Written on 16th June 2009
2 COMMENTS Zee, Editor in Chief at The Next Web, Principal at WeDoCreative.
Just lauched is an interesting new Twitter search and trends client called TweetTabs.
Designed to be simple, ultra fast and ultra lightweight, it provides an elegant way to view latest tweets and search results from Twitter.com. Neatly, the service integrates with TweetMeme to show previews of stories without having to leave the site itself. (more…)
Written on 5th April 2009
2 COMMENTS Zee, Editor in Chief at The Next Web, Principal at WeDoCreative.
I’m a task management addict. I have spent far too much time in the past testing various systems and methods to help me supposedly ‘get things done’.
Most recently, I have switched (almost weekly) between Todoist.com, Things (mac app) and Omnifocus (mac app) until, that is, I decided to give Toodledo one more try.
See, I tried Toodledo out years ago (yep, it’s been around for a while), and I must admit I don’t quite remember why I left. This time however, after trying out virtually every task management app out there (both online and offline) I believe Toodledo is where my tasks belong.
Functionality
We all have our own methodologies and systems, each with our own ways to ensure we get as much done as possible. Toodledo, despite it’s almost Disney-like name,is powerful and flexible enough to accommodate for all and allows you to make your todo list as simple or as sophisticated as you like.
No matter how you organise your list, whether you prefer tasks and sub-tasks, goals and folders, projects and contexts – it’s almost irrelevant, the app can (easily) be adapted to however you like to work. Toodledo also features repeat tasks, notes, keyboard shorcuts, priority, time estimates and time tracking.
Sharing and collaboration is another often forgotten feature of the app. It provides more than enough functionality to allow you to share your to-do lists with whomever and have complete control over who has permission to read or modify each list.
The app is also snappy (as in fast) as any todo list app should be. You shouldn’t feel you have to ‘load’ anything, it should just always be there…This, along with Toodledo’s keyboard shortcuts makes the app a breeze to use.
Search and Ordering
One of the most impressive features of Toodledo is it’s search functionality, equalling if not bettering Remember the Milk’s. With an array of options and saved searches, you’ll probably find yourself using your saved searches section of the tool more than anywhere else. One of the more frustrating aspects of many other task management apps I’ve tried is ‘ordering’, most simply don’t provide enough ways to order my todo list – Toodledo does. Without going into too much detail, you can essentially order by date, priority, importance (a combo of date & importance), flagged/not flagged, goal, context and many many more…
Access
Toodledo provides more ways to access your todo list than any other tool I have come across. With a local iPhone app, Google Calendar integration, iGoogle gadget, Firefox extension, Twitter Support (which brings a flood of options), a very cool printing booklet and various desktop tools – there really isn’t any getting away from everything you need to do.
The iPhone app I should add, is awesome.
I could go on…
I honestly could. The plethora of customization and functionality options Toodledo provides is outstanding and to my surprise (after asking in the Friendfeed Apps Room) – it isn’t up there with the most popular of task management applications.
Criticism
If there’s one criticism, it’s the UI. Although it does well to include all the various details and ordering ordering options, visually, the app needs a revamp.
Fortunately however, there’s a wonderful userscript that enhances the entire interface (see right). Otherwise, I can’t give this app enough credit. Impressive.
Written on 31st March 2009
7 COMMENTS Zee, Editor in Chief at The Next Web, Principal at WeDoCreative.
We’ve covered Kampyle before, last year in fact. One year on we’re checking in on the Yossi Vardi backed Israeli startup again, to see where they are now.
Kampyle is a feedback tool designed to offer indepth feedback on your website, whilst given top priority to simplicity and ease of use for admins and site visitors alike. Although first impressions on visiting the site’s homepage may lead you to believe getting started with Kampyle might be a hard work, I can assure you – nothing could be further from the truth. Sign up took a matter of seconds and installation, a matter of minutes.
I was fortunate to have had a discussion with CEO and co-founder Ariel Finkelstein earlier today, who gave me a heads-up on how they’ve been doing, and a taster of their future plans. The most impressive news is that within a year, the startup has gained a total of over 10,000 customers from over 100 different countries, whilst the product itself now supports over 60 languages. The company just last month announced premium features to their current customer base, so figures on uptake of their pay-for products are yet to be released.
