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I’ve been using the application for the past few days, and have come to rely on it almost exclusively to keep track of bank accounts, mobile phone usage, and my Netflix queue. In fact, it’s currently the only way to track your Netflix account short of visiting Netflix.com or another Web-based queue manager in
Safari (although this is coming soon), but will do far more if you’re willing to spend the time plugging in all your accounts.

Personal organizer PageOnce has a great iPhone application that I think many will find to be incredibly useful. Like its desktop sibling, PageOnce for
iPhone is a feed aggregator the likes of Netvibes or MyYahoo. The only difference is that you’re feeding it account information for utilities and services to get a quick overall view of your various balances and spending activity.

Privacy nuts should be a little wary of putting this much of their personal login information in the cloud, but the good news is the application can be set to forget your password every time you exit, keeping it safe if your phone is lost or stolen. Also, as mentioned in previous coverage, PageOnce uses bank-level security to keep accounts from being hacked.

Below is a demo of PageOnce for the iPhone and
iPod Touch in action.

PageOnce for the iPhone keeps each feed in its own container and opens it up like a nice large pop-up that can be scrolled through and dismissed with a quick touch on the screen. You can see all types of accounts that have been up through PageOnce on the Web. Missing, however, is a way to add new accounts from your phone. This will hopefully make it in later editions.

Yahoo’s advisers apparently came in and gave their two cents on option A and option B, according to the Journal. Those options, it seems, may be undergoing some potential tweaking, with the prospect of possibly adding new players to both.

Update: This posting has been rewritten with an update on the Yahoo board status.

Waiting to hear how Yahoo’s board meeting went Friday?

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, it can be summed up in one word: “undecided.”

Yahoo is looking to resolve the path it’s going to choose, given that it faces a deadline within the next two weeks to do a deal with Microsoft, or face a potential proxy fight, exchange offer, and, possibly, a lower bid from Redmond.

According to the Times report, Yahoo’s management is expected to schedule meetings with both Microsoft and Time Warner for next week.

While Yahoo was kind enough last month to extend the deadline for Microsoft, or any other shareholder, that wanted to name a slate of dissident directors, I wonder if Microsoft will do likewise for Yahoo, if it sits down at the table in the 11th hour.

Yahoo’s board is debating whether to take Microsoft up on its unsolicited buyout offer (which could potentially later include News Corp.) or team up with Time Warner’s AOL and, possibly, Google, according to published reports in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

One of the first shows to emerge form the partnership will be an Internet sci-fi show called Gemini Division, starring actress Rosario Dawson. The show’s planned sponsors are Acura, Intel, Microsoft, and UPS.

The new shows, which will appear on NBC Universal digital properties, are being produced by the company’s Digital Studio division and units, in conjunction with the Omnicom Group, one of the world’s most powerful advertising and marketing companies.

In the latest example of how commercialism continues to creep into art, NBC Universal has plans to create programming designed to highlight a sponsor’s products, the company said Friday.

Gemini Division and shows like it from NBC Universal will likely be offered by Hulu, the video portal created by the TV network and News Corp.

Just how the program’s creators will weave the commercial products into the story line without alienating an audience that might feel manipulated is anyone’s guess.

Sony Pictures Entertainment last year began offering advertisers the chance to have their products take more of a starring role in Web productions.

According to market-research firm MM Research Institute, Apple sold about 200,000 phones in Japan in the first two months. Since then, however, demand has been falling steadily, and analysts now widely believe sales are unlikely to reach a total of 500,000 units. That is half the one million units that they previously thought Apple could sell. One big challenge is that Japanese users already have access to some of the most advanced mobile-phone technologies in the world. Models currently sold by Japanese cellphone makers typically contain a high-end color display, digital TV-viewing capability, satellite navigation service, music player and digital camera. Many models also include chips that let owners use their phones as debit cards or train passes. Noriko Tanaka, a 34-year-old Softbank customer in Tokyo, said she likes the iPhone’s touch screen, but would prefer a phone with digital television capability. “The touch screen looks fun, but I’m not sure I could get used to it,” said Ms. Tanaka.

