Google Releases Docs Uploader

Google today released a simple Windows compatible utility to simplify the sometimes annoying task of importing multiple documents into Google Docs. Google released it to demonstrate some of the functionality within the Google Docs API (download the app here).

It was possible already to mass upload documents into Google Docs by way of email, but anyone who has tried that in the past has most likely run into the size limitations (500k, for most documents).

A cursory glance over the API showed me that there are a number of other applications that could be written on the platform, including document synchronization with MS Word or other stand-a-lone Office-style applications, or a Google Docs export utility (certainly in keeping with the principals of data portability!).

[screenshot credits: Google Operating System]

9 Facebook Applications To Make You Money

Did you know you can sell things on your Facebook profile? Well, you can with the help of a couple handy applications. Whether it be your own music if you’re a musician, a shirt you designed, or old junk you have laying around, there’s probably an application out there that can help you earn some extra dough.

CafePress - Pretty much everyone has heard of CafePress, and with this Facebook app you can start selling whatever you have on your store via your profile.

e3buy Auction - Works with the e3buy auction site so you can add auctions to your profile as well as open a store.

eBay - From the best known of the online auction houses, highlight anything you’re selling on eBay to your friends on Facebook.

FlameTunes - Are you a musician? Want to sell your own music on your profile? This is the application for you.

Garage Sale - In association with Buy.com, Garage Sale allows you to sell your items to your friends, like that box of old books, your bike, etc.

Lemonade - Works just like it’s parent site, Lemonade.com. Pick items you like from a selection of sites, add the widget to your profile, make a commission on anything that sells.

Music Blaster - An application that works with BlastMyMusic. Promote small musical acts and earn a 5% commission on sales of their music.

My Merch Store - Create your products with Zazzle and then you can sell them on their website as well as via your Facebook profile.

Shopit - Got some spare CDs you need to dump? Regretting that HD DVD player you bought? Create a simple store and sell off your items to your friends via this store application.

[Source: Mashable.com]

Grouply Brings A Bit Of Facebook To Yahoo/Google Groups

Grouply is a startup trying to improve the online “groups” systems (Yahoo/Google Groups) currently used by over 100 million registered users. Their first goal was to create a simple management tool for easily tracking updates across your groups on the two networks. You give Grouply your account credentials and they organize your accounts in a more convenient manner (see our earlier review). Their second goal, has been to bring those systems up to speed with the latest social networking enhancements.

The newly launched features are collectively called “Grouply Social” and include all the social networking features you’d expect. User profile pages show your interests, personal history, and contact information. The pages also support multimedia like most social networks, allowing users to share photos, videos, and “widgets” from sites like YouTube and Slide. Members can also befriend each other, with full privacy controls. You can decide who has access to your profile and what portions they can see, similar to Facebook.

The rest of the internet is clearly blowing past these older “groups” services when it comes to usability and engagement. Sites like Tangler, Wetpaint, and Klostu are creating whole new systems to bring online forums up to speed. As we’ve said before, Grouply is taking an evolutionary approach by absorbing users and data from existing systems and enhancing their functionality. Grouply recently raised over $1.3 million.

Wakerupper: Free Wake-up Calls from the Web

Wakerupper is a nifty light-weight text-to-speech web app with a great name that will call any phone at a preset time. The site is currently in private beta, though its basic features are publicly available now (advanced features such as scheduling and a snooze function are only available to beta testers). I tested it out earlier this week and it never missed a call.

The way Wakerupper works is simple: you give it a phone number and a time and date to call, and optionally you give it a short message (under 140 characters). At the entered time, the app will call your phone and read back your message in a surprisingly non-computer-sounding voice. A cancellation code is emailed to you in case you want to call off your reminder.

As the name suggests, Wakerupper is ideal for things like wake-up calls and appointment reminders. But because most houses have alarm clocks, most hotels have wake-up call services, and most cell phones have a built in calendar app with a reminder function (and alarm clocks, as well, for that matter), I began to question the utility of the service.

However, while Wakerupper may not be necessary for its most practical applications, some of the more whimsical suggested use cases on the web site actually make a lot of sense. For example, "Escape from a boring date or meeting." Want a built-in escape hatch for a blind date? Schedule Wakerupper to call you around the time you should be midway through your entree -- by that time you'll know if you want to bail. Or how about, "Remind child or spouse to do chores." Now parents don't even have to lift a finger to nag their children in far off places.

The service is currently free to use, and an item in the site's FAQ suggests that Wakerupper might someday deliver advertisements along with wake-up calls.

[Source: ReadWriteWeb.com]

Facebook Applications Add Reviews and “Fans”

Facebook has added a “reviews” feature to all Facebook applications, where you can rate an application on a scale of 1-5 stars and also write something about the app. Additionally, similar to the Pages set up by brands (such as this one for Mashable), you can now become a “fan” of an application.

Nick O’Neill of AllFacebook thinks that these changes will eventually lead to an improved directory for applications. He writes:

“I have a funny feeling that Facebook may eventually use these reviews as a method for displaying “highest rated applications.” This will make the application directory even more efficient for browsing.”

