DEMOfall Presents Yuuguu – Easy Desktop Sharing

The DEMOfall 07 kickoff has introduced us to another very cool development – Yuuguu and one of its founders Anish Kapoor today. Yuuguu is designed for connecting people remotely through universal screen sharing on PC or mobile devices. The service allows users to share and take control of each other's PC's and devices and it supports virtually any browser. Yuuguu is similar in practice to GoToMeeting and other platforms but it is much simpler to use and control. Yuuguu users can securely share their screen with anyone at any time on PC, Mac or mobile phone.

Atsa buncha U's  

Unlike GoTo or other similar applications, Yuuguu is not strictly a presentation tool. The downloadable UI is really simple and actually takes on the look and feel of an IM window. I talked with Yuuguu CEO Anish Kapoor about the vision and application of this cool tool on Friday. According to Anish: “Yuuguu takes Web collaboration to a new level by integrating community, messaging and collaboration in a whole new and natural way.” In a nutshell, this is a most accurate description one could make about the tool. Yuuguu is essentially an instant messenger with text and voice that allows any number of people to collaborate on each other's desktop. Amish and company have created a very effective and simple tool for sharing and best of all it is free. There are a buncha U's out there who will like this. 

Testing

Our editor Svetlana Gladkova and I set out to test Yuuguu on Saturday. I downloaded Yuuguu very quickly and I added Svetlana in a similar fashion to any other IM service. The UI is really so simple it needs no description other than it is IM with a couple of buttons. Just hit “show” and give control to other people. I must say it is a little freaky taking over the boss's desktop and we did get into a “pointer battle” when I tried to access her PayPal account. No seriously, the sharing and collaborative environment is fully functional and as easy as advertised on Yuuguu.

Note: Svetlana's SU from my PC

Conclusion

Anish and Philip Hemsted started this Manchester, UK development to allow people at work or play to interact as if in the same room. Yuuguu accomplishes this in as much as an IM tool can via voice and remote sharing. The only aspect missing is some video interface between participants. The only negative Svetlana and I experienced was an apparent massive drain on RAM resources when I was in control of her desktop. We tried the reverse and the service ran flawlessly, so I assume my machine was low on RAM. The bottom line on Yuuguu is that millions of people are going to use it because it is simple and free. Once the bugs are out (I only saw one) anyone can share a surfing or business session with multiple participants. So, it is mission successful for Anish and Yuuguu as far as I can see.

Me messaging Steve De Chellis from Svertlana's SU message center