TinEye, Image search Engine (website)
You can upload any image file to TinEye or paste in the URL of an image in the search box. It then will scour the Web and find sites that contain the same image (see video). As long as the image has been indexed by TinEye, it can be found.
2008-05-28
2008-05-24
DimP (website)
DimP is a video player that allows to browse video clips by directly manipulating their content. Abstract : "We present a method for browsing videos by directly drag-ging their content. This method brings the benefits of direct manipulation to an activity typically mediated by widgets. We support this new type of interactivity by: 1) automati-cally extracting motion data from videos; and 2) a new technique called relative flow dragging that lets users con-trol video playback by moving objects of interest along their visual trajectory. We show that this method can out-perform the traditional seeker bar in video browsing tasks that focus on visual content rather than time." (publication)
2008-05-16
PopTok (website)
Israeli startup PopTok has done a brave thing. It’s created a plugin that combines emoticons and movie quotes (which, used in excess, are two of the most annoying things known to man). The plugin is currently Windows only, offering support for AIM and MSN Live Messenger with more protocols on the way. The JVP Studio-funded startup wants to replace emoticons as we know them with short snippets of Hollywood movies, television, and music videos. After downloading the PopTok client, users can choose from hundreds of clips which have been culled from such quotable classics as “The 40 Year-Old Virgin” and “Austin Powers”. The site has formed partnerships with a number of studios, so all of this is done legally. Unfortunately, PopTok is going to run into a number of problems. Only users that have installed the PopTok plugin can see clips immediately - everyone else just gets a link to a page that shows the movie. It’s unlikely that many people will take the time to open their browsers for a three second payoff, so the program is going to have a hard time gaining traction.
Israeli startup PopTok has done a brave thing. It’s created a plugin that combines emoticons and movie quotes (which, used in excess, are two of the most annoying things known to man). The plugin is currently Windows only, offering support for AIM and MSN Live Messenger with more protocols on the way. The JVP Studio-funded startup wants to replace emoticons as we know them with short snippets of Hollywood movies, television, and music videos. After downloading the PopTok client, users can choose from hundreds of clips which have been culled from such quotable classics as “The 40 Year-Old Virgin” and “Austin Powers”. The site has formed partnerships with a number of studios, so all of this is done legally. Unfortunately, PopTok is going to run into a number of problems. Only users that have installed the PopTok plugin can see clips immediately - everyone else just gets a link to a page that shows the movie. It’s unlikely that many people will take the time to open their browsers for a three second payoff, so the program is going to have a hard time gaining traction.
2008-05-12
Powerset (website)
Powerset is a search engine that focuses on natural language processing. In other words, Powerset will not search based simply on keywords alone, but will try to understand the search phrase as a whole. The goal of the product is to make searching more “natural and intuitive.” Powerset launched a limited showcase version of its site to the public in May 2008.
2008-05-11
Timetube (website)
Timetube is an interactive timeline site, that takes the mostly unsorted mess of videos that is YouTube and arranges them by date, offering a useful (and often unexpected) perspective on recent events. Links to each video are situated across a horizontal timeline, with emphasis placed on the most popular videos (they appear bigger). Users can expand or contract the timeline to isolate a particular time period, and the viewing window features a handy “next event” button.The site is a great diversion. TimeTube seems like it could be a handy reference for getting quick overviews on current events, but at this point it won’t be much more than a novelty for most people. Videos are placed according to when they were uploaded, which isn’t always indicative of when the events shown were actually taking place, making the validity of the timeline shaky at best. That said, if the site can figure out a way to keep dates consistent, TimeTube could evolve into a powerful tool.
