Posted 11/16/09 at 10:30:00 AM by David Murphy

What, you ask, is Jetpack?

Right now, it's just an add-on for Mozilla Firefox. But it could also represent the future of browser-based extensions as we know it, depending on how much developers can twist and craft this new open framework to their advantage. Unlike normal Firefox add-ons, which require a decently skilled knowledge of Javascript and XUL, Jetpack add-ons use a combination of HTML, CSS, and Javascript to deliver new features and functionality directly through the browser. According to Mozilla, one could theoretically write an easy-to-use Jetpack add-on in "under a dozen lines of code." And the benefit for the casual Web browser? Jetpack add-ons promise universal compatibility with different versions of Firefox and, the kicker, require no browser restart to function.

Mozilla just launched the official gallery for this new framework last week. As you might expect, there aren't a ton of browser add-ons to play with. However, I'm going to take a look at five of the more innovative, interesting, and downright install-worthy of the Jetpack add-ons that are currently available in this week's freeware roundup. And remember--you can install and uninstall these add-ons without mucking up your browser session whatsoever, so feel free to be a Firefox Rocketeer and grab as many as you want to try out!

Read on for our picks!

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Posted 11/05/09 at 07:55:21 AM by Paul Lilly

During the Enterprise 2.0 conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, Novell unvieled its Novell Pulse, a real-time social and document collaboration platform for enterprises. And the kicker? It works seamlessly with Google Wave, Novell said.

"We designed Google Wave and its open federation protocol to help people collaborate and communicate more efficiently," said Lars Rasmussen, software engineering manager for Google Wave. "We are very excited to see Novell supporting the Google Wave Federation Protocol in their innovative Novell Pulse product."

Novell Pulse gives administrators to ability to provision sign-on and permissions to both keep data secure and make it possible for workers to collaborate on documents online in real-time. Perhaps more importantly, Novell Pulse is one of the first major Wave providers.

Novell said its Pulse platform will be available in the first half of 2010, with a beta scheduled for earlier in the year.

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Posted 09/02/09 at 02:34:29 PM by Andy Salisbury

Google Wave has become an object of desire for many ever since its unveiling back in May. And, while a majority of us will have to wait to use it, Google will open up a preview for some schools and businesses starting this fall.

Since May, Google has been hard at work developing Wave. Having enlisted the help of many developers, they hope to tweak the product before they release it to the public. “While the product, platform and protocols are still being developed, we're extending access to some of the highly collaborative people and communities we hope to benefit in the future – businesses and schools,” wrote Matthew Glotzbach and Stephanie Hannon on the Google Enterprise blog.

If you’re someone that’s hoping to get your school or business involved with the open preview, be sure to sign up here.

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Posted 05/28/09 at 01:15:00 PM by Paul Lilly

On day two of Google's I/O Developer Conference, the search giant announced a new platform called Google Wave. Arguably more ambitious than anything the company has done before, the new service looks to answer the question, 'What might email look like if it were invented today?'

The answer is anything but simple, and apparently it's not Gmail. Instead, Google Wave attempts to fuse what looks like a piece of client software with sophisticated threaded email, plus a whole bunch more. Instant Messaging is a big part of Google's vision for Wave, which will act like an IM when multiple collaborators are online at the same time.

Looking at the screenshots, Wave resembles something of a social networking app, sort of a Google meets Facebook meets Flickr, for lack of a proper description. With Wave, collaborators will have access to workgroup editing and instant photo sharing, and include a 'revolutionary' spell checker.

So what's the point? Well, to take on Microsoft in the online productivity arena, for one (and in a different way than Google Docs). Other possible reasons: to reinvent the web communication experience, to fully embrace the emerging HTML 5 standard, and to continue its domination of all things online.

Google is quick to point out that Wave is still in its infancy, so it might be awhile before we get a real feel for what Wave can offer. In the meantime, there's a ton more information on this interesting new service here and here.

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