The cranky elves that run the iPhone App Store may be warming up after all to the emerging field of Augmented Reality (AR). AR app makers, who are building sci-fi-like interfaces for viewing data about the physical world on top of the mobile phone's camera, were beginning to feel spurned. Today Apple both approved the most eagerly anticipated Augmented Reality app yet, Amsterdam's AR browser Layar(iTunes link), and made its primary challenger, Wikitude(iTunes link), a featured app in the iTunes App Store.SponsorThose moves came a month after many AR-watchers were dissapointed that Apple didn't offer big support to Augmented Reality when launching the latest version of the iPhone OS. Some critics complain that even if some forms of AR are being permitted by Apple, the company still has a tight grip on APIs that could enable whole new methods of displaying data on top of the phone's camera view if made publicly available. It's not a happy relationship, but perhaps that's beginning to change.Layar is a browser that displays geo-located information like real-estate listings and restaurant reviews on top of a mobile camera's view of its surroundings. The company has used well-made demo videos to stoke excitement among iPhone owners for months. The app has long been available on Android handsets but just emerged from the dark and mysterious iTunes App Store approval process this morning.Its competitor Wikitude displays Wikipedia data (as Layar does) as well as user-generated Points of Interest input through its website Wikitude.me. Wikitude was made a featured app in iTunes today, just hours before Layar went live in the store. A long list of AR companies were at the edge of their seats waiting for a big announcement in September, believing that Apple would make public all the technical hooks they needed to created an Augmented Reality experience. Instead of the expected opening-up and perhaps some publicity for this very eye-catching software niche, Apple opened up only some of the APIs needed, didn't make any public mention of AR and has slowly let AR apps trickle into the App Store with no fan-fare over the last month.All of this creates a very different experience for startups compared to the way they can launch apps on Android phones. They simply post them to the Android App Store, no approval process needed. Application developers are also working on AR for Nokia, a handset with far greater user numbers than the iPhone has - but everyone's been waiting for AR to bloom on the much-hyped iPhone and Apple hasn't been very supportive.Robert Rice wrote in an open letter last weekthat:"One of two things needs to happen. Either Apple needs to quit screwing us around and make [all] the APIs public so we can get back to the business of innovating and building a new industry, or the respective communities of developers and venture capitalists need to abandon Apple entirely. There are good alternatives out there that may not be as shiny, but are certainly as powerful and definitely more open for us to work with."It's also possible that Apple hasn't been offering AR apps meaningful support because so far they are a little dissapointing once consumers get their hands on them. GPS data is clumsy, data sets are incomplete and the user experience still hasn't been nailed yet by anyone. It's also borderline embarrassing to wave your phone around in the air when out in public, surrounded by people you don't know. That's quite unlike the usual experience Apple tries to associate with itself.Perhaps things are changing, though. It's exciting to think about bringing latent geo-located data out into a view accessible through a mobile phone. It would be nice to see Apple help advance this early field, instead of giving it the cold shoulder and silent treatment. End-users should recognize as well that the super-wow but controlled experience of the iPhone could be holding back other, even more exciting innovations.Discuss

  Pittsburgh-based startup incubator AlphaLab hosted its Fall demo day earlier this morning. Created by seed funding group Innovations Works, AlphaLabprovides 6 promising startups with funding, office space and business advice over a 20-week mentorship program. Today's event showcased half of those companies and was similar in format to YCombinator, Techstarsand Launchbox Digitaldemo days. Investors, entrepreneurs and advisors clamored to get a peek at these early-stage companies. SponsorCloudFab: CloudFab is an online fabrication platform where owners of 3D printers, machining tools and laser cutters can offer their services to designers. Similar to Ponokoor Shapeways, designers and hobbyists visit the site with ideas for custom jewelry, furniture, vinyl figurines or even bike parts. From here users connect with those who can help make their ideas reality. CloudFab CEO Nick Pinkston is so dedicated to the maker-lifestyle that he started Hack Pittsburgh- a non-profit organization dedicated to DIY tinkerers and hobbyists. Fooala: Fooala is restaurant platform that offers instant ordering options for hungry website visitors. This service ensures that for every web access point and mention of a restaurant, there is a corresponding online order button. After scanning a user's menu and basic information, the company indexes your restaurant in its "Anywhere Ordering Network". Customers then order menu items over their desktop computers and mobile devices via the Fooala widget. The company already has 60 restaurant partners and is actively seeking investment to expand into new regional markets. LeftRight Studios: LeftRight Studios is an independent game development house specializing in iPhone applications. The studio's goal is to create a branded gaming network where companies can expand their customer reach via entertaining mobile games. To show off its development abilities, the group has already released Smackbots, an iPhone version of the classic Rock'em Sock'em robots game. Vivo: Vivo is a lifestreaming service that allows users to share live event broadcasts. Rather than pursuing the Justin.tvlifestyle audience, Vivo pitched AlphaLab investors as a platform for live video customer engagement. The site has already penned partnerships with HarperCollins and the American Booksellers Association. It will be interesting to see if the publishing industry uses the service to broadcast readings and launches, or if they will find new methods to engage readers and fans. NavPrescience: NavPrescience is a GPS system that incorporates predictive technologies. By observing driver behavior, the service continually tweaks route recommendations according to driving patterns and route preferences. The company is seeking funding to launch a mobile and web-based freemium service for the Pittsburgh area. Zipano: Zipano is a personal privacy platform that allows users to better express their privacy preferences and contacts. The group claims to solve the privacy issues associated with location-based services by offering users another layer of information sharing options. Zipano demonstrates its capabilities with its LocaccinoFacebook application. Users specify their level of comfort with location requests and have instant access to those who have already looked for their location. There is also an option to create rules so that your public whereabouts only display in specific locations, during specific times, and for specific friends. Photo Credit: Alex ThomsonDiscuss

