CubeTreeis launching a new service today that makes documents into items that can support comments, adding a new dimension to how users can interact with spreadsheets, slides on a presentation and other content."Social documents," is what CubeTree calls the ability for users to comment on documents. The company, which is exhibiting at Enterprise 2.0, is one of the new players to the collaboration space.SponsorCubeTree considers itself one of the new breed of players in the Enterprise 2.0 space that is defined by conversation more than content.Like a number of the new players, CubeTree leverages activity streams.The company focuses on three main components:Profiles: Users create a profile that drills down to where the person sits in the office, who is in the next cube and other detailed information that gives a picture of their work day. It reflects their activity stream; where they have commented; wiki pages they are editing and other information such as picture of whiteboards from meetings.Groups: Formed when a user wants control over who has access to information. Groups may be public, private or extended to partners, customers and other parties outside the organization.Feeds: Collection of activities about the things that interests the user. This may be the people, the groups or topics the user follows. These all appear in an activity stream where users may comment on what appears.Here's a demonstration of the "social document" features that CubeTree is launching today:Discuss

  Flickr, the ever-more-popular photo-sharing service, has a five-year history of apps built on its API. From the interesting to the useful to the pretty to the downright silly, these applications make up a colorful and varied ecosystem around the service itself.Flickr has organized these third-party apps into a "garden," complete with user favorites, tags, descriptions, and screenshots. The App Garden represents a significant evolution from the former "services" section on the user side, and the revamp includes new features for developers, who can now use the Garden as a tool to help users discover their products. Read on for details and a few spotlighted Flickr apps we thought were fun.SponsorAs Flickr software engineer Mikhail Pachenko wroteon the Flickr developer blog,"We've tried to make things as simple and straight-forward as possible" for developers. On a new Apps By Mepage, devs will find their apps are kept private until the creator decides to go public with the product."When you click on one of your apps," Pachenko continued, "you will be taken to the owner view of your app page. This page is where you tell the world about your app - provide a description, link to a website, set screenshots, and add tags. When you're ready, change the privacy setting to public. That will make your app visible to other users and allow it to show up in searches."Now, for end users, here are a few apps we picked from the Garden that we think you might like.Bubblr Makes ComicsMake comic strips from your or others' Flickr photos with this fun, simple applicationfrom Barcelona-based shop Pimpampum. The app allows users to search for photos by user or by tag, string the pics into strips, and add captions, thought bubbles, and speech bubbles. Creations can be shared via a user's blog, Delicious, or email.Flickr For Busy People Speeds Up SkimmingThis delightful time-savershows a compact grid of photos uploaded from a user's contacts during given time periods between 30 minutes and 8 hours prior to the current time. Below each user's avatar is the number of photos uploaded, and the avatars can be clicked to display (or hide) an array of thumbnails to quick digestion of the day's pics.Suggestify Geotags PhotosThis applets users geotag other users' Flickr photos by suggesting a location to the photo's owner. That geotag information is stored with Suggestify until the photo owner approves or rejects the suggestion. If approved, the photo is geotagged and the user who suggested the geotag is credited with a special tag on the photo.Flogr Turns Flickr Pics Into Photo BlogsFlogris a PHP/MySQL-powered photoblog interface that displays a main photo page with EXIF data and Flickr comments, a customizable thumbnails page of a user's recent pictures, a slideshow component, a tag cloud, and an about page showing the Flickr user's profile. Users can also determine which photos are displayed by telling Flogr to only include images with certain tags.Flickriver Surfaces Interesting PhotosThis appis focused on delivering a seamless, quick viewing experience with minimal visual distraction. Users can choose to check out interesting photos filtered by user or by group. They can search for photos or simply browse to discover the most interesting photos on a given day. Flickriver also includes a keyboard-operated slideshow mode. Better still, Flickriver offers a dynamic badge for bloggers to showcase their images. Discuss

