Twiddla, a free service that lets users draw and annotate webpages with their peers, has launched a new version of its site that introduces a number of new features. Compared to enterprise-grade collaboration software, Twiddla falls a little short - there’s no screen sharing or video chat, and the software seems a little buggy. But for ease of use and compatibility it can’t be beat: the browser based AJAX software is platform-agnostic, requires no plugins, and is free for everyone.
Twiddla launched earlier this year with the intention of helping website designers better communicate with their employers. Instead of giving vague descriptions (”make that button bigger”), Twiddla allows coworkers to relate their thoughts by marking up webpages with text, drawings, and images. Users can navigate between sites together using a “cobrowsing” function that is sort of like a limited shared desktop. The site also supports platform-agnostic voicechat through integration with PhoneFromHere, a free web based service.
Today the site is introducing support for a number of new document formats besides static websites that can be marked up with the same tools. Users can now markup emails, widgets, and documents (viewed through Scribd’s iPaper). The site has also implemented a number of usability enhancements, including a more robust chat function and standard hotkey functionality.
Twiddla probably isn’t going to be a big hit with its current feature set - there are countless collaboration tools, including Microsoft Groove and WebEx, that offer more feature-rich collaboration than Twiddla ever will. And sites like Awesome Highlighter and Fleck already offer website markup annotation. That said, the site could become a handy tool for users looking to set up impromptu meetings without having to deal with the hassle of plugin downloads.
If you’d like to test Twiddla out, try clicking the button below to doodle on TechCrunch.
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It’a not related to Twitter ????
Blog with news: tinyurl.com/liviux
getting sick of ‘twi-something’ apps,
a new generation of web2.0 geeks is on the rise.
As the post says, Twiddla might be a long-shot to compete against MS or Google on an enterprise level but there are some basic rules and best practices to follow when doing online collaborations.
For what it’s worth, when we first put Twiddla live for internal use last summer, none of us had ever heard of Twitter. From what I can recall, it was simply the shortest assemblage of consonants and vowels not yet registered as a .com!
Just be glad we didn’t call it Twiddlr. Thanks for the writeup!
Firefox 3.0 doesn’t like Twiddla.
**Warning: Unresponsive script**
A script on this page may be busy, or it may have stopped responding. You can stop the script now, or you can continue to see if the script will complete.
Script: http://www.twiddla.com/scribbl.....242.js:290
Firefox 3.0 does not like Twiddla.
**Warning: Unresponsive script**
A script on this page may be busy, or it may have stopped responding. You can stop the script now, or you can continue to see if the script will complete.
Script: http://www.twiddla.com/scribbl.....242.js:290
Firefox 3.0 (OS X) does not like Twiddla.
Warning: Unresponsive script
A script on this page may be busy, or it may have stopped responding. You can stop the script now, or you can continue to see if the script will complete.
twiddla/scribble/controller_min_242 (js)
nice!
rc
trading tennis blog
Really not so great. Click Twiddle on there and see everyone abuse the app. Nice idea but Adobe and FTP together are more than sufficient… or even just sending big documents via yousendit.com!!!
We saw these guys last night at Twiistup LA. They have a great app but we won the contest</a..
Arg the URL didn’t work for some reason http://toolstolife.com
a new generation of web2.0 geeks is on the rise
It’s basically a whiteboard application. If you’re interested in such collaborative whiteboards, I suggest checking out Dabbleboard. It’s got a revolutionary new UI that makes drawing much easier and faster.
interesting application. i also like http://www.scriblink.com.
Buggy? It certainly is!
We design web sites and marketing literature for a living and need constant feedback and approval from multiple clients. Twiddla just doesn’t cut it for professional web design work.
We were using Conceptshare, but have now switched to ProofHQ to manage feedback and sign off on our design work. ProofHQ has been a real hit with our clients and streamlined our work by integrating tightly with our Basecamp account.
Adobe is playing in this area as well.
Yeah, confirmed
A good way to kill Firefox
gangsta twitter?
Twiddla is a very great collaboration software. I’ve been using it for a week now and I don’t think I’ll stop using it very sooner.
I think this sounds like a great and creative collaboration tool that would be extremely helpful especially since it is free. You cant really beat that!
Seeing that you have been blogging for a while, I was wondering if you were going to be attending the upcoming Blogworld Expo Conference in Las Vegas on Friday, September 19th- Sunday, September 21st. I am going with my company, Cool Conference Live, if you are going we should arrange to meet up. I look forward to your response.
Heather
P.s. I couldn’t find an address to email you at
Hello Jason,
I would like to draw your attention to http://www.showdocument.com that we recently launched.
It allows instant co-browsing on any document, it is somewhat similar but focuses mainly on documents, supports more file types, and is very quick.
There is a nice review at http://news.cnet.com/8301-1793.....332-2.html
Thanks,
I like the idea but still a few bugs to work out. Im sure they will fine tune this app so it will be killer