(8 May 2008 6:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Internet companies will have to adapt to a changing landscape, speakers at the Web Innovation 2008 seminar said.

Microsoft India head Web platform strategy Vineet Gupta noted that companies have to focus on experience, moving beyond the browser and giving the users more power. Microsoft is already doing this.

In terms of the user experience, Gupta first offered the example of Apple whose invention of the ipod changed the way people consume music. That was because the experience was unique. The company offers downloads for 99 cents each. The aim is to get consumers involved on a mass level.

Citing the example of MSN Deep Zoom which is a part of Microsoft Silverlight, Gupta said this technology is particularly useful for ads and photos and offers smooth transitions. It allows users to interact more with images. One can zoom into different parts of an image and find out more about what is on offer.

The web is moving beyond the browser, Gupta added. So Microsoft had come out with Live Mash which lets users bring their desktop and devices into one platform.

In order to give users more power and control, Microsoft created Popfly. This is a site that allows users to do many things. Among other things one is given the tools to create a new video game from scratch or make innovations on an existing game without being a programmer.

One can also create programme snippets and mashups using Silverlight. This is the software major's cross browser, cross platform and cross device plug in for delivering what it says is the next generation of net based media experiences and rich net applications.

Adobe's Naresh Gupta noted that while earlier web publishers mainly used text, today they want more graphics and animation. He explained that the company's rich internet applications target not just the desktop but other devices as well. Adobe's Flex technology is used to create rich applications. In a stock market spreadsheet, for instance, a client used it to put rectabgkes and add comments all of which can be seen. This boosts customer loyalty.

The latest version of Flex is Flex Builder 3 which offers a rich, visual layout, coding tools and interactive debugging. Adobe also has the Adobe Integrated Runtime (Air), a cross operating system runtime that allows the user to leverage his/ her existing web development skills to build and deploy rich internet applications to the desktop.

Lotus Software Development dierctor China Development Laboratory Michael Karasick said the company uses the social networking phenomenon to improve its products. Whenever it releases specifications of a new product, it gets its developers to interact with customers. Knowlege transition is key in enterprise, Karasick added.

The company hosts both public and private communities online. Last year in a social networking push IBM had announced a new product called Lotus Connections. This wraps five social networking technologies up into one integrated package.

The IBM package included five applications: profiles, where employees post information about their expertise and interests; communities, which are formed and managed by people with common interests; activities, which are used to manage group projects; bookmarks, where people share documents and Web sites with others; and blogs, where people post ongoing commentaries.

This was done as the business market was showing a lot of interest in using social networking tools to improve productivity. The movie was about helping people find experts and the information they need to get their jobs done.