Social startup Pip.io has been enigmatic from the beginning. Claiming to be creating a web based “social OS,” they used to bill themselves as “what Wave should have been.”

You can now get a full look at just what Pip.io has envisioned for the future, today. The company has finally reached the end of their beta cycle, and have released their 1.0 version of Pip.io.

Along with some very welcome UI tweaks, the core of the product has been fully upgraded and is now, according to corporate sources, 60% faster with a half-size code base.

Applications and other open items can now be minimized to the top bar from the refreshed sidebar removing the clutter that was something of a problem in earlier releases.

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WSJ is reporting that Google will soon release a new Twitter like feature for Gmail.

The feature is reportedly designed to make it simple for users to share status updates, photos, videos with relevant people in their contact list via stream like interface.

WSJ reports that the feature could be made available as soon as this week, possibly as an integrated feature or initially as a Gmail labs addon.

The feature will apparently link to Gtalk’s status update feature but also  provide a separate area to view a Twitter like stream, presumably with replies/comments too.

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Innovative mobile podcasting start-up AudioBoo has now added vanity URLs and profiles to its service and hints at more surprises to come as the team gets ready to join the UK’s Digital Mission to this year’s SXSW Interactive event in Texas.

AudioBoo initially launched its audio-blogging software as an iPhone app, followed by a similar app for Android users.  For those wanting to share their thoughts from any phone, the UK-based start-up introduced PhoneBoo and, late in 2009, added browser-based recording.

Last week, AudioBoo enabled users to add profile information their accounts and even register their own vanity URLs, but the team has also been making some even bigger changes behind the scenes.

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Real time voice translation is on the way and Google aims to pioneer it.

The Internet giant wants to develop its smartphone technology to translate speech in real time.

The company would combine its advanced voice recognition know-how with its text translation service to create a mobile phone that acts as an instant interpreter.

Head of translation services Franz Och said: “We think speech-to-speech translation should be possible and work reasonably well in a few years’ time.

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Dcyder, a free online service, has launched to help women make decisions about their lives by putting dilemmas to other women to vote.

Should you ditch your cheating boyfriend or give him another chance?  What to do about that annoying friend stealing your style? Dcyder lets you post it online and get the women of the world to help you decide.

Oddly enough, for a startup focused on delivering advice from women to women, the site was created by two men.

Australian co-founders Steve Hardisty and Stu Coleman explain the inspiration behind the site:

“Once upon a time women would seek advice from their mothers, or even write in to a magazine columnist or Agony Aunt for advice, but web 2.0 and social networking changes everything.  Why ask just one person, when you can poll the masses?”  explains Coleman.

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Not to the surprise of the already disappointed, but perhaps to the fanboy’s chagrin, information detailing consumer demand for the iPad is quite weak.

Few people are claiming to wish to purchase the device, despite months of hype surrounding the gadget and a very well covered launch event.

In data collected by Retrovo both pre and post the iPad’s unveiling, consumer interest in the device has declined from before to after its lengthy introduction by Apple CEO Steve Jobs. The data speaks loudly for itself, take a look:

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If the opposition depends on the internet and text messages to organize against an illegitimate government, what can that government do? Clamp down on communication, hard.

That is just what Iran seems to have done, with widespread reports of problems with both the internet and SMS capabilities in the nation.

You don’t even have to hit anyone, making it all seem so pedestrian. “We’re sorry, but internet is slow for a bit. We are working on it.” International outrage is hard to come by when the tubes get clogged.

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Welcome to The Next Web’s Weekly Recap!

This week saw a couple of big deals involving Monster and Yahoo as well as UStream. It also saw the battle over mobile heat up. Android’s platform is gaining features and more phones. The big question mark in the space, Microsoft, appears to be poised to release a mobile phone soon. This week also saw Facebook turn 6 and get an improved UI. Meanwhile, Twitter added a key new feature to their web interface.

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Bit.ly, the worlds most popular URL shortener announced a new service called Bit.ly pro in mid-December 2009. The service was designed to let bloggers set up custom URL shoreteners using Bit.ly’s well liked backend.

That service entered open beta a week ago. Bit.ly has just released something even better: self-service custom URL shortening with Bit.ly Pro.

If you have a suitable domain, (Editor in Chief Zee is using Zee.st), you can set it up to work with Bit.ly pro, and have a powerful white label solution with very little work on your end.

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The blogging world is abuzz with rumors of Facebook’s supposed “Project Titan,” a full email client for Facebook that will create hundreds of millions of new email addresses for the Facebook masses.

Let me say this as emphatically as possible: I do not want a Facebook email address. I refuse to even use Facebook messaging. Having email tied to Facebook would merely turn an already over-featured, bloated, and slow social networking Frankenstein of an experience into one that I actually depend on to get work done. God forbid.

Facebook for many is becoming the very central hub of their internet experience, which is exactly what Facebook has planned for. With the slow incorporation of all your web activity into your Facebook feed, the company is trying to become  the nexus of what you do online and who you interact with. A brilliant move. Soon most Facebook users will be paralyzed without their Facebook accounts.

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