Web 2.0 Blog

The Web 2.0 Expo is over and some interesting announcements have been made. A lot of the keynote speeches which you can watch on Blip TV, were pretty much as expected with a primary focus on semantic technologies, mobile web and new website which provide more complete user experiences. Mozilla in particular expressed an ambition in developing new ways of accessing information on the Internet via mobile technologies in ways that are much more natural than before.

Microsoft Live Mesh - Microsoft’s premier RIA, which promises to allow users to exchange and share folders using an integrated network of desktops. It is basically promoting the idea of remote desktops. This was the only announcement that really got my attention as I think it’s been something that’s been a long time coming.

Watch the keynote speech from Live Mesh GM, Amit Mital.

I’m sure most people have been in the situation where they’ve wanted to access a file on their computer at home. With Live Mesh, you’ll be able to access you computer’s files from anywhere. Could this result in some security issues? I guess time will tell. I think the days where desktops as stand-alone systems exist unconnected are numbered, in favour of a more interconnected web where anything is accessible from anywhere. This is basically bringing the desktop to the web and bringing the web to the desktop - or combining the both so that there’s no longer a division.

At the moment it seems like it will run predominantly on a web browser which I don’t think it the way forward. Why not allow this system to function independently from old-fashioned browsers which can be restrictive and inconsistent across platforms?

It’s also confirmed that along with file sharing and distributing services among different platforms, Live Mesh will include other services along the lines of social networking and mashups. It’s not completely unique, but you’d expect a high quality solution from Microsoft and I’m looking forward to its capabilities.