Personally, I’ve been using Clever Hippo (review here) to search for apps, as I like the various filters for sorting by popularity, most recently added, or percent active. However, what’s missing from Clever Hippo is the ability to rate apps, so if O’Neill is correct and Facebook eventually compiles this data in its directory, the need for third-party search tools might disappear.

On the other hand, I think becoming a “fan” of an application is overkill. By installing the application and actively using it, you’re already providing all the data Facebook should need to determine that people like it. By adding a “fans” feature, Facebook is giving application developers yet another reason to solicit their users in the ever growing popularity contest that is Facebook.

[Source: Mashable.com]

Mahalo Launches Multi-Profiles

Source: Mashable.com

Typically, a new way to display iframed content wouldn’t get me very excited - it would actually probably get me rather annoyed. However, what human-powered search engine Mahalo has launched today is pretty clever, and I’m surprised I haven’t seen it on more sites (in fact, none come immediately to mind).

The new feature is called “multi-profiles” and adds tabs for your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Flickr accounts to your Mahalo profile. Click on one of those tabs and you can see a user’s full profiles on those respective services without navigating away from Mahalo. Thus, you can navigate between a user’s Mahalo profile information such as links and search results pages they’ve created, and then check out their other accounts if you want to learn more about them.

While Mahalo doesn’t generate any extra page views or search engine juice by doing this, they do keep people on the site longer, and in theory will create a better community by making it easier for users to get to know each other.

Smart feature, and I’d expect others to imitate it in the future.

Visualize Recent Edits to Google Maps

Forget Orkut, Google’s best homegrown social product might just be Google Maps. Today the Maps team has released a “Recent Edits” feature that shows you the most recent updates people have made to locations in Google Maps. Basically, it’s a visualization of the feature that the company released in November that allows users to move their location on a map so it’s more accurate. Stylistically, this feature is similar to Twittervision, which shows you the most recent Tweets from around the globe in a mashup with Google Maps.

Although more of a “that’s cool” feature than something incredibly useful, the visualization does highlight the growing importance of social features in Google Maps. They’ve also recently released collaborative maps, community maps, and in Google Earth you can now see geo-tagged YouTube videos.

The efforts seem to be paying off. Last week, Hitwise published statistics showing that Google Maps is quickly catching up to MapQuest. A year ago, MapQuest was 5x more visited than Google Maps; in 2007, that lead narrowed to barely more than 2x.

Google Health Coming Soon?

Spotted by Google Blogscoped is a login page for Google Health, Google’s entry into the online health records space. At the time of writing the site isn’t allowing logins, but it does include this text:

With Google Health, you can:

* Build online health profiles that belong to you

* Download medical records from doctors and pharmacies

* Get personalized health guidance and relevant news

* Find qualified doctors and connect to time-saving services

* Share selected information with family or caregivers

The other thing to note is the logo (we’ve included it in this post), it would appear that Google Health is going straight to Beta and not through Google Labs.

Google Health has been hampered by chronic fatigue syndrome in terms of its development, with the site being rumored to launch originally in May 2006. Microsoft even beat Google in the space, having launched its own online health product in October 2007.

MySpaceTV Signs the BBC

MySpaceTV is officially going global, with a new deal with BBC. The deal is the first of its kind for MySpaceTV, and it solidifies the increasing value of MySpace’s online video hub, which News Corp. is beginning to leverage for a variety of purposes; promotional, distributive and otherwise. See the channel here. Under the deal, current and archived video content from the BBC Worldwide programs will be made available on MySpaceTV. And unlike some of the other distribution partnerships we’ve seen come through MySpaceTV, the BBC’s branded channel actually looks good. You’d almost forget it’s MySpace.

So the question looming here is; what took so long? MySpaceTV has been around for some time, and the BBC hasn’t been too shy about lending some of its content up for distribution across other video-sharing networks, including YouTube, and more recently Vuze. Even after launching, to the dismay of some, its own platform for watching BBC content online, the European network does recognize the benefits taking advantage of some existing distribution hubs out there, MySpace being one of them.

It seems to be working for Hulu, which also offers its own platform for distributive purposes. Will this model truly shut down other promising players like Joost, or will the distribution methods of sending older content to the media-sharing networks while keeping the new stuff as a premium, centralized option soon see its own demise?

My WeShow: Create Your Own Video Network

WeShow started out as a human-powered video aggregator, with editors on board to find and share the best content out there when it comes to online video. As many of these types of services do, WeShow is now offering an option to let you create your own video aggregator, essentially making you the editor. Entire communities can be built from here, even allowing for your members to add videos to your community as well.

Called My WeShow, the service is pretty simple. It basically lets you create a centralized group for the video content you love, with the help of others. In function and implementation, My WeShow is in fact quite similar to Magnify, which also lets you create custom groups for sharing video content from across the web. My WeShow offers personalization options such as color templates, and an ad revenue-sharing model as well. AdSense ads placed on your network will get you a 50-50 split, so the more engaged you and your members are in your My WeShow community, the higher your earning potential rises.

What I’m not sure of, however, is if and how these communities will be leveraged for use on WeShow. As WeShow has taken somewhat of a Best Week Ever approach to promoting video content (and by that I simply mean that the team behind WeShow chooses what’s important), will these other communities within the WeShow network be needed at all for WeShow’s main service? I’m also wondering if integrated video communities in the form of an API is the next step for My WeShow.