Tuhee is an eCards website that allows users to create personalized e-cards in a jiffy. The site is not a commercial venture at this stage and can best be described as a ‘proof of concept’ for a future product. It is essentially a Rich Internet Application built on Open Laszlo, that publishes the ubiquitous SWF format. I checked out the site and was able to create this sample card in less than two minutes. I am driven to profiling this ‘work-in-progress’ product, because I find Tuhee a wonderful exposition of that big promise of rich internet application, i.e., single page interactivity, with minimal server side interaction. The site has been built by a three member team, two of who are US based and the third is in Hyderabad. They wanted their application to offer the much needed personalized touch, as compared to other e-cards websites, which typically use prefabricated templates. That apart, you don’t need an account to create a card. Which means that you can land on the site and create a card in no time. It can then be forwarded via email.

Tuhee’s creators do not have a business plan at this stage. They are experimenting with the idea and will take it on, if it evolves from here. If that happens, monetization could take the form of contextual advertising, PPC etc. Or they could license/sell it in the form of a widget or source code for others to embed in their application or website. Potential buyers could be wikis, other card sites, social networking setups, etc.

I feel the widget route is the one that has a lot of promise (don’t ask me why). In spite of every VC telling you that features (or widgets) do not make a company, look at the crazy funding valuations that startups like Slide, RockYou etc are drumming up. Their claim to fame is offering a widget, that can be created in double quick time (without creating an account) and dropping it into a MySpace or Bebo blog (or comment box). Tuhee could easily be converted into a widget company on those lines. Maybe for dropping into the profiles of Indian users in the numerous social networking sites that have sprung up. And to answer the question whether a business model is possible for a widgets company or not, the best of what I can write, will not be able to match the arguments put forth in this blog post.

Our lives are invaded by a profusion of digital toys (software or hardware). Mobile phones, digital music players, broadband modems, wi-fi systems, browsers, VOIP software, email clients et al – these toys are now intrinsic to our digital lifestyles. And when these malfunction, getting them back to shape may not always be easy- thanks to the multiplicity of features in every device, their overlapping functions, the encyclopedia like help menu (or information booklets) that accompany the device or software. Thats the problem Zolved is trying to address.

Zolved works like a huge repository of help resources, that can easily be searched for answers to commonly occurring tech problems. Not just that, it harnesses the power of Web2.0 to spawn a community that can provide remote tech support (or even direct help) for troubleshooting problems. Zolved has been launched by IPTouch, a company that is based out of Silicon Valley and Hyderabad.

Zolved uses a four pronged approach to achieve its goal. There is a community generated database of help questions and tech support articles, that can be searched to answer commonly occurring problems. If that doesn’t help, you can post your problem on the website and have it answered by an extended team of worldwide technical experts, or ‘gurus’, either within Zolved, or from the community at large. In case the problem cannot be solved through remote assistance, you can access a database of local technicians and get their contact details for direct assistance. Lastly, if the problem is with your friend’s or parent’s computer and having direct access to that computer might help, you can download a simple remote control program, and use it for screen sharing or for direct transfer of control. This solution is based on the open source UltraVNC apparatus. I tried it out; it installed without any problems and worked fine.

Ratan Tipirneni , Zolved’s CEO informs me that most of their operations are based out of India. He expects that as the site grows, a substantial number of the Gurus are likely to be from India.

It’s hard to argue against the rationale behind Zolved. Online communities are mushrooming all around to address so many human needs, so why not tech support? Some aspects of the website, though, seem more aligned to western societies than they are to India, e.g. the concept of searching directly for technicians for the web. Remote tech support is a huge global business (it is one of the big needs, India’s BPO industry services). But it will be interesting to see how Zolved plans to monetize this opportunity, for theirs is entirely a community based model, which in most cases is free.