Microsoft is announcing today the Popfly will be going into beta.  What really makes this exciting is that unlike the early preview of Popfly, this beta is open to the world - no more "invitation only" access.

What is Popfly?  Well, it is one of the coolest way you will ever see to build mashups, gadgets and web pages.  It uses Silverlight 1.0 to create a real slick UI that allows you to use drag-and-drop tools to build some cool things.  It even includes support for Vista Sidebar and Live Gadgets.  Of course, you can host your killer creations in your own web pages as well using nothing more than an iFrame.  Like to use Visual Studio, well, there is VS support for editing Popfly pages - any page, any markup.  Popfly also includes a gallery so you can find and look at what other folks are doing with Popfly. 

What are some of the cool things you can do with Popfly?  Here are just a few ideas to get you started:

1.  Add some bling to your web site, Facebook page or Windows Live Spaces page by adding a Popfly mashup.  Maybe something fun like a game that someone has published in the Gallery, or whip up a your own poll to survey folks coming to your web site.

2.  You can even build a homepage inside of Popfly if you don't have one already.  Club, team, or social group that wants a great experience for folks that visit - Popfly will offer over 150 different themes, 10 different styles, and 30 unique color schemes.  Add things like photos, schedules from an RSS feed, video of games and meetings, Virtual Earth maps and directions, and more.  Best part - no code required!

3.  Want to share some photos?  Popfly makes it easy to create and share slideshows using pictures from Flickr, Windows Live Spaces, Facebook, and more.  Embed a podcast or video from Soapbox or Youtube.  Take that slide show or video and then host it in your on Facebook profile or your own web site.

4. Pull together what is happening on the web that represents your online personality.  Popfly will allow you to stitch together your online persona and activities into one place.  Create a mashup that shows what you are "digging" on Digg.com, maybe what you are buying or selling on eBay, the highlight video of your awesome kill in Halo 3 or your game score, what Facebook events you are attending, Twitter info, and more.

The possibilities are just about endless. And to make things even better and encourage you to explore all of those possibilities and share them with others, we are having a contest you can get involved with to show your wicked mashup skills - it's called appropriately enough - "Mashup and Win".  Eternal glory can be yours when you are declared the winner of the ultimate mashup challenge (and a great prize ain't too shabby either).  Make sure you keep your eye posted on the Popfly team blog since they will be posting some great content on using all the cool new features in Popfly over the coming days.

Mashup and Win Contest - How to Play

1. sign up at popfly.com

2. create a Popfly Mashup

3. blog and link back to your Popfly Mashup

4. tag blog for Technorati PopflyHDC07 (http://www.technorati.com/tag/PopflyHDC07)

5. comment on this post about Popfly and your mashup entry and link back to your blog

6. have fun!

Rules, terms, and all that jazz: create a Popfly Mashup and submit it on SlickThought.Net as a comment to this blog post by October 31st for a chance to win a Zune 2.0 or an Xbox 360 Halo 3 Special Edition. Community leaders from Iowa and Nebraska – the fine folks that brought you Heartland Developers Conference – will review submissions and chose a winner by November 9th. The winning Mashup will be the most innovative, creative, and cool: the best Mashup will present content in the most unique way.

More Information

Want to find our more about Popfly and what other think about it.  Check out these great blog postings...

1. http://geekswithblogs.net/jjulian - Podcast on Popfly

2. http://blog.lozanotek.com - Check out what Microsoft MVP Javier Lozano's take on Popfly

3. http://blog.dennyboynton.com - Denny has an architect's view of what Popfly is all about

4. http://blogs.msdn.com/benko - Mike checks in with more developer perspective on Popfly and mashups

5. http://popflyteam.spaces.live.com/ for full list of features