Chip Griffin: Pardon the Disruption

First Takes on the Topix Course Correction

When I first reported on the changes taking place at Topix Sunday, I didn't grasp just how significant the changes would be.  Now that I've had a chance to actually explore the new web site and digest Rich Skrenta's explanation, I can see that this is really huge.

At first, I had thought they were changing their emphasis and some of the methodology.  But now I see that it is a radical overhaul.  When you first login to the new site, it looks entirely different.  It really has become a completely local site.  You can still get national news and such, but it is a lot harder to find those links than it was before.  Clearly, this is a full-blown effort at achieving localized communities for news.

No longer can it be said that Topix provides a Google News-esque offering.  For instance, there's no longer a news search option as far as I can tell, just the ability to look up pre-defined topics. 

I'm not sure I completely understand some of what they're doing, however.  For instance, they have forums that don't seem to be related to news or geography at all -- like the Bon Jovi forum.  So while Rich emphasizes geography in his post and the Topix home page now asks for a zip code above all else, they seem to be interested in creating community beyond geography.

The notion of creating localized communities certainly seems to have merit, but I imagine it will take time to prove this concept out.  It also seems to me that more beyond news is needed to create a truly sticky local community online.  Events, for instance, would seem to be to be a valuable pairing, just as it is with local newspapers. 

I'm sure Rich and the rest of the team at Topix has already thought this through, but if they were able to come up with a community portal that combined news, weather, events, entertainment, movie listings, TV listings, etc. based on zip code, it might be a really powerful place.  But starting with news probably makes the most sense because it is the least geographically organized to date and you need to have a unique selling proposition to build that initial community from which all other things may spring.

It also strikes me that the biggest challenge will be in creating that sense of community outside of technology centers.  So many of these online services are strong where early adopters and high-tech communities thrive, but find it difficult to penetrate grassroots America.  It seems to me that to be the powerful local ad engine that I think the newspapers envisioned it as when they invested in the company a few years ago, it will need to go beyond the high-tech hives.

Topix will definitely be a company to keep an eye on to see how this radical shift shakes out.

UPDATE: Rich comments that search still exists, it is just hard to find.  He also points to a heat map that seems to show pretty broad activity, not just in high-tech hotbeds.  I based my judgment based on "random" zip code lookups, but obviously the map has more credibility than my testing.

Technorati tags: Topix, community, Rich Skrenta

Best of Demo 07

Below are my picks for Best of Demo 07, for what it is worth.  These are my own personal judgments based on what I liked, what I thought had good business potential, or what just struck me as cool.  It will be interesting to see how much -- if any -- overlap there is with the official DemoGod Awards (past experience suggests it will be very different).

Best Peer to Peer Service: eJamming.com

Best Product Competing With the Big Boys: Digger.com

Best Information Intelligence Product: ZoomInfo PowerSearch

Best Video Product: Magnify.net

Best Security Product:  Alcatel-Lucent Mobile Endpoint Management System

Product I'm Most Likely to Use: Iwerx Sentinel

Product Most Likely to Change the Lives of Average Consumers: ZINK Digital Imaging

Coolest Demo: Total Immersion D'Fusion

Technorati tags: Demo07, Demo2007, Demo 2007, Demo 07

UPDATES:

Shel Israel, a veteran of Demo and similar conferences, offered up his list of DemoGods on his blog.

Official DemoGod awards went to Dart Devices, Boston Power, Total Immersion, Inelex, Pair Up, Blinkx, Panjea, eJamming, Qtech, and the Kauffman Foundation iBridge

Loose Ends from Demo 07

Several companies have provided me with additional information to clarify my confusion about their offerings, and I am including revised information below.  In addition, one company did their demo after a speaker on the afternoon of Day 1, but I didn't realize they were coming so they didn't make my wrap-up of that session.

eJamming.com

These folks were impressive in their day-end demo on Wednesday.  Allows bands to play together online so they don't have to be physically in the same place. Audio quality was excellent. Apparently they have some technology to sync everything despite the streaming. The demo we saw included one guy playing a guitar here and another guy singing and using a synthesizer in another city. Sounded like they were both right in front of me.

My Take: I'm not a musician but these guys look like winners.  A contender for my Best of Demo list.

Wyse N10

I was a bit befuddled by this one during the demo on stage, but Matt Alfano reached out after he read my original blog post and asked me to stop by their booth for more information.  Basically they are offering the technology for what I would call a "dumb terminal" but which today is more commonly called a "thin client" -- sounds better, I agree.  It certainly isn't dumb and it offers considerable advances over what's currently in the marketplace.  Using standard protocols -- the same ones in Windows Remote Desktop app -- it lets users take advantage of a virtual machine on a centralized server.  From the user's viewpoint, they have their own computer right on their screen as they always have, but from an IT standpoint, it is just a little tiny device that connects the monitor to a networked server.  This way, both parties are happy.  IT can manage a secure central environment without having to deal with hundreds or thousands of desktops.  And users get all the functionality they are used to. 

