Online collaboration tools keep coming, and the more of them I see, the more I feel collaboration is going to be a major, critical part of our future work. Contributing collaboratively, sharing, co-editing, co-distributing, are becoming more and more standard features and facilities in every single new application being released.

Photo credit: Dawn Hudson

Want to have free video conference with your colleagues? Need to share and send any type of file to your project team? Thinking about watching videos simultaneously with your friends?
For this and more, here the online collaboration toolkit I have put together for you this week:

1. Voixio: Free Flash-based application allows you to have free video conferences and calls
2. Dropbox: Free software lets you create a public folder for you to share any file online
3. Wuala: Store and share any type of file online with your friends
4. SeeToo: Select a video on your PC, and watch it simultaneously with your friends
5. Pladeo: Create widgets to embed on your site and chat with visitors
6. BumpIn: Browser plug-in for chatting with people on your same webpage
7. Instantbird: Multi-protocol IM software by Mozilla allows you to chat on multiple services
8. Wauwee: Mobile application enables you to chat and share pictures from any phone or PC

1. Voixio
   
   Voixio is a Flash application that allows to have free video/audio conferences, text-chat, and call landlines and mobile phones for free, or at very cheap rates. After you register you can start adding contacts, and create video conferences with up to 4 people in which you can see each other, talk, and instant message. You can also call normal phones for free, after watching a short video advertising clip, or at very low rates. Free.
   http://www.voixio.com/





2. Dropbox
   
   Dropbox is a free software for Windows and Mac that creates a folder on your PC, where you can put any file that will automatically be uploaded and synchronized online. You can then access it through a web version of Dropbox, or from another PC where you installed the software. Any file or folder can also be shared with anyone who has an email address, or you can simply assign a public URL to each one of your files to easily share them. Free beta.
   http://www.getdropbox.com/





3. Wuala
   
   Wuala is a free desktop application for Windows and Mac platforms that you can use to upload your files online. You can share any file such as photos, videos, music, or documents with friends or groups, or you can publish files for the whole world to see. There's no file-size limit, just a total space of 1GB (that you can upgrade). Free to download and use.
   http://wua.la





4. SeeToo
   
   SeeToo is a web-based application that allows individuals to invite friends and family to watch home videos with them in real time. After you select a video from your computer, without any upload process you can invite someone to watch the video with you, and simply click play to start watching it together. It is free to use and it can handle files of any size. Registration required.
   http://www.seetoo.com/





5. Pladeo
   
   Pladeo is a web-based tool for creating widget chats for your blog. Without any registration, you can create as many personalized widgets as you want. After you select the type(client or blog), and the color. you can immediately get the embedding code and place it on your page. Completely web-based and free to use.
   http://www.pladeo.com/





6. BumpIn
   
   BumpIn is a browser add on that allows you to chat with people browsing the same page as you. You can have private chats, or shout to everyone visiting that particular page. You can also use the web-based version, by clicking on BumpinBrowser on the homepage, and start chatting with people without installing any software on you machine. Free to use.
   http://site.bumpin.com/





7. Instantbird
   
   Instantbird is a new project by Mozilla, and it's a multi-client chat software that works on Windows, Mac, and Linux, and it allows you to connect to several of the mainstream instant messaging services such as AOL, MSN, GTalk, Yahoo!, etc. The download is only 13 megabytes. There are about ten minor IM networks that Instantbird is also compatible with, although Skype is currently missing from the list. Free to download and use.
   http://www.instantbird.com/





8. Wauwee
   
   Wauwee is a free service that anyone can use to chat and share pictures from any PC or Internet enabled phone. All you need to do is register to the service, and you can then start text-chatting with all of your friends, and share pictures in real-time with them. It is free to use after a simple and immediate registration.
   http://www.wauwee.com/

Originally written by Nico Canali De Rossi for Master New Media and first published on April 28th 2008 as "Online Collaboration Technologies - New Tools And Web Services - Sharewood Picnic Apr28 08"