  The other day, National Public Radio (NPR) featured a tech worker who has been out of work for some time. He spends his days in San Francisco coffee shops looking for work.His job search may improve if the "Elance Work Index," proves true. Elance reports that they are seeing a 46% increase in hiring for contract work, compared to a year ago.SponsorContract work is always hot during a recession as employers look to get their work done without hiring people full-time. In other words, it's a great time to be in consulting.The "Elance Index," looks at the top 100 skills in today's online job market. The results arrive from more than 100,000 jobs posted on Elance in recent months, making it a credible barometer of online hiring trends.Tech skills carry 11 of the top 25 spots in the index. And marketers look like they have better prospects, with skills in graphic design, social media and search engine optimization (SEO) being the kind that employers want. Writers are also in demandFirst, let's look at the top ten on the Elance Index:Some tech highlights:Knowing PHP is still a great bet for getting a job. It remains the #1 sought-after skill by prospective employers.HTML skills jumped two notches to the #4 slot. People with Java skills have some reason to be optimistic. Their skill advanced 36 slots to the #24 position.Joomla! rose 15 spots to #6.In marketing:Graphic design is a hot skill to have. It rose to the #5 slot.Illustrator is in the #8 spot.Social media marketing came in 14th on the index.SEO skills are still in demand, ranking #15 in the index.In writing:Content Writing moves up 6 spots to #2.Article Writing came in the #3 spot.Copywriting and Creative Writing move up to the #12 and #13 spots, respectively.Contract jobs are not a reality for many people. Health insurance costs can be steep for contractors. On the upside, skills in web development, online marketing and writing may be signs that the overall web technology market is rebounding, with employers focusing more on those types of projects.Discuss

  Updated at 11:30 PST with comment from LinkedIn.One million new people signed up for LinkedInaccounts already this month, taking the professional social network past the 50 million user mark. LinkedIn has some of the most valuable user data in all of social networking, not just because its members are disproportionately wealthy, but because the site is one of the only places you can find a person's occupational information and history. "What do you do for a living" is one of the most potent questions a person can be asked and online that means LinkedIn. Unfortunately, in this era of data portability and connected social networks, LinkedIn isn't playing very nicely.SponsorEvery time I see a new social application online I think "it sure would be nice if a person's job title and employer were displayed along side their profile on this service." Where is that information? LinkedIn! Who won't let startups access that info? LinkedIn!Programmatic access to LinkedIn data is reserved for a very select few high-profile API partners. The company appears to operate under the assumption that only heavyweight partners could move the needle for its bottom line, not a thriving ecosystem of independent innovators. Hardly surprising for a company that spends so much of its time in public talking about how wealthy its users are.FriendFeed used to include updates to your LinkedIn profile in the activity streams it displayed. That was great, but there was nothing official going on - FriendFeed was scraping LinkedIn. When LinkedIn added a layer of obfuscation over its HTML, FriendFeed took the hint and stopped, the now Facebook-owned company says.Why not make LinkedIn all the more valuable by making it the currency that social sites all around the web make us of? Would that not drive all the more people to LinkedIn itself, to fill out their profiles there? It's possible that LinkedIn has done a serious analysis of the benefits of a developer ecosystem vs. very limited partnerships and come to the conclusion that it has - but it still seems like a real shame.Imagine the innovation that could be made possible by developer access to LinkedIn! Congratulations to LinkedIn for hitting 50 million users. Now please open up the data! Otherwise we'll have to cheer for a more open competitor to challenge your dominance in this market.Update:Adam Nash, Vice President, Search &Platform Products at LinkedIn, says things are set to improve in the future. Below in comments he writes: "Marshall, I think you'll be quite happy with our plans for improvements to our APIs. Stay tuned." Fantastic! Let's see what you've got, Adam.Discuss

  Disclosure: I didn't get an early invitation, so this is not a first-hand review of Google Wave. But from what I know now, I don't want an invitation anymore. It looks like too much of a productivity suck. But I do use Google Spreadsheet all the time. It is the de facto real-time, online, distributed collaboration tool for serious GTDbusiness. It is the best tool for an agile, networked business.But it could be way, way better. Excel is still the best spreadsheet; it has just fallen behind on collaboration (and collaboration is a show-stopper). But Microsoft could catch up there, and a lot of really sharp startups are gunning for the same space.SponsorA Short History of the Programmer-less App MirageSince about, oh, maybe the days of punch cards, ventures have proclaimed some variation on this pitch: no need for programmers; ordinary folk can create really useful apps!Fourth generation, Fifth generation! Far too many acronyms and buzzwords and brilliance and capital have been sacrificed on this altar.On the other hand, ordinary folk create real apps on spreadsheets all day long. Millions of people do it. Businesses run on them, to the horror of IT folk. Banks and VCs burn billions of dollars based on crazy assumptions in those spreadsheets. Mr. Assumption pleads guilty. Mr. Spreadsheet says, "I was only following orders!"Real-Time Spreadsheets? That Is So 1980s, Dude!Yes, traders were doing real-time spreadsheets using Excel in the late 1980s, and by the mid-1990s (as in, 15 years ago) they were totally mainstream in trading rooms. Sorry if that is news to folks who think "real time" is new.But It Could Be a Lot MoreExcel has one problem: version control. That's it. Collaboration is a fancy word, but the