Last year I had selected the task management solution Orchestrate as a top pick in 25 To Do Lists to Stay Productive. Now Tokyo based startup Jonkenpon, creator of Orchestrate, has launched a service called 8apps which aims to be a social network for productive people. The idea is to create a community where users can not only meet new people but work with them in a suite of productivity based applications. There are currently three applications available in the 8apps suite with five more to come. The first three applications are Handshake, Orchestrate and Blueprint offering social networking, task management and brainstorming. In a blog post announcing 8apps, Jonkenpon explains that they do not plan on competing with offerings such as 37signals or Google Docs but rather fill in the gaps where they lack in productivity with a suite of small, focused applications.
What makes 8apps special is the concept of applications within a social network. Essentially, it’s a social network that you join to be more productive. It may sound strange at first, but I think 8apps is onto something. The 8apps social network is called Handshake and serves as a place to connect with co-workers, meet new people, and show your stuff. Any user that you connect with in Handshake can ultimately collaborate with you in any 8apps application. You can, for example, search for a developer to connect with and brainstorm about a possible project together without leaving the site. In fact, someone has already come in contact with Tim, one of our editors, for possible design work. Not bad considering that we’ve only been registered to 8apps for a week!
Handshake consists of all the basic features that you would expect to find in a social network. You can customize your profile, browse through user profiles, send messages to contacts, and add comments to your contacts profiles. The profiles themselves are very minimal, but one nice feature is the ability to append your websites RSS feed to your profile. There’s also a neat skills graph in the right column showing a users level in experience, teamwork, ability, ideas and speed based on contact votes (you can’t vote for yourself). Additionally, Handshake has a Groups section where users can go to discuss any given topic and meet new people.
The next application in the suite is a task management solution called Orchestrate. 8apps co-founder Jon Yongfook Cockle had created Orchestrate as a standalone application early last year and has since decided to merge it into the 8apps suite. It’s a unique task manager that allows users to create and view multiple tasks lists in one workspace and set focus to specific lists when needed. You also have the ability to color code task lists and share them with your contacts. What I find to be especially neat is how you can quickly create a task list for any project you create in 8apps. Meaning, if I were to create a project in the brainstorming application, I can optionally create a task list to go along with it in one click.
Blueprint is 8apps brainstorming application. It’s an interesting application that allows you to quickly jot down your ideas in a free-form like fashion as well as brainstorm collaboratively with others around the 8apps network. You can add keywords, links and bodies of text to your Blueprint workspace and drag each item around organizing them whichever way works best for you. I spent some time with Matt and Tim (Solution Watch editors) in a Blueprint project called “8apps Review” and found it to be quite helpful in passing around our thoughts. Though I didn’t see Blueprint’s true potential until given the opportunity to join a project by the founder of 8apps. There were around nine people in the brainstorm and everyone was sharing their ideas for an application. It was pretty neat to see such collaboration from random users around the 8apps network.
8apps has only launched its private beta two weeks ago, but I feel it’s already off to a great start. What appeals to me most is how a user can meet someone in the social network and immediately start working on a project together. I also had a great time using the brainstorming application with my friends and found it to be quite helpful. But there are still some rough edges around the existing applications. For starters, the Mail section in Handshake does not have a send mail option (you can send mail by going to a contacts profile) and you can’t view previously sent mail. Also, Blueprint lacks real-time updating of items and automatically pushes around comments between pages when least needed.
If you are interested in trying out the private beta of 8apps, feel free to reach me for an invite - I have 17 invites remaining. Webware also has a nice writeup on 8apps and some invites to handout. (via Mashable)
I would love to have an invite.
January 27th, 2007 at 9:36 pm
Brian, thanks for the awesome write-up!
January 27th, 2007 at 9:48 pm
I too would love an invite.
January 27th, 2007 at 9:55 pm
Great post, and I would love an invite.
Thanks!
January 27th, 2007 at 10:17 pm
Sounds interesting, and I’m wondering how it compares to the other offerings. If you have any invites let, I’ll gladly accept one.
