tasks involved. The Roofus concept could be a replacement for kids with heavy bones though, as it is able to collect and dump snow automatically or via a remote, where the latter is certainly much more fun as you get to perform your house chore from the comfort and warmth of your home with a mug of hot chocolate on the table, waiting to reward you once the chore is done. Good thing the designers have decided to make the Roofus versatile, as it can be hooked up to a bunch of attachments for use around the garden even after winter is over.
(Via Ubergizmo.)
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