PageFlakes - Cool New Features (1)

PageFlakes is a web 2.0 company, which is a successor to dot-com companies.

It provides the function of "StartPage".

In one sentence, it provides users the capability of browsing the Internet for content of interests with only one interface. It is more like a desktop for all your Internet applications and web sites.

More about pageFlakes.

Recently, it has added more cool new features.

The new Pageflakes Blizzard has an avalanche of cool features like personal profiles, picture upload, and easy sharing of pages and widgets. Your personalized home on the Web is better than ever! If you haven’t seen Pageflakes lately, check it out.

Here are some highlights:
  • One-button personalization
  • TV & media Pagecasts
  • Improved Pagecasting for everyone
  • Your choice of page Theme—pick one or design one yourself!
  • Share your interests in your Personal Profile and upload a picture
  • Check out the WYSIWYG editable Anything Flake for text, images and more
  • Multimedia support for audio, video, and picture feeds and blogs
  • Mac Safari support
One-button Page Personalization – One button helps you find new Flakes (page widgets), discover shared pages called Pagecasts, or spiff up your own pages with new Themes. There are over 240,000 Flakes to choose from, and almost 120,000 Pagecasts to browse.

Media Pagecasts – We’ve added Pagecasts (public shared pages) from media partners such as CBS, AOL, and the Washington Post. It’s easier to follow your favorite TV shows like Entertainment Tonight, editorial items, news, and more from the source.

Improved Pagecasting – Pagecasting has always let users share their pages, but now you have more choices. Copy any Pagecast and make it your own, watch the original in real time, or email it to a friend. To see new Pagecasts and people joining Pageflakes, check out the Community page.

Themes – Make almost every aspect of your page your own. Choose from a gallery of designs like “Grass” and “Twister” or create your own using your own personal pics. You get to decide almost every visual element.

Public Profiles – Share your interests and even a mug shot with fellow Flakers by setting up your Personal Profile. Blizzard lets you tell your own story as well as find other members and find out more about the person behind your favorite Pagecasts.

Anything Flake – Try the new Anything Flake to put text, photos, audio or video on your pages using a new “what you see is what you get” editor. If you can use Word, you can you use the Anything Flake. For more advanced users, edit HTML directly or add Flash.

Better Multimedia Feed Support – Check out your favorite news and blog feeds using the new and improved “Multimedia RSS Flake”. This Flake displays photos and plays audio and video automatically.

Mac Safari Support – If you like Safari and Pageflakes, now you can like them both at the same time! Pageflakes now supports Safari.

My Idea on Web 2.0 business

Recently there is a new web 2.0 company called Frenszone. To put it simply it is like Friendster.

Frenszone has its features which over-shadow Friendster. For instance, it allows matching and searching based on Zodiac sign (a feature which Friendster has long ignored). And the searching for friendster is kind of sucks comparing to Frenszone. Friendster is also sucks in terms of groups.

Anyhow, I always think that to win the game of web 2.0, there will be a few things:

1. You got to be the monopoly or at least top 10 (in terms of users).
2. You got to keep innovating and thus you need to have development resources. This can be argued in terms of two angles:

  • Software Engineering - You will never get a state-of-the-art software done within the first trial, this is why companies uses the concept of beta and alpha releases.
  • New features will increase the popularity.

3. Continuous marketing effort. You have to keep making noises because users will come and go, until you established the brand. Then you got to maintain it against new competitors.

No users means no future, no matter how great your features will be. Thus these three factors complement and conflicting each other. You need to strike a balance.

Coming back to pageFlakes which is competing with NetVibes and iGoogle. Well I think iGoogle is not that great but with their resources, it could overtake everyone. I particularly like Netvibes ability to get a blog to be indexed to the search engine, a feature which pageFlakes hasn't been showing yet.

For my personal web 2.0 experience, I use the following applications:

1. Calendar - Google's Calendar
2. Start page - pageFlakes, NetVibes, Google's reader.
3. Docs - Google's Docs and spreadsheets
4. Blogs - Google's blogger.
5. Address book - Yahoo's mail.
6. Groups and file sharing - Yahoo's Group.
7. Web tracker - Sitemeter and Google's Analytics.
8. Webmail - Yahoo email (Gmail and Hotmail are secondary emails)
9. IM - MSN, Yahoo, Skype, GTalk, ICQ. (In priority accordance)
10. Networking - Friendster, LinkedIn, Frenszone and many more.

So, this explain why Google is still number 1 and Yahoo number 2. (and why the former is constantly acquiring new companies)

Somehow, MSN IM is very popular in Malaysia and this makes MSN number 3. And I don't know why people hate ICQ so much until I never bother to login anymore. Why ? Maybe is karma.

Finally, to get constant information injection about web 2.0, check out the blog called Read/Write web.

Comments

chi howe said…
Thanks for your note Brandon.

Please check out the new Pageflakes Blizzard, we have an avalanche of cool features like personal profiles, picture upload, and easy sharing of pages and widgets. Your personalized home on the Web is better than ever! If you haven’t seen Pageflakes lately, check it out.

Here are some highlights:

* One-button personalization
* TV & media Pagecasts
* Improved Pagecasting for everyone
* Your choice of page Theme—pick one or design one yourself!
* Share your interests in your Personal Profile and upload a picture
* Check out the WYSIWYG editable Anything Flake for text, images and more
* Multimedia support for audio, video, and picture feeds and blogs
* Mac Safari support

One-button Page Personalization – One button helps you find new Flakes (page widgets), discover shared pages called Pagecasts, or spiff up your own pages with new Themes. There are over 240,000 Flakes to choose from, and almost 120,000 Pagecasts to browse.

Media Pagecasts – We’ve added Pagecasts (public shared pages) from media partners such as CBS, AOL, and the Washington Post. It’s easier to follow your favorite TV shows like Entertainment Tonight, editorial items, news, and more from the source.

Improved Pagecasting – Pagecasting has always let users share their pages, but now you have more choices. Copy any Pagecast and make it your own, watch the original in real time, or email it to a friend. To see new Pagecasts and people joining Pageflakes, check out the Community page.

Themes – Make almost every aspect of your page your own. Choose from a gallery of designs like “Grass” and “Twister” or create your own using your own personal pics. You get to decide almost every visual element.

Public Profiles – Share your interests and even a mug shot with fellow Flakers by setting up your Personal Profile. Blizzard lets you tell your own story as well as find other members and find out more about the person behind your favorite Pagecasts.

Anything Flake – Try the new Anything Flake to put text, photos, audio or video on your pages using a new “what you see is what you get” editor. If you can use Word, you can you use the Anything Flake. For more advanced users, edit HTML directly or add Flash.

Better Multimedia Feed Support – Check out your favorite news and blog feeds using the new and improved “Multimedia RSS Flake”. This Flake displays photos and plays audio and video automatically.

Mac Safari Support – If you like Safari and Pageflakes, now you can like them both at the same time! Pageflakes now supports Safari.

Sincerely,
chihowe@pageflakes.com
Brandon Teoh said…
Thanks for the comments.