Email media management application Xoopit launched in private beta today (invite link below) and announced a $5m venture round from some big backers. Would a good feature set and reputation be enough for you to hand over your Gmail username and password to this application? It's not good enough for me.

Xoopit is aimed at the widespread practice of sharing media like photos, vidoes and PDFs by email. If anyone but the big webmail vendors is going to launch an "inbox 2.0" type product, though, there's going to have to be a better API that lets me access content without giving up my password.

Xoopit lets you view, sort and share all the media in your GMail inbox through a web page, Firefox plug-in or Google Gadget. Integration with other webmail programs is coming soon. It's a pretty good experience, though readers here probably run in more sophisticated circles where plenty of media is shared on websites dedicated to that purpose. None the less, this could be a particularly good example of a mainstream end-user opportunity to leverage data portability - if it were able to be done correctly.

Xoopit doesn't offer a Flash player to listen to music or view PDFs in your inbox, you still have to download those locally and consume them with other applications. (See PDFmenot.com, by the way.) The service may be appealing to more mainstream users who communicate almost entirely through email. Will those users give up the usernames and password to their email accounts, though?

If you'd like to try it out yourself, you can access a beta account through this link. We've written about email password horror stories here before and RWW does take any responsibility for anything that happens if you give a third party yours.

We Need Webmail Content APIs

Gmail released a Gmail Contacts API this month. That's a great way to see who among your friends uses a new application you're using. It does not allow access to the content of your emails, however. All the webmail vendors, most prominently Yahoo!, are working on creating an "Inbox 2.0" experience for users - moving beyond simple one-off messaging and offering an Attention Data driven, media savvy communication hub.

Should users demand more portability, though, for the actual content of our email? Secure portability of content into the hands of 3rd parties seems like a vital step in enabling a whole ecosystem of innovation. Otherwise instead of best practices in user authentication, we get stuck with virtual home decorators unable to anything for us unless we give them a copy of our house keys. At least the people in an analogy like that would be licensed and bonded. Let some brand new web app startup into my email account, with my username and password? No thanks.

Back in February, there were reports that the entertainment industry had somehow convinced the UK gov't that the "file sharing issue" should be the responsibility of ISPs, rather than the record labels whose obsolete business model caused the problem in the first place. The UK gov't then issued a very public threat that ISPs had better start kicking file sharers off the internet, or it would pass a law requiring them to do so. It appears that rather than push back, Virgin Media has jumped right in and will start kicking those accused of unauthorized sharing off their system using a "three strikes" policy. Of course, some might find this a bit ironic, considering that part of Virgin's entire marketing campaign was around how you could get free stuff via its internet connection. In the meantime, it's still not clear why ISPs should be responsible for propping up a different industry's business model.

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What it does

Everything’s going semantic these days. The search engine giants are surely hiding some handsome technology in their maximum tech, maximum security vaults. But it’s not just the big boys getting into the action. The vision of a semantic web has been around awhile. It aims for a web that works more like we work, deriving meaning from information through a combination of metadata, structure and technology. In the semantic search field, a semantic engine would be able to infer meaning rather just spewing out a bunch of terms you may or may not need. Discover Semantic is one such semantic search engine. It touts itself as a search engine for semantic web topics. So if you need a primer on anything semantic—RDF, GRDDL, OWL, SPARQL or microformats—check out Discover Semantic. Make your self familiar with the next generation of web.

In their own words

“a search engine for semantic web topics”

Why it might be a killer

Discover Semantic is a good way to find info on the semantic web vision and it also works as Google type search engine with ads but, its results are a lot more fine tuned.

Some questions

Discover Semantic is sparse on info—how will it gain an audience? What’s its business model? Are the results satisfactory to users used to Google?

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Just when the recording industry is getting comfortable with the idea of digital downloads for music, piracy and all, along comes a new breed of online copyright infringement: that of digital books.

Those fantastic eBook readers like the Kindle and that thing Sony wants us to like are a blessing for us bookworms, but it could be a headache for authors. As DRM is circumvented and copies of works make their way onto P2P networks, where will the royalties come from?

