Finally! Here’s Plainview, a full screen browser for the Mac

Written on 5th January 2009 11 COMMENTS
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief

When you’re a PC user, this post isn’t relevant for you. Why? Because your Firefox browser has a full-screen mode. Mac users though, could only dream of this feature.

If you’re a Mac user, you might have missed that your dreams came true last on June 2, 2008. That’s when the Barbarian Group launched Plainview – a full-screen web browser.

During BLOG08 – an international blog conference I organized last October -, moderator Patrick and I were searching for a way to show blogs full screen. We installed some add-ons, which did just one thing: making Firefox crash.

Plainview already existed. Should we have known better?

No! We were not alone. A quick search on software tracker Wakoopa finds that only 13 early adopters have discovered Plainview. So I guess it’s safe to say that we’re gonna make a lot of people happy with this post.

Download Plainview (zip file), drag it to your dock, bookmark the sites you need for a presentation, and browse through them by hitting a hot key. And don’t forget to enjoy the experience you’ve waited for such a long time.

Extra tip for writers

If you’re a blogger, get a load of this: open your post editing screen in Plainview and avoid any possible computer-related distraction.

Barbarian Group, firefox, Full-screen, wakoopa, Web browser

11 Comments »

This is big: Wakoopa tracks web apps (but not YouPorn)

Written on 9th October 2008 11 COMMENTS
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief

You’ve probably heard of Wakoopa before, it is one of those names that make you think… What??? WaWhat? But afterwards you’ll remember it. It gets more tough when you have to explain what they do. Up until now Wakoopa has been a popular tool for the more technical gifted among us (formerly known as nerds) who use the service to track their software usage and to discover new software and games. Now Wakoopa broadens its audience to all web savvies by tracking web apps.

Should you buy that pro account or not?

The trend of desktop software finding web equivalents has started some years ago, and really catched on the last couple of months. The “Cloud” has become Buzzword no.1. Therefore it’s the obvious move for Wakoopa.

Let’s take a closer look at what this means. First of all, you’ll get insight in your own usage of several services. Are you as much on Twitter as you say you are? Should you buy a Flickr pro account? What is the social network you use the most? Wakoopa knows.

Transparency in the web app market

But wait, there’s more! If Wakoopa is able to get a critical mass, it will reflect the pulse of all popular and unpopular web apps. Nowadays, VC’s, journalists, and bloggers depend on the press releases of startups and crappy Alexa ratings to get an idea of how popular a service is. Wakoopa could be the ultimate resource to discover new hot web apps (and the ones that are heading straight for the deadpool).

Recommendation Engine

Furthermore, Wakoopa is working on an improved version of their recommendation engine. They’ve hired two recommendation experts to get this done. According to founder Wouter Broekhof the engine is already in the testing phase. With the new data flowing in from web apps they will be able to give personalized recommendation on the use of your software, for desktop as well as web applications.

Are they tracking porn sites as well?

A friend of mine recently admitted to only use Safari to fulfill his online adult needs. He also uses Wakoopa…, you do the math. When I heard Wakoopa started tracking web apps, I realized privacy-related issues would become even more relevant. Especially since your Wakoopa profile page shows up high in the search results. How do we know Wakoopa doesn’t track sites or web apps we rather keep private?

Well, to ease your mind: Wakoopa Lead Developer Menno van der Sman told me Wakoopa only tracks tools that are mentioned in Crunchbase, and they filtered out sites like YouPorn.

Disclosure: Wakoopa is our sponsor

alexa, software, the cloud, wakoopa, web apps, youporn

11 Comments »

Software widgets are the new band shirts

Written on 3rd July 2008 4 COMMENTS
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief

Our – really beloved sponsor – Wakoopa (the Last.fm of software) has launched some new widgets today. From now on, it’s possible to express yourself by showing off your software usage. To let people know you’re the Firefox-kinda-guy or a Flock-chick, you basically have three new – or improved – options.

Badge – show your blog or social profile visitors your most popular, recently added or recently used software.
Forum-like signature – show your fellow forum members what you’re doing beside commenting on endless discussion
Card – small card, modeled after the famous Xfire ones, that shows your avatar and some software data, like the two most used programs (always your browser + something else)

These three types of widgets fascinate me. Apparently there are people out there who use their software data as a way to express themselves. Most boys and girls let their blog and profile visitors know who they are by showing the music they like (Last.fm) or the books they read (Amazon), yet now software enters the stage of self-expression. In a way, it makes sense. 30,000 geeky early adopters – like me – we’re already watching each others software usage within the safe surroundings of Wakoopa, so why not take it outside as well?

