Google search added some new features!

Good evening readers. We have some exciting news from Google today! Google has finally caught up to the times and added some 21st century features to their search. Ever since Google came on the scene they have had this simple white background and search bar. Today they released a few added features that will make search more interactive. They have added the ability for users to comment on a link in search, they also added the ability of users to delete links they find useless as well as promote links they find useful. We were able to try out these features and they are extremely beneficial in our view because this will mean a more streamlined search for all. Links that are promoted by more users will go higher in searches since they would be more reliable. We urge you to go test these functions out if you have not yet done so. We think overall that Google is making a step in the right direction and we give this review 5 thumbs high!!! This has been another WebNR exclusive! WebNR over and out!!

Junkaloo - The story.

Hello guys. WebNR is honored to provide review on the release of Junkaloo.com. This is a website we have watched for some time and seen multiple changes. The initial poll from the public concludes that the people like the idea but not many liked the UI. Well problem solved!! Junkaloo has rolled out a completely new and exciting layout (as seen in the image) for it's users and it managed to get a flat out approval from the same initial respondents. We were able to conduct an interview with the team members of Junkaloo which we will post in a minute. Let's provide a little history on the project first before we get into the interview. Junkaloo is a simple website that allows users to search for as well as post free items for others to search. The concept is very much like that of many classified ads websites however Junkaloo is the first to specialize in free items solely in this manner. Junkaloo is interesting because it is a closed community meaning one must have an account to be able to share items with others and it also boasts a news and broadcast feature where users can post; get this, FREE ADS!! Well let's get into the interview so you can learn more about this project:

WebNR

Junkaloo? Why this name and how did it come about?

Junkaloo

The site was originally called Junkmonk back in 2006 when the idea was conceptualized but for legal reasons we decided to go with Junkaloo. Junkaloo basically was a cool and easy to remember name that included the concept of the project in its phonetics so it just worked!

WebNR

How did the idea for this project develop?

Junkaloo

There is a saying that goes "Service to many leads to greatness". It is from this ideology that this concept was born. We wanted a way to serve many people, so seeing the need to assist people get useful items that otherwise go to waste everyday we decided to provide an avenue for that exchange. So, the idea of Junkaloo was born.

WebNR

There are hundreds, if not thousands of startups born daily. What separates you from the pack?

Junkaloo

We are not interested in competing with other websites or projects. Our simple mission is to provide a superior service to the people and shape our service around their feedback.

WebNR

When many people hear about this concept, the first comparison is usually to craigslist. What do you think about this?

Junkaloo

We do hear that comparison a lot, particularly someone referred to us as a "specialized craigslist". As stated before, we are not up for any competition, we simply provide a service and plan to enhance it around our customers' feedback. The comparison to Craigslist however is an honor, come on, they have been around since the 19th cetury!

WebNR

Most startups today have seed money from a few thousands to millions of dollars. How do you intend to market and how much seed money has been set aside for marketing?

Junkaloo

Actually, we are different in the sense that we are not interested in using large capital for marketing our product like everybody else. We plan on simply introducing the product and hoping as long as people like it, word of mouth will help expose it to more people. We have actually turned down thousands of dollars in investments to maintain 100% freedom of control of our intellectual property.

WebNR

From a poll conducted we learned that many people liked the idea but the user interface was not received well. Is that the reason behind the redesign?

Junkaloo

To be honest, we released the beta version with an extremely minimal UI. Our plan was to take the user's mind off the aesthetics enough for them to accept the idea whilst we developed the actual site you see now in the back end. So, it was simply a marketing plan we decided was best. It was a success for us as in our first month of launch using various mediums as facebook, SEO optimization, press releases etc, we managed to receive over 500 unique visitors, over 70 active users and a number 1 position on Google for our search term Junkaloo. This was an amazing feat for our first month. So now we have launched the second phase and let's wait to see what will be the outcome.

WebNR

Well done! Congratulations on the accomplishments in such a short time. What are your future plans for Junkaloo?

Junkaloo

We intend to market ourself with no financial support as stated before and listen to our users. Eventually, when the project has captured the interest of enough users we will expand into different technology industries.

WebNR

Thank you.

We hope you enjoyed this lengthy interview. Go to Junkaloo to test the site and see for yourself.
We give it 5 thumbs way up for the new interface! WebNR over and out!!

Gmail has a new look and feel!