2008-05-06
NewsWare MSNBC : playing games with news (website)
MSNBC is launching some new toys for its news service that let you scan headlines in creative (and goofy) ways, and even play games with them. They're all part of the MSNBC NewsWare service. Spectra is the service's new headline viewer. You select the categories you want to see, and it throws them up in an orbiting view for you. Each category has a color associated with it, which presumably gives you some subliminal clue as to where each headline fits in your consciousness. Unfortunately, you cannot select the stories in the orbital view directly to learn more about them. The color coding also gets used in what may be the dumbest news gizmo I've ever seen: The application can connect to your Webcam and throw headlines up on the screen based on the color of what the camera is seeing. Wear a red shirt and you'll see a lot of Top Headlines. Green: Travel or sports (depending on the shade). Want to see latest videos? Hold an orange up to your camera. Really, you can't make this stuff up. Other developments: The NewsBlaster game, where you have to shoot like-colored orbs that release headlines, which you also have to shoot for points. What fun! The most sober of the new products is the NewsScroller widget, which lets you select which categories of news you like (using the same GrrAnimals colors of Spectra) and which you can then embed in your social site, blog, or start page. The widget does, though, let you select the importance to you of each news category, and will give you more or fewer stories per category to match. That's pretty smart.
MSNBC is launching some new toys for its news service that let you scan headlines in creative (and goofy) ways, and even play games with them. They're all part of the MSNBC NewsWare service. Spectra is the service's new headline viewer. You select the categories you want to see, and it throws them up in an orbiting view for you. Each category has a color associated with it, which presumably gives you some subliminal clue as to where each headline fits in your consciousness. Unfortunately, you cannot select the stories in the orbital view directly to learn more about them. The color coding also gets used in what may be the dumbest news gizmo I've ever seen: The application can connect to your Webcam and throw headlines up on the screen based on the color of what the camera is seeing. Wear a red shirt and you'll see a lot of Top Headlines. Green: Travel or sports (depending on the shade). Want to see latest videos? Hold an orange up to your camera. Really, you can't make this stuff up. Other developments: The NewsBlaster game, where you have to shoot like-colored orbs that release headlines, which you also have to shoot for points. What fun! The most sober of the new products is the NewsScroller widget, which lets you select which categories of news you like (using the same GrrAnimals colors of Spectra) and which you can then embed in your social site, blog, or start page. The widget does, though, let you select the importance to you of each news category, and will give you more or fewer stories per category to match. That's pretty smart.
2008-05-05
Sightix : social networking meets search (website)
When you search for something using the Sightix technology on a social network, it searches the content of everyone you are connected with, and ranks results gleaned from each user based on the strength of their connection to you. Ari Gottesmann, vice president of Sightix, gave me this example: Say you're searching for a nightclub. The clubs your friends talk about will get a higher relevance than your friends of friends. It's much more likely that this ranking will yield results that work for you than searching a general engine that doesn't give extra weight to your friends' recommendations. The product also works as a people search engine of a sort. If there's a good result from someone way out in your extended network, this tool will help you connect with them. The Sightix company, originally in the business intelligence business, has given its social search product a rich and complex interface.
When you search for something using the Sightix technology on a social network, it searches the content of everyone you are connected with, and ranks results gleaned from each user based on the strength of their connection to you. Ari Gottesmann, vice president of Sightix, gave me this example: Say you're searching for a nightclub. The clubs your friends talk about will get a higher relevance than your friends of friends. It's much more likely that this ranking will yield results that work for you than searching a general engine that doesn't give extra weight to your friends' recommendations. The product also works as a people search engine of a sort. If there's a good result from someone way out in your extended network, this tool will help you connect with them. The Sightix company, originally in the business intelligence business, has given its social search product a rich and complex interface.
Lycos Cinema (website)
Lycos Cinema launched over a year ago and gave visitors the opportunity to watch older content simultaneously with each other using patented “simulstream” technology. The idea is that half the fun of watching a movie at the theater, or a TV show on the couch, comes from the people around you, and it’s important to preserve that personal relationship element. The new version of Lycos Cinema is intended to enhance that social experience of simultaneous video playback. Lycos has built out a new XMPP chat client that lets people talk about the shows they are watching. And a redesigned user interface highlights your friends’ media consumption preferences with member profiles that contain personal calendars, watchlists, and recently purchased movies
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