simple problem before we had online spreadsheets was version control. You either endured chaos and frazzled nerves or you put in the kind of IT process management rules that the ordinary GTD folks were fleeing from by using a spreadsheet rather than a custom system.Online spreadsheets that anyone can edit concurrently solved the version control problem. Problem solved! Done, finished. Can we move on now?I wish Google would focus on the things that would now make its Spreadsheet an awesome business tool. Here are the top four items on my wish list:1. Offline sync that does not get in the way and is totally seamless.I gave up on Gears because it seemed to do more harm than good. I know that it is a tough engineering challenge, but I know that Google has some pretty smart people (Wave alone has 60 engineers). Offline sync is essential for serious spreadsheet use. Please don't tell serious business users that they can get Wi-Fi anywhere. Or that they will be able to very soon. Or that waiting for the bandwidth to catch up with their actions is okay.2. The same level of sophistication in features that Excel has.I am not a power Excel user, but even I hit limits on Google Spreadsheet. The spreadsheet jockeys who create those powerful (and dangerous) models view Google's app as a toy.#1 and 2 are linked. You cannot have that level of sophistication without using local CPU capacity.3. Better hooks to real databases.Spreadsheets are database-like, but don't try anything serious that a RBMS does with its eyes closed. Add in linked data and XML assets.4. APIs and other tools to enable an eco-system of apps that do forms and process management.In a business, something happens when someone signs off on something. That gets tracked somewhere, as in a spreadsheet. Enable that eco-system to grow.If Google won't seize this challenge, Microsoft will. Excel may be Microsoft's best product ever, and it understands business needs.Wave looks like the kind of over-engineered, overly complex, promise-the-moon-at-some-far-off-date project that has gotten Microsoft in such deep trouble so often. Sure, Wave will be evaluated by a lot of big companies. Meetings will be convened to discuss Wave. Wave Committees might even be formed. Ho and hum! This is not the Google we admire. This is the Google that dreams of being Microsoft and then wakes up and finds that it isMicrosoft, and it is a nightmare.Actually, it looks like Google cannot decide whether it is trying to be Twitter ("Look at me! I'm hip, young and hot") or Microsoft ("It may not be that exciting, son, but it works, and that's what matters"). Self-conscious attempts to be hip almost always fail.Where Google has historically scored well is in providing tools that you can be productive with immediately and that gradually grow in competence, never requiring a big decision. Millions of folks have a business or non-profit to run and need Google to build on the early promise of Google Spreadsheet.If it doesn't, Microsoft will make the online version of Excel work as easily as Google Spreadsheet.Discuss

  Whether you're riffing on the latest celebrity gossip or ranting about local politics, Blogged lets you add your two cents to today's hottest news posts. As of this morning, the conversation tracking service is offering another level of news-related discussion through its live chat feature. In addition to aggregating topical blog posts and real-time blog comments, Bloggedlets you find your online friends and create article-specific or topic-specific chat boxes. If you're like me and you have a knack for putting your foot in your mouth, this chat feature helps ensure that your buffoonery is kept amongst your inner circle. SponsorLast month ReadWriteWeb covered Blogged's transition from a blogging directory to a social news service.The company shifted its focus to facilitate discussion on news-related blog posts. While Blogged's site, Facebook applicationand widgetallow for public conversations and trackbacks, today's live chat release is more discrete. Rather than immortalizing and publicly broadcasting sensitive conversations, this feature keeps political commentary and snide comments in the shadows. In addition to the chat feature, the company also offers users the opportunity to retweet their posts and embed Blogged services into their own sites. By embedding the Blogged code, users eliminate the need to repost information. The service syncs and refreshes all of your posts and comments from the Facebook application, widgets and Blogged site in real-time. The new Blogged service is best described as one part news feed, one part Echoconversation aggregator and one part Google Wave.To check out the service visit blogged.comor try the Blogged

  Jailbreaking, the act of hacking your iPhone or iPod Touch so that it allows for the installation of unapproved third-party applications, is a popular activity among the tech community. But in addition to allowing you greater control over your mobile device, there's another - ahem- benefit, if you will. Jailbreakers can install free versions of paid applications. These pirated, or "cracked" apps as they're called, are distributed through online repositories for easy download to your device. The whole process is as simple as snagging the latest box office release or popular album from the file-sharing site, The Pirate Bay. SponsorBut many jailbreakers claim that they're only pirating apps so they can try them out before purchase - a necessary evil since Apple doesn't offer trial periods for their applications, forcing developers to release "Lite" versions instead. While some do so, many others apps exist only as premium versions. Considering there are now some 85,000 apps to choose from, people want to know if their app purchase is worth the money. Or so they say. However, recent statistics about application piracy prove otherwise. Piracy a Global PhenomenonAt the recent 360iDev conference, mobile analytics company Pinch Media shared some findingsabout piracy in the iTunes App Store. They've been tracking jailbroken devices for several months now and have started to get a handle on this previously unexamined ecosystem. According to their data, which includes 4 million jailbroken devices, 38% have at least one pirated application installed. Pinch Media says this estimate is low since pirates often take extra steps to avoid detection. Still, it's worth noting that this percentage is nowhere near being the majority of jailbreaking users. There are more people who just want extra control over their device and not an opportunity to steal apps. They also discovered that the piracy phenomenon is not limited to any one particular market. Although piracy rates are relatively low in the U.S., the U.K. and Japan, where perhaps Apple iPhone users have more money at their disposal to spend on premium applications, piracy is a global problem. However, it does appear to be much