  Yammercame to the market with one of the first microblogging services. In the span of their existence, a number of companies launched their own versions of an activity stream. But Yammer looks like they have the customers to prove they have a hold on their sector of the market.SponsorAt today'sEnterprise 2.0 conference, Yammer announced that 50,000 networks have been established with its service. We asked Yammer's Steve Apfelberg what the size of these networks look like. He said they run from a few people to a few thousand, with the average about 25 to 50 people per network. He declined to provide details about the number of paying clients but said they are showing revenues. But if you did the math, it could be extrapolated that Yammer has 1.25 to 2.5 million customers. Hoe many of those are paying for the Yammer service? You look around the Enterprise 2.0 conference and it becomes apparent that microblogging is the hot feature for companies on the exhibit floor.A few of these companies started as wiki providers. They added microblogging, which helped diversify their products. It's a strategy that works when larger clients want an all-in-one application. But Yammer says they get feedback from clients who want the Yammer service to go deeper. They prefer Yammer's singular focus.For Yammer, that means deeper active directoryintegration and fits into enterprise SaaS applications around sales and customer service use cases. That would make sense. Applications of all varieties are integrating into Salesforce.com. For Yammer, Sharepoint integration makes sense, too. By acting as a one point product, a company like Yammer can be flexible in where it integrates.Here's an interview with Apfelberg and a demo of the Yammer service:Discuss

  According to once-secret, now-leaked sections of the new, plurilateral Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, global Internet users and ISPs might be in for a world of hurt in the near future.A U.S.-drafted chapter on Internet use would require ISPs to police user-generated content, to cut off Internet access for copyright violators, tweetmeme_url = 'http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/copyright_treaty_leaked_trouble_for_isps_and_in.php';tweetmeme_source = 'rww';and to remove content that is accused of copyright violation without any proof of actual violation. The chapter also completely prohibits DRM workarounds, even for archiving or retrieving one's own work. Read on for details and implications.SponsorThe U.S. drafted this chapter under the strictest measures to ensure secrecy. Only 42 specific persons - such as representativesof Google, Intel, Verizon, Time Warner, Sony, News Corp, eBay, the MPAA, and the RIAA - were given access to the document under nondisclosure agreements: a corporate cabal hand-selected to help review the text of the final agreement. The politicians involved in creating the document are also heavily funded by entertainment, media, and IP corporations such as Sony, Time Warner, News Corp, and Disney.As with other sections of the treaty, portions of this element have been leaked online. As it stands, the leaks suggest Internet users around the world are headed for a new regime of IP enforcement - a culture of invasive searches, minimal privacy, guilt until innocence is proven, and measures that would kill our normative behaviors of file-sharing, free software, media downloading, creative remixing, and even certain civil liberties.Allegedly modeled on sections of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, the treaty would require ISPs to police user activity for possible copyright violation, and ISPs would be held responsible for any infringing content being uploaded or downloaded. This all spells a huge boon to the established entertainment industry and a huge burder for ISPs."In order for ISPs to qualify for a safe harbor," writes Michael Geist, who has publishedthe substance of the leaked material, "they would be required establish policies to deter unauthorized storage and transmission of IP infringing content. Provisions... include policies to terminate subscribers in appropriate circumstances." That means a three-strikes rule would apply to anyone who was accused of violating copyright in any way; ISPs would be required to terminate the user's account after three complaints from the content owner. For something as culturally accepted as downloading music, a user's entire household could be cut off from the Internet and access to information, communication, personal account management, et cetera.Geist continues, "Notice-and-takedown, which is not currently the law in Canada nor a requirement under WIPO, would also be an ACTA requirement." In other words, whether or not a piece of content or media violates copyright would be arbitrary; the content would be removed by the ISP as soon as a takedown notice was issued. The takedown would be enforced regardless of considerations such as fair use. This policy, which mirrors the DMCA, would be enforced for all nations participating in the treaty.Finally, the treaty includes a ban on circumventing DRM and other copyright-protecting measures in hardware and software, as well as a ban on the manufacture, import and distribution of circumvention tools. Again, this ban is irrespective of circumstance or content ownership and is inflexible.Our friends at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, arbiters of freer use of copyrighted material, have thisto say:U.S. negotiators are seeking policies that will harm the U.S. technology industry and citizens across the globe. Three Strikes/ Graduated Response is the top priority of the entertainment industry... The ACTA text appears to leave the door open for major changes to the existing national Internet intermediary liability regimes that have been the global status quo since the mid 1990s, and which have underpinned both tremendous Internet innovation, and citizens' online freedom of expression and the rich world of user generated content that we take for granted today.European citizens should also be concerned and indignant. As reported, the ACTA Internet provisions would also appear to be inconsistent with the EU eCommerce Directive and existing national law...Are international treaties governing Internet content and intellectual property even necessary? Insofar as they fly in the face of normative cultural practices and contradict or tighten existing national laws, we find these suggested measures inflexible and unrealistic. But whether they become reality and shape the landscape of the Internet-to-come remains to be seen.Discuss

