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Product Buzz

Reviews and access to the latest products within the digital media industry.

Seesmic Look

Last modified on 2010-02-22 22:40:54 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Let’s admit it: Twitter’s Search function leaves a lot to be desired. There’s a better way to feel the pulse of the Twitterverse and find tweets that match your interest: Seesmic Look. A free download that allows you to immerse yourself in the real-time web without having to log into Twitter, Look enables you to discover trends in real time and see who is commenting on them or view tweets by broad categories such as news, sports, entertainment, celebrities, music, politics, humor, culture, business and style. When you log into Look, you can save your favorite Twitter feeds as well as your saved searches.

Features:

• Inbox and social timeline
• Standard timeline view or playback mode
• Find accounts and tweets that match your interests
• Track work or phrase being said in real time
• Optimized for Windows 7

View Look videos to see various features in action.

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Iomega v.Clone

Last modified on 2010-02-22 03:43:58 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Anyone who has to work in multiple locations or visit clients is familiar with the road-warrior ritual of lugging along a laptop containing your files and programs. Wouldn’t it be great if you could have a clone of your PC on a portable hard drive that you could just slip into your pocket or briefcase and take with you? That’s the value proposition offered by Iomega v.Clone software. Developed by EMC utilizing VMware technologies, v.Clone enables you to create a clone of your PC onto an Iomega USB hard drive.  It lets you take your operating system, files, settings and applications with you.  Plug the hard drive into any available PC and use all your applications, including office software, email programs and browser favorites. The v.Clone software will save any changes you make and sync all your data when you return to your primary computer. It takes the hassle out of traveling with a laptop.

Features:

• Create a virtual image of your computer’s primary hard drive
• Includes all the operating system, all applications, text files, images, videos and personal settings
• Plug and play with an Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7 computer
• Capable of creating multiple clones on one hard drive, space permitting
• Automatically synchronizes files and folders between clone and primary computer
• Ideal for users with multiple computers

Watch v.Clone in action:

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Arrayent

Last modified on 2010-02-22 03:40:05 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

The Internet of Things took a major step toward becoming a more widely distributed reality this year when Arrayent introduced its Internet-Connect System at CES in January. This complete end-to-end communication system enables companies to connect their products to Internet-based applications at very low cost, with high reliability. The technology enables customers to monitor and control products from a smartphone or web browser. The company sees three markets that are particularly interested in integrating this kind of connectivity into their products: home automation suppliers looking for ways to connect customers’ home LANs to remoter diagnosis and repair suppliers; companies in the health monitoring field who want to connect their products to web apps such as Google Health and Microsoft HealthVault; and companies making toy and entertainment devices such as ebook readers, personalized radio and connected physical toys. Mattel selected Arrayent’s technology for its IM-ME, wireless messaging system designed for girls ages 8 and up. Over 100,000 units have already shipped in the U.S.

Features

• Rapid time to market
• Low-cost alternative method of connecting to Internet
• Small memory footprint
• Data rates from 250kps to 2Mbps, ideal for telemetry ad light media applications
• Low-power consumption; 12-month battery life on 3 AAA batteries

Learn more about the features that Arrayent technology brings to Mattel’s IM-ME.

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Postling

Last modified on 2010-02-01 04:28:50 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Businesses that have adopted social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr  and blogs as a way to market, listen and respond to their customers have found that logging into different sites every date to post updates can be a major time suck.  This is particularly true for agencies and other marketers who post on behalf of multiple clients or companies with multiple brands. Postling offers a software-as-a-service solution that can streamline this process. In three simple steps you can publish your blog post, update your Twitter and Facebook status with a link announcing the post and upload any photos in the post to Flickr. Postling supports Wordpress, Blogger, TypePad, Squarespace, Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook and Flickr. Adding an account is a breeze.

Features:

• Simplify publishing workflow
• Organize your social media accounts
• Comment aggregation
• Collaborate with team and clients

Take a tour and see all of Postling’s features.

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Tibbr

Last modified on 2010-01-27 05:39:11 GMT. 1 comment. Top.

