(* Source: BD Gamers *)

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(* Source: Youtube *)

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(* Source: Youtube *)

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(* Source: Steve Rubbel *)

Community is the glue that unities us all, as humans. It has for thousands of years. We identify ourselves with the physical communities in which we live - local, national and global. Our family is a community. Our circle of friends and fellow alumni are communities. The workplace is a community. Even Starbucks - the third place - is a community for thousands of web workers and new moms.

This isn't a new idea, of course. I remember spending hours on GEnie's RoundTables as a teenager in the mid-1980s. When the web blossomed in the late 1990s, many of us hung out on community sites like GeoCities and the late great Six Degrees.

Today this is all much easier and natural because of broadband. It has changed the way we view the web and the time we spend online. It's important to note the role that community has always played in driving the Internet revolution and how that will continue.

The aforementioned communities were the prehistoric predecessors to the water coolers where we spend time today. This includes the blogosphere (a giant, distributed community), social networks like Facebook and MySpace and virtual worlds like There.com and Second Life.

Community, however, is no longer limited to just the specialist sites. It's becoming completely ubiquitous online, just as it is off.

More here 

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(* Source: EVE online *)

A weekly on-demand Internet TV broadcast dedicated to the EVE Online universe has been launched. Dubbed EVE TV <http://eve-online.tv/> , the show will report the MMORPG's virtual society, as well as offer news, in-game skirmishes, market trends, exclusive interviews and more.

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(* Source: BD Gamers *)

Through IGA’s deal with French game development studio, Cyanide, consumers will experience contextual dynamic billboards in Pro Cycling Manager, incorporating the world-famous Tour de France, the worlds single largest annual spectator event. The game allows players to be in charge of one of 60 official teams by managing their tactics and strategies for 180 real-time 3D races.

Similarly, the deal with Staggan delivers dynamic billboard ads as well as power-ups and half-time video spots through United Football, a unique massively-multiplayer online soccer game, which gamers can download and play free of charge.

IGA has also signed a portal-wide casual game deal with Morpheme, a wholly-owned subsidiary of game publisher Eidos, for a range of new Morpheme titles including; Finger Frenzy and current top release, Dawn of the Bod. IGA’s network will again provide dynamic billboards and interstitial video clips before and after play. The Morpheme portal www.gimme5games.com receives over one million unique visits per month, mostly in the 16-34M bracket.

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 (* Source: Asian Media Development Group *)

Manila-based company tapped to distribute Triple-A MMORPG in SE Asia In a landmark partnership agreement set to change the face of online gaming in the region, ASIAN Media Development Group (AMDG), the Philippines largest PC games distributor, signed a US$5.5 million deal with Korean gaming giant NCsoft Corporation to exclusively market and distribute Lineage II in Southeast Asia.

This unprecedented partnership marks the first time a Manila-based company has been tapped to market a Triple A MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) like Lineage II in the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia.

It is also the first licensing contract ever awarded for Lineage II.Previously, NCsoft maintained a policy of servicing the immensely popular online game only through local subsidiaries. More here.

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(* Source: Duncan Riley *) 

In an age where everyone presumes that Facebook reigns supreme, the question becomes: how is it possible for Friendster to grow at 40%?

Prevailing theory relating to the growth of social networking sites suggests that social network popularity is a one or the other proposition in a finite marketplace. In others words users will abandon MySpace or Friendster when they begin using Facebook, and that the number of overall users isn’t growing. The growth rates from both MySpace and Friendster at the same time as Facebook is booming would suggest that the theory is wrong.

Friendster growing is good for the entire Web 2.0 industry. There can be no downturn without a broad decline in user numbers across many sites. Friendster proves that despite strong, and some would argue superior competition, there’s still room for any Web 2.0 startup to grow, even in a crowded vertical marketplace. There is more Web 2.0 cake for everyone.

More here 

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(* Source: Kristen Nicole *)

Fix8, the webcam avatar service, is partnering with , the live webcam broadcasting community.

Now you can access fix8’s interactive avatar creator in Stickam to create the most interesting and entertaining live broadcast out there. This form of animated live video is sure to be a hit with teenagers, and even us adults. I’ve seen more interest in fix8’s avatar service than I ever could have imagined, and the fascination with this type of interactive customization placed in a live broadcast setting is not going to lose its novelty status anytime soon.

