Graphita Adds Personal Bling to Photos

San Rafael, California-based Graphita wants to let people add a little bling to their photos.

The company offers a Flash-based application that enables users to upload photos and add a personal touch via an easy to use toolset filled with stamps, text icons, captions, bubbles and more (Bubbleply does much the same for videos). The Graphita rich toolkit is easy to use to add, resize and customize each addition to a photo creation. The product is simplified for the masses and offers users the option of an authenticated or anonymous experience – thus positioning itself for higher adoption rates. Currently, Graphita is in closed beta and does not appear to support the addition of animated icons which might be something worth looking into implementing before its official launch in mid-May.

Upon customizing a photo, users can share them via email, print and send them back to their favorite photo sites (Flickr, MySpace, etc.), or even send them to photo pick-up locations (Costco, Walgreens, etc.). In addition, photo creations can be placed directly on consumer products like coffee mugs, tee shirts or other items. Graphita does not appear to offer its own social networking hooks but rather leverages existing products and services. However, registered users have the option to share uploaded photos in the public gallery or keep them private.

In the coming months Graphita is looking to further integrate with existing products so that users can have quick access to the Graphita toolset from their favorite online photo product. Competitors to Graphita include PikiPimp and Comeeko who both offer photo annotations. Of course, larger online photo products like AOL Pictures, Flickr and PhotoBucket could develop and add similar features right into their products, thus squashing Graphita chances for web annotation domination.

Editor’s Note: Frank Gruber writes Somewhat Frank, is the co-founder TECH cocktail and is a product manager at AOL. He is pictured below along with fellow AOL’er Orli Yakuel.

Google’s Office Suite Complete: Google “PowerPoint” Confirmed

There’s no need for further speculation: Today at the Web 2.0 Expo Google CEO Eric Schmidt confirmed (here also) that Google will soon launch a PowerPoint clone, completing their basic office suite (they already have Word and Excel covered). Expect these services to be combines with Gmail, Google Calendar, GTalk and other services under a single brand for small businesses.

Schmidt also said that they’re office suite isn’t a threat to Microsoft. That, of course, is complete spin.

What Schmidt didn’t say is whether Google will build or buy this. They acquired Writely, and (mostly) built their spreadsheet application. The smart money is saying this is a build, not a buy. Update: Google has also announced the acquisition of Tonic Systems to power the presentations product. So much for the smart money being on a build, not a buy, and so much for concerns about yet one more disparate platform to integrate into Docs & Spreadsheets. Launch is planned for this summer.

Amazon S3 Reaches 5 Billion Stored Objects

While I was busy announcing the upcoming TechCrunch20conference and picking fights with venture capitalists today, Dan Farber was covering the news at the Web 2.0 Expo. One of the more interesting disclosures to surface: Amazon’s Jeff Bezos announced that their S3 storage-on-demand service, which launched just thirteen months ago, surpassed 5 billion stored objects. This is up from just 800 million stored objects in July 2006.

Income from S3 is little more than a rounding error for Amazon, with nearly $11 billion in 2006 revenue. But the service has some passionate users who are claiming to be saving a lot of money versus handling storage themselves. It’s not too early to say, as Dan does, that “Infrastructure as a service has arrived.”

Amazon does need to be careful on the expense side, however. A BusinessWeek article late last year got deep into the numbers:

Most worrisome to investors is Amazon’s three-year-plus binge on new technologies. So far this year its spending on technology and content, including hiring hundreds of engineers and programmers to produce all these new services and buy more servers to run them, is up 52%, to $485 million. As a result, operating margins, at 4.1% for the past four quarters, now come in at less than Wal-Mart’s 5.9%. Even Barnes & Noble Inc. (BKS), that doughty bricks-and-mortar book chain that many expected to get remaindered by the Web, has higher margins, at 5.4%. “I have yet to see how these investments are producing any profit,” gripes Piper Jaffray & Co. analyst Safa Rashtchy. “They’re probably more of a distraction than anything else.”

'Office' fans flock to edit Wikipedia

In the NBC series "The Office," the boss Michael Scott turned to Wikipedia for tips on fending off an employee's request for a pay raise. Viewers quickly flocked to the online encyclopedia and added their take to its entry on negotiations.

Administrators at Wikipedia had to limit editing of the entry, most recently late Tuesday, placing it in "semi-protection" mode. That meant users couldn't make changes anonymously or from accounts fewer than four days old — to discourage those drawn to the site specifically because of the broadcast.

The site imposed similar restrictions on the entry twice before, only to see vandalism continue after they were lifted.

Wikipedia is a collaborative reference site where anyone can add, change or even delete entries, regardless of expertise. The thinking is that the collective wisdom results in a better product overall, and members of the community can watch for any vandalism and reverse it.

In the case of the "negotiation" entry, viewers quickly added phony tips in response to clueless advice from Scott, played by Steve Carell, in last week's episode.

One edit simply replaced the entry with a statement praising the television program. That was followed by the insertion of Scott's tips for getting the upper hand, including "suddenly changing the location" and "refusing to talk first."

Users made more than 100 changes, including those to reverse the vandalism, before the site imposed the latest restrictions on revisions.

Yahoo disappointing 1Q drags down stock

Investors were falling in love with Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news) again until the Internet icon's disheartening first-quarter results ruined the mood.

With both its profit and revenue missing analyst estimates for the first three months of the year, Yahoo left Wall Street wondering how much longer it will take the Sunnyvale-based company to regain its financial momentum after stumbling through much of 2006.

Reflecting hopes for a more rapid comeback, Yahoo's stock price had surged by 26 percent so far this year heading into Tuesday's earnings announcement.

But the optimism quickly faded after Yahoo revealed its first-quarter profit had fallen by 11 percent to $142.4 million, or 10 cents per share. That compared with net income of $159.9 million, or 11 cents per share, at the same last year.

The results were a penny below the average earnings estimate among analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

The letdown zapped Yahoo's stock, which plummeted $2.53, or 7.9 percent, in after-hours trading Tuesday. Before the disappointing news, Yahoo shares had gained 48 cents earlier in the day to close at $32.09 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

AOL beats TV with word of upcoming shows

AOL stepped up its bid to capture advertising dollars normally spent on television by showcasing five new interactive programs a month before the broadcast networks announce their fall lineups.

The online company hosted more than 500 advertising executives and media planners at a "First Look" showcase Tuesday — what Chief Executive Randy Falco described as a "coming out party for AOL" as a major online advertising platform.

"Everything is growing online," Falco told the audience. "If you want to be where the consumers are going, you have to be with us."

The First Look event, at the corporate headquarters of AOL LLC parent Time Warner Inc., comes as AOL seeks to increase its advertising revenue to make up for rapid declines in its legacy Internet access business.