  Microsoft just announced a radical redesign of its MSNhomepage. Today's MSN homepage for the US market is a busy mix of ads, hundreds of links and some customizable local news and weather widgets. The redesign, which is MSN's first major redesign since 2004, puts a new emphasis on search, local news, video and integration with social networks. The new page features more white space, a tabbed design and a new MSN logo.SponsorIn the US, MSN is one of the top 5 most visited sites on the net with about 100 million visitors per month. According to Microsoft, the MSN homepage is the #1 homepage in 26 markets. This is the first major redesign of MSN since Microsoft introduced the current look in 2004.The company plans to roll this redesign out slowly over the next few weeks - though all users will be able to switch to the new site througha link on the old homepage. Fewer Links - Less ClutterTo make the site less busy, Microsoft has reduced the number of links by 50%. In the old design, the categories were organized in dozens of boxes. This gave the page a very busy look. Microsoft now uses tabs that give the site a more modern look and which also reduce clutter.The new MSN puts a lot of emphasis on search. The new new homepage doesn't just feature a Bing search box on the top. The new MSN has another search box at the bottom of the page and Microsoft also integrated Bing shopping and travel search in other sections of the site.MSN Users Don't Want Customization When we talked to Lisa Gurry, Microsoft's senior director of MSN, she told us that only a very small number of MSN's users actually wanted to spend a lot of time customizing the site. Because of this, the MSN team decided to automate this customization as much as possible through a reverse IP lookup. Through this, the homepage automatically displays local news and weather reports based on a user's location. Those users who want to customize their MSN experience extensively can continue to use the MyMSNhomepage.Flawed Execution: Facebook and Twitter IntegrationMicrosoft also added some new social networking functionality to the MSN homepage. Users can now track updates from their friends on Twitter, Facebook and Windows Live. MSN's users can also send status updates right from the MSN homepage. According to Microsoft, 52% of MSN users are on Facebook and 14% are on Twitter. A few key features are missing from the Twitter integration, though. There is no character count, for example, and no easy way to shrink URLs. There is also no way to see or send direct messages or @replies.While the Facebook widget at least features a 'comment' link, users are still taken to Facebook's own site to write their comments. Overall, the social network integration could be a lot more interesting if the MSN team just added a few features. MSN is obviously trying to attract mainstream users who don't follow thousands of Twitter users, but even the most mainstream Twitter user expects to see a reply button in a Twitter client. AOL's homepage allows users to reply right from the Twitter widget.Local NewsThe new site now puts a lot of emphasis on local news. The new local editionfeatures extended weather reports, movie times, concerts, restaurant reviews and information about local gas prices. For restaurant reviews, Microsoft takes users to Bing's local search. Radical ChangeThe new design is a radical departure from the old MSN and some users who were accustomed to the old site will surely feel disoriented when they wake up to the new design.Among the large homepages like Yahoo and AOL, the new MSN now sports the most modern look. This is not a highly customizable, Netvibes-style homepage, but MSN's users aren't asking for this. Discuss

  Canadian company ConnectionPoint is about to unveil its FundRazr Facebook applicationas the only service utilizing both PayPal X'sAdaptive Account API and its Adaptive Payment API. Initially launched in private beta at TC50, Fundrazr allows users to collect fees and donations through Facebook. SponsorWhile this may seem like a simple Groups tool, users can add members, create fundraising campaigns, generate reports, add organizational admin and most importantly, collect payments. Some of the groups who benefit from Fundrazr include sports teams, school clubs, charities and campaign managers. Members of the company's closed beta include major universities needing to charge fees, political candidates on the campaign trail and national nonprofits looking to overcome donor fatigue in a poor economy. According to ConnectionPoint CEO Daryl Hatton, the beauty of using PayPal X is that users never have to leave the Fundrazr page to setup a PayPal account. Charities no longer have to redirect donors to external payment sites in order to collect their donations. Instead there's a frictionless process where donors have absolutely no reason to deny payment. To check out Fundrazr's newest feature releases visit the blog at blog.connectionpoint.ca. For an invite to the company's closed beta program email beta[at]fundrazr.com. Discuss