Hello again lads! For all you Gmail addicts like us, you have something to celebrate! Gmail just moments ago released a new layout of themes and color choices for their users. We were one of the first to test this out and wow are we impressed. To check out these new changes simply login to your Gmail account, click on settings then select the "Themes" tab and voila!! We give this 5 thumbs way way up, overall a cool new upgrade to an already exceptional product. Test it out and let us know what you think! This has been another WebNR exclusive! WebNR over and out!!

The End of Aol Pictures!

Wow! Well it seems like the recession is affecting virtual businesses as well. Just joking, however we wonder what the real reason is behind the imminent shut down of AOL pictures on Dec 31st! AOL has announced that they will be shutting down AOL pictures and replacing it with a new product called American Greetings Photoworks. This sounds ridiculous to us but only AOL truly knows the real reason behind this decision. If you have photos hosted on AOL pictures (we do not know of anyone who does lol!) they will transfer these photos over to the new service automatically. This topic is really of little interest to us however it's our duty to keep our viewers informed. Here is the LINK for those who are interested. As usual, this has been another WebNR exclusive! WebNR over and out! Comment post, well we really don't mind if you don't comment on this one hahahah!

You heard of Twitter now "Twollow"?

Hello guys. Today we stumbled upon something crazy, or actually really funny. We were surfing around the web 24hrs as we do everyday and we came upon a site called "Twollow". This site looks exactly like Twitter and even phonetically sounds like Twitter. Our first thought was woa! lawsuit! hahahah. But it checks out that this site is actually a tool for automatically following users on Twitter. For those unfamiliar with the follow feature on Twitter, it's basically a feature that allows you to stay connected to a user so you can see what they are tweeting daily. So for those marketing gurus you see how easily this could turn into a viral marketing medium. Anyway, we decided to check it out to see how it works and its actually an extremely basic idea but has the potential to be humongous over time. We particularly like the fact that you can auto-follow, basically automating the entire process which saves you loads of time and energy. Head on over to Twollow and check out the demo they have on the homepage. Since this product was just released, we can not honestly give it a full review but we say 4 thumbs up for coming up with such a simple yet brilliant idea. Well, as usual this has been another WebNR exclusive. WebNR over and out!! Comment, rate, lets hear what you think. See you next blog!

Trouble making up your mind? iMakeDecisions to the rescue!

Good evening lads! Have you ever had trouble making up your mind? Well your not alone. A group of innovators saw the need and decided to create a solution to this problem. The product is called iMakeDecisions and if your on Facebook you may already be familiar with it. It is an iphone application so you may want to add this to your collection of "COOL" stuff (if you have the phone lol). WebNR had the honor of interviewing one of the co-founders, Jason Crawforth. Here is what the interview was like:

WebNR

What is your background, please explain a little?

Jason Crawforth

I have been a founder and owner of several technology companies. My current company, MobileDataforce (www.MobileDataforce.com), is a software development company that focuses 100% on software development for mobile devices. We have been in business for over five years and develop custom solutions on the Windows Mobile, Blackberry and iPhone platforms.

WebNR

How many people are involved with this project?

Jason Crawforth

We had a total of seven people on the project: 4 developers, two graphic artists, and one project manager.

WebNR

Why did you come up with this project?

Jason Crawforth

We felt there was a need for someone to consolidate all the “decision making” games into one application. After seeing 10 coin flip games, six 8-ball tools, and eight rock-paper-scissors, we felt we could simply build a better mousetrap.

WebNR

We noticed that you have been getting a lot of attention from facebook users, how rapidly has your product grown since its launch? We are currently 100th (out of 400+ apps) in the “Lifestyle” applications group on iTunes. For being released one week ago and competing against hundreds of other apps in our category that are either free or have been in play months longer than us, we feel we are doing quite well. Our Facebook group has been helpful in raising visibility to our tool.

WebNR

Is it in Beta or Alpha stage?

Jason Crawforth

Is any application every really out of “Beta”. We are released onto iTunes, but will be adding enhancements to it in the future.

WebNR

We noticed this product is only for the iphone so far, if its popularity continues to grow, do you intend to create an android version in the future?

Jason Crawforth

If Google creates the platform to deliver the solution, like Apple’s iTunes, we’d consider porting it to Android.

WebNR

Just a funny question. Do you own an iPhone and do you actually use this product?

Jason Crawforth

I own an iPod Touch and do use the tool. Won a coin toss last weekend and my friend had to buy the round of beers (we do not encourage drinking for those under 21). I don’t have an iPhone because AT&T doesn’t have the best coverage here in Idaho.

WebNR

What are your future plans and vision for this product?