The Wyse N10 offers a real breakthrough in that it allows multimedia -- including streaming video and VoIP -- to function smoothly, without the reduced quality and interruptions typical of normal remote desktop software.

My Revised Take: An impressive product that could well find a home in enterprise environments.  It's really a philosophical question for companies: to deploy powerful thin clients with centralized computing power or continue to give individuals their own desktop computers.  It's sort of a "back to the future" question but with many more possibilities than we saw 20 years ago in dumb terminals of that era.

ThePort Blerts

My review of this company was hampered by the fact that in their 6 minute demo they didn't have enough time to tell the full story.  I viewed the product they released yesterday, Blerts, as little more than a feature.  It turns out I was mostly right.  The company actually offers a full suite of social networking and web portal services to organizations.  Clients include sports fan sites and major daily newspapers.  They provide a hosted solution to give these web sites the social networking functions they are seeking.  Blerts will be part of that offering, although it is also available for download separately.  ThePort is positioning the software as a way to bring RSS to the masses.  Thanks to Jacqui Chew of the company for reaching out to me and giving me more information.

My Revised Take: As part of a broader offering and released to affinity groups with default feeds, Blerts could find some success.  I'm skeptical of it as a standalone offering, but I agree with the company reps I spoke with that it makes sense to make it available that way and see what the market says.  After all, the cost of putting it out there is pretty low, especially when there is already a revenue stream in mind for it from existing customers.

Serendipity Technologies WorkLight

Server based solution to enable employees to access data outside of their native applications.  Widget to display RSS feeds securely.  Also allows secure tagging through existing apps like Delicious.  Supports RSS, XML, SAP, SQL, and other apps.  Designed to help younger employees use the apps they have become comfortable with.  Can integrate the data into Google, NetVibes, Yahoo, etc. 

My Revised Take: As I have noted in other reviews, I am not an expert on very large enterprise solutions, so I don't have a lot of experience on which to base my judgment here.  I do think making data more accessible to employees is a good thing, as for the specific mechanics of this solution it is hard for me to say. 

Technorati tags: Demo07, Demo2007, Demo 2007, Demo 07

Demo 07 Day 2 Afternoon Session

This is it, folks.  The homestretch.  It becomes increasingly difficult for demonstrators as the afternoon goes on.  Attendees tend to start disappearing for their flights home.  And by the time you hit company 65 or 66, if you're still in your seat, you are likely feeling a bit numb.  But the companies are ready, I'm ready, so let's go!

Boorah

Launching initially doing local restaurant search in 3 markets.  Uses semantic analysis and natural language processing to develop star ratings from user reviews on blogs and other sites.  Slick AJAX interface. 

My Take: Has potential.  Obviously a lot of it comes down to how accurate the analysis is and how comprehensive the spidering may be.

PairUp

Aimed at helping business travelers set up serendipitous meetings.  It claims to securely compare travel itineraries to alert you when people you know will be in the same place at the same time.  Outlook contact data is uploaded to the web site.  It appears that it requires manual entry of trips, however.

My Take: This would have greater potential if calendar data could somehow sync up more cleanly.  Unfortunately, Outlook doesn't track location data uniformly, so this would be difficult.  Adoption is likely to be very slow if each itinerary must be entered manually.

Zoho Notebook

Free online collaboration tool.  Chris Shipley described it in her intro as a "next generation wiki."  In watching the demo, I think that's the best way to describe it, too.  It offers greater customization and more visual effects than the wiki solutions I have seen.  Enables integration of a wide array of content types, including spreadsheets, charts, graphics, drawings, diagrams, etc.  It also permits aggregation of feeds and collaborative editing.

My Take: Feels like a natural evolution in the wiki game.  The fact that they use terminology familiar to most people (notebook-centric) rather than scary terms like wiki and RSS shows that they get it and are interested in moving beyond the geek crowd.  This could make my Best of Demo list as one of the best and most practical offerings I have seen here this week.

Me.dium

Attempts to create connections among users based on what they are viewing online. Software is a browser sidebar.  Facilitates chatting between readers.  Suggests interesting content.

My Take: I see this as something that might appeal to the techie and blogger crowd, but I have a hard time seeing it gain mass appeal.

CircleUp

Another group communication solution, this one focused more on text communication.  Will tally results and allow members of a group to see each other's answers (if so permitted by the organizer).  Communication can be conducted by email or IM.

My Take: A bunch of companies seem interested in improving group communication.  Someone will need to gain traction in this space and become the leader of the pack.

Nexo

One of the more entertaining demos of the conference.  The theme was "Lindsay Lohan's Rehab Support Group."  In any event, this could be best described as the next generation of Yaho! Groups -- or put another way, what Yahoo! Groups ought to be.  Very simple and fairly flexible group site creation tool that enables group discussion and information sharing.  Polls, email contact, etc.

My Take: A winner and a candidate for my Best of Demo list.

