Loïc Le Meur blog

0 Meet Nick Halstead the Founder of Tweetmeme

I was very impressed by Nick Halstead's explosive growth with Tweetmeme, he explains how he does it in this video.

0 Launch of Seesmic Desktop 0.4 and in-browser Seesmic Web

We are thrilled to announce two new products today, Seesmic Desktop 0.4 (small screen realestate mode, memory and CPU optimized, resize columns) and Seesmic web based in preview mode. I could explain you in details what it is all about but I would rather point you to a few posts we already saw about it and two videos: an HQ video we created showing both apps as well as my demo at the #crunchup. Full release notes coming soon I will update this post.

TechCrunch: Seesmic's Browser Client is like Gmail for Twitter
Mashable: Twitter Everywhere: Seesmic Launches Web App, Plans Mobile Version
ReadWriteWeb: Seesmic launches web-based Twitter client & new version of Seesmic Desktop

and here is my demo at the #crunchup

Here are the full release notes for 0.4

Single Column and Multi-Column Mode

You now have two additional options to view Seesmic Desktop. Our previous version provided a combined fixed column with the ability to detach the columns as a way to manage your stream. In single column mode, you can keep your stream compact and use the sidebar to toggle between accounts, userlists and searches. With the all columns detached mode, you can freely view and control all of your columns in one window. With all three options, you can conveniently navigate your stream any way you want.

Enabling and Setting Fixed Width for Columns

With both the combined fixed/detached column mode and the all columns detached mode, you can now control the width of the detached columns. By setting and controlling a fixed width, you control over your own experience when managing your columns.

Collapsing and Expanding the Sidebar

We've also added a button to collapse and expand the sidebar to improve the user experience of being able to view and manage your stream. With the sidebar in collapsed mode, you can still view minimized buttons with tooltips to toggle between accounts, userlists and searches. This function is available in all three column modes.

Updated API usage controls, Added Options for Timeline Limits and Improved Optimizations for Performance

We understand the resource-intensive nature of client desktop applications. As such, we've made significant internal and external performance improvements, as well as give you more control in the resource management for your stream. Along with internal improvements, we've modified the Twitter API usage per account to accommodate the recent changes from Twitter, and updated the usage control to percentages (%) of allowed requests. You can also set timeline limits in Seesmic Desktop to help control performance. These limits define the maximum number of messages kept in each of your timelines from your friends; replies, private and sent; and searches.

Continued UI modifications, enhancements and fixes include:
* A new search to open when clicking on a hashtag (#) link.
* Mobypicture.com added as add-on authenticated service
* Ensuring links with # appear in seesmic desktop  
* Send messages to twitter will now be as "Seesmic"
* Various logic improvements for account and messaging actions * and many other additional fixes

0 My First Flight in a Glider Sailplane

0 TeamSeesmic community site is now public

50,000 people joined our TeamSeesmic mailing list where we communicate our new releases, as much as we can before we make them public. We feel there is a real community around Seesmic, since the beginning, behind the tools that we build, so we created a simple Ning site for anybody who feels like sharing and learning with us, not only about the tools, but much more. So I shared today what is this community for me and I am listening to what it is for its growing member base. Discuss there please and not on this post if the topic is of interest.
Here is what it is about for me:
-getting to know each other much more than usually online (which has been unique about Seesmic since we created it)
-organizing real life events for the community
-learning and sharing about community management
-discuss social software progress and tools
-of course also discuss the tools Seesmic creates but it should not (and it is not) be only about that
-I think many of you have started / would like to learn to start a business so notes and conversations about entrepreneurship would make a lot of sense too
-why not sharing new ideas as businesses too

I like that it is by membership approval only to comment/create content as I am tired about trolls, anonymous and too negative people who spend their time just shooting any new idea. I would like this place to be focusing on the future and allowing new ideas to emerge, I would also like it to be enthusiastic, energetic and positive, just because life is too short to complain all the time!

Having said that, all improvements and constructive criticism should be accepted and in fact encouraged, because that is how we all progress and we always welcome it.

The most important thing for me remains to stay in daily touch and get to know each other better.

What should teamseesmic become for you? Thanks in advance.

0 Meet MrTweet's co-founder Ming Yeow

Ming Yeow founded an interesting service, MrTweet that lets you discover people you should follow pretty much the way the Amazon recommendations work. Ming also managed to create a growing community around it.