Stickam users will have to download the fix8 software, which is free, and can then dress up their avatars, add accessories and incorporate images as well. fix8 was already being used for video messaging and chat services including MSN, Yahoo and Skype. The animated avatar service has also partnered with Pringo Networks for wider distribution. A similar service is Gizmoz, which recently launched an updated beta version.

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 (* Source: Kristen Nicole *)

Vator.tv, The Casual Games Association (CGA) and Pequot Ventures have partnered to seek out innovators and future leaders particularly in the video game industry. This will be done as a sponsored video pitch contest on Vator.

With the increase in casual games, both the CGA and Pequot are interested in finding the next big thing in the industry, and they’ve chosen Vator as their venue for seeking undiscovered talent. The contestants will be judged based on their pitches on Vator, and the winners of the challenge will get free admission to Casual Connect, a conference for the casual games industry next month in Seattle, as well as admission to the European Casual Connect Events in Kyiv and Amsterdam. Winners will also be featured in the Vator Reports, the new show on Vator featuring co-founder Bambi Francisco and Peter Thiel, as well as financial and industry training, and possibly funding from Pequot Ventures. The runner up will get a free XBox.

Regardless of the big gap between the winning and runner up prizes for this challenge, the chance to network with the right people, gain valuable training and have a shot at funding is the chance of a lifetime for anyone interested in casual games. It’s important to find talented individuals for the purpose of furthering development in nearly every industry today, and this is even more so highlighted by the fact that the marketing potential of casual games is rising rapidly. Looks like Vator is on its way to becoming a helpful platform for sharing information and launching careers.

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 (* Source: Life's Like.com *)
With the market for online gaming growing it was inevitable that wagering and competitions for money would become more mainstream. Millions of Americans play video games in their homes and online, and with the emergence of  Professional video game competitions, cash battles are now in play.

The Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL) is the biggest touring competition in the world and has been for many years.  The World Cyber Games, hosted in South Korea, is known as the ’Olympics of Cyber Gaming’.  A variety of smaller leagues focus on sports, like the Electronic Sports World Cup. On an even smaller scale, local cyber-cafes and even some exclusively on-line tournaments offer small  cash rewards for top finishers.

A relatively new gaming site based out of Ireland, called Skill Ground is claiming to be the world’s most rewarding online gaming arena where you can download real video games for free and play in a secure and fair environment for cash prizes or just for fun. Now you don't have to go to your friends house and play Madden for money, now you can play against anybody in the world that has a skillground account and that meets you skill criteria, for fun or cold cash.

Skillground has multiple games from one on one, death matches, team play, progressive tournaments, and score based games. Some games even allow for a large pool of money to be gathered with winner take all, the more players the bigger the prize. All you need is a PC and a broadband connection to play.

More here 

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(* Source: Ran Cohen & Chris Houtzer *)

Two industry insiders weigh in on the evolving business of casual gaming

It has been a banner year for the $1 billion dollar casual games industry, and 2007 is looking even better. A record number of people are playing games such as Cake Mania, Bejeweled, and Super Collapse 3. Tens of millions of casual games are either downloaded or played in a Web browser every day. All this growth is tremendous; however a very small percentage (less than 2 percent) of people downloading casual games actually purchase them. This frames the enormous opportunity for in-game advertising.

Throughout 2005 and 2006 in-game advertising in console and online PC games has been a very hot item.  The evolution of in-game advertising capabilities has allowed advertisers to see it as a viable alternative to traditional ad channels such as television and outdoor display ads.  As the reach of television advertising decreases, forecasts for in-game advertising are increasing, with research firms such as the Yankee Group estimating in-game ad revenues to reach $732 million by 2010.  These numbers demonstrate agencies’ strong interest in this budding channel, with many releasing trial campaigns featuring a dedicated in-game advertising line in their budgets.

More here 

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(* Source: Ed Cotton *) 

At this year's Cannes Lions, jury wanted to show the world of advertising has changed, so they and gave the Grand Prix to Dove’s Evolution spot.

The effort was rewarded for two reasons:

1.    It shows that there’s life beyond the 30sec television spot.

2.    It demonstrates the importance and power of corporate social responsibility. It’s not just a statement, it’s an action; Dove isn’t just commenting on the state of women and beauty, it’s actively trying to do something about it.

The problem is that the media world has changed so dramatically in the last 6 months that it might be impossible for a brand to replicate the success of Dove. The ad was truly viral; it was even seeded by the writer directly on YouTube and took off from there.