Just a few months ago, a survey suggested that the iPhone would crush the Blackberry. It probably does, but no non-Japanese mobile device has nearly the market share of the 10 domestic manufacturers. Nokia has only 1 percent, while Sharp has 25 percent in Japan.

After visiting Japan a number of times and seeing both the features available and the way that people use their phones, I’m not that surprised. People use their mobile devices in very different ways than we do in the U.S.

Citing a myriad reasons from marketing and usability to the lack of features common in Japanese phones, the WSJ is reporting that the
iPhone is a bit of dud in Japan.

(Credit:
Parks Associates)

Looking over the horizon, Strategy Analytics projects the numbers will reach close to 1 billion within 10 years. I know. Take market research projections with a big grain of salt. But we’re talking about a pretty big upside when you consider that only 7 percent of Internet gamers visit virtual worlds each week, according to Parks Associates.

Amen to that. The behavior and expectations we’ve grown up with on the Web does not uniformly apply to virtual worlds. If you think this is a case of build it and they will come, think again. “They” wont. Virtual worlds are supposed to be interactive media where things change in real time. Instead, we’re winding up too often with “Dullsville.”

Hard to say how much things have changed. This is the proverbial work in progress and there is an obvious incentive for companies not to screw it up: A session (in a virtual environment) lasts between 45 to 50 minutes versus, on average, a few minutes on a Web site. But marketers are going to have to try awfully hard to blow this opportunity given the popularity of virtual worlds. Consider the following statistics on global unique sessions for non-gaming virtual worlds compiled by Strategy Analytics:

•  2006: 46 million

“Companies make a mistake when they assume that people will come when it’s built. But then you go to a property and find out that it’s empty,” says Barry Gilbert, who directs research for Strategy Analytics, specializing in virtual online environments.

I’ve flown my avatar into more than one Second Life property where it was basically just me and my lonesome. This was an embarrassing marketing mistake by folks who should have known better. Unfortunately, it’s not an isolated incident.

Of course, it’s hard to sustain their attention (let alone participation) when companies insist upon turning virtual world sites into cyberversions of St. Helena.

•  2008 (projected) 137 million

•  2007: 90 million

More than a year ago, Frank Rose wrote a devastating piece in Wired on Madison Avenue’s wasted stampede to set up shop in Second Life, the most popular of the non-gaming virtual worlds. His conclusion: the effort was only “slurping up corporate dollars and delivering little in return.” Ouch.

An island all to yourselves sounds dreamy if you’re planning a vacation with your spouse. But not so in the virtual world, where that sort of solitude is potential poison for companies setting up shop.

The need to protect and stimulate innovation is also emphasized with foreign governments, especially those like Brazil that have implemented compulsory licenses, which forces IP holders to grant a state rights to use the intellectual property in question at a set rate.

But the Pro-IP Act is unusual because the Bush administration threatened a veto last month. It’s been subsequently amended, and the changes are likely to assuage the administration’s concerns, but the U.S. Commerce Department told CNET News that it is still reviewing the revised language.

“That’s a recognition of the role of innovation and its tie to the U.S. economy,” said Rick Cotton, executive vice president and general counsel of NBC Universal. “This is not a low-cost manufacturing economy–what we have to offer is our innovation.”

While industries have been defensively adapting to a globalized economy and game-changing technologies, intellectual property holders are on the offense. The messages from companies like Procter & Gamble and NBC Universal are being carefully tailored to reveal the benefits of bolstering IP protections–whether it’s a promise to U.S. politicians of more jobs, better products for consumers, or faster development for leaders abroad.

In the case of the entertainment industry, it is imperative to educate people about “the ramification of (IP) theft to the people who work on the sets, in makeup, even selling concessions”–not just the highly paid actors and producers, said Rick Lane, senior vice president for government affairs at News Corp.

