ZOHO: Software as a Service

The future of Software would be in offering Software as a Web Service. This would allow Users to use Web based tools to edit, write, collect and publish online. Most of Internet Users has only seen a glimpse of this new reality via increased use of search engines, web-based social networking tools, image archives, blogs and online collaboration tools. But a lot more is coming in form of web applications offering flexibility, increased availability & affordability, less dependency, more usability and heaps of other rich features. In this Blog, I am going to discuss about the most popular web based Project from ZOHO.

Introduction

ZOHO is one of the brands from AdventNet, a software company started in 1996 focusing on building affordable software for businesses. ZOHO Services hosts wide array of online WEB based Office Productivity Suite and Collaboration Applications that runs in almost any Web Browser and can be accessed from anywhere in the world with an internet connection. Zoho believes in offering Software as a service (SaaS) which would have huge productivity benefits to individuals and businesses.

Technology Used

ZOHO requires nothing but a bare browser. To accomplish this, it uses AJAX and Javascript on the front end. This means it works with any web browser. On the backend it uses MySQl and Java. The Operating System used is Linux. The infrastructure is designed such that Services are always up and data is always backed up, secured and protected.

ZOHO Application Suite

ZOHO provides a complete suite of applications, not just for documents and spreadsheets. Its office type offerings include Zoho Writer(Word Processor), Zoho Sheet (Spreadsheet), Zoho Show (Presentation), Zoho Wiki (WYSIWYG wiki), Zoho Meeting (Web Conferencing), Zoho Notebook, Zoho Creator (to Create Online Database & Web Applications).

Zoho also offers web based Business tools such as Zoho CRM (Elegant & Affordable On-Demand CRM Solution), Zoho Planner (an online organizer with todo, reminders, and notes) and Zoho Chat (a group chat tool), Zoho Mail that includes an email client, shared documents, calendars and more. It also offers Utilities like Zoho Polls (for Surveys, Rating, Polling) and Website Monitoring Service.

ZOHO Application Features

• Zoho based Applications are Cross Platform, always up-to-date, require no physical purchase, no download, no installation and no setup.
• Zoho Applications have a polished AJAX (WEB 2) interface and are faster to respond.
• Zoho Applications are born with built-in collaboration abilities and with the potential to do many things not possible on the desktop.
• Zoho Applications are easily affordable (most of them are free), available all the time from anywhere in the world with an internet connection and a browser.
  
• Zoho Application supports Document Sharing (TAG), features are easy to find and readily exposed.
• Zoho Office supports keyboard shortcuts as you would expect in an offline application.

Is ZOHO Free?
So, how much does it cost? Like Google Apps, Zoho offers FREE Versions of its most of the web based services but hopes to tempt Business Users and Volume Buyers with subscription plans that sharply undercut Microsoft.

Conclusion

Despite of competitive services from Google Docs, Thinkfree and other players, ZOHO continues to dominate the web based application market. ZOHO has experience of five years in developing web based applications. With their expertise in this area, they are not only developing useful web-based services but continues to improve on what they already offer.

So What are you waiting for? Just visit zoho.com and establish a sign-in name and a password. Zoho recently allowed users to sign on to the Suite's various services with a single ID.

Google acquired FeedBurner

Google has acquired FeedBurner, a Chicago-based company that provides media distribution and audience engagement services for Blogs and RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds. Feedburner provides an extensive feed and blog advertising network for online publishers to promote, deliver and monetize their content on the Web.

What it means for Google

Google feels that by acquiring FeedBurner it will be able to capitalize on the growth and expansion of its advertising reach. Google is a market leader of paid search advertising and has a huge network of websites already using Google's AdWords online marketing system which is the main source of revenue for Google. By having acquired FeedBurner, it can put ads in more than 400,000 RSS feeds that FeedBurner has and it can expand its AdSense Web site publisher network with the FeedBurner publishers. Google is planning to integrate FeedBurner's technologies with a number of its own products.

What it means for Avertisers
Google advertisers will benefit from an expanded ad inventory and ad distribution platform.

What it means for Publishers

Online Publishers and Bloggers would be able to insert Adwords into numerous user feeds, delivering contextual ads directly into the end users feed reader.

Links
FeedBurner FAQ
Official Google Blog

Microsoft Surface

Microsoft Surface

Microsoft has unveiled its Surface Computer Technology, a project that has been kept under wraps for five years. They have launched its first commercially available Surface Computer , that provides effortless interaction with digital content through natural hand gestures, touch and physical objects.

How does Surface Work?

Surface is essentially a Windows Vista PC tucked inside a shiny black table base, topped with a 30-inch touchscreen in a clear acrylic frame. Five Infra red cameras that can sense nearby objects, hand gestures and touch are mounted beneath the screen. Users can interact with the Surface by touching or dragging their fingertips, with their hands and gestures and by putting real world objects taged with speical bar-code labels on the surface. Unlike most touchscreens, Surface can respond to more than one touch at a time.

Surface key Features

• Users can interact with the digital content and information without the use of a mouse and keyboard. From digital finger painting to a virtual concierge, Surface brings natural interaction to the digital world in a new and exciting way.

• Unlike typical touch screen that responsds to a single touch at a time, Surface Computing recognizes many points of contact simultaneously. The horizontal form factor makes it easy for several people to gather around surface computers together, providing a collaborative, face-to-face computing experience.

• Surface Computer recognizes Object. Users can place physical objects on the surface to trigger different types of digital responses, including the transfer of digital content.

Surface Use

Microsoft is opening up an entirely new category of sharing information. The mutli-touch, mulit-user approach is something that will certainly open some new avenues for interaction with their data in the future. With a price tag between $5,000 and $10,000 per unit, Microsoft is saying that, by the end of this year, consumers will be able to interact with Surface in hotels, retail establishments, restaurants and public entertainment venues.

Surface Video