Private Social Network Facebook to go Web wide

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By Eric Auchard

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The leader of a youth movement that swept the world this past year by encouraging Web users to share bits of their lives with selected friends, spoke on Wednesday of spreading his service across the Web, even while apologizing for past excesses.
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Posted on Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:17:15 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Social Bookmarker Reddit goes Open Source

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The developers behind reddit are releasing their social bookmarking software into open source.

Reddit means with 'open-source' specifically that the code behind reddit is available to the public for download, and we're inviting the public to submit code to help improve the site. Read more

Posted on Wed, 18 Jun 2008 18:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Gigya Socialize

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Gigya announced the beta release of Gigya Socialize, a technology that gives website owners the ability to grow both traffic and engagement by adding social features. Gigya takes on Google Friend Connect with their product.

From social networks like MySpace and Facebook to niche destinations like Flixster, sites that have made their user experience social have achieved phenomenal growth. With Gigya Socialize, now any site can tap into this growth engine by incorporating popular social features like invitations, sharing, and newsfeed. Read more

Posted on Fri, 30 May 2008 14:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Google Social Network Ad Business ''improving'': Brin

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JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Google Inc co-founder Sergey Brin said on Thursday advertising on social networking sites was improving but "still had a long way to go."
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Posted on Thu, 15 May 2008 03:48:28 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

NIM Gets Patent for GPS Social Networking System

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Networks in Motion (NIM) has been granted a U.S. patent for a social networking application that uses the GPS chip inside some mobile phones. The patent issued was titled “Position Determination System” and is said to protect its intellectual property for networking applications that request and or push a users GPS location through a wireless network.

The patent features a method of providing real-time position information from one person to another via the mobile phone, land line or a computer network. The method patented also allows for users to exchange location information including address, GPS coordinates, or nearby fixed locations. Read more

Posted on Mon, 12 May 2008 06:35:36 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Web Guru targets Malaria with Social Network Site

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By John Joseph

LONDON (Reuters) - The British entrepreneur who sold a soccer Web site at the age of 17 for $40 million has switched his attention to help launch a social networking site on Sunday designed to fight malaria.
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Posted on Mon, 21 Apr 2008 16:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Social Networks prepare own Music Services

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By Antony Bruno

DENVER (Billboard) - One of the biggest new-media sensations to emerge from last year were music-related widgets -- mini-applications that allowed members of social networking services like MySpace or Facebook to customize their profiles with such music features as streamed playlists and tour calendars with links to ticket sales.
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Posted on Sat, 19 Apr 2008 06:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Musicians take Social Networking into their own Hands

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By Jennifer Netherby

NEW YORK (Billboard) - 50 Cent has more than 1 million friends on MySpace, but if the rapper ever decides to leave the social network, he'll be leaving behind those friends, too. So like a growing number of artists, he's started his own social networking site.
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Posted on Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:29:04 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Blip BlackLine GPS Geo-social Interaction for BlackBerry

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Users of GPS enabled BlackBerry smartphones can now get a free application called Blip that allows them to share their location amongst friends, family and coworkers. Blip says its users get full control over who sees their location with the service.

Blip allows users to track location history, view speed and direction when someone in their circle is on the move. Blip is also compatible with BlackLine's GPS Snitch vehicle security and tracking device. Blip is available now as a free download and is installed over-the-air from the Internet browser on the BlackBerry. Read more

Posted on Wed, 26 Mar 2008 10:34:21 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Yahoo!, MySpace, and Google announced the OpenSocial Foundation

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Yahoo!, MySpace, and Google today announced they have agreed to form the OpenSocial Foundation to ensure the neutrality and longevity of OpenSocial as an open, community-governed specification for building social applications across the web.