Attendio

An "event-discovery service." Recommends events based on your profile and friends.  Can also take recommendations from "trusted" celebrity recommenders.  Integrates with existing calendar programs including Outlook and Google Calendar.  Microsoft featuring it as a option for the Windows Vista calendar.  Can get recommendations via SMS.

My Take: There are a number of startups in this space.  It's going to be a traction game to see who survives.  The Microsoft deal should help.

MyDesignIn

Collaborative space planning and design application.  Pulls data from manufacturers sites to help in the design effort.  Creates designs that look like typical blueprints on screen.  Can share the design with designer, contractor, etc.

My Take: Seemed like a pretty slick application and I can see where it would have real-world value. 

My-Currency.com

Reputation system that will focus first on the real estate market and then expand from there.  Purports to use "wisdom of the crowds" and "prediction markets" to assess real estate prices.  People predict home sales prices and their accuracy is tracked over time.  Aggregated data then seeks to advise home buyers and sellers on pricing.

My Take: The trick will be getting enough people to make predictions to make this valuable.

Nextumi Share2Me

Seeks to make content sharing easier.  Creates a browser button to enable sharing without having to detour to an email application.  Integrates with existing contact lists in email and IM.  Can send to people on multiple platforms simultaneously.  Supports text messaging as well.  Example showed sharing a photo with a group of people via all the different methods.

My Take: Looks pretty easy to use.  People who share a lot of content would likely benefit from this.

Aggregate Knowledge

Performs behavioral analysis in order to help retail and content sites suggest related products and content.  Examples shown are Overstock.com's "People who bought this also bought that" window and the Washington Post's related articles window that drives users to content not related by terms, but by behavior.

My Take: Automated behavioral analysis for content recommendation is a key component, in my mind, of the future of the Internet.  Based solely on their demo, these guys seem to get it and appear to be offering a useful product.

ZoomInfo

A semantic search engine that automatically creates company and individual profiles from web crawling.  Pulls a lot of data together in one place based on search alone.  Powerful tool for anyone seeking business intelligence for sales, marketing, bizdev, or related tasks.

My Take: Accuracy will be key here, but the examples shown were impressive.  Since I'm an information junky and this has always been an area of interest to me, these guys have an edge for a Best of Demo award when I compile that list after the show.

Trailfire

Using a browser plugin, users can annotate pages with "marks" and "trails" that others can follow.  Basically it seems to be the ability to annotate pages and mark contextual bookmarks.  Users rate existing trails to help the most useful ones bubble to the top.

My Take: Too geeky to achieve significant penetration.

Reveal

A "lightweight peer to peer app" that allows document sharing inside and outside of a company.  Allows searching and shared access for email, documents, and other data. Caches documents so files can be accessed even when the host computer is offline.  Tagging is supported.  Can specify who can access which documents. 

My Take: This will make management and IT skittish in many companies, I would think. Even with the ability to tailor who has access to which documents, decentralizing this would seem to open major security concerns, especially for public companies. 

Helium

Provides a competitive writing environment where individuals come to offer articles on various subjects.  Readers rate the content so that the best writers end up being rewarded financially.  Content can be straight up information or debates.  Pro/con arguments can take place to encourage high-level debate.  Aims to get rid of ad hominem and rhetoric-laden commentary -- or worse, juvenile putdowns -- that tend to permeate other debate oriented sites.  Claims their rating system is democratic and ungameable. 

My Take: It will be a challenge, but if it works it would be revolutionary.  It opens up the possibility of creating higher-quality content than what one can find on wikipedia for any controversial subject.

Digger.com

Attempts to discern context for search words to deliver more relevant results.  For instance, tries to understand when you type "Ford" whether you are seeking information on the car, the former President, or something else.  Claims to learn from your past behavior what you are likely to want in the future.  Example search was "hotel with a view of the Golden Gate bridge."  Processes related words, synonyms, and other data to improve results.

My Take: There is still a long way to go in improving search and these guys seem to be on to something.  It will be interesting to see how the results hold up on other searches. 

Iwerx Sentinel

Attempts to fight sploggers and others who would plagiarize web content.  A product aimed at bloggers.  You register your blog and it monitors for sites that seem to be stealing the content.  Tries to pierce sites that use synonyms or other methods to mask plagiarize.  Enables abuse complaints to be sent.  Has an API to provide a plagiarism blacklist.  It will be interesting to see if anyone tries to abuse the blacklist structure to flag blogs that they don't like rather than ones that are truly plagiarizing. 

My Take: Seems simple enough to use and free for bloggers to track one blog, so I imagine it will get some decent adoption. Will be interesting to see where the company goes in the future, since this doesn't feel to me like a business in its own right.

blinkx

These guys got stuck with the last slot of the conference, but they worked some humor into the presentation to keep people awake.  Today's announcement was that they are now offering a widget to enable bloggers and other site owners to integrate video search on their own sites to find related video.  A "Blinkx.it" logo appears at the end of blog posts and when clicked a little AJAX gizmo pops up with related video clips being shown.