The problem isn’t that people want the content for free — indeed, libraries are still around — it’s that copyright law needs to be wholly overhauled to account for modern times. While there’s much buzz about doing just that, for now authors will just have to hope Amazon can out-market services like BitTorrent and make people pay.

Offline access to Google Docs is coming, as announced today by Phillip Tucker over at the Google Docs blog. Personally, I’d be a lot more excited if I didn’t just upgrade to Firefox 3, since this is a Google Gears based project (and Gears isn’t yet compatible with that version of Firefox - see my Twitter log for documentation of my Firefox problems).

On the upside, though, Gears will ultimately come to FF3 through some form or fashion, and Firefox 2 users can start enjoying offline access themselves very soon - some even today. The migration of accounts with access to offline capabilities begins now.

It’s a great system that moves me closer to true cloud computing. I am an avid user of Google Docs, GMail and Google Reader. Ultimately, though, the 5% of the time when I don’t have Internet access kept me from using Google Docs as my exclusive document editor. Theoretically, now, this can end.

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What it does

Inquisitor is an instant search app that’s not only pretty handy, it’s also just plain pretty. Designed for Safari, it’s got the whole Mac sleekness thing going on. Inquistor (number 3) acts like Spotlight—the search facility for Apple computers—except for the web. So just tap in some keywords and you’ll get websites instantaneously; Inquisitor will also pack in some suggestions for you to refine your search further. It’s got auto-fill, meaning it will complete your words as you type. You can add as many search engines as you like, and do take advantage of the customized keyboard shortcuts.

In their own words

“Inquisitor... it's like Spotlight for the web.



Start typing and websites pop up immediately, along with ideas to refine your search.



It'll autocomplete your words (is it reading your mind?) and you can add more search engines to Safari with customized keyboard shortcuts.”

Why it might be a killer

This Safari search box is a looker. Besides that, it’s lightweight and quite practical. It’s great for quick searches.

Some questions

Is there going to be Firefox version of this available? Can this survive on donations alone?

Updates


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Observing April Fools Day has become a time-honored tradition for many web companies. Much like changing your logo to celebrate holidays, pulling a fast one on your users on April 1st is something that many web services and applications have really taken to heart. But keeping creative year-after-year is tough, and some companies have learned how to consistently deliver. Below, based on past performance, is a list of the top 10 places you can go to get fooled tomorrow.

1. Google

Google's pranks each year are probably the most anticipated on the web. Last year, they hit users with two: Sewage-based home WiFi, and printed Gmail. Other classics from the Google prank archive include: the Google Mentalplex, Google Gulp, Google's jobs on the moon, Google PigeonRank, and Google Romance.

Being the tricksters they are, Google also sometimes makes some extaordinary real announcements on April 1, like in 2004 when it used a rather tongue-in-cheek press release to announce Gmail. Google also inspires others to create Google-centric pranks, such as Google Maps Rooms from Google Blogoscoped in 2006.

2. Ebay

Auction site eBay is another great place to trawl for April Fools jokes. Some intrepid auctioneer usually tries to pull a prank each year, perhaps most famously that distinction fell to prop-maker Dan Baines. In 2006 he caused quite a stir when he put up for sale what was purported to be the body of a dead "fairy" on the site. It took him days to respond to all the email he got as a result. ""I've had all sorts of comments including people who say they've seen exactly the same things and one person who told me to return the remains to the grave site as soon as possible or face the consequences," he told the BBC.

Sometimes people play off of other pranks on eBay as well. In 2005, one could find invites to Google's fictitious "Gulp" program being auctioned off on the site.

3. ThinkGeek

Geek-friendly shopping site ThinkGeek sometimes gets in on the Apirl Fools Day act by putting up all sorts of fanciful objects for sale. Last year, for example, they offered the Wii Helmet and inhalable caffeine sticks.

