Microsoft Launches Popfly on Silverlight

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on Thursday detailed his company's progress on Web 2.0, saying the company had launched Popfly and the extension of several other Live Services.

"This is an incredible time for developers, designers, advertisers, marketers and consumers to plug into and take advantage of the opportunities to experience and grow businesses on the Web," Ballmer said in a keynote at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.

Popfly is a mashup tool built on Silverlight, the company's competitor to Adobe Flash. The application will help those without any knowledge of programming create interactive webpages, gadgets, and applications.

Items created on Popfly can then be shared elsewhere, such as on a user's webpage or social network profile.

"Microsoft is committed to supporting new business models on the Internet, and has an exciting -and growing- portfolio of Web technologies that is helping to catalyze the growth of Web innovation," Ballmer said.

In addition, the company is also beginning to embrace non-Microsoft products through the Live platform. For example, Windows Live Photo Gallery now includes an option to publish photos to Flickr as well as Live Spaces.

Ballmer also touched on Live Search 411, Microsoft's answer to GOOG-411. The service can be accessed by calling 1-800-CALL-411, or through a mobile phone browser. Services include business listings as well as weather, movie showtimes, and airline information.