  The iPhone App Store is a blessing and a curse. It's one of the best things about the mobile platform, but it's so popular that finding great new apps to download can be a real challenge. Where there's a monetizable pain-point, services will flower! Enter a variety of new iPhone app recommendation services that aim to point you toward your next download and pocket the affiliate fees for paid apps.Below we've posted a chart comparing the features of 5 new services for iPhone app discovery: Apple's own App Genius, a new social app discovery service called Chorusthat launched to great press coverage this morning, a simple mobile sharing service called AppsFire, a remarkably similar service called Yapplerand Appolicious, a website like Delicious for iPhone apps.SponsorComparing 5 iPhone App Recommendation ServicesDifferent people will want to use different apps in this matrix to suit their different needs. The boxes in yellow are my personal favorite implementations of each feature in question. Here's why.Best mobile interface: App Genius, Apple's own service inside the app store. It's simple, it works quickly, gives fun recommendations on the phone and has easy access to app reviews. No one else has beat it, yet.Best web interface: Appoliciousis awesome. There's a lot of things it doesn't do well, but it's web interface is fun to read, feature rich and solid. It's not a sharing service, it's a discovery service - and for that it does a good job. Yappler'sis pretty good, too. No one is doing a great job of tying web and mobile together.Best sharing: Appsfire. Sharing apps is so easy with Appsfire I regularly fire it up just to share a link to Appsfire itself, then I add on a couple of other recommendations. Launch the app, click some of your apps you want to share with someone, then the share button opens an email withAppsfire links to all the selected apps. It's a fast, easy way to point someone to apps you think they'd like. The fact that you can do it from your phone to someone you're having a conversation with is key.Best recommendations: None. No one is doing a terribly good job at this, the most important feature. Chorus, the much-hyped new social recommendation service, appears promising but so far only offers an activityfeed view of a cold-start friends network with vague friend import options and a completely impersonal looking "recommended" section. Did we mention the spammy Twitter messages the company says it's going to soon stop sending through your account? The fake-looking testimonials from users on the company's home page? Ugh.It's disappointing that no one has nailed this yet, but it's very early days.Autodiscovery of the apps you already have: Everyone does it, Yappler has the best user experience in doing it.Discussion: Applocious is the best place to learn a lot about an app before downloading it. Yappleris a close second. Inclusion of video, screenshots, local and App Store reviews and other features are what make these two services stand out.So...which of these should you try?That depends on what you're looking for, but I'd personally recommend checking out Appsfire and Appolicious right away. All of the services are worth checking out, though. Someone's going to knock this out of the park and become the Yellow Pages of iPhone apps. We're not there yet, though. Discuss

  After waiting for two months for PayPal to release its much-anticipated platform, the day has finally arrived for PayPal X.ReadWriteWeb first covered the company's announcement in late Julyand today, at San Francisco's Concourse Exhibition Center, developers and press people waited with bated breath to see what was earlier described as a "platform as ubiquitous as the electrical outlet."SponsorSaid eBay CEO John Donohoe, "We believe that consumer behavior will change in the next three years, more than in the last ten. Think about it this way: this year: the eBay iPhone app will do $500 million dollars in volume on a device that didn't exist two years ago, on an application that didn't exist one year ago."Said Osama Bedier, PayPal's VP of Product Development, "We'll do 70 billion in sales this year, but there's $30 trillion dollars being spent globally. We need to tap into this... You are the X factor."Developers can access X.com's SDKs, technical docs and API support tools to produce integrated checkout solutions. Examples of some pre-existing products using the new Adaptive Payments API include:The Javastore'snew drag-and-drop installation and frictionless payment system;Instant storefronts for Facebook via Payvment's social network shopping cart system; andCut-and-paste shopping solutions embedded in mobile applications, including instant purchases via ShopSavvy's barcode-enabled comparative shopping Android application.So far, one of the key points of this morning's proceedings has been mention of the "removal of pricing barriers." As a direct shot at Amazon, the company plans to offer what it describes as an "enhanced pricing structure," with a $0.50 flat fee per transaction. For more on today's PayPal developer event, check back here for details. Discuss

