07/26/2007
PageGate is a complete wireless messaging solution that incorporates a wide variety of messaging protocols for sending messages to mobile phones, wireless devices, fax machines and pagers.

Wireless messaging communication is important in todays fast paced environment. PageGate allows critical alerts to be sent instantly to wireless devices regardless of the recipient locations. PageGate supports group messaging and preprogrammed alerts, so that with the press of a single button notification can be sent to defined groups of individuals.

Download an Evaluation Version

07/25/2007
Financial institutions are reaching out to clients using RSS feeds. While banks and financial institutions are usually slow to adopt new technology, that is not the case with RSS adoption. More and more professionals are using RSS in innovative ways, to stay ahead of their competition.

Finance Companies Embrace RSS Feeds

07/24/2007
Hopping on the privacy-protection bandwagon, Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. are limiting how long their Internet search engines retain potentially sensitive data about their users.

07/23/2007
So you have a fantastic website but no one ever visits. You may ask? Why? Your website should be designed with search engines in mind. Too many web designers are graphic artists that excel at image manipulation, but lack a basic understanding of search engine optimization. Web design and search engine optimization (SEO) should not be mutually exclusive. Webmasters should have a clear understanding of both design techniques and how the search engines work.

Keep Your Website Search Friendly

07/21/2007
This overview will not be as detailed as in the past but I did want to touch on a few conference highlights. The conference had a high percentage of new attendees.

FastSpring
FastSpring is a new ecommerce service run by Dan Engel (developer of Piccassa, and Morpheus), Ken White (former RegSoft owner and current owner of NextUp) and Ryan Dewell (former coder at RegNow).

Digital River
Digital River changed their name to Global Direct. They also launched a software marketing resource for software developers and marketers at DR Developer Resource. The site contains lots of "how to" articles and some great statistical information.

Tucows
Tucows launched a new website, that uses Ajax and is more interactive. No longer do customers have to select a file mirror, the website does it for them.

Globell
HC Topp Systems was renamed Globell and they launched a new website.

Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann has just broken into software ecommerce and could potentially challenge Digital River with their size.

W3i
W3i  is a content network with a huge subscriber base, they are looking for software. They suggest action based on the users past behavior, similar to Amazon.

TrialPay
TrialPay is obviously thriving, after their introduction last year they already have a competitor on the block, LiftMedia uses a similar model.

47 Hats
Bob Walsh has launched 47 Hats.

SIC will be in Boston in 2008 July 17-19th mark your calenders!

Software Industry Conference Photos

07/20/2007
The WINNERS for the 2007 Shareware Industry Awards have been announced! Take a look at the best software for 2007 in each category! Most have evaluation versions available for download.

Best Overall Utility
FolderMatch by Salty Brine Software
TuneUp Utilities 2007 by TuneUp Software GmbH - WINNER
WinRar by win.rar GmbH
WinZip by WinZip International LLC.

Best Application
ClipMate by Thornsoft Development - WINNER
CSE HTML Validator by AI Internet Solutions
Open Office by Sun Microsystems

Best Graphics Program or Utility
Easy Imager by Fookes Software
IrfanView by Irfan Skiljan
PaintShop Pro by Corel Corporation - WINNER

Best Desktop Enhancement
Microangelo Toolset by Eclipsit Corporation - WINNER
MBSS Fireworks by Patrick D. Grengs II
Window Blinds by Stardock Corporation

Best Photo Program or Utility
ACDSee Pro Photo Manager by ACD Systems
ALSee by ESTsoft
Life Poster Maker by Lincoln Beach Software - WINNER

Best Sound Program or Utility
ALSong by ESTsoft
D'Accord iChords by D'Accord Music Software
RecordForAll by NotePage, Inc. - WINNER
Winamp Pro by NullSoft

Best Vertical Market Program or Utility
Guitar and Drum Trainer by Renegade Minds
Help & Manual by EC Software GmbH
Vmware Workstation by VMware Inc. - WINNER

Best Business Application or Utility
Microsoft Office 2007 by Microsoft Corporation - WINNER
PayWindow 2007 by ZPAY Payroll Systems
Time & Chaos by Chaos Software

Best Educational Program or Game
AceReader Pro by StepWare Inc.
WinFlash Educator by Open Window Software
WISCO Word Power by Wisco Computing - WINNER

Best Hobby or Personal Interest
Auction Sentry Deluxe by Auction-Sentry.com
Google Earth by Google Inc. - WINNER
MyLife Organized by My Life Organized

Best Internet Enhancement
Cute FTP Professional by GlobalSCAPE
FlashGot by InformAction
FTP Voyager by Rhino Software, Inc. - WINNER
WS_FTP Professional by Ipswitch, Inc.

