I’d like to quickly revisit the story because I’ve been following Pownce from day one, I’ve actually used it more than Twitter, and I’ve been bullish on the service because I thought it offered a compelling feature set when compared to other services in the space. I was wrong.

First of all, less is sometimes more. We all know that, but it was really obvious in this case: Pownce was the Twitter fan’s dream come true, adding groups, file sharing and several other highly requested features without cluttering the service with too many options. However, sometimes simplicity and lack of options are what differentiates a service and makes it worth your while. Twitter devs may be slow when it comes to adding new features, but they’re slow on purpose, because they understand that Twitter is good, for the most part, as it is.

Secondly, sometimes even being much more reliable than your competitors isn’t enough for success. When you think of it, Pownce was positioned very well: it had the features, it had solid backing (it is, after all, Kevin Rose’s baby), and - although it wasn’t without technical issues itself - it came to the scene at a time when Twitter struggled with frequent downtime. And despite the fact that Twitter’s problems with downtime lasted for month, users did not move over to other services, except perhaps FriendFeed (to a certain extent).

The main lesson is probably this: if you’re not first to the game, but perhaps second or third, you need to do your research very thoroughly; sometimes being bigger, better and faster than the competitors simply won’t do.

---
Related Articles at Mashable | All That's New on the Web:

Pownce Invites Increased: Please Invite Others
Pownce Adds RSS, Support For More Video/Photo Sites
Pownce To Launch Public API
Pownce Releases Public API
Pownce Invites on eBay
Pownce Gets New Features
Put Pownce on Facebook

Company Name

Dailymile

20-Word Description

Dailymile is a social training site for runners, triathletes, and cyclists.

CEO’s Pitch

That race was great, but how do I stay in-touch with the people I just met? And how can I find people to train with in a new city? Providing an answer for these questions drove us to begin dailymile. We wanted to find a better way for athletes to sign-up for races, share workouts, and meet participants. Participating in a race doesn’t end after you submit payment. It’s the daily journey of training, learning, and sharing. As athletes, each day for us is an adventure filled with lessons learned and friends made. We share these experiences with one another through dailymile.

Mashable’s Take

Currently in private beta, Dailymile is a site for keeping track of your workouts, finding athletic events you can participate in, and sending motivation to others. The design is very slick and the features are well-organized, and while the event section dedicated to 10Ks and triathlons can be intimidating, there are tools that can be useful to just about any level of athlete – even if you’re just the type trying to stay in shape by going to the gym.

Once logged in, the homepage of Dailymile is very Twitter-esque, allowing you post a short update about your most recent workout (which can range from running, to swimming, to weightlifting, etc.), as well as multimedia content like photos and videos. There is also a “You and Your Friends” timeline, an “Everyone” timeline, and a “My Training” log – essentially the same views offered on Twitter. Speaking of Twitter, your updates can be auto-posted to the service if you sync your accounts.

Dailymile takes it a step further than other would-be Twitter clones though with some features very specific to the fitness niche. For one, there is the “Motivation” feature, which allows you to message other people on the site with a pre-set message like “Great Performance” or “You’re an Inspiration.”

There are also discussion groups you can join like “40+ and proud of it” and “My first marathon,” so you can find people pursuing a similar fitness goal as yourself. The aforementioned event section is already seeded with lots of running, trialthon, and cycling events you can participate in, though most seem to be on the West coast (not surprising given the time of year).

Ultimately, Dailymile has adopted a lot of popular features of other sites for the fitness niche and done a nice job with them. I think it’s more likely to be successful with serious workout nuts than weekend warriors, but there is certainly something for anyone that wants to put the time in - both in the gym and on the site. As mentioned, Dailymile is currently in private beta, but you can try it out using the invite code ‘mashable’.

Editor’s Note: This post is part of an ongoing series at Mashable - The Startup Review, Sponsored by Sun Microsystems Startup Essentials. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Sponsored By: Sun Startup Essentials

After adding the Telephone app to your Facebook account, you can launch the service and make phone calls directly to your Facebook friends. In order to make a VoIP call, both you and your friend will need to also have the application as well as the downloadable software. But the good thing about having the software installed on your computer is that the Telephone app can then be used as a standalone desktop application for sending and receiving calls even when you don’t have Facebook open in a web browser.