My Take: Blinkx may be a good video search engine, but this feature announcement seemed underwhelming to me.

Technorati tags: Demo07, Demo2007, Demo 2007, Demo 07

Demo 07 Day 2 Morning Session

We've passed the halfway point of Demo 07.  Below are my real-time notes and initial impressions of the products and services revealed today.  This session is heavy on mobile devices and applications.

DART

Allows diverse devices to interoperate and communicate effectively with each other.  Showed a slide show application operating a mobile device that was simultaneously controlling the same slide show on 6 different devices that had the DART software but not the slideshow app installed.  At the end of the demo, they made pigs fly.  No, really, they did!

My Take: Looks pretty powerful, but this is outside my area of expertise. 

Devicescape

Simplifies connections to WiFi networks.  Tiny application (50k) that installs on many devices.  Register devices with their web site.  Tell it the right username and password for any hotspot accounts you may have.  Especially useful for WiFi phones, it seems.

My Take: This seems to me to be a bet on whether WiFi Hotspots are the wave of a future or merely a stop on the way to other wireless broadband solutions.

Whisher

Claims to aggregate all WiFi networks into one "free global wireless community."  Can use your wireless connection to allow nearby users to access selected files and engage in various social network activities.

My Take: Is it a localized social network tool or is it a WiFi access utility?  Seems like it is really more of the former, despite the way they initially frame themselves.  If you're interested in hyperlocal social networking, this could be worth another look.

Nuvoiz

Softphone application.  They touted the quality, but it seemed like there were some hiccups and echos.  I'm not sure if this had to do with the a/v dynamics in the room or the software itself, though it seemed like the software.  Connects to SIP phones.  They call it Skype for the enterprise.

My Take: They extend the capability of SIP phones, though I know in the case of my own provider for our office, we already have many of those through them.  Not sure I fully understand the value prop here.

Alcatel-Lucent Mobile Endpoint Management System

Project Evros is what they call it.  An enterprise solution that empowers IT departments to control their fleet of laptops everywhere.  Hardware solution that includes GPS, linux, battery, and more.  It is literally the key to the laptop (without it installed, the laptop won't run).  Designed to provide better security for laptops and to enable IT folks to take remote control of any laptop.  Works even if the laptop is off. Data on laptop is encrypted and encryption key is on the card.

My Take: This is an area that I have spent some time looking at and was once even in discussions about a startup in this arena (it never got off the ground).  This product is very impressive and given the concerns of many companies about their laptop fleets, I expect this has real potential.  Price point is the major question, but I suspect many companies would pay a good price for this.

Boston-Power SONATA

They sell it as a better battery.  Fast charge of 80% in 30 minutes.  Claims the battery lasts longer and doesn't experience fade as quickly as most batteries, which they say start to fade within 4-6 months (I agree with that based on my own anecdotal experience).  They say their battery will not fade during the 3 year lifespan of the typical laptop.

My Take: They are batteries so it is hard to judge without real world experience.  If their claims are accurate it could be useful. 

GETaBUZ.com

Allows voice mails to be sent to mobile phones.  The messages can be mixed with music.  Can do the same with your voice mail answering message.  Done on the web site and can record messages using a phone or microphone on the computer. 

My Take: Maybe I'm just not hip enough to get it, but seems to me music mixed with voice messages isn't that exciting.  It's a lot of work.  Why not just leave a message the normal way?  Heck, you can play music in the background if you want and get a similar effect.  I guess there's a little more value in creating an interesting answering message, but does that really make a business?

Seagate DAVE

DAVE = Digital Audio Video Experience.  A wireless mobile storage solution.  Can be accessed by a mobile phone or other devices.  Available this summer.  The demo had technical difficulties so they had to describe what it could do, but couldn't show it.  They handled the flop as well as could be expected, though.

My Take: Expanding the storage capability of mobile devices will be very powerful.  Presumably they will have the kinks worked out before they release it.

Inilex ViM

If your car is stolen and it has this installed, it will page your cell phone and you can track online where the car is and how fast it is going.  It also can track teen drivers to see where they are and what they are doing.  It can also be used to control various car functions, including heating, cooling, locks, etc.  Being used by car dealers and fleet managers.  Claims average consumers can install within 20 minutes.

My Take: Pretty impressive if it works as billed.  Sort of a next generation of the well-known Lojack device but that also adds value when your car isn't being stolen.

Jyngle

Free voice and text messaging.  Targeted at groups like college students, sports teams, and volunteer organizations that need "real-time solution interaction."  Can also be used by businesses to update customers who opt-in.  For instance, frequent patrons of a particular bar could receive messages about spur of the moment specials being offered that evening.

My Take: I can see the value in communicating with groups in real-time.  This app seems simple enough, but I can't speak to how it compares to the competition.  This is a potentially crowded space to be in and it may be tough to break out.

GoWare DoMo

Allows users to create a customized mobile portal for their individual cell phones.  Can integrate whatever feeds or other data the user wants.  Look can be customized for the individual cell phone's capabilities.  They are apparently beginning to partner with companies to create these portals so users don't have to do it themselves.