Best Internet Communication
Miranda by Miranda IM
Pidgin by Softare Freedom Law Center
Skype by Skype Limited - WINNER
Trillian by Cerulean Studios

Best Web Enhancement
Mozilla Firefox by Mozilla Foundation - WINNER
Mozilla Thunderbird by Mozilla Foundation
RoboForm by Siber Systems
SPAMFighter by SPAMFighter

Best Non-Action Game
Ant War 1 by Anarchy Enterprises
Pocket War by MetalShard, Inc.
Pretty Good MahJongg by Goodsol Development, Inc. - WINNER

Best New Game
Addictive Football by Addictive 247 Games  - WINNER
Golf King by NHN USA
Titan Attacks by Demand Entertainment

Best Program for PDA's
Journal Bar by Omega One
Resco Explorer by Resco, sro.
Spb Mobile Shell by Spb Software House - WINNER

07/19/2007
Digital River, Global Direct has just launched a resource for software developers. The DR Developer Resource contains how to articles for software marketers and developers as well as some very interesting statistical information about software sales.

07/18/2007
Google has announced an interesting new Meta Tag. The tag is unavailable_after and will allow you to tell Google when  Google should no longer crawl that page. The tag is particularly helpful if you have a limited time offer promotional page, and on this page, the promotion will expire on a specific date. By using the unavailable_after tag, you can tell Google that they should not crawl this page, after the promotion expires.

07/10/2007
Stock photography websites contain thousands of existing photographs that can be licensed for specific uses. A customer who uses stock photography instead of hiring a photographer can save time, effort and money. Typically publishers can either purchase exclusive rights to a single image or they can purchase a subscription of sorts. The subscriptions allow publishers to download a limited number of photos over a specified period of time.

Stock photo websites allow webmasters, marketers and publishers to locate pictures for their marketing and promotional materials without the hassle of organizing a photo shoot. With copyright laws businesses must be very careful in using unlicensed photos.

Royalty Free Stock Photography for Websites

07/09/2007
EBay has launched a free classified advertising site in the United States, an experiment the online auction company says could lead to new sources of revenue. The site Kijiji means village in Swahili.

07/09/2007
The search engine giant on July 2nd announced that it had acquired GrandCentral Communications, a service that consolidates phone numbers and voice mailboxes into one, web-based account. GrandCentral users combine their home, work and cell phone numbers into one phone number that they can program to ring to one or all of their phones. Voicemails are also consolidated and can be accessed online or via the phone.

07/06/2007
Every year the Educational Software Cooperative presents the People's Choice Award for Best Educational Shareware. This award is selected by online voting.

This is your opportunity to support the software that has added a little something to your life. Vote at http://www.edu-soft.org/education-awards.php

07/03/2007
In need of a new logo? This website contains a variety of logos at very reasonable prices. Check out Logo Search!

07/03/2007
Google have added the option to display adsense ads with rounded corners, and according to their blog you may also soon be able to change the font.

07/02/2007
Lawyers have begun using RSS to stay ahead and adapt to the needs of their clients. Members of the legal profession are using RSS in very specific ways. RSS is more than simply a communication medium to lawyers, it is helping them filter information that is relevant to their practice and case load. Through RSS they are able to gain access to relevant information in a timely fashion.

RSS Feed Use in the Legal Field

07/02/2007
The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday urged policy makers to proceed cautiously on any regulation of high-speed Internet traffic.


The agency issued a report addressing the controversial subject of network neutrality, which is the notion that all online traffic should be treated equally by Internet service providers.

The issue pits consumer groups and content providers such as Google Inc. against large telecommunications companies, such as AT&T Inc. and Comcast Corp. The latter group wants the option of charging customers more for transmitting certain content, including live video, faster or more reliably than other data.