Similar to Skype, you can make VoIP calls and send instant messages. And similar to Digsby, the desktop app enables you to communicate with Facebook friends without having to be logged into Facebook. So with so many features similar to existing applications, is it worth it to try the Telephone application at all?

There are a few features that may be of interest to you, depending on how often you need to communicate with Facebook friends. For instance, Telephone allows you to organize friends into groups for easy access and messaging, as well as leave voicemails for friends that aren’t currently available to talk. Telephone also displays your call history for additional information. The call history could prove useful given its direct integration with your Facebook network, offering insight into your own personal behavior and communication patterns.

I imagine such data could be useful to other services as well, from a non-personal standpoint. But one thing I’d love to see on the Telephone app is a more direct integration with Facebook’s existing chat tool, similar to Tokbox’s integration. This way, you can invite friends to add the Telephone app in a more direct manner, and more readily initiate VoIP calls with friends as well.

While the application is robust, it doesn’t appear as though the uptake has been good. A quick look at the application chart shows that traffic to the application has dropped significantly over the past month. While we’d assume that this trend will continue, perhaps the company will adopt practices that make the application more viral under the new design. For now we will have to wait and see. Go install the telphone application and judge for yourself how successful this will be.

The brainchild of Culver and Digg founder Kevin Rose, Pownce launched with much fanfare in 2007. But despite the early buzz and in many ways a superior feature-set, the service hasn’t been able to gain nearly the type of traction as the darling of short-form messaging – that of course being Twitter.

It doesn’t sound like Six Apart has aspirations to revamp Pownce and take on Twitter either. They echo the sentiment that this deal is more about acquiring talent from Pownce, writing, “we are very sorry the site will be closing … We’re planning on doing great things with the help and expertise of the Pownce team, and can’t wait to see all the results of their hard work.”

Kevin Rose and Daniel Burka will also be joining Six Apart as advisers as part of the deal.

---
Related Articles at Mashable | All That's New on the Web:

Pownce Invites Increased: Please Invite Others
Pownce Adds RSS, Support For More Video/Photo Sites
Pownce To Launch Public API
Pownce Releases Public API
Pownce Invites on eBay
Pownce Gets New Features
Put Pownce on Facebook

One minute I was trawling for articles, blissfully convinced that Facebook was all I’d ever need to connect me to items of real time relevance. The next I was pulled into a vortex created by masterminds so ambitious and intrusive, they plan to index the worlds information. Yes, I’m talking about Google (and their latest uber-success, iGoogle).

iGoogle began its life with the name ‘Google Personalised Homepage’, briefly became ‘Google IG’, and a few makeovers later, emerged as iGoogle, a name that makes it sound like an Apple product (iPod, iTunes). Nobody seems to agree on what the most popular startpage service is but iGoogle is up there. Users are so passionate about their iGoogle pages that recent changes were met with uproar and violent protestation. The ‘changes’ were basically a new sidebar and the removal of some gadget resizing privileges. Yep, people are obsessed.

iGoogle isn’t just for accessing feeds from your favourite sites; there is a growing catalogue of gadgets from reputable developers. Google are also inviting people to create gadgets, both practical ones and social stuff of the ‘here’s what I’m up to right now’ Twitter/Facebook variety. You can see why people are saying it’s the next Facebook. What’s good about iGoogle is that the gadgets tend to be useful (feeds, search aids, shortcuts), not vacuous (throw a mudpie at your friends! become a werewolf/pirate/vampire!) and no one - absolutely no one - is going to poke you, ‘get low with’ you, post lewd comments your mum can read or invite you to rate their sexiness.

Here are the best of the best iGoogle gadgets for streamlining your online life:

1. A Podcast Player

If I say “I heart this” does that blow or bolster its case? A Podcast Player is a neat little player with a search facility; enter your search term into the bar at the top, choose your favourite podcast directory from the scroll-down list, and away you go. The options are Feedster, all4RSS, Podkast, Digitalpodcast and Podscope.

If you don’t have a favourite, I recommend the Podscope directory; here you can find a piece of audio according to the words that are spoken in it!

For example, if you want to find podcasts that mention Obama, simply enter ‘Obama’, select ‘Podscope’, press ‘Find’ and voila: ‘A Podcast Player’ returns a list of audio and the exact times (0:53, 1:45, 1:49) the keyword Obama is mentioned! Pretty amazing, and great for people like me who love to listen to news (or any podcast) as they work on the computer. You’ll find a lot of interesting stuff.

