Just looking at the new iPhone ad and wondering out loud about the future.

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. . . let’s collaborate (via remarkk.com).

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Douglas Engelbart is best known as the inventor of the computer mouse but his pioneering work and influence extend far beyond that device. A towering figure in computer science, Engelbart’s fundamental tenet is that computers should help us become smarter and work together better.

In December 1968, at the Fall Joint Computer Conference, Engelbart gave the first public multimedia demonstration of a networked computer system which brought together the mouse, cathode-ray tube displays, windowing systems, text editing, hyperlinks, videoconferencing and networked collaboration.

This 90-minute presentation, dubbed the “mother of all demos”, presented a compelling vision of how computers and online networks could be used to augment human capability. It’s a vision that we are still trying to realize today.

For more on Doug Engelbart check out the Invisible Revolution documentary and MouseSite.

Octopz software takes advantage of the web browser and the internet to deliver a unique online collaboration service. Using the web browser means that there is no special software to download and install in order to use Octopz, and using the internet means that our service can be used by anyone with access to the world wide web. It also means that online security is a foremost consideration in designing and providing the Octopz service to our customers.

Octopz users and their guests are required to authenticate themselves via user name and password in order to log into the service. This data is protected and encrypted in transmission. Once authenticated, users can only enter the rooms that they have been given access to by administrators.

Within an Octopz room, documents, digital media and the related markup information is fully encrypted with SSL (Secure Socket Layer) and verfied by VeriSign. Later this year Octopz will provide the option to encrypt VoIP and webcam data as well.

Physical security is also a foremost consideration for Octopz. Our servers are hosted by Rackspace in data centres in Texas, Virginia, and the UK. With a Tier 1 ranking, Rackspace strictly monitors access to all data centers using keycard protocols, biometric scanning protocols, continuous interior and exterior surveillance. The data centres also feature N+1 redundant power and HVAC, as well as industry leading fire suppression and UPS equipment.

To see Octopz in action inside your web browser, take the quick tour and then sign up for your own free trial account.

Technorati Tags: collaboration, Octopz, online collaboration, RIA, SaaS, web2.0, webware

On our website you’ll find an entire section called Applause, which showcases customer profiles and some of the early Octopz success stories.

You can read how marketing and advertising agencies, graphic designers, illustrators and photographers, architects and designers, film- and video makers, software and web developers are putting the power and simplicity of Octopz online collaboration to work for themselves, their clients, colleagues and suppliers.

As a result, these early adopters of Octopz are saving time and money while delivering better work and higher value services in today’s competitive marketplace.

An Adobe Acrobat or PDF version of our customer profiles is also available here for download or online viewing.

To see Octopz in action inside your web browser, take the quick tour and then sign up for your own free trial account.

Technorati Tags: collaboration, coworking, flash, Octopz, online collaboration, SaaS, webware

One of the barriers that have traditionally limited the adoption of online collaboration services, is the software installation and lengthy registration process that people have to go through to use such a service.

Octopz offers you a unique way to overcome this barrier and increase client, colleague and supplier participation in online collaborations, especially for a one-off session or visit.

With a single click, you can send out an email from within Octopz and invite anyone, anywhere directly into a an Octopz room. The email recipient clicks on the link within the email you’ve sent, and is instantly connected to the right Octopz room. No software to download or install, no lengthy account form to fill in and configure before using the service. For security, a single visit invitation expires after it has been used or within five days if it is unused.

Of course, for regular and frequent online collaborators and participants, Octopz also offers you the ability to create and manage unlimited user accounts very easily from the Meeting Zone panel.

To see Octopz and single visit invitations in action inside your web browser, take the quick tour and then sign up for your own free trial account.

Technorati Tags: collaboration, Octopz, online collaboration, SaaS, webware

Robin Good’s masternewmedia.org website, a leading authority on new media and online collaboration, has posted an feature review of Octopz.

Reviewer Michael Pick has a look at:

• The simple toolset and interface designed so that anyone can be up and running in the space of minutes
• The annotation of rich-media files made possible with Octopz, so that you can leave notes and visual annotations even on single frames of video, and instantly jump back to them with a click of the mouse
• The ease of sharing made capable through Octopz, allowing you to invite anyone, anywhere to join you in a meeting with a single click
• The pricing and options available for independent producers, SoHo customers and Enterprise users

He concludes his review of the software by saying that:

Octopz is an excellent solution for anyone involved in the creative industry looking for an intuitive online collaboration and annotation tool. While there are other solutions that cater specifically to the need for collaborating with image files, documents, or synchronized video, Octopz offers the unique prospect of allowing you to work across the full range of media from a single application.