“America’s workers are also being victimized by a tidal wave of counterfeiting…and digital theft…(that) threatens the well-being of the U.S. economy, endangers our citizens, and steals our jobs,” John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO wrote in The Hill, a newspaper ubiquitous around the Capitol.

(Credit:
Stephanie Condon/CNET)

Industry representatives discussed how to craft those messages, and what obstacles stand in their way, on Wednesday at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s fifth annual intellectual property summit.

Creating a favorable environment for IP holders involves convincing consumers as well as lawmakers that IP enforcement is worthwhile.

NBC has had a great deal of success routing viewers of the Olympics and popular videos like SNL sketches to its own sites.

Lane said the U.S. should be “using the pulpit of the presidency to explain the importance of IP to other economies.”

The message seems to be sinking in not only with congressmen but also with the presidential candidates. Wednesday’s panelists see the presidential election’s emphasis on green technology as a positive sign.

Encouraging consumers to veer away from bootlegged content simply requires “sending them cues,” said Cotton.

So far, its message to the U.S. government appears to be working. The Pro-IP Act passed unanimously in the Senate and saw bipartisan support in the House.

CNET’s Declan McCullagh contributed to this report

“We’re actually trying to spread that gospel in lots of different countries,” said Jon Soderstrom, president of the Association of University Technology Managers. “What we see is people making assertions about the flaws (of IP protection), like hindering the flow of research–none of which is true. The evidence shows it’s actually promoting innovation.”

Most bills to expand copyright law are bipartisan–one aimed at file-swappers and prerelease movies in 2005 comes to mind–and the so-called Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act is no exception. Sens. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat, and Arlen Specter, a Republican, are the sponsors, and it enjoys the support of the Recording Industry Association of America.

Industries have coordinated their message with union leaders to emphasize that IP protection is, at its core, a jobs issue.

WASHINGTON–With only five days left for President Bush to decide whether to sign into law a controversial copyright bill, business lobbyists and even the AFL-CIO are pushing for it to become law.

Business leaders discuss promoting IP protection at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday.

“That combination of ease of access and the desire of consumers to access content when, and how they want it,” Cotton said, “have to go hand and hand, and then we see the possibility of continuing investment.”

Microsoft’s Office Live Workspace currently allows for online storage and viewing of documents, but not the editing offered by Google Docs and other online services.

As we’ve discussed publicly, Microsoft is investing heavily in its Software (plus) Services vision, particularly as it relates to the services platform to deliver a set of solutions that address our customer’s needs. In addition to our current, widely adopted service-based technologies, such as Microsoft Online Services and Office Live Workspaces, we are working with many of our customers, partners and our broad developer community to understand their needs for extensible, scalable services platforms. We have publicly discussed a road map of commitments for our services strategy, most notably from Ray Ozzie at MIX 08 and the Financial Analyst Meeting. We are excited to talk more about our progress and opportunities for customers and partners at the Professional Developers Conference in a few weeks, but we don’t have any further details to share at this time.

Ballmer declined to comment about “Red Dog,” but promised Microsoft would have much more to say at the company’s PDC. Ballmer also said Red Dog and other cloud computing efforts are key to winning the battle for developers, particularly Web developers.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told a crowd in London that Microsoft this month will show off its new development environment for Internet-based applications–what he dubbed “Windows Cloud.”

“That’s all I can say on that,” Ballmer was quoted as saying. “Otherwise, we have no drum-roll announcement in a month.”

“I think at the end of the day, cloud computing will be dictated by the interests and the degree to which you capture the imagination of developers,” Ballmer said.

Microsoft unveiled its Live Mesh effort earlier this year for consumers, but promised that developers would be able to write their own Mesh-enabled applications, with tools coming at the October PDC. Microsoft executives have recently suggested an even broader look at Microsoft’s cloud-based strategy will come at the event.

A Microsoft representative was not immediately able to confirm, or comment on, Ballmer’s remarks.

