Hakia: Search With Less Scrolling
When Google serves your search results, it highlights the places where your search terms appear. Hakia, a new search engine in public beta, tries to make the highlighting experience better in two ways. Hakia's developers say the engine looks not just for the words in your query, but for the meaning; it also tries to match your query with phrases on the sites it finds that match that meaning. And if you use the service's Internet Explorer plug-in (a Firefox plug-in is due in October), it'll scroll to exactly the portion of the page that contains your phrase.
SpaceTime: Better 3D Browsing
Pownce: Microblogging Plus File Transfers
Microblogging--broadcasting one-sentence updates on your life--is the Web's latest trend. The early leader is Twitter, but Pownce, an invitation-only beta, adds the ability to send files and easily make links or format information on events. Pownce, though, loses the element of voyeurism that can make Twitter a guilty pleasure. At Twitter, it's easy to see anyone's inane posts. Pownce mostly shows you the inane posts of people you know, which can be less entertaining.