Moreover, just like you see fellas walking around with a shirt of their favorite band, some guys now also wear Firefox jackets or Linux hats. One thing I don’t see happening though, is a poster of your favorite app above your bed.

There’s a fourth widget too, with which developers can show much Wakoopa members use your program. Want to create your own Wakoopa widget? Here’s the API.

facebook, firefox, Flock, social network, software, wakoopa, widgets, Xfire

4 Comments »

Social software service Wakoopa gets second financial injection

Written on 2nd June 2008 11 COMMENTS
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief

The guys from our sponsor Wakoopa had a great weekend. Beers, champagne and euphoric tweets dominated the last couple of days for CEO Robert Gaal, CTO Wouter Broekhof, and senior developer Menno van der Sman. How come?

Social software service Wakoopa gets second financial injection

Wouter, Robert, Gert-Jan Bennen (DCIF), Coen from HenQ, Menno & Barend van den Brande (BBV)

Well, these three fellas traveled to Rotterdam last Friday to sign an incredible stack of papers with Big Bang Ventures and HENQ Invest who gave Wakoopa a second financial boost. The Wakoopians will use this money for attracting a Ruby developer, interface designer, desktop developer and some international partners for further expansion.

It has been a year now since Wouter and Robert started their social software service which can be best described as the Last.fm for software. They’ve attracted 30.000 somewhat geeky early adopters and tracked 250 million hours of their software usage. That valuable data says a lot about the future of software, so it isn’t that surprising that Belgium Big Bang Ventures and Dutch Henq Invest have funded Wakoopa.

big bang ventures, funding, henq invest, menno van der sman, robert gaal, wakoopa, wouter broekhof

11 Comments »

Enough for the conference now, this blog must go on

Written on 5th April 2008 11 COMMENTS
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief

Thanks for your great feedback yesterday! I’m really glad to hear that you guys had a good time and were inspired by the speakers and other attendees. Like I said yesterday, this blog will continue to report on European Web 2.0 news. Yet before we continue, I’d like to give you an overview of the posts we’ve written the last couple of days. So you can sit back, relax and relive the conference.

Wakoopa tracking the software use of early adopters

Written on 13th December 2007 2 COMMENTS
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief

Robert Gaal in 11 Wakoopa, the software scrobbling service, launched ‘Alexa-like‘ statistics earlier this week. Co-founder of Wakoopa and Next Web blogger Robert Gaal told me during a drink in the fancy club 11 – overlooking Amsterdam – why these visuals are relevant to software users. “When users decide whether or not to use a program, they can check our statistics to see if the program is an one-hit-wonder, or if it has proved its value to many users on a longer term. The visuals also give smaller programs a chance, since users are able to check if some programs are suddenly getting more popular.”

The launch made it to Techcrunch, where Nick Gonzalez wrote a positive article about the new service. The first time Gonzalez blogged about Wakoopa, comments were deadly. Two days ago however, visitors expressed their appreciation for Wakoopa. At first, Gaal was pretty shocked by the negative comments in April: “The first comment just consisted of one word: ‘useless’. That’s really hard to take after months of working. For a moment there, I lost hope.”

Just for a moment though, because Gaal and his business partner Wouter Broekhof just kept on going. “After all, those few comments are just today’s fad. We’ve emailed those negative guys, asking them what they didn’t like about our service. Their criticism was useful. Moreover, we managed to convince most of them that Wakoopa isn’t a threat to their privacy”.

Wakoopa Stats

Today, the software service doesn’t seem ‘useless’ anymore. 17.000 people downloaded the Wakoopa tracking program, generating unique and seriously useful data about software. (more…)

scrobbling, software, wakoopa

2 Comments »

Top Young European Entrepreneurs

Written on 18th July 2007 0 COMMENTS
Patrick de Laive, Internet entrepreneur and co-founder of The Next Web Conference. Twitter: @patrick

Today, the results of Businessweeks Top 25 European Entrepreneurs under 25 were presented. Aodhan Cullen (24) of statcounter got most votes. In the top 5 there were 2 Amsterdam based companies. Wakoopa, represented by Robert Gaal and Wouter Broekhof (startup arena company at The Next Web) and Dot Kite, represented by Thomas Mylonas.

I heard that the Amsterdam guys will celebrate their victory tomorrow morning during OpenCoffee.

Congratulations to all winners.