Web-based company

This post was updated at 10:12 AM PT to correct the spelling of Joost CEO Mike Volpi"s name. Could a browser-based version of its peer-to-peer software save Joost, the heavily hyped video start-up founded by the creators of Skype and Kazaa? Portfolio"s Kevin Maney wrote a lengthy profile of the once-hot company, and buried inside is a juicy tidbit about a future development: "This year, viewers will be able to watch Joost videos in a browser window," the profile read. Right now, Joost requires a software download, which critics have said is one of its prime setbacks when just about every other online video start-up is browser-based. ***

A European body has again told Google that it cannot have trademark protection to use the Gmail mark throughout the European Union. Google's mark.(Credit: Google)Giersch's mark.(Credit: P1 Private GmbH) The European Union's trademark regulation agency denied Google's appeal in late February. The ruling concluded that the mark is too similar to the G-mail trademark owned by German businessman Daniel Giersch. Giersch runs an electronic postal delivery business that goes by the name G-mail, which is short for "Giersch mail." "There is a likelihood of confusion," the agency wrote. Google representatives in the U.S. ***

Adobe Creative Suite users will soon have to turn to other Web-based or local stock photography services to get their stock photo fix. Adobe on Monday quietly announced the end of its stock photography service. The Stock Photos service has been a part of the popular Creative Suite since the introduction of Adobe Bridge in version 2. The cutoff date is March 31st, giving users a little less than two more months to use the service to acquire legal shots to use in design work. According to ***

Network gear maker agrees to buy Latigent, a privately held company that sells Web-based business software focusing on customer call centers. The story "Cisco to buy call center software company" published September 27, 2007 at 10:03 AM is no longer available on CNET News.com. Content from Reuters expires after 30 days. ***

Salesforce.com next week intends to detail an extension to its Web-based developer platform that it claims will put it on par with traditional offline development tools. At the Dreamforce developer conference in San Francisco next week, company executives will introduce Force.com, the new name for a set of tools and hosted services for building hosted Web applications. It will also introduce an addition to its hosted development platform called Visualforce, a service that allows a developer to create a customized application user interface. Conference attendees will get access to a developer preview of Visualforce. Visualforce complements existing developer-oriented services, including Apex, a language meant to speed up creation of applications that run on its platform. The introduction of the user interface service is significant because it makes Salesforce. ***

Google’s PowerPoint killer looks to be on the horizon. Called Presently, the presentation-creation tool will offer a web-based solution for users. This will be a welcome addition to the Google Apps family, and may even be a member of the suite edition that will be sold through Capgemini. Reportedly built in part on assets bought from the acquisition of Zenter and Tonic Systems earlier this year, Presently will join the ranks of existing tools like Zoho, and newbies like ***

Zimbra, the web-based email client, has been working hard on a Zimbra Desktop tool, which is an offline, AJAX option for the Zimbra service. The latest version is now available for download, for Linux, Mac and Windows, though Windows users must re-sync. The offline access for calendars is a new development that has been included in the most recent version of Zimbra Desktop. The batch message syncing tool has been improved, as well as any mailbox changes on the server side, as they’re now reflected faster in the user interface. Overall, Zimbra Desktop mimics the web-based tools more, and switching from offline to online is more seamless. The search tools have also been improved, and the mail inbox will self-organize in a useful manner. ***

The latest company to optimize service for the iPhone is Zimbra, the web-based email client. The new release will be included as a standard with the Beta 3 ZCS 5.0 version this autumn. Like most web applications, you can already access and use Zimbra on your iPhone. But Zimbra’s newly developed mobile web client for the iPhone is 100% standards compliant, built on a JSP tag library, enabling users to switch the Zimbra user interface for their own purposes. Now you can check your email, get your address books, and calendars on your mobile device without needing the iSync or Outlook connectors. You’ll need to point your iPhone to the Zimbra Server via Safari, and you’re good to go. Other applications that have recently been optimized for iPhone use include ***

After reviewing lots of personal finance applications, I still haven"t found one that serves young adults well. Today"s teenagers have already been raised on a diet of advertising, from soda vending machines in grammar school cafeterias to deceptive credit card offers at college ballgames. The newest grown-ups need better information, for instance, about the indentured servitude that could result from trusting the word of high-interest loan sharks. You"d think that some software company would benefit by serving the hot 18-to-thirtysomething market, often referred to as Generation Debt. Yet Intuit, for one, has decided to start educating tots before teens with ***

Salesforce.com has scheduled a news conference on Tuesday to announce a partnership with an unnamed Internet company, and TechCrunch is speculating that the partner will be Google. "Most likely it will be tighter integration between the companies. One rumor says that Salesforce customers may get a discount on Adwords if they bid through Salesforce"s software," TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington wrote. He also makes the case for why Google should buy Salesforce.com, saying that Google"s new Gears software, which allows Web-based software to be accessed offline, combined with Salesforce. ***

"Do as I say, not as I do," probably summarizes the financial advice of many parents. Intuit, by contrast, aims for its new, Web-based Quicken Kids & Money to teach young children fiscal discipline while demanding attention from parents in the process. This $99 yearly subscription includes browser-based interfaces for parents and their 5- to 8-year-olds. The time seems ripe for an interactive service like this, given advertisers" colossal efforts to capture the hearts and minds of children along with the wallets of their parents. Designed for integration into household habits rather than as a babysitting tool, Quicken Kids & Money is supposed to require 20 minutes of weekly care after the initial setup. Intuit suggests that parents dole out $20 to $32 monthly to each child. ***

One of the biggest challenges of being a mobile worker is that it is almost impossible to make VoIP calls, either over EV-DO networks, or commercial wifi services, like the T-Mobile network, often found in Starbucks. Port blocking, and lack of bandwidth makes it difficult to make phone calls when you most need them, forcing you to spend the expensive premium mobile wireless minutes. Well, there is some good news coming. Earlier this morning I had a chance to chat with Jason Droege, CEO of San Diego-based VoIP services provider, SIPphone, and he showed off a new version of his service that is ideally suited for Web Workers. SIPphone makes a soft client which runs on Windows, Linux and Mac computers, and allows you to either IM your friends, or chat with those on your buddy list. ***

From CNET News.com: Zimbra plans to introduce integrated instant messaging to its Web-based e-mail and calendar software next year, the company"s CEO said. The open-source software company is also set to release an "offline client" in December that will allow people to use the Web-based software when disconnected from the Internet. Zimbra"s software uses AJAX heavily, which means people can drag and drop items as in Exchange or Notes. The chat and presence features will allow people to exchange instant messages from within their e-mail/calendar client. And the offline client, when it"s available in December, will allow people to carry on when they"re offline and then update their mail when they get reconnected. Zimbra also plans to expand its offline client to work with e-mail servers other than Zimbra"s, CEO Satish Dharmaraj said. That would allow people to forward mail from other services and use the Zimbra client. ***

Avicenna Systems became the latest Internet start-up to target an the health care field today with a new Web site designed to provide medical professionals with the latest health information over the Net. Avicenna follows another start-up formed earlier this year by Netscape Communications founder Jim Clark called Healtheon. That company seeks to deliver services by the fall that will allow consumers to enroll in health plans and obtain benefit information over the Web without the usually cumbersome paperwork. The first customer to sign up for Avicenna's services is Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, which is also Healtheon's maiden client. ***