Google Docs is great but how do I get all of my Microsoft Office documents uploaded and available for use online?
DocSyncer, a new service that will soon be in beta, aims to answer that question by offe4ring synchronization of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents for your PC to the web where they are available to Google Docs. It sounds great but I’ll have to wait until I get a beta invite to find out for sure. My first reaction is that this will be great for anyone with lots of Office documents who is making the jump to the web. In the enterprise environment, I can see alarms going off as information security groups consider the privacy and data retention issues that a service like this could present. Either way, it looks like it will be worth checking out.
Watching the iPhone frenzy is almost like a spectator sport. I don’t have one yet and I’m not sure I’ll get 
one anytime soon, but I can certainly understand the enthusiasm of the early adopters. It reminds me of how I felt back in 1984 when my Dad surprised me with a brand new Mac.
Once of the criticisms of the iPhone that I hear often is that it’s a closed environment with no SDK. Although that’s true, it appears that the web is the platform on which iPhone applications will be built. The iPhone uses Wi-Fi and AT&T’s EDGE network to provide a seamless data connection. Despite the difference in performance between the two, it’s enough to allow web applications to keep working. Add a caching mechanism like Google Gears and things start to get interesting.
Anyway, I’ve seen several lists of web applications appear since the iPhone launch. This one from Rev2.org is the most extensive. Lifehacker also has a good list. Finally, I’m glad to see 37signals get on board with Ta-da list for the iPhone. After iPhoneDevCamp, who knows what will happen.
Riya Photo Search (previously called Ojos) went alpha this week. This very cool service uses facial recognition technology to identify people in photos. Text in photos is also recognized, and ultimately, these features will allow for automatic tagging and submission to photo sharing sites. So far, I’ve uploaded uploaded 330 photos. With less than fifteen minutes of training, Riya has recognized 99 faces. I would have spent more time training if it weren’t for email address requirement. Each person that you recognize in Riya requires an email address. This is to create uniqueness; however, most of the faces in my photos are kids who don’t have email addresses yet so it’s hold off or make one up. For situations like this, it would be nice to have an alternate way to arrive at uniqueness. I’m sure they’re working on it.
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