--- title: "Weekly Wrapup, 2-6 April 2007" date: 2007-04-07 author: "Richard MacManus" categories: - name: "ReadWriteWeb" url: "/category/readwriteweb.md" tags: - name: "2007" url: "/tag/2007.md" --- # Weekly Wrapup, 2-6 April 2007 Here is a summary of the week’s Web Tech action on Read/WriteWeb. Note that you can subscribe to the weekly wrapups, either via [the special RSS feed](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://feeds.feedburner.com/readwriteweb/weekly) or by email: ## Top Web News The week started off with a flurry of April Fools jokes, blog style. Techcrunch [got in a day early](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_end_of_an_era_1april07.php) and fooled a lot of people (including me, initially). And as usual, Google had a couple of doozies – [Gmail Paper & an In-Home Wireless Broadband Service](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/gmail_paper.php). When the serious news got underway for the week, EMI’s announcement of a DRM-free service got a lot of attention. In [our post covering the news](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/emi_music_drm_free.php), I outlined what this means for the online music industry. Note that I made an [update to the post](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/emi_music_drm_free.php) a few days later. I discovered from a very reliable industry source that EMI had decided on, and made moves towards, removing DRM *before* Steve Jobs’ letter in February. In other news this week: - [Google Voice Local Search Launched](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google_voice_local_search_launched.php) (in a busy week for Google, they also [announced](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/annc/tv_ads_trial.html) a TV Ads Trial and [released](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/04/google_launches_mymaps.html) MyMaps) - [Thunderbird 2.0 To Launch This Week](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/thunderbird_20.php) (Mozilla also [released](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/03/mozilla-to-build-social-features-into-firefox-bad-news-for-flock/) The Coop, a social networking tool – see our post [The Sidebar Syndrome](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_sidebar_syndrome.php)) ## Analysis Posts As usual, we had a lot of thought-provoking web technology stories. Check it out… Josh Catone was back in action this week with a detailed post [comparing 10 Online TV Guide services](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/online_tv_guides_10_services_compared.php). Alex Iskold wrote two beauties: [The Future of RSS](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_future_of_rss.php) and [CrazyEgg – Measuring Web Site Usability](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/crazyegg_measuring_website_usability.php). We had a very special guest blogger this week – Aydin Senkut, an ex-Google senior manager who managed their international expansion, including launching Google’s first 10 international sites. Aydin’s first post for Read/WriteWeb was entitled [Outlook for Search in China](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/china_search_outlook.php) and is a must-read for people interested in the international Web. If enterprise web 2.0 is your game, you will want to check out John Milan’s write-up [IT Opens Up and Lives On The Web](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/it_opens_up.php). It’s based on a new report from the Leading Edge Forum, proposing a new course for Enterprise IT – abandon the notion of creating the perfect intranet and instead live on the web. Also see my post [How Will Enterprises Deliver Next Generation Internet Applications?](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/optaros_enterprise_survey.php). First-time R/WW author Bilal Hameed did a great job summarizing a new trend this week: [The Sidebar Syndrome](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_sidebar_syndrome.php). He noted Google Talk’s sidebar add-on, plus this week’s news of Mozilla’s The Coop and del.icio.us’ “Social Bookmarking in the Sidebar” add-on. Sean Ammirati picked up on an interesting story earlier this week – [DoubleClick’s Advertising Exchange](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/doubleclick_advertising_exchange.php). In his analysis Sean noted that this could lead to a Google / Yahoo / Microsoft showdown. Alt Search Engine Czar Charles Knight was in good form, releasing his latest mobile Web toolkit – [The 85 Piece Mobile Search Tool Kit](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/85_piece_mobile_search_tool_kit.php). Charles also had an interesting post looking at [talking search engines](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google_voice_local_search_launched.php). Last but not least, part 2 in Can Erten’s mini-series on P2P on the Web was released – [P2P: Potential Future Applications](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/p2p_potential_future_applications.php). ## Startup Action Here are the startups we profiled this week: - [ThinkFree Launches Viewer Plugin For WordPress; Also Coming Soon – ThinkFree Docs (“Flickr for Office files”)](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/thinkfree_launches_wordpress_viewer_plugin.php) - [Ozon.ru, Russia’s Amazon.com, Gets $18M Investment For Expansion](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/ozon_18million.php) - [Peepel: New Web Office Suite](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/peepel_new_web_office_suite.php) - [Compete Introduces Attention Statistics](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/compete_attention_metrics.php) - [Morfik Patents AJAX Compiler – Playing Games With Google](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/morfik_patents_ajax_compiler.php) - [Quintura – Are UI Innovations Enough?](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/quintura_ui_innovations.php) - [HiPiHi – A Virtual World Born in China](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/hipihi_china_virtual_world.php) I’m somewhat biased (as I wrote this particular one), but I recommend you check out [the Peepel post](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/peepel_new_web_office_suite.php) – it’s not every day a new Web Office suite contender appears! It’s a slick, if currently limited, online office suite. ## Poll Our poll this week asked: [Will UI innovations really be competitive with Google?](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/poll_will_ui_innovation_be_competitive_with_google.php). It was based on Emre Sokullu and Charles Knight’s [post on Quintura](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/quintura_ui_innovations.php). Here are the results: Yes, the likes of Quintura provide a viable alternative to Google for general search 17% (21 votes) Yes, but it won’t be a single alt search engine – united they stand… 16% (19 votes) No, the barrier to entry (for other startups and bigcos) with UI innovation is too low 31% (37 votes) No, Google has it covered 36% (44 votes) So it seems most people think not only that the barrier to UI innovation is too low, but that Google has it covered! ## Web 2.0 Expo Giveaway Next week I travel out to Silicon Valley for the Web 2.0 Expo. If you’re looking for a free ticket, well Read/WriteWeb just happens to be giving away 3 of them. To enter, simply go to this post: [Web 2.0 Expo Giveaway](https://web.archive.org/web/20100324233853/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/web_20_expo_giveaway.php). All you need to do is define Web 3.0 😉 Entries close next Tuesday morning PST. That’s a wrap for another week! Enjoy your weekend everyone. *Originally published on ReadWriteWeb ([archived copy](https://web.archive.org/web/20020204040018/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/weekly_wrapup_2-6apr07.php))*