This is a really cool demo of a desktop / web app called TileUI.
I have to say, however, that I will stick to Finder for day-to-day work, huh.
Please note that the concept has already been seen in a yet-to-be-released application seen here.
(Thanks Raz-L)
Pligg is a free open-source content management system that outputs sites just like Digg.
I am not sure if they should be taken seriously considering the big typo in their description on the home page. That said, their product seems to work quite well (besides a few interfaces glitches such as saying ‘OK’ in bright red).
Have a look for yourself and test it out. Now, all you need is 10000 visitors to start with.
Dekoh Desktop is a free software platform that allows you to organize all of your media in one place, on your desktop—and share it with people you choose. There’s no uploading to a website, so storage is limited only by the size of your hard drive. You can share as little or as much as you want, with one friend or 100. And Dekoh is open-source, so you can create and share applications of your own.
They also plan to open source for component development. Dekoh Desktop is based on several open standards. These applications can then be shared between friends as for digital content.
It appears that Google Analytics is currently down. The nature of the message seems to indicate that they didn’t quite plan it.
The home of analytics behave fine, it occurs right after login.
Why it is broken stays a mystery. Obviously it wouldn’t be as simple as a folder missing, considering their system clustering and such.
It has been about 15 mins now… Hopefully they come back up soon!
Update: nearly an hour now… still nothing!
Update: about one hour and a half, we are back on. wow.
Bubbl.us is a cute web application that helps brainstorming. You maybe familiar with the concept of mind-maps. I would also refer to it as a very simple UML diagram maker.
It takes about 10 seconds to be up to speed as it was designed to be really simple. It takes a bit of getting used to for the custom controls (when you roll over each bubbles).
You can generate structures such as organizational charts, development reference or plan your next holiday. If you are a bit geeky, you could use this application for nearly any type of planning.
The interface is cute but features quite unclear icons to: move, remove, link-to, change colour and add sibling/child.
The powerful use of keyboards shortcuts such as Enter to add a child and Tab to add a sibling make it really quick to prototype a structure. The moving around of bubbles is handled quite well, but you can easily waste minutes getting it to look okay.
An annoying error message “Your session expired” appears if you try to generate a new sheet in demo mode. I can see why this would happen as a developer, but there is obviously room for improvement in that area.
Nevertheless, Bubbl.us is a free application that does exactly what you need it to do in good fashion. Options like save to Jpeg or PNG, embed to HTML, print and e-mail make it a must have for daily use!
Vayama is yet another travel site! This one relies on Flash and is very graphical concerning your itinerary.
It features clarity, which is really rare for a website of this class. They say they get you the best deals, but I couldn’t tell you if it is true. Also the search speed was decent.
The flash engine seems to work really well, I have however noticed glitches when you use the calendar, which is HTML over the Flash. It tends to flick visually. That’s a known issue in the world of developers and it often requires trickery to get it to work properly. Therefor, I wouldn’t call that a big issue.
The application seems to do what you need it to do in good fashion. It has a clever feature, that, as an experienced user of these sites, I would call brilliant: it remembers the last search details you have entered. That is, your From and To as well as dates. Small details like these make a major difference to pick a site to book my next trip.
However, I can’t really judge the service or the staff as I haven’t dealt with them!
We’re getting there. Surely, we’re getting there.
After Flash being released with a proper engine (and AS3), we can find some very interesting projects taking out old games from the past.
Remember the original Doom? I used to play hours on my PC at the time. Well some dude (couldn’t find his name!) spends his time reading the original WAD file from Doom and is currently working on bringing it to Flash!
I never thought some day I would be playing Doom in a browser.
Can’t wait to see a more complete version, as this is pretty rough 
This isn’t quite the impressive work seen with Papervision 3D, but a good old 3D engine with sprites all over the shop.
In the fast changing world of the internet, it’s important to keep track of what’s going on.
Here are the 5 apps that really got my attention recently.
Not only Pownce includes Digg’s master Kevin Rose, but it’s also a very promising app.
The basic idea behind Pownce is sharing, everything. At this stage you can send messages, links, files such as photos and events.
It’s currently under a slow expanding public beta (invite only).
Picnik is not the usual Flex app. It runs a kick-ass set of features for images editing and it looks gorgeous.
There has been a lot of buzz around Saffron. Pretty much any blog about Adobe AIR has featured it, yet it’s not even alpha! I think the screen grabs just look amazing and people are dying for a proper (free?) UML editor.
We keep in touch with Saffron and we hope for a public alpha, soon.
Their tag-line says it well: “Finally, A Web-based subversion browser that doesn’t suck.”
