In addition to a mobile web-based application rolling out free to all customers, there are also three new dashboard widgets launching in the Socialtext web app that bring activity streams to the fore as a primary focus. The new widgets display not only what's most recent but also which content and people are "most active," as well as offering a set of other powerful attention filters to help surface the most important activity happening in your workspaces and teams.
Starting out as primarily a wiki company back in 2002, Socialtext has grown to include a buffet of collaboration tools for the enterprise including blogging, microblogging, social spreadsheets, people profiles, activity streams, and a dashboard that pulls everything together in one view.
The Socialtext Desktop is an Adobe AIR client application for interfacing with Socialtext -- think of it like Tweetdeck or Seesmic Desktop for Twitter. The newly launching Socialtext Mobile app has a similar interface so will feel familiar to users of the desktop app, as well as sharing many of its features.
When asked why Socialtext decided to go the web app route instead of the platform-specific route, President and Chairman Ross Mayfield indicated in an interview that quicker time to market and lower overall cost were the driving factors. "It's a lower development and support cost not just for us, but for our customers as well," who at the enterprise level would otherwise need to support multiple platforms instead of a single web app.
To access the app, all current Socialtext customers need to do is log into Socialtext from a mobile device, and the system will detect and direct you to Socialtext Mobile. For teams and businesses interested in giving Socialtext's approach to collaboration a try, the hosted service is free for up to 50 users with some restrictions. The goal with both the web and mobile applications is essentially to go beyond the push mechanism of the email inbox and use activity streams to connect with colleagues in real-time, from anywhere.