My Take: The partnering route will be critical as I just don't see that many users going through the effort to create customized cell phone portals.  I think the vast majority are likely to work with whatever their provider gives them.  Are there enough power users and partners to sustain this sort of company?

iqzone

Classified advertising via mobile phone.  Users can take photos, type in descriptions, and upload the classified ad. 

My Take: OK, they make it easier to create the ad, but what about the audience to buy the items?  Newspapers work because people read them.  eBay works because people visit the web site.  How will iqzone build an audience for their ads?

Mobio

Partners can create applications that combine data from multiple content sources.  Examples shown included booking a restaurant reservation through OpenTable and finding after-dinner entertainment through another service.  It also showed a simple way to access flight information.

My Take: The apps shown looked considerably easier than using a mobile browser to access the same features and sites.  It would seem success would depend on partner adoption and promotion.

Vringo

A video ringtone sharing community.  Permits video ringtones to be selected by the caller, not the recipient like traditional ringtones.  Users can take their own clips to create Vringos.

My Take: Seems to have potential.  Assuming that groups of friends are all required to have the application to see the Vringos, however, it will be heavily dependent on group adoption dynamics -- or adoption my major carriers directly.

Teleflip TeleMail

They report that only 10 million of the 230 million mobile phones in the US have email functionality.  This service allows you to access email on other phones.  They claim to be 100% carrier and handset agnostic.  Uses SMS to transmit info.  Can customize which messages get passed along to your cell phone and when.

My Take: Has potential.  The examples were all short messages, however, and I would want to see what happens when a longer email is received since SMS doesn't handle long text well.

Technorati tags: Demo07, Demo2007, Demo 07, Demo 2007

Demo 07 Day 1 Afternoon Session

Below is the rundown of what I saw this afternoon.  Note that I arrived a few minutes late and missed the SupportSoft demo then missed VUVOX because of a pressing business issue I had to address.

Triumfant

Software designed to help diagnose computer problems.  Focused on the enterprise rather than end users.  Simple interface for finding and fixing problems.  Replaces missing software files without backups or reboots.  It won't replace that memo you inadvertently deleted so it isn't a replacement for backups, but it does fix many problems users can create by installing bad software or inadvertently deleting or changing system files or settings.

My Take: Looks very easy to use and potentially useful for enterprises.  I'm not an IT software expert, so I can't really speak to the marketplace in which it competes, but the demo impressed.

SOASTA

Automated web testing.  No scripts or fancy development needed to test your web services or applications.  Starts at $250.  Unfortunately, these folks killed their demo's effectiveness by reading from a script. 

My Take: They completely put me to sleep through a rapid-fire monotone recitation from notecards.  The concept has promise, but I'll have to learn more about it in a different venue.

Integrien Alive

An IT monitoring solution that finds slowdowns and outages in key applications and identifies the cause.  Attempts to detect problems before they occur using "predictive alerts" by monitoring normal and abnormal behavior and learning over time early warning signs. 

My Take: If it really can do what it claims, it has a lot of value for enterprises.  Again, I am not an IT infrastructure expert, so I can't speak to competition in the marketplace.

SailPoint ComplianceIQ

Helps with Sarbanes-Oxley compliance by assessing risk based on user access privileges.  The presenters represent, and I understand from my sources as well, that this sort of thing is a huge problem for public companies who must now better identify such risks. 

My Take: Anything related to SarbOx compliance remains hot.  As for how useful the specific application is, I can't really say since I have no experience with it.  But it does look pretty slick.

Panjea.TV

Allows users to create their own online TV channel.  They equate it to creating mix tapes for friends.  They had a glitch, but passed it off with a passable joke and moved on.  The Panjea player took a while to come up, possibly due to network bandwidth issues, but then it came up.  Simple interface to combine a series of video clips into a "channel."

My Take: I could see where this would have appeal among the MySpace crowd.  As I have written on this blog frequently in the past, I do question to what extend people want to watch a large volume of streaming video online.  Short clips a la YouTube make perfect sense to me, but movies and "channels" like Panjea's offering are harder to grasp.  Of course, they are targeting pop culture brands, and this may yet work since those brands are willing to try these sorts of things to target youth.

Clip Syndicate

Apparently a spinoff of Critical Mention, a TV monitoring service, Clip Syndicate seeks to license video clips for display on blogs and other content-oriented sites.  Just as AP, Reuters, Creators, and others offer written content to web sites, these guys want to do the same for video.  They claim deals with most major broadcast networks, as well as others in order to stock the network with content.  Site editors can easily create channels of clips and even reorder them.  Smart channels will allow content to automatically update on the content publishers web site.

My Take: This has some real promise.  Sean Morgan, the company's CEO, is a hard-charging guy who made his case forcefully on stage and I trust he will do so with potential partners as well.