2. Driving Directions

The beauty of iGoogle is that the gadgets are integrated so well with key Google services. Driving Directions is the ultimate gadget for people who finds themselves scrolling dumbly in Google Maps or thumbing through a street directory, trying to trace journeys that jump from page 46 to 49B to 109, back to page 46 and so on.

With Driving Directions you have two entry bars (’From’ and ‘To’). Enter your starting address and destination and you’re redirected to Google Maps, where the page is sized just so and your route easily plotted. You also have the option of sharing the map by pressing ‘Send’ or ‘Link’ in the top right hand corner.

Google Maps is great because it contains business information; there is a large and growing catalogue of business locations, so you can search by, say, the name of a restaurant or bar even if you don’t know the address. A good startpage shortcut to a useful service.

3. Digg

Not sure which feeds to track on iGoogle? Why not be a sheep and let public opinion decide?  Digg is the ultimate online popularity contest; the Digg iGoogle gadget lets you keep track of the articles people are digging.

Click the tabs at the top of the gadgets to view either News, Video, Images or All Content, or you can opt to see a list of what your friends are digging (if you have any Digg friends).

To filter according to content, open the scroll-down menu in the top righthand corner and choose between Science, Technology, Entertainment, World and Business, Lifestyle, Sports, Gaming and Offbeat. The gadget is updated continuously, so you’ll know as soon as something rises in the Digg ranks. Keep track of what’s creating buzz on the web from the safety of your startpage.

4. Facebook

A sprawling page within a sprawling page. Once upon a time Facebook was my number one web destination. Now it’s just another little box on my iGoogle page. Like a big fish swallowing all the little ones, Google is insatiable and unstoppable.

Who can resist? No need to visit Facebook anymore; just add the Facebook gadget to iGoogle and keep track of who, exactly, is poking you.

5. Memba Velodoc

To be fair, Velodoc is a great large file sharing service, and would deserve a mention even if they didn’t have an iGoogle gadget. The fact that they do just confirms how damn fantastic they are.

Have a large file you can’t send via Hotmail or Gmail? No need to burn a CD, send anything via post, sign up with some paid site, or even register with anyone.

Enter your email into the Velodoc file sharing gadget and the ‘Browse’ button will appear. Search your directories for the file you want to send, click it and send away.

Now, this is what’s great about the Velodoc service. The person you select as your recipient will receive an email. They’ll open it and find a neat little link. They’ll click that link and be directed to another neat little page- minimal text, no images- where they can download your file.

For a while I was using Sendspace (another free large file sharing service) and thought it was fine until I actually opened what I was sending. It was all pop-up ads, blocks of weird text and flashing arrows next to the words ‘Download Here’! After you opened my file everything was good, but that interim page was a killer: really gaudy and unprofessional looking. Not good if you’re sending files that are supposed to land you a job, which is what I was doing.

Don’t make the same mistake I did. Send files linked from nice-looking pages, and do it in your iGoogle. Great for people who send a lot of audio files, images or videos.

6. Anagram

Another shortcut to Google services - this time to Google Accounts and Google Calendar.

Anagram is really just an efficient way to save contact details to Google Accounts and add events to Google Calendar. No need to navigate all the way to Accounts and enter somebody’s number, name, etc. Simply enter their information in the Anagram text box in an incoherent blob. For example

Bob 77447744 3 Grate St

You don’t even need to keep pressing enter. Anagram will do the rest for you. A lazy person’s dream, and perfect for when you need to take details down fast.

Calendar details work the same way; this time you’re writing ‘Staff Lunch 3 November 5:30′. Anagram will understand what you’re doing and submit the information to Google Calendar.

7. Dictionary.com and Wikipedia

Two commonly used references in one handy gadget. Flip from tab to tab to alternate between Wikipedia and Dictionary. Results open in a new window, so your iGoogle is safe and secure.

8. Internet Bandwidth Speed Test

Created by an independent developer and applauded for its accuracy, this quick and easy speed test estimates your bandwidth and places you on a spectrum between plodding dial-up and hardcore DSL.