more rampant in markets like China, Russia, Brazil and Mexico, where it's negatively correlated with per capita national GDP, notes Pinch Media. "Try Before you Buy" - Just an Excuse to Steal?However, the most interesting finding was the one where the "try before you buy" mentality was exposed as being a myth. Despite jailbreakers' claims that the need to "demo" an app is among their top reasons for pirating, Pinch Media found that this simply wasn't the case. To test this, they set a baseline for typical conversion rates of legitimate "lite" to paid applications and found that the conversion rate there is 7.4%. That means about 1 in 14 who try the "lite" version go on to purchase the paid version. However, among the pirate community, pirated-to-legitimate conversions are 0.43%. That's only 1 in about 233 installations. In other words, few users of pirated apps are truly "trying before they buy," they're justtrying.That being said, the pirates aren't necessarily usingthe pirated apps all that much. Pinch Media found that pirated apps are used less frequently than paid applications and for a shorter amount of time. They theorize that this is due to a few reasons: pirates are less attached to apps considering that they didn't pay for them, pirates often install more applications in bulk and therefore don't have much time to spend with each one and jailbroken iPhones tend to crash, leading to more frequent app uninstalls. Although these findings may initially disappoint application developers who see piracy as contributing to lost revenue, the argument could be made - as it often is among other content-producing industries - that the people doing the pirating weren't actually going to pay for those apps anyway. They're simply sampling them because they can. While it's still a stretch to say that piracy helps developers, it's hard to really quantify how much it hurts them. Discuss

  Back in June of this year, Opera revealed their ambitious planto "reinvent the web" with the release of Opera Unite, a new feature of their desktop web browser that effectively turns your computer into a server. With tools like a chat application, a photo sharing app, a file sharing app, a media player, and more, the idea behind Unite was to forgo the "cloud" and share your files with others directly from your PC instead. Using peer-to-peer technology that operates through the browser interface, Opera Unite seemed to be going against the current trend that is cloud computing and that didn't win them much lovefrom the tech community. Despite its ho-hum reception, the company is moving forward with its plans to make Unite a full-fledged feature of the Opera browser. Today, the Opera Unite beta is launchingand will be made available in Opera 10.10. Given the recent cloud outages, one has to wonder if Unite will be given a second look by the crowd of naysayers who so recently belittled it. SponsorOpera Unite Beta ReleasedNot much about Unite has changed since its initial launch except that it initially spent several months as a standalone product before being integrated into the Opera web browser. Now, with the release of Opera 10.10, it's clear that the company intends for Unite to be one of the browser's core features.Included in Unite are six applications which are the photo app, the file sharing app, messenger, the above mentioned media player, a "fridge" app that lets you post notes on your friends' virtual refrigerators and a web server that lets you host web sites directly from your computer. Cloud Outages Leave Users Wary; Unite Gets a Second Look?Although the technology itself remains, for the most part, the same, what may have changed in the time that passed since Unite's June reveal is the sentiment among Unite's potential users. Since the original launch, there have been numerous cloud computing outages which included yet another long-lasting Gmail outage, a DDOS attackthat took down social services like Facebook, Twitter, and LiveJournal simultaneously, a Facebook database maintenance issuewhich locked 150,000 users out of their accounts for a week, multiple Twitter outages (although these are nothing new) and, of course, the granddaddy of them all: a cloud computing disasterat Danger that erased all personal data from the hansdets of thousands of T-Mobile Sidekick users. All these above incidents occurred in the span of only a few months, too, leaving peopleto questionthe stability of the cloud. Perhaps the cloud, often thought of as much safer and more stable than our own personal hard drives, isn't all that it's cracked up to be after all? Instead of just uploading everything to the web and then assuming that it will be there forever, the rash of outages have many tech geeks returning to the old-fashioned computer backup in additionto hosting content out on the web. This hybrid approach to cloud computing (local + cloud) could mean that some of Unite's former naysayers will give it a second look. Since it's designed for sharing locally stored files on the web using Opera's servers as a proxy, it taps into that whole "forgo the cloud" mentality. While Opera's man-in-the-middle server infrastructure may crash one day (and it's already had its struggles), your data would still be accessible assuming your computer itself doesn't die. To some, that may seem like a safer approach than a 100% reliance on cloud providers. Others Say: Don't Blame the Cloud, It's Still the FutureHowever, not everyone thinks that outages, even those as severe as the Danger disaster, spell failure for the cloud computing model - they're only growing pains. Sure, "cloud computing isn't perfect," writes PC Mag's Lance Ulanoff, but Danger's failure is "a failure of, more than likely, a few over-worked IT guys who incorrectly set up data redundancy." Ulanoff contends, and many others will certainly agree, that despite failures such as this, the cloud overall remains safer and more trustworthy than anyone's own home or office computers. Still, the outages may have some worried. Those who are worried enough to begin storing data back on their own computers, using the cloud only as backup and no longer as primary storage, may now be interested in trying out Opera Unite. That may give Unite a little boost for the time being. But ultimately, the technology that was supposed to change the web seems like backward progress. Cloud computing may have its ups and downs, but it's the future of computing, not Unite's peer-to-peer. Discuss