In his London speech, Ballmer also reportedly said Microsoft will soon allow “light editing” of Office documents over the Web, again according to the IDG report.

Update: They did issue the following statement:

Although the term–which may or may not be the product’s actual name–is new, Microsoft has been widely expected to unveil its cloud-based developer platform at the Professional Developer Conference at the end of October. Ballmer’s comments, reported on Wednesday by IDG News Service, are the latest in a series of mentions of a cloud-based developer platform. Ballmer was asked at last week’s Churchill Club speech about Red Dog, the company’s rumored answer to Amazon’s EC2 service.

Steve Ballmer

Investment in clean tech continues to rise. This chart shows the correlation with rising oil prices.

It is imperative that (venture capitalists) work hand in hand with the Congress, the administration and the regulators to enact public policies that are conducive to research and capital investment in this sector. The venture capital industry, as evidenced by growing investment levels, is committed to bringing to market state-of-the-art technologies that conserve energy and natural resources, protect the environment, and reduce harmful waste for years to come.

Even with these caveats, the overall sector does have strong fundamentals.

With oil prices over $120 per barrel comes a venture capital report entitled “Cleantech Come of Age” from PricewaterhouseCoopers.

(Credit:
MoneyTree report from PricewatersCoopers via VentureBeat.) Consumers, too, are voting for alternative energy and environmentally conscious products with their wallets. Installations of solar power grew 125 percent last year, and wind turbine installations grew 45 percent.

• 45 percent of these same CEOs are concerned about the potential threat to their businesses’ growth prospects as a result of energy security.

According to the press release, the study finds that:

“There is huge enthusiasm taking place in the cleantech industry and as consumers and corporations increasingly seek new ways to become environmentally responsible, interest and funding directed towards the sector will only continue,” Tim Carey, leader of U.S. clean tech at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said in a statement.

Reality check
The report doesn’t identify any dark clouds on the horizon but you don’t need to look very hard to find some.

• 64 percent of CEOs are concerned about rising energy costs.

PricewaterhouseCoopers anticipates sales growth across the subsectors of clean tech, including renewable energy, biofuels, and recycling and pollution.

In the past few weeks, several Republican senators, including presidential contender Sen. John McCain have called on the U.S. to ease the mandates that are driving the ethanol market.

Already, we are seeing that it will be rare to find a technology that won’t have some trade-offs. Witness the growing concern over the relationship that biofuel mandates have with food prices.

• 40 percent of senior executives surveyed feel that reducing greenhouse gas emissions and/or waste and pollutants over the next five years is a leading or important priority within their company.

The sharp uptick in innovation related to energy and the environment is fueled by more money pouring into the field, which is backed by consumers who’ve gone green, businesses adjusting for climate change, and concern over energy security.

The ability of companies like Shell, BP, Dow, and General Electric to innovate and make money in clean tech will go a long way to deciding whether these technologies–be they solar panels or biofuels–become cost-competitive with fossil fuels.

Although venture capital-backed companies can generate a lot of excitement and buzz, the amount of money that goes into start-ups is very small compared with corporate labs.

Experts have long complained that funding programs for clean technologies is inconsistent, too small, or misplaced. In a recent interview, clean tech expert Peter Fusaro, the chairman of Global Change Associates, called the billions spent on the stalled FutureGen coal carbon storage project a “boondoggle.”

In a statement, Mark Heesen, the president of the National Venture Capital Association, called on policymakers to do their part in supporting the budding industry:

The other big spender on energy-related research and development is government.

The upbeat survey finds that venture capitalists put $2.2 billion into clean tech companies last year and that prospects look good.

That’s because energy-related issues are hitting consumers at the gas pumps and business executives in the board room.

Finally, the energy sectors is highly regulated and capital-intensive, which poses challenges that small companies and their backers must contend with.

Oil prices have risen rapidly over the past two years, helping make more clean tech ventures financially attractive. But fuels and electricity are extremely price sensitive, as biodiesel producers have found, which means that a drop in oil prices could make some business models less viable.