0 Meet Evernote's CEO Phil Libin and see how they rock

I really enjoyed meeting the team at Evernote, they just rock, here is a quick interview of Phil Libin, CEO and if you haven't read that Techcrunch post about their success, you have to

0 New Seesmic Desktop 0.3rc for Team Seesmic

We just sent a new version to our TeamSeesmic members (you need to add your name and email in the form at http://desktop.seesmic.com to get it)

Because this will be only be available to our TeamSeesmic friends, this version will not auto-update. Here are the features that are included in this version:

Multi-Account Posting with Smart Account Enabling:
We've upgraded the user interface to select which accounts to send posts to, saving you the time and effort it takes to post to each account separately. We've also added an option for Smart Account Enabling. With this feature turned on, this will allow Seesmic Desktop to change accounts when messaging your friends based on whom you are replying or direct messaging to. Seesmic will not change the accounts if you do not enable Smart Account.
Authenticated bit. ly Integration:
You can now use your own bit.ly account when using bit. ly as a shortener for Seesmic Desktop. By simply entering your bit. ly API key, you can now keep track of your URL clicks when sharing your links with your friends and followers.

New Services Panel:
Along with bit. ly, we have set a foundation for managing your accounts for sending images, and be able to set them in our new Services Panel. The Additional Integrated Account Services panel currently includes image services such as Pikchur (where you can set your own account), Posterous, TwitPic, Twitgoo & yfrog (which is currently using your twitter account). More importantly, this allows us to give you more options for integrated accounts with other services that will be coming soon.

Continued UI modifications, enhancements and fixes:
We've made continued modifications to the Seesmic Desktop user interface saving time when using Seesmic Desktop and space when reading your stream.
Some of the enhancements include:
Minimizing the message panel until you start entering messages to send
Enabling replies in your Facebook friends' avatar to quickly add comments
Inline reminders of what account you are posting from
An added "Cancel" button to erase your messages in the message panel
Updated scrolling arrows for enhanced browsing
Ensuring all replies appear in your integrated timeline
and many other additional fixes
If you have any direct feedback on this version, the best way to send in the feedback is through our help site:http://help.seesmic.com/ (we are currently working on some posts for the new features).
If you have any feedback on new feature enhancements, please go to http://feedback.seesmic.com/ to review, vote or add any ideas for our upcoming versions.
And of course, you can contact @askseesmic on Twitter.

We look forward to hearing your feedback!

0 Viralogy's co-founder Jun Loayza interviews me

Jun Loayza, co-founder of Viralogy, interviewed me on how I deal with social software in general. Viralogy is a new, interesting site which aims at helping you discover good bloggers you have not heard about before. Thanks for the interview, Jun.

0 No Twitpocalypse for Seesmic and Twhirl users

We have made sure our Twitter clients Seesmic and Twhirl should have absolutely no problem during the Twitpocalypse so you can all approach the end of the world in a safer way.

0 My Palm Pre Review

I bought a Palm Pre as I want to investigate if we should create an app for this new hot phone thinking that I would probably cool but... it would be a sub iPhone. After a few hours it feels as an awesome and very usable device that may well end up becoming my main mobile device. I have been carrying for about a year now two phones: an iPhone mostly for mobile browsing and sharing pics and a blackberry for emailing as I am much faster with a keyboard. The Palm Pre has great browsing and a good keyboard, even though much smaller than the blackberry, so it feels like a fantastic combination of both.

Here is a quick review.

The design

It feels much better than an iPhone or a blackberry in your pocket, it's like a little egg. It is not flat and is much more pretty. I wish they would have put a hook to attach a necklace to it, sometimes I like to have my phone this way, like when I host LeWeb, but it slides well and does not feel clunky. The keyboard is much better than on the iPhone's touch keyboard but not as good than the blackberry as it is much smaller. The keys feel very small to my big fingers but I am hoping I can type almost as fast as on the blackberry with some practice. I type super slow on an iPhone and will never fix it, I know, I am getting old but that is just a fact.

UI & UIX

It is extraordinary. You can multitask super easily and I love the move up the card with your finger gesture to delete a window you do not need. It is not as intuitive as the iPhone but as you learn it it feels great if not better sometimes. There are some little lags from now and then which are not too disturbing, and you get those on the iPhone 3G as well, the iPhone 3GS will probably be faster.