  Several months ago, the federal government drafted definitions for cloud computing. It was generally recognizedas doing some excellent work.The definitions are a work in progress. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) last updated the definitions on October 7. The latest version is available for download. It's free.SponsorForrester Research says we need better definitions for cloud computing services. Principal analyst James Staten maintains that vendors are "cloudwashing," providing their own sets of definitions that are just confusing customers.He outlines 11 cloud computing services that he places in three categories:Rented softwareApplication services that allow developers to build platformInfrastructure servicesThe problem is that analyst groups like Forrester just make it more confusing when they make up their own definitions that really are only meant for paying customers. It just turns into a circus. We guess Forrester believes that they are helping the process but it feels more like they are looking for a way to put their stamp on how we all define cloud computing.We do not have access to the Forrester reportthat has more about these three categories and eleven services. It is available for download. The cost is $1749.NIST is not super-aggressive about promoting its definitions. And the comment system is pretty archaic. You can subscribe to an email list to provide feedback. If there was a more public face to the process, the definition game would be a bit less confusing for everyone.In the meantime, for all of our benefit, we'd like to share some of the latest definitions that have been drafted by NIST:Definition of Cloud Computing:Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. This cloud model promotes availability and is composed of five essential characteristics, three service models, and four deployment models.Service Models:Cloud Software as a Service (SaaS).The capability provided to the consumer is to use the provider's applications running on a cloud infrastructure. The applications are accessible from various client devices through a thin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based email). The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, storage, or even individual application capabilities, with the possible exception of limited user-specific application configuration settings.Cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS).The capability provided to the consumer is to deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquired applications created using programming languages and tools supported by the provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, or storage, but has control over the deployed applications and possibly application hosting environment configurations.Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).The capability provided to the consumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and other fundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy and run arbitrary software, which can include operating systems and applications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage, deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networking components (e.g., host firewalls).Deployment Models:Private cloud.The cloud infrastructure is operated solely for an organization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party and may exist on premise or off premise.Community cloud.The cloud infrastructure is shared by several organizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns (e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and compliance considerations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third party and may exist on premise or off premise.Public cloud.The cloud infrastructure is made available to the general public or a large industry group and is owned by an organization selling cloud services.Hybrid cloud.The cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or more clouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities but are bound together by standardized or proprietary technology that enables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting for load-balancing between clouds).Discuss

  Just when you thought media darling Spotify was going to be the sexiest music service of the year, music blogging platform MOGis announcing plans to offer a $5 dollar per month, all-you-can-hear music service. In an interview with MOG CEO David Hyman, ReadWriteWeb tweetmeme_url = 'http://www.readwriteweb.com/readwritestart/2009/10/mog-launching-five-dollar-music-service.php';tweetmeme_source = 'rww';learned that tomorrow morning the company will announce deals with Universal, Sony, Warner and EMI. While other services are scrambling to sign licensing agreements with the four major US labels, MOG All Access will launch before November 26. It looks like Americans will have plenty to celebrate this Thanksgiving. SponsorMOG All Access is a browser-based service that will offer more than 5 million on-demand tracks from a number of major and indie record labels. Similar to Groovesharkthe service will require no installation; however, unlike Grooveshark, MOG will not provide a free music service beyond its initial trial period. Says Hyman, "The problem with free services is that if too many people use them, you can't offset the licensing fees with ad revenue. There's only so much you can do with advertising, but the subscription model ensures that you're running something sustainable."For the cost of five monthly iTunes purchases, users gain access to a huge catalogue of on demand music and music reviews. While MOG's editorial service and MOGtvchannel will remain free to the general public, the subscription service will offer easy access to songs, radio recommendation features and a plethora of popular tunes. Because Hyman has negotiated for full access to files, his service will not be bound by the same streaming radio restrictions as

  We're very excited to see that hundreds of you have already bought tickets to join us on Thursday for the ReadWrite Real-Time Web Summitin Mountain View, California. The event is fast approaching and we're getting everything in order. ReadWriteWeb staff are boarding planes from all around the world to join what should be a great day of high-impact conversations about the changing internet.If you'd like to join us on-site you should go buy your ticket now. We need to know how many people are going to be there in order to get enough food and be prepared - so tickets will go up from the current price of $270 on Wednesday at Noon PST. After that time the price will go up to $495. You can see who's coming already on the list below and see what kinds of things will be discussed here, hereand a big picture here.If you're going to be joining us for the event,you're also invited to a no-host pre-event gathering the night before. We'll be at St. Stephen's Greenan Irish Pub on Castro in Mountain View at 7:15. We hope to see you there, too!SponsorParticipants Signed-up So FarPierce Lamb, Marketing Manager, GemStone Systems, gemstonesystems@Russell Okamoto, Marketing Manager, GemStone Systems, GemStone Systems, @gemstonesystemsDavid Spark, Founder, Spark Media Solutions, Blog, @dsparkZach Copley, Developer Relations, StatusNet, Inc.Brion Vibber, Senior Software Architect, StatusNet, Inc.noam