Products and projects: What 6 companies are cooking up in their labs
I was working in the lab, late one night...
Recently, a lot of companies have been showing early stages of new product development on their websites. While most of these are not open source, it does bring together developers from all over to share thoughts, reviews and conversations about the new products. Here are what some companies are cooking up in their "labs" -- and what projects caught my attention. In no particular order:
Google Labs
A handful of essential apps have graduated from Google Labs, moving on to be fully supported by Google. These include Google Maps, GOOG-411, and Google Desktop. In the current listing of 'experiments,' check out Google Mars (a nice companion to Google Earth but without the potential to peep on sunbathing celebrities), Google Code Search (a refined search of public source code), and Google Audio Indexing (searching keyword content within YouTube videos).
ADC Compatibility Labs
Apple's Developer Connection has a very useful laboratory, if you are a Mac developer. This site provides you with the opportunity for a multitude of Mac configurations so you can do thorough testing for your application. There are a few catches, however. You will have to sign up as an ADC Member (this ranges from free online to $3499). The other catch is the Compatibility Labs are located in California, China and Japan.
Adobe Labs
There are some very cool concepts on Adobe Labs' page ("cool" is a relative term, I know). While not having the sheer volume of apps Google has, Adobe Labs is showcasing useful products, such as: Pixel Bender, XMP Library for Javascript, and Alchemy<?a> (allows users to compile C and C++ code into Actionscript libraries).
Microsoft Live Labs
The evil empire has one of the best lab sites. Not only do they have beta projects available for you to try, they also have a little section detailing what projects are on the horizon. If nothing else, check out Photosynth. I wish I was more artistic and could appreciate this app more.
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