Wednesday, March 10, 2010
And I would like 64-bit support with that!
When Apple decided to completely block Input Managers for 64-bit applications in Snow Leopard, they broke compatibility with most Safari extensions out there. In theory, an Input Manager allows users to enter characters from a repertoire vastly larger than the number of keys on a keyboard. However, because Input Managers are loaded into every program, they quickly became one of the simplest and most widely used ways to create extensions for applications that don’t provide proper extension mechanisms such as Safari and Mail. Popular extensions that utilize the Input Manager mechanism include Cooliris, Inquisitor, 1Password (up to version 2.9) and, of course, kikin.
However, Input Managers may also be used for malicious purposes, as demonstrated by the Leap-A proof-of-concept malware in early 2006, and even badly programmed, albeit well-intentioned Input Managers, can compromise the stability of the Mac OSX system. It is then only logical that Apple decided to restrict Input Managers in Mac OSX 10.5 (Leopard) so they required the user’s explicit consent to install, and when they saw the opportunity to completely drop support for Input Managers in 64-bit applications in Snow Leopard, they took it.
But where does this leave Safari extensions such as kikin? The widely accepted solution is to ask users to run Safari in 32-bits, allowing Input Managers to work as in Leopard. Why should users have to choose between having Safari extensions and enjoying the advertised speed gains and other advantages of 64-bit Safari? Fortunately, it didn’t take long before developers figured out an alternative to Input Managers and started to create extensions that worked with 64-bit Cocoa applications in Snow Leopard -- among these extensions is SIMBL.
SIMBL, short for SIMple Bundle loader, is an application enhancement loader for Mac OSX developed by Mike Solomon under the terms of the GPL. As simple the name may be, SIMBL is actually the best friend and savior of application extension developers in Mac OSX, because it takes away the difficult task of loading the extension into the target application. Extension developers only need to provide the name and version of the applications they support, and SIMBL takes care of the rest. Not surprisingly, SIMBL was implemented as an Input Manager until version 0.8.2. The latest SIMBL, however, fully supports Snow Leopard 64-bit Cocoa applications such as Safari using Open Scripting Architecture eXtension (OSAX).
Although at kikin we originally considered developing our Safari extension using SIMBL, we wanted to keep the overhead to a minimum. When SIMBL started supporting Snow Leopard, however, it became a clear choice for us. Furthermore, SIMBL’s GPL license does not conflict with the kikin licensing terms because SIMBL does not link the bundles it loads into applications. Overall, it was a winning solution.
Of course, recompiling kikin for Safari in 64-bits and changing a couple of lines of code to support SIMBL was not really all of it. The OSAX-based SIMBL is not able to load extensions into an application as fast as the Input Manager-based version did, so Safari may be all done loading the user’s homepage before kikin becomes active. There was also need for a kikin plugin installer that bundled SIMBL and removed our old Input Manager. Albeit these issues, we are now pleased to announce our new kikin plugin for Safari, fully compatible with Safari in Leopard and Snow Leopard in all its bit modalities!
-Delfin Rojas, Senior Software Engineer
Monday, March 08, 2010
a kikin employee experience: kikin saved me $10!
kikin employees are always impressed with how kikin enhances not only their web experiences, but their entire lives. Here is a great example:
"A few months ago I was looking for a new Xbox game, Batman Arkham Asylum. As always, I stopped by ign.com to read about the game and to check their review.
In my kikin Personal Browser, I noticed people were chatting about the game on Twitter. I thought their opinions would help, and they did. Everyone, including IGN, were saying great things about this game. I was ready to buy. Just then, I saw a new tweet about the best online deals for this game. I clicked and saw a promo from Best Buy with a $10 off coupon.
I bought the game that day from Best Buy and kikin saved me $10!"
-Greg, Product Manager
Friday, March 05, 2010
a kikin minute: get more video
kikin is the best way to get more video, no matter where you are on the web. it only takes a minute to see how you can discover, view, learn, and share with kikin.
Monday, March 01, 2010
a kikin minute: get more events
Take a minute to watch how kikin enhances your social life through informative content, networking, trip planning, restaurant reviews, and sharing!
Friday, February 19, 2010
a kikin minute: get more music
It only takes a minute to see how kikin enhances your online experience. With kikin, you get more sound, information, social networking, videos, and purchasing options -- all curated for you. kikin is great for learning about your favorite artists on Wikipedia, listening to their music on iTunes, reading what your friends say on Facebook and Twitter, and shopping for albums on Amazon while simultaneously watching videos on Youtube. It's user-centricity at its best!
Monday, February 15, 2010
kikin is a spark of genius!
This week, kikin was featured on Mashable’s Spark of Genius series!
Noting both convenience and context, the Mashable article focuses on how useful and precise kikin is when it comes to bringing you the relevant content you want: “What we like is that if you connect your Facebook or Twitter account, you can see not only public comments from those services, but just comments from your friends that are related to the topic in question. Context is key, and we like that you can focus that context.”
We’d like to thank Mashable for featuring us in the series. We are proud to be the pioneers of user-centricity!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
kikin CRO Larry Allen featured on Business Insider
Larry Allen, our Chief Revenue Officer, was featured on Business
Insiders' "How To Get A Great Job Right Now In Today's Awful Economy"
series. After sharing an idea with a friend about a more
audience-driven web experience, Larry was introduced to kikin CEO
Carlos Bhola. "Within my first 10 minutes of meeting with [him] we
immediately realized we had a passion for user-centric experiences" says Larry.
You can read the entire article here.
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
I Use kikin to shop online!: video
Check out this video guide showing how kikin improves, upgrades, and personalizes your "My Web Always With Me" shopping experience.
