Jiqa, Real Time Aggregated Web
Jiqa Logo
South Africa’s very own local start up, Jiqa, has created a real-time web aggregation browser. The concept is great and will allow endless amounts of data to be collected regarding user habits and aggregating news that is current and more importantly real time.
The product is very much still in Beta and a very young Beta by the sounds of it. It has been built from the ground up though the .Net framework which is interesting seeing that you have numerous options in terms of Open Source browser releases such as Gecko Engine or Webkit which Firefox and Safari use respectively. Creating a product from a pre-built framework with a community backing gives you a head start in terms of stability and of course exstensibility.
The way the “browser” works is that is captures your browsing data whilst your browse and uploads it to a central server where all the work is done. You can then visit the Jiqa home page which allows you to do 1 of 2 things. Either view the hottest articles browsed by the Jiqa browsers or search for articles that are in the Jiqa system. This already supports to important aspects of modern web and those are real time trending topics and real time search.
However, there are two importants points I need to bring up. The first one is there needs to be a whole lot more introduced to the browser for me to think about making a move to it. I have many more options out there such as Chrome or Firefox, both of which I use on a daily basis. I am also not really caught by someone capturing all my browsing data which brings me onto my second point.
Where are Jiqa going to draw the line between privacy and getting the data they need to be successful at any point? That is a very important question they will need to answer and it will need to be done before the stable version gets released to the innocent public. Here is an extract from their download terms:
ANY FEEDBACK YOU PROVIDE AT THIS SITE SHALL BE DEEMED TO BE NON-CONFIDENTIAL. JiQA Information Engine Pty Ltd. IS FREE TO USE SUCH INFORMATION ON AN UNRESTRICTED BASIS.
Update: Kevin Davie, the head of the start up, just informed me that Jiqa does not capture any private info like IP addresses etc.
This was posted by Seagyn Davis who has posted 212 items.
→ Stii said on: June 8, 2009 at 10:58 am
Interesting! but it would be great to know who started and developed it
Pity I cannot really try it out it being a .NET project and not cross platform. Wouldn’t Java have been a better option maybe?
→ Seagyn Davis said on: June 8, 2009 at 11:28 am
I am also interested to know that, they could have used one of the platforms that are out there already.
I think there is quite a bit of work to be done still!