4. Wikipedia

While the validity of Wikipedia for serious research is in doubt already, don't be surprised if everyone's favorite crowd-sourced encyclopedia site gets just a tad be more unreliable tomorrow. In 2005, for example, the site announced that it had been taken over by Encyclopedia Britannica. The article, now labeled a hoax, claimed that the new encyclopedia would cost £99.97/page to edit.

5. NASA

The American space organization has been pulling a prank on its "Astronomy Picture of the Day site on April 1 for many years. Some of the best include last year's space Quidditch match, 2003's Ollie the Owl constellation, and 1998's lunar field goal. Our favorite, though, is 2005's hilarious Water on Mars -- pictured below.

6. Facebook

Though a newcomer to the fraternity of April Fools prankers, Valley-darling Facebook got in on the act last year with some interesting stuff delivered to users via the News Feed. They announced their new "LivePoke!" feature, in which users could pay to have their friends literally poked by a real person. They sent out humorous relationship updates, such as, "Harry and Voldemort have set their relationship status to 'Mortal Enemies.'" And existential status updates like, "You are on Facebook, reading your News Feed." They even announced, much to the chagrin of sports fans everywhere, that Ohio State and Florida -- who were set to meet in the 2007 NCAA championship basketball game -- had mututally agreed upon a tie.

7. Blizzard

Blizzard entertainment, makers of the ultra-popular "World of Warcraft" games, likes to have a little fun with its fans on April Fools Day. In 2006, for example, they announced the creation of BurgerCraft, a chain of theme restaurants based on their games. "At BurgerCraft, players will have a chance to truly taste the flavor of Blizzard's games and savor traditional dishes from all the company’s popular game universes," the company wrote in a bogus press release that included the names of some of the dishes that would be served at the restaurants, such as, Red Dragon Wings, Zealot Fries, and the Frost Shock Smoothie.

Last year, Blizzard got in on the act again by announcing the World of Warcraft tinfoil hat which was of course the "logical result of [a] profound insight, combining tinfoil's powerful mental shielding properties with the excellent counter-hexing effect of troll tears and the outstanding mind-focus powers of one of Azeroth's most precious gems."

8. HowStuffWorks

Beginning in 2006 HowStuffWorks has begun to put up a fake article on the first of April each year. So far, they've been must-reads. In 2006 it was animated tattoos, and last year they brought us cell phoe implants.

9. Craigslist

Though not a guaranteed place to seek out an official prank every year, the one that Craigslist pulled in 2002 was just too good not to mention. Known for its simple, and ad-free design, Craigslist has grown to be the largest classifieds sites in the US serving 27 million unique users monthly. In 2002, those users got quite a shock when founder Craig Newmark announced to its visitors that the site would start running banner ads.

"Craigslist represents virgin territory for banner ad placement," the site said on a page that even included a form for purchasing ads. However, even without the guarantee of an official prank, like eBay, expect Craigslist to be flooded with prank adverts tomorrow.

10. Newspapers

Newspaper, especially those in Britain, love to publish fake stories on April 1. Ever since the 1977 seven-page supplement published in the Guardian detailing life on the fictional island of San Serriffe, newspapers and magazines have been bonkers for April Fools Day hoaxes.

Just last year there was CNet's April 1 homepage, which sported some fanciful stories including the Dalai Lama being exiled to Second Life and a preview of a new Wii knitting game. There was the grow-your-own Viagra craze in the Independent, Tony Blair heading to the stage via the Observer, and the Register's fake story on Google and Apple joining forces to make a phone.

Conclusion

Of course, the web isn't the web isn't the only place you might be fooled. Companies have a long history of spending real money to put out fake news on April 1st. In 1998, for example, Burger King took out a a full page advertisement in USA Today announcing the "left handed Whopper" -- a new version of their famous burger specifically made for lefties. In 1996, Taco Bell announced that it had purchased the famed US historical landmark, "The Liberty Bell," and was renaming it -- you guessed it -- "The Taco Liberty Bell." So keep your eyes peeled, and remember to take everything you read tomorrow with a large helping of salt.