January 27th, 2007 at 10:34 pm
Brian, interesting review of 8apps…the Blueprint and Orchestrate apps sound very very interesting! I’d love to try them out if you still have an invitation available.
thx and keep up the good work in bringing these sites to our attention –
January 27th, 2007 at 10:54 pm
I would love an invite!
Great post! When I see a new post on Solution Watch I always read it.
January 27th, 2007 at 11:56 pm
@Dennis, Seth, Brian, Jason, Nick, and Crag - I’ve sent you all invites. If you didn’t get them, let me know. Thanks and be sure to look me up on 8apps! Enjoy!
January 28th, 2007 at 12:36 am
I would love an invite! This would be a great app to use in my classes with my students! (Talk about needing to collaborate and organize…)
January 28th, 2007 at 12:45 am
This sounds quite promising… if you’ve got any invites left, I’d certainly appreciate one.
January 28th, 2007 at 1:25 am
If you’ve still got any invites left I’d like to try it out.
Thanks
James
January 28th, 2007 at 1:25 am
@John, Zheng, and James - Sent you all invites. Thanks and enjoy!
January 28th, 2007 at 1:28 am
I would love an invite!
January 28th, 2007 at 2:59 am
wow, nice app. I would love to have an invite1
January 28th, 2007 at 3:19 am
nice application… if you’ve got any invites left, I would love one.
January 28th, 2007 at 3:28 am
@Erwin, Manfred, and IronMAN - Sent the invites. Enjoy and see you on 8apps.
January 28th, 2007 at 3:31 am
thats for reviewing this, it certainly looks interesting and I’d love an invite.
Thanks
January 28th, 2007 at 4:19 am
thanks for invitation!
January 28th, 2007 at 5:04 am
Hey brian, great post. Would love to get an invite as well!
January 28th, 2007 at 5:24 am
Looks fascinating - yes please if that offer is still open :-)
keith
January 28th, 2007 at 5:25 am
I would be interest in an invite. After the previous article on task lists, I went through most of them and had a look in order to set up one for myself. Mainly to get arround the problem with corporate firewalls that don’t allow you access to gmail and other useful apps. Its is such a pain when you cannot access everything from any computer. In the end I went with Remember the milk.
This does look useful, and I’d love to have a go
January 28th, 2007 at 5:29 am
Just a reminder - everyone who joins 8apps gets 20 invites to send out, so even if Brian runs out of invites just post a comment back here and I’m sure one of the other readers will be able to help you out.
Cheers
Jon
January 28th, 2007 at 5:40 am
I’d appreciate having an invite as well.
Thanks!
January 28th, 2007 at 7:17 am
Any invites left? If so - I would love one also.
January 28th, 2007 at 9:31 am
This sounds really interesting. Please - if it’s not too cheeky to as - send me an invite as well. Ta.
January 28th, 2007 at 9:40 am
Hello Brian, would love to have an invite too. Thank you.
January 28th, 2007 at 11:15 am
Hi,
Would love an invite aswell
January 28th, 2007 at 11:36 am
I would love an invite!
January 28th, 2007 at 11:48 am
8apps looks good.
I doubt there are any invitations left. WOuld appreciate greately an invitation (at least from those you invited) :)
take care,
/bugis
January 28th, 2007 at 12:22 pm
Whew! Tim allowed me to use up his 8apps invites. Cleaned up my account and now Tim has… 10 invites left.
@Ran, Keith, Nick, Kelly, Robert, Tim, Andre, Gonzague, Arif, and Bugis - You all should have received an invite. See you on 8apps! Thanks!
January 28th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
8apps: interesting approach to productivity « Later On says:
[...] Posted in Business, Software at 9:55 am by LeisureGuy 8apps seems to be a mash-up of a social networking app with a productivity app. This review gives good examples and screenshots, and even has a success story. It begins: [...]
January 28th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
Would also love an invite!
January 28th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
+1 on an invite, please. :)
January 28th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
I’d like an invite…thanks!
January 28th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Thanks for your write-up. If there are any invites left, I’d appreciate one.
January 28th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
Love an invite if there is one left. I am always trying to find the right apps to introduce students to in our district.
