From ProgrammableWeb, popular since 3 months
In yet another interesting API move, Google has just released a simple but useful API for managing AJAX APIs called the AJAX Libraries API. The goal is to help simplify the lives of Ajax developers by providing a centralized, flexible but consistent way to access many of the most commonly used Ajax libraries. In effect Google becomes a content distribution network for these JavaScript libraries.Go to site
This week our API directory crossed another threshold -- now with 900 open web service APIs listed. 2008 has been a busy year for new APIs, first averaging 40 APIs per month in Q1 and then up to 60 new web service APIs just last month alone.
Technology blogger Mohamed Marwen Meddah wrote an interesting post recently on his StartUpArabia site: "The Importance of Having An API for Arab Startups". Mohamed notes that, thus far, relatively few Arab online startups have opened up their platforms through APIs. However, he believes that providing an API is crucial for Arab online services.
Late last week Google announced the release of a new Geolocation APIfor its Google Gears browser extension (our new Gears Geolocation API Profile).As the various offerings by mapping API providers continue to mature, new opportunities have emerged for would-be advertisers and map mashup developers to tap into the ability to include advertising directly on a map. In addition to providing a wealth of information and spatial context, mapping APIs have the potential to serve as an additional venue for advertising.
UMap, provided by AFComponents, is a Flash ActionScript mapping API that allows developers to create custom map mashups with interactive data layers. Umap includes a variety of features including support for Flash/Flex versions, custom map tiles integration, KML support, and other capabilities (see our UMap API Profile for more).
AOL and TopCoder have announced the winners of the Truveo Developer Challenge. As I described in May, the contestants applied AOL's Truveo Video Search API to develop "a cool widget, gadget, mashup or web application." The $100,000 contest awarded $10,000 first place prizes to nine competitors.Map mashups continue to be extremely popular, as evidenced by the high percentage of mapping APIs in our API Directory and map mashups in our Mashup Directory. Whether you're just getting started with map mashups, or you're a veteran map mashup developer, there are several tools out there that can help with your development efforts.
Dipity is an innovative web service that lets users create interactive multimedia timelines for anything from breaking news to Internet Memes. But the real action is behind the scenes with their extensive web service, which allows third parties to build and manage timelines programmatically (our Dipity API profile).At ProgrammableWeb we have been monitoring the emergence of mashups and APIs since 2005, and while there has always been steady growth, this year has seen an accelerating acceptance of APIs as a business strategy. The most recent evidence is that over 60 API entries have been added to our database in the last 30 days.
Earlier this week Yahoo announced the release of a new version of its Yahoo Local Search API.
Earlier this year Google released its AJAX Libraries API as a content distribution network and loading architecture for some of the more popular open source JavaScript frameworks (our Ajax Libraries API Profile).
Folks interested in "open knowledge" should check out CKAN (Comprehensive Knowledge Archive Network) CKAN is the Comprehensive Knowledge Archive Network, a registry of open knowledge packages and projects (and a few closed ones).Mass transit in metropolitan regions is becoming an increasingly popular mode of transportation for commuters faced with ever-increasing oil prices. As a result, there is an emerging need for mass transit agencies to make information more accessible to a growing number of commuters. What role can APIs play?
Some exciting media API news this week as National Public Radio (NPR) has announced that it will release a public API in the coming days. NPR, an internationally acclaimed media production and distribution non-profit, is best known for a wide array of non-commercial radio programs.
ESRI, a leading GIS software provider, has released a public version of its ArcGIS JavaScript API that allows developers to integrate GIS functionality with web applications.
Yahoo has taken a major step in the evolution of search APIs with today's release of BOSS (Build Your Own Search Service). The BOSS platform lets developers build their own full-blown custom search applications on Yahoo's index of the Internet, the same infrastructure that underlies Yahoo Search.
Can we exploit the extraordinary ability that humans have to read faces to make sense of abstract data -- by rendering data as concrete facial features? That's a question raised by a recent ProgrammableWeb Mashup of the Day Pubmed Faceoff.
If you're getting ready to get create a map mashup, but you can't quite decide on which mapping API to use, you may want to check out Mapstraction.
Voices.com is an online marketplace for voice-over talent, where clients looking for actors to provide narration for commercials, documentaries, video games and the like can search for that talent.