  At the Enterprise 2.0 conferenceAndrew McAfeemade a few points about the approach to enterprise technology and how it might be changed a bit.McAffee, of the Center for Digital Business, MIT Sloan School of Management, is considered the father of Enterprise 2.0. His views reflect how Enterprise 2.0 is evolving but still with a fair degree of resistance for its adoption.SponsorHere they are...Declaring War On The EnterpriseThis definitely does not work. Do you think that you will get a project with such an approach? Allow Walled Gardens to FlourishData silos prevent theability to find and share information. You need to look across the organization. It's a reason why enterprise search and collaborative search will continue to grow in demand.Accentuate the NegativeWe tend to talk too much about the challenges with Enterprise 2.0. This causes some issues with company execs who are a bit wary in the first place. It's time for more customer stories to show the business benefits of this new breed of enterprise technology.Try to Replace EmailToo often we try to replace email in the enterprise. But people do use it. It's time to accept that email is part of a work style familiar to most users.Fall in Love With FeaturesWe get too feature crazy. It's like that remote for your TV. How do you use this thing? With too many features, the user can get confused, turning them off to the technology.Overuse of the Word SocialExecutives get nervous when they hear this too often. They are not in the business of running a social club.The data silos issue hits home the hardest for us. The corporate world is document-centric. How can data silos be fragmented into bits that people can easily consume and use? That's a major challenge facing Enterprise 2.0.Discuss

  CompareMyDocs makes it easy to compare multiple revisions of a document and to compile a final version based on these revisions. The site, which launchedtoday, can handle Word documents and rich-text files. You simply select up to seven documents and the service will display all the differences between these in a very well-designed interface. CompareMyDocs is available free of charge.SponsorCompareMyDocs is based on TextFlow, a more advanceddesktop version of CompareMyDocs that also features an online storage component. We reviewed the latest version of TextFlow in March. Right now, sign-ups for TextFlow are closed, as the team works on bringing the CompareMyDocs interface to the desktop toolFeaturesThe app color codes all the differences between the versions of the document. Hovering over one of the boxes with a different version of a part of the text gives you the option to accept or reject a change. You can also add new text to a document within the app and make minor formatting changes to the text (bulleted lists, italics, bold, etc.). At the end of this process, you can save the newly compiled document for further editing in your word processor.  CompareMyDocs does have quite a few limitations. It can't handle images and tables, for example, and footnotes simply become part of the text. Because of this, the service works best for relatively straightforward documents as you will have to add all of these assets back into the text after you finish your comparison.APITextFlow also launched its new APItoday. This API, which will be available free of charge, allows developers to integrate TextFlow's document comparison service into their own applications. This would be a great addition to other online office suites and online storage services like DropBoxand Box.net, as Josh Lowensohn points out on CNet.Discuss

  Centuries of struggling by artists and musicians to make a living have come to this. While the rest of the music industry is fighting to figure out how to stay viable when so much content is available for free on the internet - the band Weezer may have solved the problem.Weezer released its latest album today, with a Snuggie. See the video below.SponsorShareFans interested in the music alone can purchase the album sans blanket-with-arms for a mere $9 on Amazon. (Update: $4 today - sale!)It's pretty funny, really. People do seem more willing to buy these ridiculous blankets with arms than they are to pay for music these days.I think that's the point.Thanks to Yahoo's Christian Heilmannfor bringing this to our attention.Discuss

  These days, everyone wants to build their own iPhone applications, but not everyone knows how write the code necessary in order to create them. Fortunately, there are now a number of tools that allow non-developers the ability to create their own iPhone apps without knowing programming or scripting. Some are general-purpose app builders designed for small businesses while other target specific needs, like apps for musicians or for eBook authors. Still others let developers familiar with simpler programming languages like HTML write apps using the code they know and then will transform that code into an iPhone application which can be submitted to the iTunes Store. Below we've listed 13 different tools that let you create your own iPhone applications, none of which require knowledge of Objective C, the programming language used to build apps for the iPhone OS . Sponsor1. Sweb AppsWhat it Does:Sweb Appsoffers an online service which lets anyone build their own iPhone apps even if they don't know how to code. Designed with small business owners in mind, the company offers pre-created templates which you can customize with different background images and your own custom icons if desired. Otherwise, you're welcome to use the graphics provided by the company's own image library. After picking the category for your app (Restaurant, Retail, Business, etc.), you choose the buttons you want to include (Menu, Directions, Map, etc.). You can even create a mobile storefront where Sweb Apps manages your inventory.  