Magnify.net

Starts out with a very high-energy pitch.  Used audience to get input to move the demo forward -- a great tactic to prove the system really works and isn't just capable of the canned keystrokes that the company has pre-planned.  Allows aggregation of user generated video.  It searches major providers like YouTube and Yahoo.  Presents aggregated search results on the site of your choosing.  Partners with weather.com to allow users to present weather videos.  Visitors can vote on results for different criteria to help tailor future result sets for themselves and others.

My Take: Not precisely the same as Panjea, but I think these guys hit the mark a little better.  Looks pretty easy to use and I could see it catching on with bloggers and other content sites.

Yodio

"Destination site" for audio casts.  Allows people to contribute audio content directly to the site.  Photos can be added as well. Aims to collect and aggregate audio content.  Permits tagging.  Content can be emailed.  Groups can be created.  Positioning themselves pretty much as a Flick for audio. 

My Take: Flickr for audio?  Maybe. 

ThePort Network Blerts

Manages "priority" RSS feeds.  Allows visual alerts when new posts come in.  Customizable graphics can be associated with each feed.  Billed as a cross between personal feed aggregation and social networking.  Presentation was heavy on buzzwords and light on details.

My Take: They say they don't compete directly with the likes of Newsgator, but I just don't see it.  Feels like they have some ideas for features for the existing players in this space, but I don't see them making it on their own without more innovation or some creative partnering. 

LiveSquare.com Streaming Media Defender

Aims to prevent piracy.  A lot of talk at the beginning about the problem of piracy.  Kept wondering when the demo would begin ... OK, we're now over 1/3 of the way through their time and still no demo ... a lot of emphasis on how quickly they update the product (less than 1 minute to auto update) ... still no demo ... doesn't add much overhead -- just 80 bytes and blah, blah, blah less overhead ... OK, I know I'm getting snarky, but really, we still haven't seen a demo ... ah, now we're seeing it.  Hmmm.  The demo consisted of showing a video for 10 seconds, unchecking a box and seeing that it shut off the feed, and then a quick look at some sort of logging screen.  Then a spin into VoIP.

My Take: I'm left speechless here.  Clearly a candidate for the "Worst of Demo 07" -- at least as far as the demo itself goes.  Can't offer any real opinion on the product or the company based on what was seen on stage.

ink2

Print on demand service.  Example was a greeting card that was designed and addressed online.  Will be mailed within 24 hours.  Presumably there are other products that can be created as well.

My Take: Has potential, not sure how much.

SplashCast

Channels, channels everywhere! That's sort of how it feels this afternoon, but here we go... Allows embedded channel content on any web page that includes video and other media (photos, text, etc.).  Handles a variety of formats transparently.  Allows channel sharing across sites.  Simple channel creation.  Openfor 36 hours and they claim 1000 channels created so far.

My Take: It will be interesting to see how all of these channel creation services fare.  At first blush, I still prefer Magnify.net (see above). 

SharedBook

They call it an "on-demand reverse publishing system."  Example given was the ability to print comments produced for obituary guest books on Legacy.com.  Seems like a simple process to set up and receive a printed book with the user generated content provided.  This was a custom integration, but they now offer API's to permit any site to interact with the service.

My Take:  It will be interesting to see growth here since it requires semi-custom integration through API's rather than a way to easily integrate content either through cut and paste or better yet through RSS/XML/etc.

OurStory

Feels like an ongoing, "living" version of a baby book.  Follows timeline of someone's life and permits text, photos, and multimedia to be inserted.  Content can be printed in book form.  Others can access online.  Alerts can be set to receive email updates when a timeline is updated.  Can also be used to do timelines for groups of people instead of individuals.

My Take: I'd love to see this rolled up with a genealogy web site to have an end-to-end family history solution.  Done right, I think this would meet a real demand and feed off of the existing desire to build family tree information.  But even on its own it has some promise.  Even 5 years post 9/11, there still seems to be a much greater interest among a lot of folks to be better connected to friends and family.

Mixpo

They don't use the word channel, but seems very similar to the other offerings that permit personal channel creation.  Pick content.  Embed it on the blog or web site of your choosing. Etc.  Final words were that they have a "distribution deal" with Microsoft.  No idea what that means, but obviously it could be significant depending on what it really is.

My Take: Luck of the draw put these guys on the stage after too many channel presentations and it has all become a blur to me now.  These guys did do a better job of describing practical and business applications for the service, so they do get points for that.

Preclick IPM Instant Photo Messenger

Just like it sounds -- sharing photos via IM.  Billed as an alternative to email.  Automatically resizes photos to reduce file size.  Easy to add captions, reorder images, etc.  Preclick already partners with Walmart, Cosco, and others to offer photo services.  It appears to be a proprietary IM app, but either I missed it or they weren't entirely clear about that.

My Take: Existing partnerships will likely give this service some initial juice and probably could sustain it on its own. 

Bling Player

Claim to be the first AJAX client for mobile applications.  Joined on stage by the creative director of BarryBonds.com (apparently there's at least one company that isn't running away from Bonds despite his -- how do I put this tactfully? -- questionable public image).  Demo made it look very simple.