Reading NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal’s Twitter posts inspired Tibco CEO Vivek Ranadive to develop a Twitter-style enterprise communications tool called tibbr that allows users to follow specific topics.  Unlike other social networking applications that focus on “following people,” tbbr allows users to follow granular subjects and machines as well. The notion is to help workers find information related to their particular tasks and jobs quickly and easily by searching for information based on its subject matter and subscribing to relevant feeds on those topics. A tibbr subject can represent a user, an application or a process relevant to a particular business user in an organization. For example, by subscribing to a subject such as Finance or Finance AP (accounts payable), a user could find out if a relevant purchase order had been cut or if an invoice had been received and processed. The application is based on Silver, Tibco’s own cloud-computing infrastructure platform. Currently in use by TIBCO employees, tibbr is scheduled for general availability early this year.

Features:

• Integrates directly with most enterprise IT infrastructure
• Allows information to be delivered in the form, frequency and manner of user preference
• Follows subjects as well as people
• Available via a standards-based API
• Massive scalability, state-of-the-art security encryption, high availability and reliability

Watch Vivek Ranadive’s demo of tibbr on YouTube.

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FourSquare for Business

Last modified on 2010-01-27 13:56:51 GMT. 1 comment. Top.

Like many social media products, Foursquare started out as a way for friends to connect with friends and update their locations via text message from their mobile devices or device-specific applications for the iPhone and Android. Blackberry and Palm Pre apps are in the works. It combines friend-finder and social city guide elements with game mechanics. When users check in, Foursquare lets their friends know where they can find them and recommends places and things to do nearby. Those into bragging rights can become the mayors of locations by being the most frequent visitor. As with Twitter, it didn’t take long for businesses to see how Foursquare could make a great promotional tool by offering freebies like free coffee, free drinks, free food and free hotel stays to Foursquare mayors.   Foursquare also offers users a way to keep boredom at bay by winning badges such as School Night for checking in after three a.m. on a school night or Superstar for 50 check-ins to unique venues.  The service is now available in more than 100 metropolitan areas, including Amsterdam, Atlanta, Austin, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Washington and Mumbai.

Features:

• Encourages people to explore their neighborhoods
• Users earn points, win mayorships and unlock badges for trying new places and revisiting old favorites
• Combines friend-finder and social city guide elements with game mechanics
• Foursquare specials for businesses

To sample the kind of awards available to Fourquare mayors, check out the participating venues offering freebies.

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RationalPlan

Last modified on 2009-12-28 03:20:08 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Romanian software developer Stand by Soft has released the newest version of its RationalPlan software, RationalPlan 3.15.7, a powerful project management application that helps project managers create plans, track progress, allocate resources, manage budgets and analyze workloads. The new version comes with email integration with Yahoo, Hotmail and Live. RationalPlan is designed to be an affordable alternative to Microsoft Project. The software comes in a single project version and one designed to manage multiple projects and projects that are interconnected through dependencies and share common resources. Additional features cover Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) management areas such as planning and scheduling, critical path management, over-allocated resources detection, progress tracking and cost estimation.

Features:

• Runs on all Java-enabled platforms
• Email integration with Yahoo, Hotmail and Live
• Remember last time used scale
• Predecessor end date and successor start date columns
• Gantt chart support

For more detailed information on available versions, features and installation, read the RationalPlan tutorial.

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Reedge

Last modified on 2009-12-28 03:19:14 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

SMB businesses have long wished that they had access to the same website segmentation and targeting tools used by the big boys of e-Commerce such as Amazon and eBay. That day has come with the free beta trial period for the Reedge Website Behavioral Targeting System. This online software system enables website operators to dynamically customize text, images, navigation, offers and other elements of page content to increase conversion rates and maximize revenue per visit.  In a recent test run on the SoftwareMatrix  website, the Reedge system was able to increase sales revenue 121 percent over a six-month period. The system is compatible with all content management and ad-serving systems and doesn’t require any changes to a site’s existing architecture. When the beta period ends, the system will sell for under $100 a month, with pricing scaled to match a website’s visitor volume.

Features

• Ability to serve customized content and design based on user profile, site behavior, history and preferences
• Easily perform A/B and multivariate tests
• Target users by geographic location
• Treat return visitors differently than new visitors
• Volume-based pricing after free beta

Watch the Reedge demo video.

