Mozilla launches DIY mashups for Firefox

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 27 Aug 2008 at 08:28

Mozilla Labs has unveiled an amazing new Add-on for Firefox that allows users to create sophisticated web mashups without delving into code.

Dubbed Ubiquity, the prototype plug-in allows users to perform a range of tasks - from embedding maps into Gmail to translating web pages on the fly - using simple text commands.

Using the Gmail maps as an example, users can simply highlight an address of a restaurant typed into a Gmail message, hit Ctrl + Space, and type the word "map" into the Ubiquity pop-up that appears on screen. The service automatically locates the address on Google Maps and embeds the map as a graphic into the email message.

Furthermore, users can embed a review of the restaurant into the same message, by simply typing "yelp" (the name of a restaurant review service) and the name of the venue.

Previously, users would only have been able to enter a cumbersome link to the map and review into the message.

"This familiar sequence is an awful lot of clicking, typing, searching, copying, and pasting in order to do a very simple task," says Mozilla Labs' Aza Raskin. "And you haven't even really sent a map or useful reviews - only links to them."

Other Ubiquity commands allow users to search for products on Amazon, instantly share information they've found on the web on Twitter or look up highlighted words on Wikipedia.

In addition to the numerous plain text commands that Mozilla has already created for Ubiquity, users can code their own and then share them with others for installation in their own browsers.

You can download Ubiquity 0.1 and watch a video demonstration of the service on the Mozilla Labs blog.