Monday, February 08, 2010
kikin: curating a superior experience
At the 2010 DLD Conference, Mitchell Baker, Leader of the Mozilla
Project and this year’s Aenne-Burda-Prize Winner, made a strong case
for the integration of personal data with interests and customization in the browsing experience. “Browsers are likely to be something like
a concierge, a personal secretary, a virtual self,” Baker said.
kikin shares Baker's vision. We are using your preferences to curate a
superior "My Web Always With Me" experience for our users.
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
kikin Helps you Shop Online!
The user-centric experience is all about bringing you relevant content from your favorite sites -- and also providing those great "wow" moments along the way. Using kikin while you are shopping online will not only give you more options on products and reviews, but also provide for a fun way to get your friends involved.
Not sure if a certain digital camera is right for you? Check what your buddies are saying about that model on Facebook! Compare prices from Amazon, eBay, Shopping.com and more, and hey, you might even be able to find a coupon code on Twitter! While you are picking out your purchase, kikin also provides you with product review videos, real-time news, and related articles from your favorite blogs.
If you’re like us, and the most important opinions come from the sources you know and the friends you trust, kikin can save you time and money, just like your favorite shopping buddy who knows all the best retail tricks.
“My Web Always With Me”.
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
44 percent of visitors to Google News scan headlines without accessing newspapers
Research firm Outsell has published its News Users 2009 Report, which is based on a survey about the online and offline news preferences of 2,787 U.S. news consumers.
Analyzing the usage patterns on how users consume news content, the report concludes that fewer and fewer users are actually going to destination sites of publishers and, instead, are consuming content on so-called aggregator sites (e.g. Google News, etc.).
The report states “Though Google is driving some traffic to newspapers, it’s also taking a significant share away. A full 44 percent of visitors to Google News scan headlines without accessing newspapers’ individual sites.”
The report states that users are more likely to turn to an aggregator (31 percent) than a newspaper site (8 percent) or other site (18 percent).
However, the problem with aggregators such as Google News is that the publishers, though providing their content to aggregators, are not participating in the revenues generated.
We at kikin believe that it is crucial to bring the content to the user rather than thinking the user would come to the destination site - which this study shows users do less and less often. We call this the ‘user-centric web’ – let relevant content come to me rather than force me into silo’ed web experiences.
BUT: Publishers should be in control of how their content is displayed when it is served ‘offshore’ (i.e. outside of the publisher's site) and publishers should be in control of how they monetize their content in such cases.
kikin is offering exactly that to publishers.
Monday, February 01, 2010
User-Centric Experiences Panel at DLD: Video
At the DLD Conference on January 25th, our CEO Carlos Bhola spoke on the panel about User-Centricity. We appreciated the warm welcome and insightful questions from the audience about our mission to provide "My Web Always With Me."
Carlos was joined by David Kirkpatrick, author of "The Facebook Effect;" Nick Bilton, UI Specialist of The New York Times; Tom Glocer, CEO Thomson Reuters; David Moore, Chairman & Founder of 24/7 Real Media; and Tero Ojanpera, EVP, Services at Nokia.
You can watch the video of the panel here: http://video.dld-conference.com/watch/68vnozI
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Introducing kikin Everywhere!
We’re excited to launch the newest enhanced version, of kikin. Now, when you visit many popular sites, you’ll see kikin at the top of the page, ready to enhance your user experience.
Seeing the Big Picture
With kikin you have a lot more personalized and relevant information available at your fingertips. If you’re interested in the new Sherlock Holmes movie and you’re reading the review on IMDB.com, you can hover over kikin to watch previews, see what people are saying on Twitter, read relevant posts from your favorite blogs, and hear what your friends on Facebook have to say about the movie – all without leaving IMDB.com!
Share What’s Good
Our favorite feature is sharing, especially with Twitter. Sharing a page or video with kikin is actually faster than copying and pasting a link into TweetDeck. Just click the share button, add some text for your tweet, and click share again. That’s it!
We’d love to hear what you think of kikin in search and across the web. Please post your comments below.
Friday, January 22, 2010
We’re Cooking Up Something Special For DLD
This Monday, January 25, kikin CEO Carlos Bhola will be presenting kikin at DLD - Digital, Life, Design - Conference in Munich.
The DLD Conference is a three day event showcasing the creative endeavors of artists, web designers, bloggers, media entrepreneurs, scientists, gadget-makers, and investors as a way of forming networks, business relationships, and creating buzz about new products and ideas.
This is the perfect place for us to bring kikin to the world's attention.
Carlos will be joining a panel entitled, "User-Centric Experiences", where he will discuss our vision of future consumer web experiences. The industry experts joining him on this panel include David Kirckpatrick, 'The Facebook Effect', Nick Bilton, UI Specialist of The New York Times, Tom Glocer, CEO Thomson-Reuters, David Moore, Chairman & Founder of 24/7 Real Media and Tero Ojanpera, EVP Services of Nokia. This will be an exciting panel as all user relevant disciplines - design, publishing, value added services, advertising and mobile platforms - will be represented for a discussion on how digital content and service consumption will become increasingly user centric and personal. We call this "My Web Always With Me".
Follow the panel discussion on Monday 12:00 pm EST / 6:00 pm CET live at http://www.dld-conference.com/video.php
In contrast to today's one-size-fits all Internet, kikin will allow you to automatically pull the relevant content you like from all your favorite websites, cutting out the clutter in between. The DLD Conference will be the jump-off for a series of kikin releases that will empower you and me to bring "My Web Always With Me".
Try kikin yourself and be a pioneer of the User Centric Web!