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Adsme

Last modified on 2009-12-14 04:32:41 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

in 2008, people printed out 70 billion Web pages, a number that just keeps growing year over year. With most sites, what you see is what you print, more or less. Adsme thinks that most website owners are missing a golden opportunity to leverage what it calls the “point-of-print” to create a greater engagement with its customers and prospects. The company’s flagship product,  Adsme Prints, address that marketplace need by giving publishers the ability to control the look, feel and content of what is printed out from their sites. It provides a new customer touch point and enables site owners to dynamically create sophisticated print pages that can extend their brand using their own templates and deliver customized and localized information, offer coupons and promote additional products and services. Adsme works in any enterprise IT environment and with standard design tools such as Quark and Adobe.
Features:

• Free for use on websites and blogs. A pay version with more advanced features and higher level of service is in the planning stage
• Download Adsme app and integrate into CMS system or blog
• Create your own template or select a stock template from Adsme
• Connect Adsme to print buttons on website
• Backend server analytics available.

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Last modified on GMT. 0 comments. Top.

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Syncplicity’s Simplicity

Last modified on 2010-01-04 04:28:30 GMT. 1 comment. Top.

Leonard Chung is the CEO of Syncplicity, a San Francisco-based company that allows businesses to acquire folders and files on more than one computer from a centralized database. This centralized data management is great for updating and editing, assuring that your files are current.

Syncplicity has different levels when it comes to who can access which files and documents. IT administrators can control who can see what and have control over particular features, solving what could become a digital problem of too many employees spoiling the document.

Syncplicity’s price begins at $45 per month, with a three year minimum. For the $45, a company will receive storage of 50 gigabytes. Unfortunately, Syncplicity is not available to Mac users.

Features:

• Access to files and documents 24/7 from anywhere in the world, no matter which location they were saved. Instantly updated your files on every computer in the system.
• Syncplicity guarantees that your files and folders are secure.
• Easy to begin. No up-front fees, no long-term contract. The intergration with Windows is seamless.
• Share your files and folders with the assurance of complete security.
• No limits on storage, files, folders, file sizes, users or computers. You need more, simply add more as your needs increase.
• Protect your files with automatic back-up and Syncplicity’s feature of instant restore.

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Webtrends Analytics 9

Last modified on 2009-12-16 18:35:38 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

It’s always encouraging to see good products get better. When Webtrends introduced Analytics 9 in August, it provided marketers, IT professionals, expert analytics users and people working with the real-time web the ability to quickly and easily measure data and gain customer insight. This tool helps more than 5,000 users uncover real-time and historical trends and then place those trends into the larger business context they need to maximize their online results ad ROI. Feedback after the launch of Analytics 9 centered on the need for real-time alerting and gaining data insights with mobility. Webtrends addresses those marketplace needs with its Fall Release of Analytics 9.

Features:

• Real-time metrics and alerts
• Mobile analytics access via iPhone app
• Refined version of Insight and On Demand interfaces
• Attach notes directly onto analytics graphs and data
• Localizations for French, German, Italian and European Spanish

To learn more, download the Analytics 9 data sheet.

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Xobni

Last modified on 2009-12-14 04:22:31 GMT. 1 comment. Top.

Microsoft Outlook is the universal soldier of corporate email. But those who live in Outlook are also in danger of drowning in Outlook. When it comes to finding things and ordering the details of your digital existence, Outlook could stand an infusion of user-friendliness.  But there’s  now a lifesaver add-on for Outlook that does just that and can help you keep your head above water in the Outlook ocean. Xobni (in-box spelled backwards) takes the worry out of Outlook search and as a bonus adds features that you didn’t even know you wanted until you try them.

Features:

• Search 50 times faster than Outlook’s native function
• Pulls contact info from email signatures, message bodies, Outlook contacts, as well as  LinkedIn, Facebook, Hoovers, Skype and Yahoo
• Find attachments by person
• Emails are threaded based on their subject and are shown in the order in which they occurred
• Xobni creates a profile for every person you have ever communicated with. The profiles include emails, attachments, phone numbers, Skype IDs, pictures, company names and titles.
• “Schedule time with” feature generates an email containing your availability based on the free and busy times in your Outlook Calendar
• Free. Advanced search version available for $29.95

Watch a Xobni introduction on YouTube (The app is better than the video).