My Take: Mobile application development isn't my expertise, so I'm not sure I have a lot to offer on this one.

Technorati tags: Demo07, Demo2007

Demo 07 Day 1 Morning Session

DEMO 07 kicked off today with a series of interesting of product presentations.  A complete rundown of the morning session appears below in the form of my real-time notes as the demos were presented, along with my initial impression.

Kauffman iBridge Network

A non-profit project of the Kauffman Foundation that promotes entrepreneurship, this site aims to provide a way to find innovations available for licensing from universities.  Allows searching and browsing by tags.  Information touted as being clear, concise, and understandable for non-PhD's.  Intellectual property is directly downloadable.  How does the data get there?  Direct links have been created with existing systems, but they are also working with universities to rewrite descriptions to be more accessible to lay people.

My Take: This one really depends on how good the data is.  It will take more time to figure out how it stacks up today and obviously it will be important to see how well-received it is by universities so that they remain interested in populating it in an understandable fashion.

ZINK Digital Imaging

ZINK ("Zero Ink") enables pictures to be printed without any ink.  Built-in rechargeable battery in a handheld portable printer.  Specialized paper is what permits the technology to work.  Dye crystals in the paper are activated by the printer.  Photos come out completely dry and "ready to enjoy."  Heavily focused on mobile printing.  One of the early products will be a digital camera/printer in one device -- sort of a Polaroid instant camera for the 21st century.  From a distance, the quality appears to be pretty good.  Obviously, we'll need to have a close-up look at it to see how quality stands up.  In addition, price points will be interesting.

My Take: Really cool with solid business prospects.  This is an early favorite for my Best of Demo list.

Shipwire.com

Provides warehousing, fulfillment, and shipping services for small businesses.  Accounts start at $30 per month.  Paypal compatible.  Provides better logistics for small retailers.  Also provides global reach.

My Take: May have potential.  Retail shipping logistics are far from an area of expertise for me.

QTech reQall

Speed dial a number on your cell phone and leave a message for yourself to remind you about something.  System emails you to remind you that you have a message.  Use voice prompts to attach meta data to the messages like due dates.  Will also transcribe your messages and email them to you.

My Take: Sounds like a marketing wrapper on a voice mail service, with a few added bells and whistles.

6th Sense Analytics

A software as a service offering that seeks to help to manage software development projects.  Integrates with leading development tools like Visual Studio, emacs, etc.  Logs use of various tools by developers.  Shows which files were accessed when and what was done with them.  Can view by developer or aggregate by team.  Pitched as a way to make sure that developers are aligned with business objectives.  Claims to offer insight into whether IM/email helps or hurts. 

My Take: A very big brotherish application that I imagine managers would love and developers would loathe.  Could prove useful in many environments if it is as easy to use as it appears, and developers might actually find it helpful to them over the long term (spoken like a manager, not a developer, I know).

Eyejot

Video messaging service.  Works in any browser with no client software to install.  Uses RSS feeds to expand distribution options beyond emailing the video clip.  Integrates with iTunes and social networks like MySpace through use of a widget.  Compatible with mobile devices like Blackberry or Treo in an attempt to break into the business space.  Uses Adobe Flash.

My Take: Does seem simple to use.  Could prove popular with bloggers and teens.  More skeptical about business environment adoption.

Honeypitch

Seeks to automate proposal generation.  Creates a password protected web-based document that can be negotiated online between vendor and prospect.  Allows multimedia or other docs to be embedded.  Breaks the information out by category. 

My Take: Could work for interactions between two high-tech organizations.  Probably ahead of its time for most sectors, however.

Wyse N10

Most folks think of me as a tech geek, but this one flew right over my head with lots of jargon about silicon, thin clients, virtualized pc's, hardware and software encoding and decoding, etc. 

Adobe Apollo

Permits rich Internet applications can be used on- or offline.  Supports HTML, JavaScript, AJAX, Flash, and Flex.  The demo focused on an eBay application currently in development.  Demonstrated the ability to work offline by pulling out the network cable and continuing to build an auction for eBay. 

My Take: This appears to have real potential for apps that could benefit from being available on- or offline.  Feels a bit like a more accessible alternative to Java apps. Another one likely to make my Best of Demo list. 

Mission Research SalesWorks

Desktop sales/CRM app with online features.  Framed as a cross between Salesforce.com and ACT!  Demo focused heavily on list management, mail merge, etc.   Looks simple and easy to use.   

My Take: This feels like a crowded space and it may be difficult for this product to break out.  They need to do a better job of communicating their unique value proposition and driving that point home.

Ceelox Scram

Steganography: encrypting messages in photographs.  That's what Ceelox is all about.  You email someone a picture and some message or data is included in the photo that can later be decrypted by the recipient.  Examples touted include bank statements, medical records, or advertising offers/games.  Using the Scram service, you create the image online and then email it using Outlook or any other email client.  Recipient saves and opens the attachment.  Also works with IM.  Images can also be posted online publicly. 

