Intro: In this podcast we discuss the growing array of online collaboration tools.Mike:
Gordon, because I'm in New Jersey and you're in Massachusetts, we've
had to rely on online collaboration tools quite a bit. What are some of
the tools we use most often?Gordon: If we look just at
what we're doing today. We use Skype - the free VoIP client to record
these podcasts and we use Google Docs (docs.google.com) to write, edit
and share the scripts. In fact, I use Google Docs to collect material
and write my blog - ictcenter.blogspot.comMike: Although it's not a new tool, we also use email quite a bit.Gordon:
Yes - email is still a very important tool, but more and more we seem
to be communicating with other tools such as Twitter and Text
Messaging. The iPhone really lends itself to quick communication with
email, Tweets, and IM.Mike: Twitter and Google Docs aren't the only options.Gordon:
No. in addition to twitter, there are micro-blogging services Jaiku and
Pownce, although if you compare the three using Google Trends, we see
that Twitter is by far the most popular of the three.Mike: What about Google Docs.Gordon:
It's what we use, and probably the most popular, but there are
alternatives, including Zoho, Thinkfree and Zimbra. Again Google Trends
gives us a nice snapshot.Gordon: There's been some movement with some of these tools.Mike:
Yes. Zimbra was purchased in September by Yahoo, and Thinkfree is
having some issues with leadership and possibly looking at a change of
direction.Gordon: Are there some new online collaboration tools?Mike: Robin Good Online Collaboration Technologies - New Tools And Web Services - Robin Good's Latest News has
a great listing of some new online collaboration tools and services.
Good also points to Kolabora www.kolabora.com - a great resource for
news and information about online collaboration.Gordon: Mike could you give us an overview of the tools Good describes.Mike: Sure - the article describes eight new online collaboration services, including:



Tokbox: http://www.tokbox.com/
is a free web-based video conferencing application that enable you to
have one-to-one video meetings online. With the service, you create a
video
room and invite someone for a video conference. You can even embed the
conference room on your web-site, or blog. I think this is a great tool
for providing technical support, office hours, access to a librarian,
or even college counseling.Gordon: What else?Mike: SeeToo: http://www.seetoo.com/ On
the surface, SeeToo a free web-based application for sharing videos
with friends and family doesn't seem that novel. What makes SeeToo
unique is that you don't need to upload your videos - instead you
select a video (any size) from your computer, invite others to watch,
and click play to start watching together. It's like you're running
your own streaming server!



SnapYap: http://www.snapyap.com/ Similar to ToKBox a free one-to-one video conferencing room.
Create a personal video
conference room, invite anyone to join - SnapYap users just enter their
username, others get an email with instructions to enter the room.TeamViewer:  http://www.teamviewer.com/ TeamViewer is a free (for personal, non-commercial use) Windows-only
application
that allows you to share your screen and control someone else's PC.
After downloading, you start the program without any
installation. You have a code and password you can provide to others to
view and control your PC, and similarly, they have a code/password
combination they can share with you. Other features include chat and
the ability to transfer files. Possible applications include
helpdesk/desktop support, application demos, and distance education.
FlickIM: http://flick.im/ FlickIM
is a free Web-based instant messenger application that allows you to
connect to all major IM services (AIM, MSN, Yahoo, GoogleTalk, Jabber,
ICQ). Seems very similar to an existing service - meebo. Includes
video, audio and other add-ons, as well as an iPhone friendly interface. Meebo has also customized their interface for the iPhone.Loudtalks: http://loudtalks.com/ Is a free, Windows-only download-able application that gives users walkie talkie-like ability to communicate with one another with the touch of a single button(F7). Versions are being developed for other platforms, including mobile phones.AirTalkr: http://airtalkr.com/ Similar to FlickIM, AirTalkr allows you to access multiple IM networks. One major difference is access to Web 2.0 services (Flickr, YouTube, Twitter, and Myspace). AirTalkr
is runs within Adobe's AIR (cross-operating system runtime; hybrid
web/desktop applications) - Windows and MAC, and also as a web-based
application. Looks like the download version doesn't work with the
current version of AIR. Here's a screen grab:
Global IP Video: http://www.globalipvideo.com/Global IP Video has a free web-based (no downloads, no installs) video conferencing tool MeBeem (http://www.mebeem.com)
that uses flash to create video conferences. In a browser, create a
room, share it, and click to connect. Not sure how well it works, and
seems a little like the wild west. Here are a couple screenshots:

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