How Much it Costs:The company offers four-, six- and eight-button packages, which all include a one-time set-up fee of $50 per button. Then there is a $25 monthly hosting fee applied to every application going forwardOur coverage: Build Your Own iPhone App with New Service from Sweb Appsand Sweb Apps 2.0: Build Your Own Mobile Storefront for the iPhone2. AppIncubatorWhat it Does: Think you have a great idea for an iPhone app but not the skills to build it yourself. Like Apple says: "there's an app for that!" The AppIncubator iPhone Appfrom MEDL Mobile lets you submit your ideas which the company's development team will then build into apps for you. App submissions can be sent in via the iPhone app or by way of the company website. Once received, you go online to use the company's "storyboard" tool to sketch out in more detail how you imagine the app working. How Much it Costs: Using the service or downloading the iPhone app itself is free, but MEDL Mobile takes a cut of the profits after the app goes live in the iTunes App Store. 25% of the total revenue is shared with you and the company keeps the rest. Our coverage: This iPhone App Helps You Make iPhone Apps3. KanchooKanchoois another platform that allows content producers to create native iPhone applications, this one is designed for news organizations. To use the service, you provide the company with an iPhone application icon, a splash screen (in .png format) and a description of your application which will be used in the iTunes App Store. Then, using their online tools, you build your app by uploading the content which can consist of either photos or news articles.How Much it Costs: Basic account holders pay $88 for creation of their iPhone application and submission to the iTunes App Store along with a $28 per month fee for bandwidth and hosting.4. AppBreederWhat it Does:AppBreederis another DIY app builder service, similar to SwebApps. Where SwebApps offers categories to choose from, AppBreeder offers "App-Kits." These are pre-defined collections of app settings which include gadgets, icons, and behavioral elements. There are kits for a wide range of industries including everything from real estate to legal and bands to restaurants. You use the kits as a jumping off point to start building your app and then add or remove gadgets as your needs require. After building your app, you can then publish it to the iTunes App Store. However, AppBreeder isn't just limited to the iPhone - it also lets you publish apps for Blackberry and Android devices as well.(Note: the company's website says that "due to sudden demand spike" AppBreeder's build and publishing tools will be unavailable until Nov. 30th.) How Much it Costs:AppBreeder offers different packages depending on whether your app will be ad supported or ad-free and whichplatforms you plan to distribute it on. Ad supported apps are free, iPhone web apps are $9.95 - 14.95, native iPhone apps are $29.95, and the iPhone/Blackberry/Android app package is $39.95 - 49.95.5. MyAppBuilderWhat it Does:MyAppBuilderis a service that creates iPhone applications designed to help you sell your content. Whether that's books, music, videos, etc., the service turns any content into an app. You can also use MyAppBuilder to create custom quizzes, apps that are fed by Twitter pages, or you can turn your blog into an app by way of its RSS feed. To use the online app builder, you login to the service's "Control Panel" where you submit details about your app including content, features, flow, and image files. The company then uses this information to create an app for you which is sent back to you for review. After you approve the app, MyAppBuilder submits it to the iTunes App Store on your behalf.How Much it Costs:The service is available for a fee of $29 per month. There is also a $20 processing fee to compile your data, put it in the appropriate format, and submit it to the App Store for review.6. BuildAnAppWhat it Does:BuildAnAppis another DIY cross-platform app builder designed for small businesses, community groups and professional service organizations. Using the web-based service, you can pick and choose from the company's customizable templates to create apps for the iPhone, Blackberry, or Windows Mobile platforms. As with Sweb Apps, creators can use their own graphics or choose images from the company's own online gallery. A special feature of this service is its ability to house an email distribution list that will notify end users to download the application once it becomes available. (Note: this service is currently in private beta testing right now. You can sign up hereto be notified when it's available).How Much it Costs:The company says pricing has not yet been determined but will be "competitive" with similar services. 