IBM Instantly Connects People to Free Technology Service

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced a free service that will allow users of any computer or mobile device such as the iPhone to gain real-time access to thousands of technical resources and emerging technologies with a simple click of a button.

This extension of syndication that IBM is making available is bringing the widest range of technical know how to the fingertips of millions of Yahoo!, Google, NetVibes users and owners of mobile devices such as iPhone.
Developer gizmos from IBM aim to help reach a broader set of users and enable them to more easily interface with technology content, to streamline their daily tasks, and to keep up-to-date on new technologies arming them with the right resources to build innovative applications. Now, with a click of a button, any computer or mobile device user can easily gain the power of syndication on a technology topic of their choice with no programming, training or technical expertise required.

The unique syndication tool gives users centralized and mobile access to the widest range of open source technologies across a variety of topics including Web 2.0 technologies, game development, Web innovation and more through a website called IBM developerWorks, the central hub for thousands of technical resources. Developer gizmos are all widgets, gadgets, modules, or any technological items that are customized to display IBM technology content within a browser, operating system, user’s desktop or syndication mashup page.

Developer gizmos are an extension of the services offered by Yahoo!, Google, and NetVibes, customizing the publicly available code or processes to allow users to export content from IBM through podcasts, forums, blogs, educational briefings and “how-to” tutorials, instantly, all at the push of a button, with no extra development necessary.

This move is another step by IBM to ensure that early technology adopters, developers and small to mid-sized businesses are able to capitalize on modern technologies such as Web 2.0, and integrate social networking applications into their businesses in a simple, cost-efficient manner. No other vendor is taking such a simplified and open approach to helping users leverage technology and resources to simplify their personal and business requirements.

This functionality further simplifies the user’s experience and emphasizes IBM’s commitment of giving the community the ability to decide what content is relevant to their needs. It also makes it easy for developers to obtain relevant content without having to conduct several searches. On an average, developers spend 50 percent of their time searching for relevant content to support their efforts to build applications. This new form of syndication alleviates developers from having to conduct web searches for several hours to obtain the right content in real time.

A small business owner can also benefit from this by creating a customized gizmo on their MyYahoo! web page to receive free updates and information on Web 2.0 technologies.

For example, if a small video game company that specializes in Playstation 3 console development wants to increase revenue by making its games more advanced, the game developer could create developerWorks Gizmos to syndicate the latest technical information directly from the game development space on developerWorks right to his iGoogle, Netvibes or MyYahoo! personal page. Having realtime access to up-to-the-minute information on Cell broadband technology enables him to tap into the power of the Playstation 3, so he can build beautiful, more robust visual effects, not to mention smarter and tougher opponents into the game. This in turn gives the small company a competitive advantage in the marketplace, which can translate into higher profits.

“The IBM developerWorks site is a comprehensive resource that covers the technologies most important to developers today, such as the recent tutorial on Yahoo! Pipes,” said Chad Dickerson, senior director, Yahoo! Developer Network. “The addition of the Add to MyYahoo! Button will make it even more convenient for developers and users to tap into the vast array of new technologies made available free of charge from IBM.”

How it Works
These gizmos provide a simple interface that enables any user to select content from the IBM developerWorks website, the central hub for thousands of technical resources, and export it to customizable web pages, such as MyYahoo! and iGoogle that are used by millions of users on a daily basis. With a simple click of a button, users can now create custom gizmos that allow them to take advantage of IBM technical content without the need for any additional programming skills or registration.

They can also tailor this information to their areas of interest and receive up-to-the minute updates directly to their home page, eliminating the tedious task of searching for information that is critical for their personal interests or organizational needs. IBM is now bringing the information directly to users through their gizmos on a daily basis.

Free for Taking
With today’s news, IBM is bringing the power of thousands of new technology resources, free code to create applications on open standards and how-to tutorials from IBM’s developerWorks to millions of users worldwide based on their topic of choice.

For example:

Gaming enthusiasts can get up-to-date information on how to improve their online gaming experience. By using a gizmo, the users gain access to forums and information on the latest technological advances in gaming while learning how to create better gaming applications. For example, as a result of using this gizmo, users who enjoy playing Sudoku would receive a tutorial that shows them how they can create their own version of the game that automatically generates new puzzles to solve each time you play.
Developer gizmos from IBM will also give early adopters access to emerging software services from IBM research and development labs. For instance, an IT professional working for a small business that is an early adopter of Web 2.0 technologies visits IBM’s website for developers on a regular basis to learn about the latest technologies that can provide viable solutions for their business.

With this new functionality, the user can select blogs, forums, wikis, and more and with the push of a button, create a custom Yahoo! Widget, Google Gadget, and NetVibes Module displaying all new content from IBM on their personal page of choice. Users receive updates right to this page in real-time. This allows them to aggregate the topics that are relevant to their business right within their workspace without having to do several searches or visit multiple pages.

IBM is providing four new avenues for custom syndicated content:

IBM developerWorks community spaces -- This is a unique channel that provides an open platform for developers to build communities on a broad range of topics and business trends, such as Web 2.0 and SaaS. There are nearly 20 community topics available. Each topic space includes portlets displaying blogs, forums, wikis, technical resources, feature stories, tutorials, and podcasts that are related to the topic. Now users can tap into these resources by exporting any portlet within the space as a Google Gadget, NetVibes Module or Yahoo! Widget.
IBM developerWorks “build your own feeds” application -- Users have the ability to select any combination of developerWorks open source topics, technologies or IBM product brands and export the corresponding article or tutorial feeds as RSS, ATOM, HTML and now, also as a Yahoo! Widget, Google Gadget, and NetVibes Module.
IBM developerWorks Google Desktop Gadget -- By downloading the IBM developerWorks Google Desktop Gadget, users can view content and search the developerWorks website right from their desktop.
For all Apple iPhone users -- Users can view the top stories from IBM developerWorks, sorted by topic, through an interface optimized for the iPhone. http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/iphone.
“With this effort IBM is expanding its ecosystem of IT professionals by bringing new technology resources to the user directly rather than the user having to search for this information,” said Kathy Mandelstein, Director of Worldwide Developer Programs for IBM. “This new feature will also allow small businesses and early adopters with no programming skills to take advantage of all the technology resources IBM has to offer to help businesses build innovative solutions.”