Joe
January 28th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
Thanks for that Brian :-)
January 28th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
I know this is someone that merits further review…I would certainly like an invite to give it a try. Thanks and best…Rich
January 28th, 2007 at 5:21 pm
I hate to get on my knees and beg, but…
any invites left, pweeeze?
Thanks anyway
January 28th, 2007 at 5:23 pm
i use synapselife.com which currently has 9 applications that work with my existing social networks via their tool bar.
January 28th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
On the offhand chance that there are any more invites available, I’d love to get my hands on one. Thanks.
January 28th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
Heh, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get an invite.
However, I’ll post my email so if anyone gets any invites, could you share? :)
steve /-at-/ stevenbao /-dot-/ com
January 28th, 2007 at 8:48 pm
Well, if it isn’t too late, I would like an invite too :)
Cheers,
-C.
January 28th, 2007 at 8:52 pm
I’m late.
But I would like to have an invite.
Thanks.
January 28th, 2007 at 9:24 pm
I cleaned out all of Tim’s invites, so now I’m on to Matt’s invites! So, for those of you that think you’re too late, it’s all good ;-).
@Mike, Ken, Johnny, Kevin, Joe, Keith, Rich, Halans, Aaron, Steven, Chris, and Vista - Sent you all invites. See you on 8apps.
January 28th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
Can you hook me up still? Thanks guys.
January 28th, 2007 at 10:47 pm
Are there any invites still available? I would love one!
January 28th, 2007 at 11:48 pm
I would also be interested in an invite if available. Seems like an interesting concept that I would like to explore.
January 29th, 2007 at 12:28 am
Please invite me as well…. :)
harshadewa@gmail.com
January 29th, 2007 at 4:50 am
I would definitely appreciate an invite! Thanks a million!
January 29th, 2007 at 11:03 am
Would be great, please invite me!
January 29th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
Would love an invite, I really like where these guys are headed.
January 29th, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Would someone please forward me an invite. Thanks.
January 29th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
Would love an invite as well. Thanks in advance!
January 29th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
Would love an invite if there are any left, …pretty please.
January 29th, 2007 at 7:15 pm
Please send me an invitation as well, thank you!
January 29th, 2007 at 8:32 pm
Wow, this sounds great. I would love an invite too. Thanks.
January 30th, 2007 at 3:23 am
Could anyone invite me please? Thanx a lot!
January 30th, 2007 at 4:29 am
…and my email address is newsletterbox@centrum.cz
thanks again
January 30th, 2007 at 4:33 am
I would LOVE an invite! mark at surf.as
January 31st, 2007 at 12:59 pm
@Brian
just checked my email and have not seen an invitation. Any chance to get it again?
cheers,
January 31st, 2007 at 2:17 pm
Interesting webapp… Could you please send me an invite to seifip@centrum.cz :) Thnx
January 31st, 2007 at 3:08 pm
Solution Watch i nowadays my nr1 morningcoffesite! I alwatys read it with my morningcoffe! Great site!
Well i guess you dont have any invites left to 8apps, but if you do i would love one!8 apps seems like the kind ogf solution i am looking for!
Cheers
Jesper
February 3rd, 2007 at 11:28 am
jesperwinblad@gmail.com for email.
February 3rd, 2007 at 11:29 am
Would also like an invite if someone can spare one. Thanks!
abnd2468@yahoo.com
February 4th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
Online Links 2 - Online says:
[...] 8apps es una colección de aplicaciones online para gestionar tus proyectos en grupo (via) [...]
February 5th, 2007 at 7:39 am
Hi I need an invite, please! conmiweb(et)gmail.com
Thanks!
February 5th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
If anyone has an extra invite I’d appreciate it: nospam[at]crawfunk.com - Thanks!
February 6th, 2007 at 2:48 pm
Any Invite left?!
TIA
February 7th, 2007 at 2:45 am
great article - if there are any invites left, would love to check this one out.
f
February 7th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
I would love an invite too! Thanks. :)
-Jon Carico
February 10th, 2007 at 7:59 pm
if you have invites, i’d like one too. great post!
February 10th, 2007 at 9:32 pm
If you still have invites left I would appreciate one - thanks very much!
