Xobni is not a startup you would normally see here at Widgets Lab but they are great and my Favorite OutLook plugin. Microsoft have already tried to buy the for 20 million, offer that was declined because it was not enough money to clear it off. we will not get on what that means but it is now also clear that Xobniis trying to get into web email and have not found yet a way to do it that makes sense for what they have to offer.
That could change now because they acquired Firedrop a old web 1.0 company that diluted in the Dot Com crash and that dates back to 2000. their great ideas was called Zaplets. zaplets are pretty much widgets for e-mails. they looked like smart e-mail signatures to today standards but considering they were shown in 2000, they are actually quite impressive for that time and foreign and strange. so no wonder they failed to gain any traction. the idea was 5 years too early. if they had launched in 2005, by today they would mainstream so Xobni thinks it is not too late for that idea.
I second the notion, i always have wanted widgets that made sense to be used in E-mails and this makes sense. imagine how could they interact with a xobni browser plugin? it would bring the Xobni desktop idea to the web.
I predicted Widget Support for Email as something that should be realized in 2008 so i guess it may happen after all.
via techcrunch
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I wish they had support for Thunderbird. I just cannot bring myself to use MS for my email….
@Jon:
well, i would hold my breath for that one, but who knows?. stranger things have happened.