Although feedback tools may seem a dime a dozen, with the likes of; GetSatisfaction, CrowdSound and UserVoice, Kampyle differentiates themselves by focusing on ensuring feedback is kept between website visitors and the site owners – rather than a forum based offering. Kampyle say that overall user satisfaction from websites using Kampyle has increased by 17% during the last year, with pronounced increase in customer satisfaction, conversion and ROI.
Written on 18th December 2008
5 COMMENTS Zee, Editor in Chief at The Next Web, Principal at WeDoCreative.
Carsonified, creators of the chain of Web Expo’s “The Future of…” have placed Amigo the Newsletter Ad service – one of its oldest yet currently crumbling services – for sale on Ebay.
The company, lead by Ryan Carson, recently sold Dropsend, probably it’s most popular application, and also laid off three of it’s staff in a battle to maintain costs.
This time round it’s Amigo, a well designed app with a sensible business model but a lack of time/attention spent on it. The app has, according to Carson, “failed pretty badly”.
The idea behind Amigo was to allow advertisers to place ads on various newsletters and Carsonified would then share the revenue earned with the newsletter publishers. As I said, sensible and potentially a nice little earner. Carson elaborated on the failure in a blog post, “We were naive and we thought we could run it in our free time. You can build a web app in your free time, but you sure as hell can’t market it, grow it, maintain it and promote it.”
All is not lost however and Carsonified are putting there efforts into a brand new app called Truvay. Few details regarding the goals of the web app have been released, however oddly enough the development schedule and financials have been. (more…)
Written on 28th November 2008
1 COMMENT Zee, Editor in Chief at The Next Web, Principal at WeDoCreative.
Feedback is clearly one of the most important aspects to any individual’s personal and professional growth. Generally, the more honest and frequent the feedback, the better. To handle this, in steps Rypple to ensure both are taken care of. Rypple is a new web based service designed to help businesses and their staff get the feedback they need and fast.
The way it works
Rypple lets you send a question with optional ‘tags’ to as many people as you wish requesting their feedback. The tags allow your peers to rate you based on those tags. The recipients respond in their own time and their feedback is sent back to you anonymously.
Rypple is ideal for individuals looking for feedback on particular pieces of work or even for general areas of concern. The system can clearly be used in a variety of working environments from offices to schools to healthcare to conferences.
Written on 28th October 2008
2 COMMENTS Zee, Editor in Chief at The Next Web, Principal at WeDoCreative.
I came across this awesome web app via Friendfeed and it’s one I can genuinely see myself using frequently. Tastekid, created by Romanian Andrei Oghină, is a recommendation engine for music, movies and books.
“Emmy” (the sites friendly face) will ask you to type in a movie, band or book and in return will recommend a list of similar artists, movies or books. When you visit the site you’ll almost wonder why the design is so understated, however, therein lies it’s beauty…nothing over the top, non wild statements about how it will change the web! It just does it’s job and does it remarkably well for a (very) new product.
You may wonder how the engine works and “Emmy” is kind enough to explain:
Let’s say one day I ask somebody about his/her favorite music. If the answer is that he/she enjoys listening to, let’s say, Massive Attack and Backstreet Boys I will keep that in mind. Now, this is very important, I don’t have to be judgmental about it. If you’ll ask me to recommend you something considering you like Massive Attack, I will most probably not mention anything like Backstreet Boys, because hopefully other 100 people that liked Massive Attack haven’t told me anything about them. Moreover, they would probably mention some other bands more often and so I will recommend those to you instead.
I typed in “The Descent” one of my favorite recent horror flicks and the results were remarkably impressive.
Leah Culver talked about starting Pownce.com, how they came up with the name and the idea, the whole story about their API, how networking helps entrepreneurs, her reason for being in San Francisco and more interesting insights. Then she also takes time to answer some questions from the audience. Anne Helmond wrote a post about Culver’s talk and gave it a legendary title: Leah Culver and the magical unicorn: A Pownce story. The presentation is titled “Start a Webapp in 5 steps”.
Written on 16th June 2009
2 COMMENTS 
Just lauched is an interesting new Twitter search and trends client called TweetTabs.
I’m a task management addict. I have spent far too much time in the past testing various systems and methods to help me supposedly ‘get things done’.
Functionality
If there’s one criticism, it’s the UI. Although it does well to include all the various details and ordering ordering options, visually, the app needs a revamp.
We’ve covered Kampyle before, 
Carsonified
Written on 5th June 2008
The Next Web Blog is closely associated with The Next Web Conference which is held annually in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. At this event speakers from all over the world come together to talk about, and show off, the future of the Web. (More info 