Jason Crawforth

We’d like to add new decisions making tools to our application. Also, we are looking at making it multi-lingual.

WebNR

Thank you.

Wow are we ever excited about this product! We have actually been able to test out the application on our iPhone that we purchased solely for this purpose. We conclude that this product is extremely useful and actually fun to play with! It gets 5 thumbs up from us.
To check out more on company and product visit their website Here or join their Facebook group Here.

This has been another WebNR exclusive! WebNR over and out! Comment and rate! Let's know what you think!

Yahoo Mash not what it was "mashed" up to be!

We are not sure if you were paying attention but since some time back, yahoo was planning on making their stake in the social networking industry. We got a chance to play around with the site in 2007 and it was actually a nice concept. The features they offered were the typical social networking types such as profile, images, messaging users etc. They boasted a virtual "giga pet" like animation feature where the user had to pet, feed and play with their pet to keep it alive. That feature was pretty cool but nothing new. But what we were particularly excited about was the ability for users to modify each other's pages, for instance if someone does not like your page layout they can add to the design or take away from it. That feature alone made it fun for us to use and would have been game changing had Yahoo let it out the gates. Those of you like us who were waiting for the official release of Yahoo Mash are probably wondering what the heck happened?! Well the scoop is they have canceled the project for certain reasons we will never know of obviously. However we have an idea what happened, they could not develop enough momentum hahah!! The proof is here. Well R.I.P Yahoo Mash, maybe they will try to resurrect it later hahaha!! We want to hear what you think. Drop a comment or rate this review!
Yahoo Mash gets 5 thumbs down from us for canceling the project before it got out.

This has been another WebNR exclusive!! WebNR over and out!!

Happy "1 Billionth" tweet Twitter!!!!

Like Twitter or not but the fact is they have successfully marketed and developed themselves to a point where they are known worldwide. Today WebNR learned that a website called popacular registered Twitter's 1 billionth Tweet!!! Did you get that 1 B I L L I O N!! That's 1,000,000,000! Wow! If this is accurate then we tip our virtual hat to Twitter. To be honest initially the idea of Twitter sounded so ridiculously stupid to us that we actually laughed at it. Well who is laughing now right? We believe that Twitter is now in a position to monetize and cash in on all their hard work. They have been extremely conservative in this respect for some time now so time will tell what they will do. Whatever they do, the world is watching or rather "Twittering" haha. Congratulations Twitter! Check out their site at Twitter.com . We give Twitter 5 thumbs wayyyyy up!

This has been a WebNR exclusive!!! WebNR over and out!!!

"GoogleBook" Google's Attempt at a Facebook.

Well, its not exactly called Googlebook lol but it's called Orkut. Orkut has been around for some time now but many people in the US may not know about it. Orkut is actually a huge site in Brazil and India, with over 47,092,584 communities. Orkut is google's very own social networking website that functions in very much the same way all other social networks function. Users can go on the website and create a profile then through that they can connect with friends, share messages, pictures etc...Like all websites of it's magnitude it has faced its share of problems from hackers exploiting the site to legal issues. We have been users of this site since 2006 and to be honest we like it. It definitely has a large potential of invading some of facebook's market but for now it has not done so. If you have not gotten a chance to check this site out go to Orkut today. Tell us what you think. We give it 4 thumbs up!!!

This has been a WebNR exclusive!!! Post comments.

Have you heard of Juicy Campus?

Juicy Campus is basically a website that allows users to "anonymously" post topics and comments centered around their school campus activities. We checked it out today and wow it is something to behold! The founders of the site must have been smoking when they came up with this concept hahaha. Don't they know that this will be another distraction for students, just a way for them to pry gossip about their school mates? Well whatever they were thinking, this is a GREAT idea and some people have dubbed it, the "Facebook Killer". Is it a facebook killer or not? We will have to let time tell this. All we know is, we have already gotten some "Juicy" information that we never knew on our campus hahaha. For those trying to sue guess what, they are protected by the Communications Decency Act of 1996. Well we were lucky to get in touch with an anonymous member of this site, though not anonymous to us hahha. They said that, the reason they like this concept is that they get a chance to learn what others think about them as well as other people. So basically the site is for nosy people lol. Well great site. This site gets a 5 thumbs up from us and we will keep you posted on it's development in future. Meantime here is the link Juicy Campus Enjoy!
This has been a WebNR exclusive! 

WHOOOOOOOOO!!! Our first review!!!! Let us know what you think! Leave a comment as well! WebNR out and over!