9. World Webcams

For the voyeur inside us all. Spice up your iGoogle with popular webcams from all over the world. Watch a beach in the south of France one day and a bustling scene from Rio the next. All pared down (of course) to iGoogle size. That’s about 5 x 6 cm, though if you’re really keen you can expand it to fill the page.

10. Random Google Gadgets

There are new gadgets popping up all the time, and we all know that the most useful, innovative stuff isn’t always the most publicised (remember our feature on Google services that get no love?).  With this gadget you can test drive a different, random Google app every day, and have the options of keeping stuff you like.

So what gadgets sit on your iGoogle page?   Which ones get your love?    You might also want to check out Mark’s earlier article from May this year on how to make your own personalised iGoogle gadgets.

(By) Sandra Hajda is a freelance writer from Melbourne. She hangs out on her Blogger blog and occasionally appears on Australian radio.

Enjoyed the article? Please leave a comment and tell us what you think about it

New here? Get your cheat sheets and freebies at MakeUseOf Downloads. Enjoy!

Related posts

• Make Your Own Personalised iGoogle Gadgets (5)
• Jump Into The Sandbox & Play With The New iGoogle (7)
• Utilizing Windows Search 4.0 (Part 1) (4)
• Hittery - Awesome Custom Search Startpage (3)
• Cool Search Engines To Remember (15)

However, there are a couple free Web analytics programs that are easy to hook up and use. One of the newest is Microsoft adCenter Analytics. Because the site says it’s a limited Beta, you have to register and then wait for an invitation to join the program. It typically takes a few days to hear back from them, but when you receive your invitation you can follow their simple instructions to create a profile and add the script to your site.

The thing is, their instructions don’t address what to do on a SharePoint site. So that’s where we come in. I’ve seen a few blog posts and videos out there about how to add other analytics scripts to a SharePoint blog, but they all seem either light on detail or leave out a key piece of information, so I shot my own video, Add Microsoft adCenter analytics to your SharePoint blog home page.

As the title suggests, I show only how to add the script to your home page. This will capture lots of great numbers about home page usage, but does not capture information about individual posts.

Microsoft adCenter Analytics

Learn about the latest adCenter AnalyticsBeta features and enhancements, including ten different customizable reports. This free, on-demand web analytics solution helps you easily understand user engagement and online marketing campaign performance. Today, we invite you to join our program: Microsoft adCenter AnalyticsBeta—formerly Project Gatineau.

Understand User Engagement
Track audience behavior—from click to conversion—all in one place. The application’s dashboard and advanced report graphics help you view your data at a glance, so you can make key decisions quickly and efficiently.

Gain Control—Tailor for the Right Audience and the Right Time
You can even assess performance of your other pay-per-click programs—including Google and Yahoo. Easily track ROI, conversion rates, revenue of banner, email, and direct response campaigns so you can monitor web site performance and better control the return on your marketing spend.

Gain Customer Intelligence and Insight
You can rely on adCenter Analytics to help you understand your site traffic, customer intent, behavior, and campaign performance. Build your own customized dashboard and review which campaigns are working well. This next-generation web analytics system puts key data at your fingertips, including: Dashboards
Traffic & History
Visitor Loyalty
Pages & Content
Referrals
Goals
Commerce
Paths
Funnels
Visitor Information

Get Started Today
Register now to realize the power of an end-to-end web tracking system.

This application also features wiki-like map options, that let you add your own learned information to a map someone else has already uploaded. You can also upload geo-data, which is pretty handy when it comes to hiking trails (especially for novices like myself).

The search capabilities on TrailBehind are pretty standard–select a location on a marked map, or enter a state, address or zip code to find a nearby trail. Details about a trail beyond the basics, however, could really benefit from a more robust wiki option. Right now, the best way to get additional information about a trail is to read any comments that other users leave.

A benefit of having TrailBehind as a Facebook application is the planning option, which presumably ties into Facebook events or lets you invite friends from within the network. This trip-planning feature is currently down, however, so I will have to check it out again later. It may also be helpful to search and filter trails by existing friends that have also added the application.

Click here to vote for TrailBehind and don’t forget to install the application.

Since its debut in 2007, iPhone owners have been capable of consuming video in two ways: via iPod software as well as a YouTube application. And these options presumably remain the exclusive utilities employed for viewing clips.