bardin, CEO, waze, Blog@wazeKevin Mokarow, VP,Strategic Communications, nomee, @nomeeKristin Kelly, VP, Strategic Communications nomee, @nomeeMike Nimer, VP, Strategic Communications, nomee, @nomee[[http://www.julianonsoftware.com|Julian Harris], Technical Account Manager, Google, @julianharrisDylan Casey, GoogleEricson deJesus, Founder, [[http://particlebrand.com|Particle]Jean-Paul Cozzatti, Technical Director | [[http://lifestream.aim.com|AIM Lifestream, AIM]], @jeanpaulJohn Furrier, Founder, SiliconANGLE.com[http://www.twitter.com/furrier|@furrier]]Jeff Prellwitz, Pheedo, Dlvr.it, @jeffprellwitzSoren Macbeth, CTO, StockTwits, Blog,@sorenmacbethJoseph Boyle, @josephboylejosephboyleRobyn Tippins, Community Manager, Yahoo!, Personal Blog, @duzinsJack Menzel, Group Product Manager, GoogleEran Hammer-Lahav, Director of Standards Development, Yahoo!Nicolas Bertrand, Director of Product Management, ShareThis, @nickbertChloe Caviness, Event ProducerBrett Bavar, Software Engineer, GoogleRhianna Richards, Sr. Product Marketing Manager, TIBCO Software Inc.Rourke McNamara, Sr. Product Marketing Manager, TIBCO Software Inc.Sriram Chakravarthy, Sr. Product Marketing Manager, TIBCO Software Inc.Kaliya Hamlin, Identity Woman, Internet Identity Workshop, @identitywomanAnselm Hook, Community Dev, Waze, Blog, @anselmKevin Marks, VP Web Services,  BT/Ribbit, @kevinmarksDeWitt Clinton, Google @dewittTobias L¸tke, CEO, jadedPixel Technologies Inc, #Justin Kan, Co-Founder and President, JustinTVMichael Seibel, Co-Founder and CEO, JustinTVWill Kirkpatrick, Producer, JustinTVEvan Solomon, VP Marketing, JustinTVJohn McCrea, CTO, PlaxoJoseph Smarr, CTO, Plaxo, @jsmarrLaura @Pistachio, One FortyAnthony Priore, Chief Marketing Officer, Biz360, Inc., Blog, @tprioreScott Beale, Laughing Squid, @laughingsquidJack Moffitt, CTO, Collecta, @metajackRobert Reich, Founder, OneRiotBaratunde, Thurston, The Onion // Science Channel // Myself @baratundeBeth KanterJake Stutzman, Creative Director, Elevate, @jstutzmanEd Lucero, TerraTacksLaura MerlingFounder, Stretta Group @magicmerlJason Shellen, CEO, Thing LabsBlog, @thinglabsMichael Lee, CEO, Thoora, #Srinivasan Venkatachary, Software Engineer, Google Inc #Mathew Honan, Contributing Editor, Wired magazine, Blog, @matNathaniel Cohen Director of Product and Strategy kgb_web@nathanielcohenTikva Morowati Director of Product and Strategy kgb_web / @tikkersDavid Levitt Senior Software Engineer Evectors@dlevityChristina Allen, Executive Director Platform Product Management, Linden Labs@allenleechrisHeidi Nobantu Saul, Documentation Expert @nobantuJohn Bergmans Principal Engineer Bergmans Mechatronics LLC, @jbergmansKristie Wells, President and Founder, Social Media Club, @kristiewellsDavid Price Co-Founder, CEO, Black Tonic, Blog, @blacktonicappPhilippe Blanc Co-Founder, CEO, Black Tonic, Blog, @blacktonicappSteve Woodward, CEO, Nozzl Media Inc.nozzlsteveChase Reeves Dir. Marketing, Iterasi, Blog, @chase_reevesTom Quiggle, Principal Architect, Yahoo! Inc.Stephen Garcia, Product Director, Yahoo!, @sgarciaDevBenjamin Diggles, Senior Manager Web Marketing, Webtrends, @mrdigglesKovas Boguta, CTO, Infoharmoni,  Blog, @infoharmoniPaulius Jurgutis, CTO, Infoharmoni,  Blog, @infoharmoniMark Jeffrey, CTO, Mahalo.com, Inc., @markjeffreyPatrick Chapman Director of Business Development Evri, @1trick4allWill Husinger Director of Business Development, Evri, @1trick4allDan Chiao, Director of Engineering, FliptopDan ChiaoJeff Oh, Manager, SK Telecom @dirby5Phil Wolff, Prime Suspect, Under Indictment, Skype Journal, @evanwolfAdina Levin, Developer  SocialtextAdrian Chan, Owner gravity7  blogAki Hashmi,  AllvoicesAlex Kohlhofer, Technical Director, Electronic ArtsAdina Levin, Developer  SocialtextAdrian Chan, Owner gravity7  blogAki Hashmi, AllvoicesAlex Kohlhofer, Technical Director, Electronic ArtsAllen Hurff, Entrepreneur, @allenhurffAmanda Krantz, President, notify.me  @amandakrantzAndrew BraunAndrew Weissman, COO betaworksAngela Kyle, co-founder, the realtime project@realtimeangelaAshish Kelkar Principal - Mergers & IntegrationGoogle Inc.  @askelkarBen Metcalfe, Founder, Lead Consultant Swordfish Corp, blog@dotbenBen Tesch Lab Manager, msnbc.com,  blog   @magnetboxBernard Moon, Vice President, Lunsford Group  @bernardmoonBill Arconati, Product Marketing Manager, Atlassianblog@barconatiBill Flitter, CEO, Dlvr.it  @dlvritBill Johnston, Chief Community Officer, Forum One CommunicationsOnline Community Report  @BillJohnstonBill York, WowdBipul Sinha, Vice President, Blumberg Capital@bipulsinhaBjorn Milton CTO TwinglyBlog@bjomiBorislavAgapiev, Founder & CTO Wowd Inc.BlogBrad Fitzpatrick, Software Engineer, Google @bradfitzBrett Slatkin, Software Engineer, Google Inc.Brian Hendrickson, Co-founder & Lead Developer, Nozzl Media, IncBlog, @BrianJesseBrian Oberkirch, Managing Director, Blinksale, #Brian Zisk, Co-Founder, Collecta, Blog, @ziskCarson Kelly,  Business Development & Sales, Visual World, Inc., @carsonkellyCharlie Cauthen, Vice Pres, CliqsetBlog, @ccauthenCharlie Davidson, Attensa, Blog @charliedavidsonChris Haase, Community and QA Manager, YourVersionBlog@testjjChris Saari, Technical Yahoo! Yahoo! @chrissaariChris Yeh, VP Marketing, PBworks, @chrisyehDamon Horowitz, Co-Founder and CTO, Aardvark, BlogDan Miller, Sr. Analyst, Opus ResearchBlog, @dnm54Dan Olsen, CEO and Founder, YourVersion, Blog, @danolsenDaniel Freeman, Director of Product Marketing ,Atlassian[[http://danschmidt.soup.io|Daniel, Schmidt], Senior Product Manager, CNET News, CBS Interactive @danielfschmidtDaniela Barbosa, Dow Jones/Dataportability Project, @danielabarbosaDarian Shimy, VP of Technology, Biz360, @dshimyDarius Dunlap,  Managing Director, SupportUX, @dariusdunlapDarren Bounds, Pres, CliqsetBlog, @dboundsDave Badley, Web Developer, YourVersion, Blog@badaveDave Merriwether, Senior Director, YahooDavid Hardtke, Founder, Stinky Teddy, @stinkyteddyDavid Recordon, Senior Open Programs Manager, Facebook, Blog, @daveman692DavidShen, BetaworksBlogDeep Dhillon, CTO, Evri, Blog, @zang0Donovan Jones, CEO, VentureDeal, Blog, @venturedealDoug Camplejohn, CEO, Fliptop, @fliptopDustin Norlander, Chief Architect, TrendrrEduardo Arriagada, Professor, [[http://www.uc.cl/fcom|Catholic University of Chile], Journalism, Blog, @earriagadaEran Shir, CEO, Dapper, @eranshirEric Marcoullier, CEO, Gnip 2.0Blog, @bpm140Eric Woodward, President, The Nambu Network Inc., @ejwcErik Benson, Managing Director, Voyager CapitalEtesh Mangray, Founder, VinolistEthan Gahng, CEO, Lazyfeed, Blog, @lazyfeedEvan Prodromou, CEO, StatusNet, Inc., Blog@evan on identi.caFabien Degaugue, Founder CEO, PeerPong, Blog, @fabienGabeWachob, Developer, Socialtext, @gwachobGabriel Ortiz, CEO, Rarefied TechnologiesBlog, @signalnineGeorge Joy, Dev Lead, MicrosoftGerry Campbell, CEO, Collecta, Blog, @gfcampbellGinsu YoonGreg Biggers, Chief Instigator & CEO, Ewakening,  Blog, @bigsGregory Foster, Web