7. eBookAppWhat it Does:The eBook App Makeris a service specifically designed to create iPhone apps from eBooks. The app builder supports nearly all digital formats including PDF, Doc, Zip, CHM, HTML, TXT, FB2, PDB, PRC, Mobi, PDB, MHT, RTF. eBook creators can also specify various fonts and sizes, can add images and notes, can lock the orientation to landscape or portrait, and more. How Much it Costs:The company's site doesn't publicly list its pricing but offers a "request a quote" forminstead.8. GameSaladWhat it Does:GameSaladis a downloadable tool for creating games without needing to know programming or scripting. Using the company's visual editing software, you can create games which can then be published to both the web and to the iPhone. GameSalad offers a suite of "interactions" and attributes which you can add into your game to create the action. You can also drag-and-drop art files and sound files from your computer into the game builder, too. As you create the game, you can tweak the various elements during the building process and can preview what the game looks like before compiling it.  How Much it Costs:The company offers a basic, free versionof GameSalad which lets you publish to the web, but not the iPhone. For iPhone games, there are two versions available: the Express version for $99/year and the Pro version for $1999/year. Our coverage: Gendai Games Launches GameSalad Beta9. MobileRoadieWhat it Does:Mobile Roadieis an application builder that lets bands create their own custom iPhone applications which can include content like photo galleries, streaming music files, YouTube videos, upcoming concert listings, lyrics, news, Twitter and RSS feeds, and even interactive features like a "wall" where fans can post comments and photos.  The app can also link to Ticketmaster and LiveNation ticket sales information and to the band's album(s) on iTunes.How Much it Costs:There is a $499 set up fee for Mobile Roadie followed by a $29/month fee for the first 100 installs. To get rid of the 1 cent per install fee, bands can choose to host their own content instead.10. MobBaseWhat it Does:Similar to Mobile Roadie, MobBaseis also an app creation tool designed for bands. Without needing programming skills, musicians can create apps that include videos, images, bios, band news, streaming playlists, concert schedules and links for music purchases. The tool, offered by MixMatchMusic, How Much it Costs:Applications are $20 dollars to activate. Free apps are priced at $15 dollars a month for the first 500 installs with $5 dollars per additional 1000 downloads. Paid apps cost $20 dollars per month for the first 500 installs and $6 dollars per month for each additional 1000. MobBase does not take any application sales fees in regards to revenue share. The company also receives 5% of purchased music downloads.11. RhomobileWhat it Does:Rhomobiledoes require that you know how to code, but only HTML and Ruby, not the Objective C required for building iPhone apps. Developers can build any application and then use Rhomobile to deploy their app anywhere - including the iPhone, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Symbian, or Android marketplaces.How Much it Costs:The Rhodes framework is free for developers who open source their applications under GPLv3. Commercial Rhodes licenses are also available at $500 per application and commercial RhoSync server licenses are available based upon the planned number of users connected to the server.12. PhoneGapWhat it Does:Like Rhomobile above, PhoneGapis also an open source development tool for building mobile apps. Also like PhoneGap, you do need to know how to code, but this time, you just need to know HTML and Java as opposed to the iPhone's Objective C. With this tool, you can build apps for iPhone, Blackberry, and Android while also taking advantage of the phones' native features like geolocation, the accelerometer, sound and more. How Much it Costs:PhoneGap is completely open source and free to use. Our coverage: PhoneGap: People's Choice Winner at Web 2.0 Expo Launch Pad13. RedLaserWhat it Does:Red Laseris an iPhone application that lets you scan barcodes with your iPhone in order to compare the in-store price with other online deals. However, with the latest version of the application, RedLaser 2.2, you can create your own custom barcode scanning apps. To do so, first download the updated application from the iTunes App Store, then visit www.redlaser.com/appsfrom the iPhone's web browser. Follow the instructions on the page to set up your own application - you'll need to fill in data like the URL of the site you want to compare prices with, the URL for the app icon, etc. When complete, tap the "build app" button. The completed app can then be added to your homescreen. Although this app is designed more for personal use and not resale, it's still worth checking out if you want to create your own barcode scanning application without needing to know how to code. How Much it Costs:RedLaser is available on the iTunes App Store for $1.99.Discuss