My Take: They tout it as being great for advertisers, though I suspect it may also appear to a less savory element.  The question is which becomes more prevalent?

Serendipity Technologies WorkLight

Widget to display RSS feeds securely.  Also allows secure tagging through existing apps like Delicious. 

My Take: I didn't get enough out of this demo to truly assess it.

Symantec Identity Initiative

Norton Identity Client integrates with the browser to learn about web sites and online sellers.  Also has tools to protect identity during online transactions.  Integrates with existing identity solutions like Yahoo and OpenID.  Flags sites as those who use their email lists for spam.

My Take: This is obviously a major player and no doubt will sell a lot of this product.  Online security is a huge concern among consumers, but at some point the pendulum may swing so far that there are too many tools to protect yourself online.  Even the major vendors have so many products that it is often hard to figure out what to use if you are a typical consumer. 

Jaman

Offers independent films online in "better than DVD" quality.  Seeking to monetize the long tail of film.  Augments the movies themselves with community tools.  Appears that you have to watch on your PC only and that is a streaming only offering.  Permits in movie commentary and discussion.  $1.99 to rent and $4.99 to buy. 

My Take: An innovative idea, but this will certainly test Chris Anderson's Long Tail argument.  The question is how much cumulative audience is there for these types of films?  And will folks who are into cinema enough to enjoy independent films want to watch on their computers rather than their TV's?

Total Immersion D'Fusion

Real-time integration of of 3D graphics into live video.  The demo started slow as they weren't able to get the right video up on the projector, but once the show producers sorted that one out, lots of cool stuff could be seen.  Video games are apparently a key target for this one.

My Take: Definitely cool stuff.  These guys will probably win a DemoGod award tomorrow night from Chris Shipley, and will also be likely to make my own Best of Demo list.

Technorati tags: Demo07

Demo 2007

I am writing this on a plane headed to Demo 2007, being held in California this year.  For those of you interested in the latest offerings from cutting edge companies, stay tuned to this space in coming days for the same sort of coverage that I have offered in the past.  I'll try to make sure I share a good sense of what I'm seeing and what I find especially interesting.

I find Demo to be the most valuable conference I attend.  Over the past few years it is really the only conference that consistently finds a home on my schedule, and I have attended both the fall and winter editions.  Unlike so many other conferences, Demo does not submit attendees to a long list of tedious panels and speakers.  (Though they usually do have one or two of these, and I must confess that I have found them to be almost uniformly disappointing -- with the exception of the panel at the closing dinner which can be quite entertaining since you have a roster of tech journalists chatting after many have consumed some decent wine.)

I usually leave these conferences energized and full of ideas to bring home to the team at CustomScoop and with better insight about potential future investments for the angel group I lead.  And, of course, it helps me figure out which services and gadgets I just won't be able to live without.

Technorati tags: Demo, Demo2007, conferences

DEMOfall: The Connected Desktop

Eluma Desktop Community

Another social networking tool.  Clients private label the application.  Bookmarks, blogs, podcasts, and other content are pushed to users.  Community of users can comment, rate, etc.

Initial Reaction: Users have to run a separate app window for this.  Also, they pretty much have to choose only one provider that they want to use here (otherwise their desktop would look absurd).  So if the Red Sox provided one and TheStreet.com provided one, I'd either have a mess on my hands or would have to choose in an either/or scenario.  This also reminds me of apps from 10 years ago that seemed to fade away because they went outside the browser. 

Cozi

A tool for families.  Includes calendar, shopping list, message board, photo album.  Can get a shopping list or calendar items on your cell phone. 

Initial Reaction: I think there's room for a product like this, but I'm not convinced this is the answer today, though it may yet evolve.

Mercora

A last minute addition to the agenda.  Mobile smartphone music service.  Streams from their servers as Internet radio or from the user's own music library.  The demo had the music playing over an EVDO network.

Initial Reaction: The sound and clarity was impressive.  I've been playing a lot with music services this year (ironic since I'm not really a music junkie, but my tastes when I do listen are off-beat enough that Internet services really appeal to me) and with different devices (I now listen to music on my PC using MTV's Urge and Rhapsody, and have a Sonos system, an iPod Nano, an iPod Mini, a Clix, and a Gigabeat).  Even with all that, I don't yet know enough to offer a good opinion on this one and the demo since it was pulled together at the last minute didn't provide enough info to really assess it.

Tags: DEMOfall, DEMO, Eluma, Cozi, Mercora

DEMOfall: Solid State Networks

Solid State Distributed Delivery Network

High-performance content delivery using BitTorrent.  Incorporates slick looking reporting on downloads for content providers.  Content delivered as downloads and on a streaming basis.  Supports all media players and major browsers and Mac and Windows OS.

Initial Reaction: Completely outside my area of expertise.

Tags: DEMOfall, DEMO, Solid State Distributed Delivery Network