Developer, Consumers Union, @gregoryfosterHideaki Tanioka, Senior Software Engineer, Fujitsu Labs of AmericaIein Valdez, Director Product Development, Google Platform, Blog:Appirio, @ieinIlya Grigorik CTO PostRank, Blog, [[http://www.twitter.com/igrigorik|@igrigorikJai Choi EIR Partech Int.Jason Hoyt, Director of Research, Mendeley, Blog, @jasonhoytJason Sattler Social Media Consultant, F-Secure, primarily, @jasonsattlerJay Simons VP Sales and Marketing, AtlassianJeff Eastman, President, Windward SolutionsBlogJeff EddingsJeff Hsu, Group Planning Manager, Microsoft, @jeffhsuJeff King, Sr. Director, Search, eBayJennifer Zeszut, CEO, Scout Labs, @jenniferlandJeremy Hylton, senior staff software engineer, Google profileJeremy HyltonJim Meyer, @purpJim Murphy, VP Dev, PostRank, Blog, @jimmurphyJohn Borthwick, President and CEO, betaworksTony Haile, General Manager, ChartbeatJohn Panzer, Google,  Blog, @jpanzerJohn Pozadzides, CEO, iFusion Labs http://woopra.com @johnpozJohn Yamasaki, Community Evangelist Seesmic, Blog, @jyamasakiJon Knight, Founder, Gimmee dot net, Blog, @gimmee_dotnetJulien Genestoux, Founder, Superfeedr, , Blog[@julien51Karan Gupta, Sr SW Engineer, Sony Computer Entertainment AmericaKarla Leibowitz, Tech LiminalKen Fromm Consultant Fromm Worldwide, @frommww[[http://www.kensheppardson.com|Ken Sheppardson], @kshepKim Gaskins, Director of Content Development, Latitude Research, Blog, @latddotcomKim-Mai Cutler, Reporter, VentureBeat, @kimmaicutlerLA Lassek, Principal, L.A. Lassek Marketing Communications, @notinlaLaura Forrest Marketing PeerPongLeah Culver, @leahculverLJ RoseLouis Moynihan, CEO, Dlvr.it, @divritLucas Thomas, Verdiggo, Inc., @VerdiggoMarcus Trevisani, CTO, Bintro, #, @trevisaniMark Cramer, CEO, Surf Canyon, Blog, @surfcanyonMark Drummond, CEO, Wowd, Inc, Blog, @wowdMark Williams, Senior community manager, LiveWorld, @markwilliamsMarshall KirkpatrickMartin Kallstrom, CEO, Twingly, Blog@martinkallstromMarty Betz, Vice President, Technology, FirstRain Inc.Mary Hodder, founder, wellness mobile, @maryhodderMary Trigiani, Spada Inc, @marytrigianiMatt Hodges, Product Marketing Specialist, AtlassianMegan Soto, LaunchSquad, @megansotoMonica Keller, Activity Streams Group Architect, MySpace, Blog, @ciberchNaveen SanjeevaNick Koudas, CEO, Sysomos, Blog, @sysomosPaul Pedersen, President, Co-Founder, Factery, IncPetter Palander, ambadoo, Blog@ambadooPradeep Elankumaran, Director of R&D, Intridea, Inc.Blog, @pradeep24Raj Vemulapalli, Senior Director of Engineering, Yahoo! Inc http://www.yahoo.comRavikant Cherukuri, Software Engineer, MicrosoftBlog@rkdeexitRebecca Povio, Marketing Manager, TextWise, Blog, @textwiseRichard Hockley, Vice President, Morgan StanleyRichard Lusk, CEO, MiioRob Cottingham, President, Social Signal, Blog, @RobCottinghamRobb Miller, Vice President of Business Developmentl, KickAppsRoland Osborne, Cofounder, OlarkBlog, @olarkRon Sandel, strategy & business development yahoo!Sam Cece, CEO, StrongMailSamir Mehta Sr. Product Manager, Yahoo! Messenger Yahoo! @mehtamanSanjay Sood CTO, Allvoices, @sanjaysoodScott Hoffman Founder Cliqology, [@cliqologyScott RobertsSean Gaddis COO FactoryLabsShinichi Nagakura Managing Director Transcosmos Inc.Stephanie Bergman@StephanieBamBamTed Roden CreativeTechnologist New York Times,  Blog, @tedrodenTim Marvin, Grassroots Organizer, Consumers Union, Defend Your Dollars, Not in My Food, Blog@pastoralveloTobias Peggs General Manager, OneRiot, Blog@tobiaspeggsTom Hughes-Croucher, Yahoo! Inc., Blog, @sh1mmerTom Whitnah Software Engineer Facebook, BlogTrey Ratcliff, Monkey with Camera, Stuck In Customs, @treyratcliffTy Amell #Vasanthi Holtcamp, Principle Group Program Manager, MSN / MicrosoftWesly Michel, CEO, The Local IndexWeslyMichel Will Palmeri @wpalmeriWilliam Mougayar, Founder & CEO, Eqentia, Inc., Blog, @wmougayarWilson Lau, Software Architect, Orange LabsWolf Garbe, CEO, FAROO Limited, #, @faroo_p2pYY Lee, COO, FirstRain, @thisisyy Discuss

  The wiki market space has transformed over the past few years, with a number of existing players adding social features to stay competitive and be more fully dimensional for users.But we are starting to wonder how many wiki providers can play in the more established spaces of the market. Perhaps the best potential for emerging vendors is in the small-business market, which is increasingly open to Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) environments. Sponsorcctext is a new wiki environment. It joins a number of more robust collaborative products that integrate wikis and social Web technologies. Perhaps there is an opening. Many of the early entrants to the market have moved up the ladder by offering a deeper product.For instance, Socialtextstarted as a wiki provider and now offers social networking, social messaging, weblogs, dashboards and distributed spreadsheets. MindTouchcalls itself an open-source collaboration engine for the enterprise and the Web. PBWorksoperates far deeper in the collaboration space as well. They recently introduced Social Collaboration Update, which in their words "includes social networking-style user profiles, Twitter-style microblogging, and the ability to create wiki pages (with file attachments) just by emailing a single email address."This trend is an example of how social applications are segmenting. As developers learn to add more pieces of information to their wiki products, the products look more like content management systems than what we have traditionally called wikis. cctext, for its part, is a straightforward wiki that is counting on its speed and UI to give it a jump in the market..They may be on to something. Customers do complain about speed. A recent tweet about PBWorks expressed this pretty clearly:cctext claims its speed comes from its cloud infrastructure. They use Amazon Web Services. We tested cctext and it does appear to be pretty fast when writing, editing and saving information. cctext allows for media uploads that play in the wiki. We uploaded a video. It worked fine but we could not view it. We used a test account so it may have been unviewable for that reason. Overall, cctext is a pretty clean experience. They have a pretty thorough list of features.All in all, cctext is a wiki that truly is a wiki. It's a basic tool for small business. Cost is $12 per month. The first 10 users are free. cctext integrates with Google Apps. Pricing is the same for the Google Apps version.Discuss