Even we're not immune. Late last year we reported that CoRank and Menéame had merged before realizing a tad too late that it was actually a prank for the Feast of the Holy Innocents, which is sort of a Latin American and Spanish equivalent of April Fools Day.

Be sure to check out April Fool's Day on the Web which has been attempting to catalog every web-based April Fool's Day gag since 2004.

When we hear from Aviary it’s bound to be something entertaining and fun. The New York based company remains in private beta but adds to its suite of image manipulation products regularly. The newest tool is called Dodo, a web-based time machine.

A video demo is below. You upload an image to the service and it will “age” it based on user input. An example: upload a picture of yourself, tell it how many years out you want it to age you, tell it how much you drink and smoke, and not any planned plastic surgery. It will then show you what it thinks you’ll look like down the road.

Aviary says the tool isn’t just for fun - that it may also be useful for “tracking down long missing children,” and “determining if a girlfriend will end up looking like her mother.” Demo video below.

What’s the technology behind it? Well, it’s pretty close to magic. Anything is possible in early April, it seems.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

STARTUP DETAILS:

Company Name: ConcertAttack

Company Website: http://www.concertattack.com

20 word description: ConcertAttack.com is a dedicated online live music community for sharing your concert reviews, pictures and videos.

CEO’s 100 word description: ConcertAttack.com is focused solely on live music. We organize concert content in relationship to the artist and their concerts and, not by limiting it to specific profiles or networks, making it much easier for fans and artists to share.

Spending several months in limited Alpha to make improvements, we launched in Public Beta with over 12,000 pieces of content and with two artist features under our belt in March 2008. We have already had artists like, Plain White T’s blog about us and post banners on their MySpace. We have commitments from other artists as well.

Mashable’s Take: ConcertAttack is a new music site that’s focused on live concerts. The aim is to provide visitors and users with useful information regarding an artist and their past and upcoming concerts. The result is a user-generated conglomerate of shareable information about any given artist.

Perusing through the site, you’ll find tag clouds for popular artists that lead you to their profile page. This profile features a host of aggregated information about that artist, pulling content from across the web. Flickr photos,YouTube videos, Wikipedia entries, and Facebook pages are just some of the typical sources you’ll find for artist content on ConcertAttack.

You’ll also see a list of artist’s concerts. These each have their own profiles as well, and there are a number of actions a user can take from here. List yourself as an attendee in order to submit photos from your experience at the concert. ConcertAttack will provide you with an email address for submitting mobile photos from the concert as well. There are also subscription options among other actions that users can do from this page.

The social networking and content aggregation features of ConcertAttack are rather similar to Going.com, where users are also leveraged for the promotion and recollection of a particular concert. Finding concerts to attend is also a primary goal, as the central objective for ConcertAttack is to connect people with upcoming live concerts for artists they’re interested in. This concept is similar to Songkick, though ConcertAttack offers a bit more peripheral data about a given artist, and doesn’t quite have the search capabilities of Songkick’s service.

Sponsored by Sun Startup Essentials

Editor’s Note: If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion in “The Startup Review” series, please see the details here.

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What it does

You’ve heard, no doubt about StumbleUpon, the social discovery tool. Well, now there’s GooglUpon which aims to do the same sort of thing, except that it’s powered by the search engine Goliath Google. Actually, that’s not exactly correct. Whereas StumbleUpon relies on a community for web recs and discovery, GooglUpon has no real social component. To use it, enter in a search term as you usually would. The results are populated in the bottom half of the screen. Next to each item you’ll have the option to save the sites you like. GooglUpon then uses those saved items to refine your search. You can reset your search using the red arrow next to the search bar. There’s also several options to refine your search via media type, e.g. photos, blogs, and books.

In their own words

"Searches, saves interesting things, saved stuff refines search"

Why it might be a killer

This site does facilitate your Google searches by filtering via your preferences and taste. It’s incredibly simple to use—there’s absolutely nothing new to learn. You’ll ultimately get more refined results.

Some questions

This lacks any social component. It really doesn’t offer anything novel or new. Will anyone find it useful?

Updates


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