Warehouse supports multiple repository access, makes easy to manage users and brings the convenience of browser bookmarks to subversion. A bliss for regular or amateur subversion users.
Aviary is working on a set of applications that will bring “people who create” online. All types of artists will have access to creative tools, online.
The amusing part is that it’s with Adobe products that Aviary plans on reducing Adobe’s user list!
Keep in touch, subscribe to our RSS feed for fresh news and in-depth reviews!
Bubble Guru is what I would call a brilliant idea. The concept is to record a short personal video explaining the content of a webpage. That video then gets embedded transparently on top of the existing design and explain the content to the visitor at his/her first visit. Example of a perfect place for this: a product page.
What is great is that you can finally put a face to a product, you can feel as if you are having a personal demo of the page and what’s to see here.
It outlines perfectly and focus the end-users to what they should think of the product - simply explaining it to them, face to face.
I think this kind of feature reinforces the trust ration of a potential buyer and give him confidence when he/she is about to take out the credit card. A great asset for any web app.
On the downside, I find their service plans rather expensive and limiting. For free, you get to place a 20 second message, which really is nothing. The next plan is $9.95 monthly and that only gives you 5 messages up to 1 minute each. The advanced plan at $29.95 monthly is not even worth mentioning.
A great idea for a new line of products, that needs some competition.
Although the concept has been seen for about a thousand years (computer-wise), this adventure game is really fun.
Sometimes it’s not entirely about the concept, the big idea, but it’s about the end-product. It’s about the feel of it, the realization.
I couldn’t stop thinking about the old Indiana Jones game on PC when I had to describe this game.
MTV Me is a wicked little game that I recommend spending some time on. It was made by the Preloaded champs and as usual, I love their stuff.
The attention to detail is often what saves a product from has-been to a has-to-be-seen.
Trippert.com. Who needs another travel shared blog?
The problem with these projects is that they all end up in some sort of me me me, how awesome was this place - post. There is nothing social in bragging about a place…
What does it really bring to people to share with others their experience of travel? Yet another one so happy about Thailand, and about a thousand others just licking their screen going “Sigh, I want to be there”.
Does this sort of business model has a long term view?
The second problem I see is the fact that they mostly end up as a repository of photos. They don’t give spicy details on how dodgy the waiter was, how hot the lifeguard was or how stinky hot the room was.
Is there really something social in travel photos? Do people truly describe the places, or is it just a mere I WAS HERE. What they really need is interviewing those people when they get back. The problem is, once they get back, there is not much point bragging about any place anymore.
Yet another Flickr with a big travel tag on the front.
Voyage is the most original RSS Reader I’ve ever seen. Each hour containing new items produces a “layer” of articles. Use your mouse wheel to navigate through layers, click on interesting articles or even on the timeline and feel like being in the latest Hollywood futuristic movie. I’m not saying it’s an handy way to read feeds, but it’s the most impressive one, for sure!
64squar.es is a cute website where you can play chess with your friends or strangers. Its design is stripped down to the simplest and it seems to work really well.
It was developed by Parker Fox, an independent IT firm in the UK.
Aviary is a new project made by Worth1000. They plan on developing flex application for online use by artists and create an ecosystem in which artists using their products also post their products.
The project is quite a big one and a hard one to achieve. Also how do you trully replace photoshop or gimp by a flex application? As a flex developer myself, I am quite puzzled about the end result. However, the few samples presented on the site look quite professional and now we just have to wait. (via Techcrunch).
World Statistic is a small Air application that shows statistics live. When you see it animated, it gets quite impressive…
This slick looking web app brings some good design into the dry world of Subversion. Amazing the difference made with a consistent restrained style and a set of detailed icons.
Screenshots and video tours: Warehouse
Tim Roth, a german student in his final year, made a Multi-touch screen device similar to Microsoft Surface. The whole thing is in Actionscript 3, adapted from a library called touchlib in C++.
Quite rare is the Web application that doesn’t make extensive use of forms for data input and configuration. But not all Web applications use forms consistently. Variations in the alignment of input fields, their respective labels, calls to action, and their surrounding visual elements can support or impair different aspects of user behavior.
This amazing demo shows us that we’re only at the beginning of what is possible with computers by revolutionizing the way we look at images. The technologies presented in his demo are leaving me speechless and I’m not sure I comprehend the changes that it would have in our lives.
A Must see!
The first public beta of Papervision3D for flash, a promising full 3D engine framework, has been released. I look forward to see what people are going to come up with, already excited by the current demos made by the private testers. A reel highlights the previous work done and shows the potential.