  In an effort to help advertisers reach key consumers, Peersetis launching what it describes as a "psycho-graphic targeting tool." Not unlike dating algorithms, Peerset's targeting algorithm takes keywords and meta data from online profiles and matches them with relevant information. With dating sites, users receive recommendations on potential mates; with Peerset, users receive advertisements and deals on relevant products and services. Video life-streaming network Justin.tvis just one of the groups already reaping the benefits of this system.SponsorSaid Justin.tv's Director of Advertising Operations, Scott Newton, "Peerset gives Justin.tv's advertisers the ability to target users in unique and powerful ways. The company enables Justin.tv to go beyond demographic targeting and target by user interests. Advertisers benefit from a higher response rate when ads are targeted to passions and interests."In the past, marketers have centered campaigns on a specific demographic group. Clients define key stakeholder groups, like 18- to 35-year-old urban male techies, and marketers look for corresponding ad placement packages. With Peerset, stakeholders are targeted after a brand has already been audited. Peerset scrapes data from millions of sites, profiles and status messages and compiles a series of word clusters. While seemingly unrelated, Grey's Anatomy, John Mayer and Starbucks coffee are clustered together simply because a large number of users have expressed interest in all three topics. These users might come from vastly different demographic groups, but their interests are the same. The system can then serve ads to them by matching general word clusters or by targeting specific users who have expressed an interest in one or more core concepts. Peerset operates on the belief that this interest-based targeting outperforms traditional demographic targeting. The service price varies based on a percentage of your ad buy. Says Peerset CEO, Mike "JB" John-Baptiste, "We're betting on the fact that if you can find commonality in data, you can scale it and generate sales." To try Peerset visit Peerset.com.Discuss

  The phrase "real-time web" may make you think about Twitter, Facebook, or perhaps real-time stock market trading, but there are actually hundreds of companies all around the world working on building and leveraging different types of real-time delivery of data online. tweetmeme_url = 'http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/human_machine_real_time_web.php';tweetmeme_source = 'rww';In preparation for this week's ReadWrite Real-Time Web Summitand a forthcoming research report on the topic, we've now had extended conversations with nearly 50 companies in this space. The breadth of offerings, technologies and strategies is amazing.We offer below one way to think about this broad market. We hope it's useful and interesting.SponsorAfter talking to all these companies, one of the ways we decided that diversity could be explained is with a chart illustrating the continuum of real-time companies and use cases ranging from those that facilitate human-to-human communication to those that facilitate machine-to-machine communication. In between these end points there are services that mediate communication between humans through machine analysis or social objects and other services that do machine-to-human communication. What do you think, is this a fair way to describe the real-time web market?On the far left we've got services that facilitate human-to-human communication, like Twitter itself, Instant Messaging and a new service called Olark (our review). Olark integrates with your existing instant messenger client to facilitate real-time chat with visitors to a particular page of your website. It's document-centric (another potential axis of analysis) but the value proposition is in direct communication between people.On the near left we've got services that derive their value through human-to-machine/object-to-human communication. These forms of communication are particularly mediated by technology (though obviously in absolute terms even the human to human examples here are). For example: Aardvarkis a service that cross references what you say you know about, what others say you know about, your network of contact networks, everyone's present availability and past performance in answering questions from Aardvark users. The result is a "real-time web of people" accessible through a very intelligent bot that delivers any question you have to the most qualified person socially near you who is available at that moment.On the near right you'll find machine-to-human systems. These are like real-time robots who do work for you and then notify you immediately when something you're interested in has changed. Notify.meis a white-label real-time alert service(among other things) where the value comes from the machine communicating things to you.On the far right are machine-to-machine systems. The two examples we have here are entirely theoretical so far. Both come from PubSubhubbubco-creator Brad Fitzpatrick of Google. Fitzpatrick says he imagines a future where PubSubhubbub or some other effective real-time communications protocol is used by services that want to subscribe to stay synced with our social media profiles made available through the WebFingerprotocol. He also envisions a future where the entire web may be Hubbub-enabled, allowing Google to simply subscribe for updates whenever they're available from webpages, instead of going out and pro-actively spidering the entire web to index it.These kinds of machine-to-machine communication can have all kinds of benefits. Fitzpatrick told us, for example, that the early implementation of Pubsubhubbub for shared items in Google Readerhelped aggregation services get updates far more efficiently than the old "is there anything new yet?" method of periodic polling. He says, "When we enabled Hubbub [real-time] subscription to Blogger and Google Reader shared items, FriendFeed's traffic to us dropped 85% and latency changed from minutes to seconds."My theory is that the technologies on the left have traditionally not been a big focus of development but are in this current era being heavily built out. On the right side, however, the financial world and others have traditionally put a lot of resources into machine-to-machine communication - but in this real-time web era, this kind of communication is just beginning to be developed in a lightweight capacity.The above is one way to understand the breadth of the real-time web;but there are many others. What do you think of this model? Where would you place your favorite real-time services on this continuum? What take-aways do you get from a visualization like this?We hope you'll join us on Thursday to talk about questions like these. Either in person in Mountain View, California (register now before prices jump on the day of the event!) or right here on ReadWriteWeb, where we'll be live-streaming selected sessions compliments of Justin.tv.Finally, check out our fabulous event sponsors below. Where would you put them on this continuum? There's all kinds of different ways to discuss and think about the real-time web, and the more clearly we can think about it the better we'll be able to take action and build the web of the future with this important new part of it well-utilized.We'll see you on Thursday!Discuss