Releasing VMware Server as a free product is a brilliant move. With Xen still pre-production and Microsoft’s Virtual Server 2005 just getting going, there is a window for VMware to insert itself as not only the best premium x86 virtualization product, but the best free/cheap one as well. By augmenting its hosted GSX Server product with SMP and x64 guests, renaming it VMware Server, and releasing it for free, VMware’s just made life very difficult for Microsoft and likely even reduced the rate at which Xen will be deployed on Linux servers.

And, indeed, this is pretty much how things played out. Virtual Server found some uptake in Microsoft shops but has had limited impact on the broader market.

There’s nothing that VMware can do directly about Hyper-V’s integration with Windows–besides making the reasonable argument that this can be as much of a disadvantage as an advantage in an environment that blends Windows and other operating systems. But it can deal with the price point.

The real price of a production virtualization deployment using either company’s products is both higher and more complicated to figure, of course. There are management products, add-on software services to take advantage of virtualization, and hardware upgrades–to say nothing of possible training and services engagements. But, especially for midmarket customers focused on the up-front, kick-the-tires figure, FREE is a very attractive number.

Today, the market for virtualization products is further along and Microsoft is assembling a broader virtualization strategy. That said, there are many similarities between then and now.

Hyper-V, Microsoft’s native hypervisor, is still in its early days and, therefore, can’t compete with VMware on function or maturity. It can compete on level of integration with Windows and it can compete on the basis of its $28 price, which Microsoft has been aggressively highlighting.

And it has. VMware has taken entry-level price off the table as an issue. It’s also put into play a counter to Microsoft’s “just comes with Windows” virtualization pitch with an alternative which, if not quite as integrated, is even cheaper.

VMware made some headlines yesterday when its new CEO, Paul Maritz, announced during a financial analysts conference call that it would be giving its “embedded” (which, is to say, standalone) hypervisor away for free starting on July 28.

commentary [UPDATE: Corrected date.]

And, in fact, we’ve seen essentially this same game plan previously. When Microsoft brought out Virtual Server at a price that undercut VMware’s GSX server (its “hosted” hypervisor product), VMware then, too, cut the price of its competing product to free. I wrote at the time that:

This move is wholly consistent with VMware’s past strategy, so I don’t view this as a new-found aggressiveness under Paul Maritz. If Paul mentioned Microsoft more frequently during the call than VMware founder and ex-CEO Diane Greene was wont to do, that reflects a different public emphasis rather than a change in direction. As anyone who has spoken to Diane in private can attest, she was never one to step gingerly around that particular ostensible partner.

On the other hand, some users may love this. The tool lets you stay abreast of new content without having your browser window up, or opening yourself up to conversing with people in your IM contact list. For some that may be a good reason to keep it installed. Me? Not until I can whittle down the information stream to something a little more reasonable.

Its major shortcoming is that it doesn’t let you pick the types of activity you want to see notifications for. In my case, I use the IM notifier tool to see activity around items I’ve just posted. This lets me respond to questions, or comments about something I’ve just posted to my home feed either directly, or from one of my feeds from another service.

Pop-up notifications come up wherever you put the window. In this case it's above my Windows Start button.

The company introduced a similar system that does the same thing through instant messaging back in November of last year. However, this new version is not nearly as advanced, nor is it set up to handle the avalanche of information most of its users are bound to face.

With this tool you get the entire fire hose of information which, if you’ve ever viewed in real time you know, can be too fast to keep up with. On the desktop, that amounts to a never-ending parade of pop-up notifications, something I could only put up with for about 15 minutes before turning the application off.

FriendFeed has a new way for users to keep track of conversations in real time, and it may be the first thing the company has done that I just plain don’t like. It runs in Adobe AIR and pops up with small notifications every time there’s activity on your home feed or a selected friends list. If you can catch the notification window in time, it even lets you post a response without having to fire up your browser.

(Credit:
CNET Networks)