The OpenSocial Foundation will be an independent non-profit entity with a formal intellectual property and governance framework; related assets will be assigned to the new organization by July 1, 2008. The foundation will provide transparency and operational guidelines around technology, documentation, intellectual property, and other issues related to the evolution of the OpenSocial platform, while also ensuring all stakeholders share influence over its future direction. Read more

Posted on Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:44:13 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Yahoo supports Google Social Network Applications

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc said on Tuesday that it supports a program by archrival Google Inc to develop applications for social networks and will help create a joint foundation to keep it alive.
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Posted on Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:37:04 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

AOL to buy Bebo social Network

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By Kenneth Li

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Time Warner Inc's AOL Internet division said on Thursday it will buy social network Bebo for $850 million in cash, bolstering its consumer Internet offerings even as the media conglomerate mulls splitting off the business.

Bebo, which claims a global membership of about 40 million users, is the top social network in Britain, Ireland and New Zealand, it said. It is No. 3 in the United States behind News Corp's MySpace and Facebook.

"AOL, at its core, is a way for people to connect," AOL President Ron Grant said in a phone interview. "We need to get back to our roots."
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Posted on Thu, 13 Mar 2008 08:13:45 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Smart Party enables Social DJing

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Computer scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles developed an interesting solution for social DJing dubbed Smart Party.

Smart Party is polling via Wi-fi the playlists of the music players party guests would carry. This would work for instance with the iPod touch or the Microsoft Zune players. Each collected playlist is then sent to a PC where a software analyses the most popular tracks and genres.
Smart Party would then just play the most popular songs amongst all party goers which makes those self-declared party DJs a thing of the past. Read more

Posted on Sat, 19 Jan 2008 10:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Social Networking site Plaxo for Sale: Report

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Plaxo, an early social networking site that has been overtaken by Linked In and Facebook, is up for sale, The New York Times reported on Thursday in its online edition. Read more

Posted on Thu, 3 Jan 2008 08:24:38 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Socialites back to Boarding School with Feature

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By Borys Kit

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Tanner Hall," a never-made UPN pilot set in a girls' boarding school, is finding new life as an indie feature. Read more

Posted on Mon, 3 Dec 2007 00:05:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Pluck hooking up Media Outlets with Social Networks

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By Robert MacMillan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Online media syndication company Pluck Corp said on Wednesday it would give traditional media companies the ability to link their Web sites to online social networks like MySpace and Facebook. Read more

Posted on Wed, 28 Nov 2007 01:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Xbox FOF Social Networking in Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard Update

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Microsoft announces that the Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard Update on December 4th will include Friends of Friends social networking features.

With Friends of Friends You'll be able to check out the friends lists of fellow Xbox LIVE members right from the Dashboard. With this new feature, members can find old friends or connect with new ones within the community of more than eight million people on Xbox LIVE around the globe and send messages and game invites, as well as compare games and Achievements. Read more

Posted on Tue, 27 Nov 2007 01:39:02 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Google lures MySpace for Social Network Platform

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By Amanda Beck

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California (Reuters) - Google Inc has lured MySpace, the world's largest online social network, to its system courting independent software developers, raising its challenge to fast-growing Facebook. Read more

Posted on Fri, 2 Nov 2007 01:59:35 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Google opens Doors to Social Networking

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By Michele Gershberg

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Google Inc will offer Internet developers an open system to create applications across Web sites, a move that could challenge the features behind the explosive popularity of social network Facebook. Read more

Posted on Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Nokia's Mosh marries Mobile with Social Networking

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By Tarmo Virki

HELSINKI (Reuters) - When George Linardos was ordered to clear his diary to help dream up new business for Nokia , he imagined six weeks brainstorming on the terrace of a five-star hotel in the Caribbean. Read more

Posted on Wed, 24 Oct 2007 06:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

MySpace, Skype to offer Calls on Social Network

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SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - News Corp's MySpace social network site and eBay Inc's Skype will offer MySpace members free Internet calling services, executives from the companies said, in a bid by both to expand their base of users and revenue. Read more

Posted on Wed, 17 Oct 2007 00:48:56 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr