December 18, 2005

Yep, One More Ajax Desktop - Pageflakes

Michael Arrington

82 comments »

I recently wrote that the Ajax desktop space was getting crazy-crowded. That was before Google released their desktop widget API and favoor launched. And now we have a developer release of a new ajax desktop called Pageflakes (available only in IE).

Pageflakes has a number of features - rss reading, email checking, note taking, searching, etc. It also has a developer API to allow third party module-creation. Given that Microsoft and Google have this feature, it is a must have to even get in the game.

Pageflakes says it is easier to develop modules for their site than for Microst Live or Google - Developers can use MS Visual Studio and they support ASP.NET and Atlas (modules can also be build using PJP or JSP). Of course, overcoming the user loyalty of Netvibes (now a significant source of TechCrunch daily traffic) and the network power of Microsoft and Google will be very difficult.

My current count of ajax/flash desktops is nine:

Who am I missing? Who’s lucky number 10? At this point I’m just writing about these for the fun of it. :-)

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  3. Jinn’s » Blog Archive » TechCrunch - Web 2.0 Companies I Couldn’t Live Without
  4. TechCrunch » Web 2.0 Companies I Couldn’t Live Without
  5. TechCrunch » Want to See Another Ajax Homepage?
  6. Don’t blog back in Fischerhude » Dinge, die ich in 2006 sehen möchte
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  9. TechCrunch » Fold.com - Why?
  10. talk-share-learn » Your DESKTOP online?!?
  11. JasonKolb.com
  12. TechCrunch » Blog Archive » Benchmark Invests in Pageflakes: Ajax Desktop War Heats Up
  13. Web 2.0 - Что нового? Новости интернет проектов » Benchmark инвестирует в Pageflakes: война Ajax-десктопов продолжается
  14. TechCrunch en français » Benchmark investit chez PageFlakes: la guerre des pages d’accueil se prépare
  15. 顾非之非 : Benchmark Invests in Pageflakes: Ajax Desktop War Heats Up
  16. TechCrunch Japanese アーカイブ » BenchmarkがPageflakesへ投資-Ajaxデスクトップ戦争一段と活気が高まる
  17. Uming » Blog Archive » Nowsy: New Ajax Home Page
  18. TechCrunch Japanese アーカイブ » Nowsy: Ajax利用の新カスタムホームページサービス
  19. one man army’s blog » Blog Archive » Nowsy: New Ajax Home Page
  20. Dead2.0 » Howsy Boutsy Nowsy? Nopesy!
  21. william couch » Has the Mainstream Media Finally Gotten the Hint?
  22. Why bharat1 sucks? at Floating Sun
  23. Wwwhat’s new? » Pageflakes, un desktop ajax más para nuestra lista.
  24. Techcrunch » Blog Archive » Spotback startpage gets even better
  25. accelzone techie weblog » Spotback news site gets even better
  26. 9 Zeros - Que diferença faz? » Blog Archive » Windows pra quê?
  27. Don't blog back in Fischerhude
  28. Norton's Notes
  29. Pageflakes Acquired By Live Universe

Comments

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  1. Alterion

    i know your missing at least one.. bacuse i turned up there yesterday .. but these stupid names mean i’ve forgotten it :(

  2. Michael Arrington

    Well, let me know when you remember. I am on a quest to have the definitive list. :-)

  3. Tom

    One could argue that Meebo is an ajax desktop with a single application…instant messaging

  4. .derek

    i think the real issue at hand should be the fact that the service does not support firefox?

  5. Hiten

    This one is not released yet,
    http://www.dashboardhq.com

    more information at:
    http://www.33inc.com

  6. Gagan

    I think you can add Gritwire to this list. Maybe that is your lucky 10 :-).

  7. Eduardo

    Number 10 ccould be eyeOS, at http://eyeos.org, opensource and free

  8. Alterion

    um michael.. i’ve just realised that’s your missing yahoo off that list.. that’s embarassing. i gues my yahoo gets to be no 10. Its also a pretty neat service especiaaly with the integration thngs lke the nbotepad are seeing with yahoo widgets

  9. Phil Ridlen

    Sreejith at http://ajaxblog.com/ mentioned in passing in his latest post http://www.gritwire.com. It’s flash, but if you’re including goowy in this list, I think you should include this one as well. After quickly checking it out, it seems to be pretty neat.

  10. Ethan

    Their website doesn’t support Firefox. As a result, their app doesn’t rate my time. I’ll check out one of the others instead.

  11. Dave Gener

    Hey Michael - ever considered that the only reason you think so highly of Netvibes is that you’re a featured feed on their site? I wonder if you’re biased.

  12. Dave Gener

    And by the way, when I say ‘biased’ - I’m not suggesting misconduct. I’m just saying - if everyone is automatically given a techcrunch feed on their netvibes page, then OF COURSE you’re going to get a ton of traffic from them.

  13. Jason

    I get javascript errors on Pageflakes. IE 6.0.2800. Perhaps they are not quite ready yet??

    Jason

  14. Jeremy Stein

    I guess ajax doesn’t mean that javascript now works…

  15. Rod Edwards

    And no FF support yet - figure they’d want to have that in place given the appeal to the early adopter community that PF would have in common with FF…

  16. Rod Edwards

    Oh, but I guess its “pre-alpha” - so I’ll cut them some slack…

  17. M.

    No Firefox, no go.

  18. Cameron Olthuis

    Like others have said… What the hell are they thinking offering this when it’s not compaitable with FF?

    I’m guessing that browser share for their target market is close to 30-40% FF, if not more.

    With 10 other options to choose from you only get one chance to earn my business. You had your chance PF and you blew it.

  19. Dan

    We wrote one over a weekend a few weeks ago. Didn’t bother to launch it, but if you really need another, we’d be happy to launch it…

  20. anon

    Michael- why are you still giving these kind of “startups” free publicity? Have they done anything to warrent your or our attention? I think you need to maintain better standards for what can get posted- or like I said, eventually this “web 2.0″ thing is going to really seem like a sham.

  21. hillary

    so which one is the best — most feature-rich, useful, etc. ??

    do people agree with Hinchcliffe (http://web2.wsj2.com/the_best_web_20_software_of_2005.htm)?

  22. Christoph Janz

    Hi everyone,

    With regard to the Firefox issue: Make no mistake about it, we know that we need to support a decent browser. :-)

    Please don’t forget that what can be seen at http://www.pageflakes.com right now is really just a “Developer Release”. We’re not even in alpha yet, and 99% of the functionality is still missing. We’re at a point where others put up a teaser page, but we wanted to show a little more so that developers can start building applications.

    Once we target the general public, we will also support Firefox, of course. Please have a little patience with us…and don’t forget to subscribe to our launch notification. :)

    Best regards

    Christoph Janz
    Pageflakes

  23. Pete

    I ran across something over at ajaxian, before they shut it down, requiring logins and stuff, called xin.
    ( http://www.naltabyte.se/desktop.asp )
    Something is going on there that’s way more than just a mere ajax desktop, ’cause when I try googleing for ‘rich desktop’, guess what makes the top spot?
    ( http://www.google.com/search?h.....ch+desktop )
    - That’s just wierd..

  24. Chunni Babu

    I agree with anon. I also would like to ask why you are promoting websites that have nothing to offer yet. YUIEBU is a really cool service, here is the link to their landing page, they have blog where they discuss what they are drinking, and they would like to have your email-id to tell you whenever they are ready with whatever it is they are doing. I just don’t get it.

  25. Michael Arrington

    Chunni - ’cause I want to. :-)

    I am also an entrepreneur and I know how hard it is to build a company. I’ve chosen to focus this blog on small companies like that. So I’ll keep writing about them (and trust me, there is a ton that I don’t write about).

  26. Chunni Babu

    Peace! I guess I will have continue ignoring those posts. The reason I read your blog is to be an early adopter of hot new products. I am an entrepreneur myself and I love the fact that entreprenuers find an outlet to the world through you, but a landing page with email box is simply vaporware INMHO.

  27. Michael Arrington

    yeah, well, you are right. Keep reading. I need the page views. :-)

  28. Michael Arrington

    No. 10, Phil, I thought about adding gritwire after your comment. I wrote about them earlier this week. While they certainly share some of the attributes of these services, it seems to me that they are primarily positioning themselves as a RSS reader. Disagree?

  29. Mukul Kumar

    Well, there is a whole list published at http://www.readwriteweb.com/ar.....office.php .

    The list goes like this - AjaxOffice, Writely, gOFFICE, NumSum …

    Thanks,
    Mukul.

  30. ThePef

    I would keep a close eye on Meebo. Eventhough the current focus is on IM, there is obviously more desire there.

  31. kaveh

    Many are mentioned by the readers that I have to check out and add to my list, but ten seems to be the number I had on my list as well.

    Since we are talking about lists, I am maintaining one for bunch of other categories (still working my way through the theme templates and don’t know how to get the comments to work for this page): tech company roundup on twistedblog

  32. Leo

    Seems to be a lot like netvibes, no? I am not sure if everything seems to be like netvibes (eskobo, especially), or if netvibes is like everything else. However, my vote is for netvibes :-)

  33. Cadence

    Yeah i was going to say EyeOS too.