Email

You can say what you want about a smartphone, email is still my primary application. It is just amazing on the Palm Pre, as expected. Deleting is super cool with a finger move to the right, it's fast. I love it. The Palm Pre immediately synched with my gmail and gmail apps accounts, I felt home in 2 minutes. It is not "push email" the way the blackberry does, the phone goes and checks for emails for you, they do not arrive in real time, but that's ok, even if not as good as the BB's main reason to buy.

Browsing

That is the main drawback of any Blackberry. Despite all RIM's efforts their browsers just aren't very good. I do not know why they cannot fix the browser, but I never got the iPhone feeling for browsing on a Blackberry. I love it on the Palm Pre, it just renders any page very fast like the iPhone and works in both portrait and landscape mode, the Pre rotates the same way the iPhone does.

Calling and voice quality

I have no idea, I rarely call anyone and rarely get called by anyone. My voice mail says "please leave me an email" so this does not count much for me.

Contacts

If you use the Gmail or Gmail apps suites, it imports all your contacts immediately, as well as your calendar. Works great except one main issue which is a real pain for me, it imports ALL your gmail contacts not only the ones in your address book, everything gmail ever collected for you. For me it's like 4,000 contacts most of which I never interact with and there is no way to import just the ones you added to YOUR contacts, unless I did not find it. That is a real problem for me and I would love any tip to solve that, I guess I will have to delete them from Gmail so that my phone's address book isn't a mess. There are some weird characters also created by gmail in the address book that I have seen on other phones so it does not look like a Palm specific issue.

IM & SMS

Works great, imports your gtalk and aim accounts. I miss Skype chat as this is what we use internally in the company. SMS show in a very similar way than on the iPhone but not as nice, it shows a conversation type view that we became very fast familiar with.

Photo and Video

Very disappointed not to find a click and shoot button in case you see something cool you want to save very fast, I feel there are too many gestures to access the camera recorder. Unsure about the quality will have to try more but it seems better than both iPhone 3G and Blackberry as you try your first pictures. I could not find a way to record a video either I am dumb or they did not release it yet.

App Store

Of course that is where the iPhone wins without even comparing. Thousands of great iPhone apps and very few for the time being available for the Pre, which is normal as it just launched. I have no doubt many developers will build cool apps for it but that may be the reason why the Pre never really grows, as the number of cool apps available is becoming the number one reason to buy for many people. Like my kids, for example, who only talk about the games available on the iPhone.

Goodies

It comes standard with a great GPS navigation software that feels like Tom-Tom with 3D and live directions, better than the iPhone. It also has live and streaming TV services from Sprint which are in great quality but I will never use, unless I am so bored at an airport I will check the news on TV... That happens but is rare.

Social Networking

There was a huge buzz on how fantastic the Pre was for integrating the social software everywhere, in the address book etc. I was quite disappointed by this as I was really expecting to have a WOW effect somewhere. It did not happen. Yes, there is a browser based Facebook which is nice, but that is not that extraordinary. I may have missed things, will play more.

What? It only works in the US?

THAT is terrible. Horrible. I hear it is only Sprint CDMA or something? Won't work in Europe or Asia? Fortunately I have a traveller friendly Orange sim card on my French iPhone that I will use for international roaming data. But come on, seriously? In 2,009 how can you guys release a phone that only works in the US and Canada? Total disappointment here.

Battery time

Not sure, I have only played with it for a few hours, it felt more robust than the iPhone which would have had half battery with that much browsing, but I need to verify that.

Music

No idea, it does not obviously seem to sync with itunes but it's not a big deal for me, I guess it will be for many people.

My conclusion

After a few hours, I am in love with it and already transferred my main phone line from the Blackberry to the Pre. I always kept the Blackberry as my main line, even the iPhone did not manage to become my main phone as I really want a keyboard. The international lack of support is a big problem but I will survive during my trips just with the iPhone. I will keep the iPhone as secondary as we are very excited to create our Seesmic iPhone application and very excited with the iPhone platform that will for sure remain much bigger. The Pre just became my primary today, let's see if it remains this way! Blackberry's chance is their market share but they'd better improve their browser fast...