  Ribbit just announced the launch of Ribbit Mobile. Ribbit Mobile is a cloud-based VoIP telephony service that brings together web-based calling, smart call routing and voicemail transcriptions.It is hard to look at Ribbit Mobile without comparing it to Google Voice. Just like Google Voice, Ribbit gives users a new phone number or they can use call forwarding to transfer calls from their mobile phones to Ribbit's platform. Ribbit Mobile also has quite a few features that Google doesn't offer, including the ability to make calls from within the browser.SponsorUpdate:in an earlier version of this article we stated that Google Voice can't ring multiple phones simultaneously. This is indeed a feature of Google Voice and we stand corrected.More Features than Google VoiceAs Ribbit Mobile is part of Ribbit's open VoIP platform, the service can even forward calls to your Skype, MSN or Google Talk account if you don't pick up your mobile phone. Whenever you miss a call or when a new voicemail arrives, Ribbit can also ping you by email, Skype, Google Talk or SMS. Through its partners, Ribbit offers widgets for popular start pages like iGoogle and social networks like Facebook and MySpace. Through these - as well as on the service's homepage - users can receive and place calls from their browsers. This is a feature that Google Voice doesn't offer yet.GrandCentral, which Google bought and then transformed into Google Voice, offered some of the features that Ribbit Mobile now offers. Google dropped quite a few useful features like call chains from Google Voice's feature line-up, however.Besides call chains, another nice feature of Ribbit Mobile is that you can choose which number will appear on your contacts' phones when you call, even if you are calling from your computer. Once you are on a call, you can also easily transfer calls from any device to another. Because of this, you can start a call in the web interface or iGoogle and then continue the call on your cell phone. Just like Google Voice, Ribbit gives users the option to set up a new phone number for their Ribbit accounts. Users can search for a specific number and letter combination in these numbers. For now, Ribbit only offers numbers in select cities such as California and New York.A service like Ribbit Mobile wouldn't be very useful as you couldn't easily import your contacts. Thankfully, users can import contacts from Plaxo and as an Outlook CSV file (Google Contacts can export an Outlook CSV file). Caller ID 2.0As Ribbit's CEO Ted Griggs and co-founder Crick Waters told us yesterday, the company wants users to look at Ribbit Mobile as a "personal customer relationship management (CRM) platform." To do so, Ribbit Mobile doesn't just display a caller's name and phone number. Users can also add notes to every call and connect their Ribbit address book with their Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Flickr accounts. Through this, the Ribbit team noted, conversations can now take place within a context.Voicemail TranscriptionsRibbit offers two levels of voicemail transcriptions. Free accounts come with automated transcriptions. Users with professional accounts - which are free during the beta period - can also choose to have 'business-class' level transcriptions, where a human checks the computer-transcribed text and edits it.Ribbit for DevelopersBecause Ribbit is an open platform, developerscan use the service in their own applications. Ribbit already features five apps in its app store, including an SMS widget, an Adobe AIR app for checking voicemails and a conference widget. Ribbit also plans to launch its own mobile applications for the iPhone and Blackberry platforms soon. Developers are free to charge for their applications and Ribbit also offers a profit-sharing program where developers will be paid if users use their applications.Joining the BetaRibbit will slowly scale the service up over the next few weeks. The company will hand out new accounts on a first come, first serve basis. You can sign up for an account here. Allservice levelsare available for free during the beta period, though Ribbit plans to charge for the pro accounts later on.Discuss

  In the Web 2.0 heyday, Netvibeshad that star appeal that few companies ever experience. Their platform for creating personal dashboards rocketed in growth. Web innovators sang its praises. But you know the story. Netvibes struggled to find a business model.SponsorNow, we're on the cusp of the Enterprise 2.0 movement and Netvibes has suddenly come back as a contender for providing dashboard environments to better manage enterprise software.Today, Netvibes is announcing a "sales, marketing and technology," partnership with Sage Software, an enterprise software company with 5.8 million customers worldwide and more than 14,500 people worldwide.Sage will integrate the Netvibes dashboard technology into Sage software products and business processes. The idea is that enterprise software has become increasingly complex for users. Netvibes technology will help manage Sage software byproviding customers with an environment that is more user friendly. Sage is hoping the partnership will bridge enterprise software with the Web 2.0 features of the Netvibes technology.Sage reaches mid-market companies. These are larger enterprises that may do $60 million in revenues. They are adopting increasingly complex software. For instance, spftware for Enterprise Resource Planning software (ERP) and Business Process Management (BPM) are more popular in light of enterprise efforts to bring more efficiencies in these times of economic difficulty. But often, the tools require a degree of administration beyond the capabilities of the average business user.Sage will integrate Netvibes into the launch of its ERP X3 software, coming in the first quarter of 2010.For all the skeptics of social technologies, is this at all proof of the benefits that social software provides? Sage is adopting the Netvibes platform to make it simpler for customers to use its ERP software.Netvibes grew from the roots of the social software movement. Its technology represents what social software can help people accomplish: give the user more options to be productive and creative in their work.Discuss