  34. Ian Carswell

    Thanks for remembering us, Gagan. Michael! How soon you seem to have forgotten us :) Working hard on fixing bugs and taking suggestions–hope we can stay on your radar.

  35. Auren Hoffman

    i would second Meebo. lots of people (especially teenagers) have been using meebo as their active desktop…

  36. webosphere

    A great web2.0 review map is available right here :
    http://webosphere.wordpress.co.....vices-map/

  37. Don

    One of the sites is left off of the personalized portal radar screen is Microsoft’s My MSN. The latest incarnation is actually more attractive to some users than the Live.com/Start.com concept. Drag and Drop, Multiple columns, Web 1.0 and 2.0 content, themes, email preview, favorites, and an add content feature that allows you to approach content from four different views (popular, all content, sorted by provider, and search). Not bad, not bad at all.

    Check out a theme like Windows XP Silver. Very clean. I created a page that mimics Netvibes, Google IG, etc. with the latest Web 2.0 feeds, including TechCrunch. Sure, it’s Microsoft, but this is actually the best Web 1.0 > 2.0 portal conversion I’ve seen. I still prefer the spare interfaces provided by the pure 2.0 personal portals, but I’d use this in a pinch.

    http://my.msn.com

  38. Greg

    The other problem with most of these sites is that they offer no way to view them on mobile devices(PDA, Cell, Blackberry). As a much more mature service, I can view everything on my.yahoo or bloglines on a mobile device, and even Google offes a basic html view for the personalized page that most pda’s can access, albeit with some limits on functionality. Until I have the option to view this information when I’m on the go these services have limited or no value to me.

  39. BlogContestSite.com

    Hey..where is Start.com ? Is that a different breed?

    Jane

  40. Redscowl Bluesingsky

    NICE!! I love this software, it’s awesome with IE!

  41. James Kern

    AJAX Network Neighboorhood.

    Besides desktop, also need a way to navigate your local intranet. SSLBridge
    provides that capability with AJAX.

    http://www.sslbridge.com

  42. Mick

    Dunno guys, check it out. If you are a FF only zealot then ok, but I thought Netvibes was miles ahead of anything I’d seen (as a newcomer to 2.0 stuff) and am blown away by pageflakes - the user interface is great. Tabbed pages, tabbed to-do lists, 100x cleaner look, its like moving from Netvibes is like moving from command-line prompt to a GUI for the first time, from black & white to colur, you get the drift.

  43. Fubix

    yEAP ..Web will be better

  44. JG

    This website http://www.pageflakes.com is unbelievable !!!

  45. Mike

    Found another http://www.yoosi.com

  46. Jimie

    Here is one more - http://www.startforce.jp

  47. Seychellois

    Seychelles Islands
    Republic of Seychelles

  48. Seychelles Islands

    Here is one more
    http://www.republic-of-seychelles.com

  49. egon

    some of those are pretty cool. i swore by netvibes there for a while. everything about it is great, but a few months ago it just didnt load anymore. not on my home or work computer, it would not let me logon so i lost everything. it really sucks, and they wont email me back or help :(

    i like the eyeOS, whoever suggested that, thanks. i think im gonna use that. i believe thats the direction we are going to go too, where everything is web based, it wont even matter which os you use.

  50. ketan

    hi what kind of feature developers used to develop a website like pageflakes and netvibes.com?
    how thery have used webparts feature ,and how they interacted with flash,ajax …tell me more abt developing a this kind a site ..if u have larger content to say u can mail me my id is ketan_raval_7@yahoo.com
    i ll wait for ur reply impatiently

  51. ketan

    hi what kind of features ,developers have used to develop a website like pageflakes and netvibes.com?
    how thery have used webparts feature ,and how they interacted with flash,ajax …tell me more abt developing a this kind a site ..if u have larger content to say u can mail me my id is ketan_raval_7@yahoo.com
    i ll wait for ur reply impatiently

  52. rc

    Spent time working on a nice little page at net flakes and then got locked out. Resonded to there helpline. Said they couldn’t get into it either and were having they’re “debugger”. IF he couldn’t figure it out I would have to start anew. SInce ot hearing back from them I inquired as to status. No respose. If that is they’re service now, what will it be when they get busy? rc

  53. EX

    Besides desktop, also need a way to navigate your local intranet. SSLBridge
    provides that capability with AJAX.

    http://domains.optionextreme.com/