Web site measurement and testing firm Keynote Systems has upgraded its two flagship products to enable firms to more accurately test the end-user experience of Web 2.0-type applications.

On-demand diagnostics offering Application Perspective 5.0 features an embedded Firefox JavaScript engine that will allow firms to more accurately emulate the browser, giving them a truer representation of the experience of users accessing their applications, according to Keynote's Vik Chaudhary.

Version eight of web performance measurement product Transaction Perspective has the ability to execute Ajax and measure complex JavaScript so that testing teams can detect more quickly if an application performance issue is on the server or client side, Chaudhary added.

"Applications are now more interactive in nature, using Adobe Flash and standards like Ajax," explained Chaudhary. "What it means to a web manager is although it's another way to make applications more responsive, it's one more factor that might determine if an app is successful or not."

The two new products both utilise the vendor's new testing environment – Keynote Internet testing Environment (Kite). This desktop-based software enables developers and testers to monitor and measure the end-user experience of Web 2.0 applications in a faster, more responsive and collaborative way, argued Chaudhary.

"Kite creates a channel of communication between the application development, QA and web operations teams," he added. "Rapid, iterative [development methodologies] mean you also have to have performance measurement tools which are rapid and iterative."