The Seattle-Search.com Blog

It has not escaped Microsoft’s attention that some of the coolest sites on the Web — YouTube and MySpace included — get much of their flash from Flash and other design programs sold by Adobe Systems Inc.

But as Microsoft Corp. gets ready to ship its own line of tools for designers and Web developers, the world’s largest softwaremaker finds it must also defend against Adobe on its home turf, the desktop. At the same time, the line between Internet and desktop programs is blurring — and both companies see an opportunity to capture new business.

Microsoft Corp. is preparing to launch Expression Studio, a suite of design software that will go head-to-head with Adobe’s flagship tools, Photoshop and Illustrator. It also will include a tool for building multimedia programs to bring it in line with Adobe’s Flash. At $599 for the suite, Expression is a steal compared with the $1,000 or more Adobe charges for its Web developer suites.

Expression Web, a Web authoring tool to compete with Adobe’s Dreamweaver, is already on the market. Last week, the company said its Flash-like browser plug-in, Silverlight, will be released in beta at the end of the month. Both programs enable multimedia presentations that work regardless of the viewer’s Web browser or operating system.

Adobe, meanwhile, started shipping its Creative Suite 3 last Monday, an upgrade to Photoshop and other core programs. Adobe touted smoother integration with Flash and Dreamweaver, which the company acquired when it bought Macromedia Inc.nearly two years ago.

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Wetpaint Wiki Users Can Now Send Single or Multi-Person Private Messages to Connect and Collaborate With Others About Their Most Passionate Interests

Wetpaint (www.wetpaint.com), the consumer-friendly Wiki for collaborating and publishing online, has announced the availability of its person-to-person and multi-person messaging service. Wetpaint now offers the first consumer Wiki that empowers one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many messaging capabilities. Consumers can use the feature to
privately communicate, share ideas, and coordinate on topics of interest.”When people collaborate, good things happen, whether that collaboration is taking place for the world to see or between two people wishing to have a private dialogue,” said Ben Elowitz, CEO of Wetpaint. “By empowering users to send private messages, Wetpaint furthers its commitment to providing the easiest and most convenient means for consumers to collaborate online.”

Since the June 2006 launch of the Wetpaint consumer platform, more than 300,000 user-generated community Wikis have been created. These sites have joined together people from all over the globe to collaborate on topics ranging from politics and social causes to reunions and weddings.

Early-Stage Northwest Technology Companies from the Northwest’s Digital Media, Web Services, Software and Wireless Industries to Present to Venture Capitalists

The WSA, the state’s oldest and largest technology trade organization, today announced that it has filled its line-up of presenting companies for the 14th annual Investment Forum 2007, the organization’s annual event that matches venture capitalists with early-stage companies from around the Pacific Northwest.

Directly after each company’s presentation, a panel of VCs and industry experts will offer straightforward feedback to the presenters, enabling them to get a sense of how the market may react to the validity and saleability of their products and services.
The following companies are slated to present at the 2007 Investment Forum:

Digital Media:
– Alphabet Lane, Inc.
– FlowPlay, Inc.
– Mixpo
– RIPL Corp.
– Smilebox Inc.
– Yodio

– Web Services / Software:
– Attenex Corporation
– Bag Borrow or Steal
– Centeris Corporation
– Escapia, Inc.
– Klir Technologies, Inc.
– Mercent
– Trailfire

– Wireless:
– Mixxer
– Mobile Semiconductors
– Ontela
– Perlego Systems, Inc.
– Treemo
– ZenZui

The 14th annual Investment Forum will be held on May 2, 2007 at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center at Pier 66 on Seattle’s waterfront from 7:30 a.m. - 6 p.m. PT.

Seattle-based Nordstrom, Inc., a leading fashion specialty retailer, is now offering RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed capabilities vis-a-vis Nordstrom.com. The new feature allows Nordstrom customers to sign up and receive the latest product information on their favorite brands.

“We’re excited to offer RSS feeds to our customers. Fashion is constantly evolving, and by giving our customers the opportunity to see what’s new on our site in real time, we’re giving them even more of an opportunity to stay current,” said Jamie Nordstrom, president of Nordstrom Direct. “We see this tool as a way to offer customers a more efficient way to shop for the products they’re looking for.”

RSS is an easy way to deliver information about recently posted content. By plugging a link into an RSS reader, customers can retrieve the newest content offerings for their favorite Web sites while saving the time it takes to actually visit each site. RSS can be delivered to search engines, specialized RSS directories and special content aggregation sites.

At Nordstrom.com, customers are able to subscribe to personalized feeds on a product search page or to select “favorite feeds” such as Sale Arrivals, Women’s Dresses or the Men’s Jeans Guide. By simply clicking on the orange RSS feed button that appears on the store’s search pages, customers are led through the simple process of signing up to receive feeds, which begin immediately.

Typically offered by news and financial sites, RSS feeds on product news and search preferences are fairly new in the fashion industry.

In 2006, Nordstrom launched the Designer section of its Web site and redesigned its product pages for easy customer navigation. Beginning in October 2007 customers will be able to assemble complete outfits online and take all the pieces directly to the checkout.