February 11th, 2007 at 10:30 pm
Good write-up. If you still have invites left, I’d like to give it a whirl.
February 12th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
I would love to give 8apps a try. Do you have any invites left? Thanks in advance! -Alston
February 16th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Could anyone send me an invite? Thank you.
Tomas
lokativ(at)gmail(dot)com
February 16th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
This looks indeed very interesting and useful.
I would very much like an invite please.
/Morten
February 21st, 2007 at 7:05 am
sounds great… any invite left? Thanks. And Brian keep on this SW thing!
February 21st, 2007 at 6:21 pm
I’m sure you do not have any invites left, but I thought I would post that I’d like one anyway. I have some invites to Virb.com if anyone wants to trade. :)
jusdrum at gmail
February 23rd, 2007 at 7:28 am
can i ask for an invite please? if there are any left, that is.. =D
February 27th, 2007 at 2:36 am
Anymore invites for 8apps? Thanks
February 27th, 2007 at 6:35 pm
If anyone has invites from planixonline.com I will trade you with an invite for 8 apps.
Email me at rishi at leprotege dot net
February 28th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
Very good review.
I would like to try it out if anyone has an invite left.
L L s L i m at hotmail.com
March 1st, 2007 at 9:04 am
I would really appreciate an invite.
deshayne[+AT+]hawaii[dot]edu
I got a joost account, can trade invite when I get them….
shen
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:12 pm
The Relentless Stream of Consciousness - Archive - Productivity social network says:
[...] This sounds like a really innovate idea - definitely worth keeping an eye on. The post on Solution Watch is here. Via Feedraider front page, here. [...]
March 3rd, 2007 at 12:12 am
8apps - for productive people at Moqub’s bibliotheek van dingen says:
[...] De recensie bij Solution Watch over een nieuw sociaal netwerk spreekt mij erg aan en ik besluit een kijkje te nemen bij 8apps. Op de website wordt beschreven waar 8apps voor staat. Het idee achter 8apps is het ontwikkelen van een community waar gebruikers nieuwe mensen kunnen ontmoeten om daarna gezamelijk productief te zijn. Momenteel zijn er drie applicaties beschikbaar en binnenkort wordt deze set met vijf andere applicaties aangevuld. [...]
March 10th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
Hi, thanks for informative article, seems to be very interesting, especially Blueprint. ^_^
If you (or somebody else) have still some invites I’d be glad to receive one, thanks.
diasfx at gmail.com
March 12th, 2007 at 8:17 am
Any Invites Left?
March 19th, 2007 at 9:37 am
Hi, I work in a theatre collective that due to low income and high ideals means a lot of us end up working office jobs. 8Apps sounds like a great way to keep the collective project on the boil during our day jobs. Any invites left?
March 26th, 2007 at 8:32 am
Brian- Any invites left as I’d love to have one. Thanks again.
March 30th, 2007 at 12:10 am
any one has invites, I’d love to have one
thanks
April 4th, 2007 at 12:52 am
links for 2007-04-19 « omg tuna is kewl says:
[...] 8apps: Social Networking for Productive People (tags: 8apps social networking collaboration business) [...]
April 18th, 2007 at 9:24 pm
I wish I stayed up on all my feed reading! Would love an invite, if anyone has one.
April 25th, 2007 at 11:04 am
Invite oneigaishimasuuuu (please)
May 14th, 2007 at 9:35 pm
Heya thanks for the lovely write up! I’d love an invite for 8apps if you have any left. misshani[at]gmail.com! thanks!
May 21st, 2007 at 3:52 am
sweet
May 29th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
if someone has any invite left, I would be very happy to get invited for 8apps.
:-)
fruity685-pool [at] yahoo.com
June 11th, 2007 at 3:19 am
Brian- Any invites left as I’d love to have one. Thanks!!
June 13th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
i would love an invite … plz plz plz
ban192 (at) yahoo.com
July 20th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
I wish I stayed up on all my feed reading! Would love an invite, if anyone has one.
September 18th, 2007 at 10:48 am
Wow, wish I’d seen this earlier. Would appreciate an invite if any one is willing to give one…
November 3rd, 2007 at 2:57 pm