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Much hype has surfaced around a new Valley start-up named Jaxtr. The buzz began after LinkedIn co-founder Konstantin Guericke jumped shipped to become CEO of Jaxtr. Why all the hype? Why all the fuss? Well, if Jaxtr were a cake, then we’d need to mix a little bit of VOIP with a little bit of widget to achieve this delicate offering. Think of it as Jajah meets embedding.

Jaxtr allows you to receive incoming phone calls by embedding a widget within your profile on a given social network (MySpace, hi5, Friendster, and so on). The process works as follows:

1. Joe visits your profile.
2. He enters his phone number.
3. He then receives a call.
4. After Joe picks up, you receive a call.
5. You pick up.
6. You chat with Joe about your love for poetry and gardening for hours.

It does sound strikingly similar to Jajah, doesn’t it?

A couple of points to note:

• Jaxtr provides the ability to receive voicemail if you are not present for a call.
• You are able to block unwanted callers and/or provide the ability for only certain friends to call.
• Caller phone numbers are never revealed.
• A link in an e-mail signature can be used in place of the widget.

Revenues will be generated via enhanced features and advertising.

I definitely think that this company has a good thing going. However, I often enjoy stepping over the fence and playing devil’s advocate. In this case, I think that a lot of bloggers and PR juggernauts have overlooked a crucial element. Let me present my case, your Honour…

A Jaxtr call is essentially an anonymous call from anyone viewing a social network profile to the profiled user. Now, if I’m not mistaken, a majority of social networks are tailored around the teenage demographic. Do you see where I’m going with this?

Now all of a sudden, you get a small percentage of sick, perverted individuals calling up 15 year old girls with ill intentions. Albeit this is definitely a minority crowd, the predicament is still present at all times. The only prevailing force is parental intervention (this is assuming that prevention was absent in the first place; hence the teenager roaming the social network). However, if the teenager is home alone, who knows where this simple, innocent conversation may lead and what kind of details the caller may be able to extract.

This level of voice communication is really the first of its kind to expand the social networking horizon. If parents thought they had problems with their children posting personal information and contact details before, Jaxtr is going to provide a whole new world of challenges.

I’m not trying to bash this offering, but simply provide an analysis from an alternative point-of-view. I will be the first to praise the company if it is able to implement preventative measures to overcome this hurdle, although I’m not convinced it can be done without hampering the user experience. I’m afraid that for some, Jaxtr will equal jail.

All it takes is one malevolent call for this to turn into a PR nightmare.

I nervously await the public launch…

As many of you have noticed, I have recently added a new chat widget - some have already messaged me using the system. I am going to continue using this Plugoo widget, instead of the previous InCircles widget, as it is compatible with IM clients. In other words, I can chat with a blog visitor using my MSN Messenger client; I do not have to chat from within the blog. This was a downside of InCircles.

With Plugoo, I am able to connect with more readers and provide a more interactive experience. So please do not hesitate to drop me a message. If the chat box indicates that I am offline, you can still leave a message that I will receive when I sign on. Very cool.

Customization, cross-platform flexibility (across the different IM clients), and slick design all contribute to the overall appeal of the app.

The widget is still in BETA and only available via invite, but I signed up and received an invitation relatively quick.

I once again encourage everyone to join in on the discussion and express your views. I am always eager to hear other opinions. Blogging is all about discovering new perspectives and insights beyond your current realm of knowledge.

And as always, anyone can comment on any post… so let’s get chattin’.

In order for me to have closer communications with readers, I have added an embedded chat box in the right-hand column (just scroll down a bit and you will see it). In addition, it will also allows readers to interact and chat about new web trends, technologies, start-ups, or perhaps an MTW article.

The embedded chat widget is provided by InCircles, a cool new web app company. I highly suggest checking them out and embedding a chat box wherever you feel a stimulating chat may erupt.

I am going to leave the chat box on the site as long as it is being put to use and people are engaging in conversations. Expect to see me online often enough. Type me a message and I’ll do my best to reply.

Just type in your name followed by the “Enter” key and start chatting.

Talk to you all soon, literally.

The term ’widget’ has historically been used by university business professors to describe a generic item or product to be manufactured and/or marketed by a given company. Today, the term has been given a whole new meaning and a life of its own. As defined by Wikipedia, a widget “is a portable chunk of code that can be installed and executed within any separate html-based web page by an end user without requiring additional compilation. They are akin to plugins or extensions in desktop applications”.

Companies such as YouTube, Slide, and MyBlogLog are several examples of start-ups that have taken advantage of the concept and leveraged the traffic of other sites to drive traffic to their own properties. Many other successful examples exist and continue to appear on a daily basis. I see this as an ongoing trend.

Why is it so effective and widespread within the new web landscape?

1. This form of viral marketing provides an extremely good ROI based on the resources available. Your ‘embedders’ become your marketing team.
2. Widgets may take time and manpower to develop, but the deployment and embedding cost nothing.

Essentially, widgets are an extremely effective, low cost way of driving qualified traffic and creating brand exposure.

The value proposition for publishers is clear as well: added functionality for websites with no technical expertise needed.

So what are the downsides of such a tactic?

1. The cost of bandwidth may be siginificant if the widget provides a multimedia experience, as is the case with YouTube and Slide.
2. The placement of a widget may not always be favourable or provide the best brand presence (i.e. embedding a widget within a porno site).
3. The level of conversion from widget-use to website traffic may be low. The same can also be said for brand exposure. In other words, if everyone is simply using your widget and exploiting the embedded experience, then this technique may not be so suitable. Website traffic and brand exposure must constantly be improving.

Nonetheless, if your model leapfrog beyond the downsides (which I consider minimal), then this strategy may very well be your Holy Grail. A fit is absolutely necessary - widgets do not work with every business model. But if this fit can be found, serious upside may be just be embedded around the corner.

DISCLOSURE: I am a consultant for Oprius and helped with the widget strategy. But I’m not getting paid to post this. Nonetheless, they are a bunch of cool guys and I recommend checking out their software. Then again, I’m extremely biased   

Local software firm Oprius has announced the launch of their first web widget. Expect more customizable widgets to come.

This embeddable widget will allow network marketers, bloggers, or anyone with a website to acquire valuable contact information from willing parties. Currently, there is very little available on the web in terms on an embeddable lead generation/capturing tool. Therefore, this widget should be able to provide value and fill a void.

The widget itself contains a group of simple field boxes. They include name, company, contact information, and any additional comments. In addition, some level of aesthetic customization is allowed.

This lead generation tool will serve as a valuable network-building asset for business contacts and potential clients. Once a user has inputted their info, an approval process is initiated in the publisher’s Oprius account. The contact information can then be accepted or deleted.

The process of actually embedding the widget is extremely easy:

1. Copy a chunk of HTML code
2. Locate your website’s HTML source
3. Paste the code in the appropriate area

It’s that simple. Seriously.

To learn more about this embeddable tool, visit Oprius’ web widgets page.