But they are other methods available now. The launch of the App Store this summer enticed a number of third-party developers to make use of the iPhone’s video playback capabilities. The Web-based television outfit Joost [iTunes] is the latest to joint the fray. Naturally, we thought it’d be fitting to see what’s what in that part of the iPhone market as a whole. Here are ten free highlights. We invite you to share your favorites, too!

Truveo Video Search

For roughly a year’s time, the iPhone’s native YouTube application was pretty sole purveyor of video search on the mobile platform. Given the immensity of the YouTube archive, it works to great effect. But perhaps you’d like to search elsewhere for content. Truveo Video Search [iTunes URL], issued by AOL, gives you another option. The company claims a high six-figure view count via the application to date.

AppVee

Maybe you like the idea of download applications to your iPhone directly over the air. But a part of your might like to get a quick preview of what those applications might be like. AppVee [iTunes], a service we ourselves reviewed not long ago, presents its app reviews and video walkthroughs both for desktop browsers and iPhone owners.

Howcast

Remember when the world of how-to videos took the Web by storm? The fact is, the depth of material has only grown with time. And Howcast [iTunes], one of the premier outlets serving the instructional, educational, and DIY market just so happens to provide iPhone and iPod touch users with videos they can really do stuff with. User reviews for the application are nothing short of stellar. This freebie is a definite winner.

The Weather Channel

Yes, you can use the free Weather Channel iPhone application [iTunes] for quick local map forecasts and text weather reports and things. But if you have a particular love for the Weather Channel’s ever-popular video readings, you can playback the latest news at your leisure.

WorldView

We’ve all done it. At one time or another, we’ve all searched the Intertubes for footage captured in near-real-time by webcams all across the world. Well, there’s no need to fire up Firefox or IE or whathaveyou to get your fix on Berlin, Germany’s street scene from your home perch in West Coast USA. WorldView [iTunes] makes it happen right on your iPhone. A purported 6,000 webcams are searchable. Want a random view of some place on the map? Just shake. Literally.

FOX Sports

Delivered by Fox Sports Interactive Media, the Fox Sports iPhone application [iTunes] puts video  on the backburner, but for coverage of athletic events, that’s somewhat understandable, especially when dealing with the dimensions of a handheld. But video is promised, with a running Top 5 FOX sports clips provided for many a replay.

MLB

The baseball season in America is over for now, but the media managers at MLB promise great things in 2009 to carry the torch left idle in 2008. Suffice it to say that video highlights will be included in MLB at Bat 2009 [iTunes]. That goes for gameplay and offseason items like award announcements, free agent signings, etc.

IGN Game Reviews

Speaking of gaming, IGN [iTunes], another FIM property, offers a rundown of videogame reviews reaching beyond the iPhone playground. You can set preferences to your favorite gaming platforms and get easy access to new titles and big hits. Hey, it’s a free download. What’s there to lose?

Style.com

The iPhone itself is a marvel in design, so it seems fitting that Style.com [iTunes] presents its readers with a collection of news, blogs, and videos to follow while on the go. You could go so far as to watch clips while stationed alongside a fashion show runway. Nothing live, however. Though, how weird cool would that be?

vSNAX Videos

Taking the world of fashion and high culture to a more broad perspective, an application by Rhythm NewMedia called vSNAX Videos [iTunes] gives users access to clips from the likes of Ford Models, the Style Network, VH1, Young Hollywood and more. Many customers report having superb video quality on hand.

Honorary Mention: Joost

It’s the most recent one to land in the App Store’s database, but it receives bonus status here as the final pick in this iPhone video app mix. Because, well, why not? It’s Joost [iTunes]. The company recently debuted its browser-based video archive. And now it’s taking things mobile.

A word of warning: the iPhone app currently available for download has shown some playback and search errors in the 24 hours or so that it’s been live. The company acknowledges the problems and is working to better users’ experiences, according to MG Zeigler of VentureBeat.

Image source: iPhonelife

---
Related Articles at Mashable | All That's New on the Web:

Free iPhone Apps!
World’s Simplest iPhone App
Apple’s iPhone Directory is Really Real!
Apple Making a Directory for iPhone Apps?
iPhone. Europe. September.
Google Reader + iPhone = Awesome
8 Coolest iPhone Apps at iPhoneDevCamp