Read Pick’s enthusiastic and in-depth review here.

To see Octopz in action, take the quick online tour or sign up for your own free trial account.

Technorati Tags: collaboration, masternewmedia, Octopz, online collaboration, review, SaaS, software, web2.0

When we set out to develop Octopz we wanted to provide an online collaboration service that unified a wide range of compelling features and more importantly, did so simply and intuitively.

Judging by an early short review of our service by CNET’s Webware site, this emphasis on simplicity comes though loud and clear.

The same philosophy of simplicity guides our pricing of the service. For $99/month, a single license of Octopz allows you to use all the features and capabilities of the software. You can create an unlimited number of rooms and invite an unlimited number of users to collaborate online. Invited users do not have to purchase their own licenses to participate in your Octopz rooms and projects.

Up to five people can work online in the same room at the same time (synchronously), using all the collaboration features and unified communication channels (test, voice and video chat) available within Octopz. Any user who is a member of one or more of your Octopz rooms can also work at their convenience (asynchronously) to review and provide feedback on project documents, digital media and deliverables.

To compare the price and value that Octopz delivers at $99/mo, lets take a look at a somewhat similar service, Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional (AACP) (formerly Macromedia Breeze).

For $375/mo, Acrobat Connect Professional provides the license holder with a 5 user starter pack. The Acrobat Connect Professional service does not include voice or video conferencing features at the $375/mo subscription price; that’s an extra $99/mo.

Also, although both services Octopz and Acrobat Connect fall under the online collaboration and web conferencing software categories, and use some of the same underlying technology (Flash) to deliver their solutions, they are aimed at two different target audiences.

Octopz is designed for creative and media professionals who want a single comprehensive yet affordable online collaboration service to work with clients, colleagues and suppliers throughout the entire production cycle. And they want to do this in a simple and intuitive way, using a range of communication options (text, voice and video), to share, review and collaborate on documents (proposals, briefs, presentations, project plans, scripts) and digital media (photos, video, sound, animation) files.

For these busy creative pros, whose most precious resource is time, Octopz at $99/mo can easily pay for itself by saving an hour or two a month of lost, unproductive or wasted time per person, and turning it into billable time on a project. The rest as they say, is gravy.

Adobe Connect Professional on the other hand, is aimed at business professionals who need to conduct online meetings or deliver sales, marketing and training presentations in conjunction with Microsoft Powerpoint, to an audience over the internet.

Regardless of what online collaboration service you choose to go with, why not sign up for a free Octopz trial and experience first hand the simplicity, quality and comprehensiveness of our service. Then use that as a basis for comparing other online collaboration services. In the end, we think you’ll like our service and value proposition.

And if you don’t find our service suitable for your needs, we’d like to find out why. So if you have the time please email us or post a comment on the blog. We are always looking to make Octopz better by addressing user needs first, so listening to customer (and non-customer) feedback and suggestions is the most direct way to achieve that goal.

Technorati Tags: adobe, collaboration, coworking, Octopz, online collaboration, SaaS, software, web, web2.0

Octopz integrates text messaging, voice (VoIP) and video (webcam) conferencing to provide unified and seamless communication options within the software. This gives you the flexibility to choose your preferred method(s) of person-to-person communication while collaborating on documents and digital media files or when brainstorming ideas on the shared whiteboard and note-taking applications.

Using the unified communication options built into Octopz means no more worries about juggling separate and often incompatible text, voice and video messaging applications when team members want to work together. Everyone has the same set of text, voice and video channels available to communicate and collaborate online.

To see Octopz in action inside your web browser, take the quick tour and then sign up for your own free trial account.

Technorati Tags: collaboration, coworking, Octopz, online collaboration, SaaS

Octopz is the only browser-based online collaboration software that supports both documents (proposals, briefs, presentations, project plans, scripts) and digital media files (photos, video, sound, animation). A wide range of formats can be uploaded directly into Octopz and we are always adding support for new file types. If we don’t currently support a file format that you use directly, you may still be able to import the content to Octopz by first exporting the file to an intermediate format like JPG, Adobe’s PDF or Apple’s QuickTime.

To see Octopz in action inside your web browser, take the quick tour and then sign up for your own free trial account.

Technorati Tags: collaboration, digital media, Octopz, online collaboration