More here 

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(* Source: Pete Cashmore *) 

LinkedIn is feeling the heat from Facebook’s platform strategy: realizing it could lose its dominant position in business networking if it doesn’t act, founder and Chairman Reid Hoffman said on Friday that LinkedIn will provide open APIs “within 9 months”. Most likely, it’ll be much sooner (and it’ll need to be - 9 months is a long, long time on the web).

It’s a wise move, of course: as competition increases, the only way for market leaders to sure up their positions is to build a Microsoft-esque ecosystem. The question is how MySpace will react to Facebook’s latest moves: although still ahead in terms of size and growth, there’s a sense that the market leader has lost its sheen. And I hope that LinkedIn carries this idea forward with more innovation, rather than simply following Facebook’s every step.

The question: what would you build for LinkedIn?

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 (* Source: Livia Iacolare *)

 Internet radio may be facing uncertain times, but many musical social networks continue to thrive. If you’re in a band, these sites are essential for promoting your music: take note, and sign up for as many as possible to maximize your reach. For fans, meanwhile, we’ve included some great places to just listen to music. We won’t mention the obvious one, of course: MySpace remains the hub for music on the web.

More here 

Flotones

Mercora Radio 2.0

MOG

Last.fm

iLike

JamNow

MusoCity

Haystack

Sonific

Midomi

iJigg

Sellaband

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 (* Source: Preston Gralla *)

Think that all of the great Web sites have already been invented? Think again. The Internet is evolving in new and inventive ways thanks to mashups that pull data from all over the Web and to AJAX-based interfaces that give sites the same degree of interactivity and responsiveness that desktop apps possess.

To keep you ahead of the curve, we've rounded up 25 innovative Web sites and services that are well worth watching. Some of them help you design your own personalized Web site mashups; others enable you to create video mixes, build wikis, share personal obsessions, and more. But take note: A number of these sites are works in progress, and user-generated sites depend on developing a critical mass of content, which doesn't happen right away. With that in mind, check out the following dot-com destinations. One of them may become the next big Web hit.

More here

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 (* Source: Susan Wu *)

People spend over $1.5 billion on virtual items every year. Pets, coins, avatars, and bling: these virtual objects are nothing more than a series of digital 1s and 0s stored on a remote database somewhere in the ether. What could possibly possess people to spend real, hard earned cash on ‘objects’ that have no tangible substance?

The virtual worlds space has received tremendous press attention in the last year, fueled in no small part by Wild West stories of fortune and anarchy in worlds like Second Life and the plight of the Chinese gold farmer in World of Warcraft. But people aren’t paying attention to the bigger story. While people preoccupy themselves with mocking the absurdities of some of these virtual worlds, the reality is that there are many businesses out there making meaningful amounts of money in virtual goods:

• Tencent is one of the largest Internet portals in China with over 250 million active user accounts. They generated $100 million+ in Q1 of 2007 and over 65% of their revenue comes from virtual goods.
• Habbo Hotel has over 75 million registered avatars in 29 countries and 90% of their $60 million+ yearly revenue comes from virtual goods.
• Gaia Online does over 50,000 person to person auctions and 1 million message board posts a day- making them the 3rd largest auction site and the 2nd largest message board on the Internet. Their average user consumes 1200 page views a month. They employ 3 people whose sole job it is to open snail mail envelopes full of cash that people send in for virtual goods.
• There’s a commonly held misperception that virtual goods are only for online gamers. Both Dogster and HotorNot are succeeding with a hybrid ad/virtual goods business model. Currently, over 40% of HotorNot’s revenue comes from virtual goods.

• Major mainstream brands are now buying advertising in the form of virtual goods in social networks. Gaians can now purchase and pimp their virtual Scion xBs. Coca Cola and Tencent partnered to allow Tencent’s users to trade codes taken from real Coke cans for virtual objects in the Tencent network. Wangyou, a Chinese based social network, has also been extremely aggressive in experimenting with branded virtual goods.

  
  

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(* Source: Ryley Bane *) 

 









Using NYC graffiti artist Jesus Saves “drip” txt, technology video artists Paul Notzold and Adam Chapman have created a way to engage cell phone text messages delivered from around a city into instant graffiti messages which are then projected on various city building walls. Using a customized gateway system to receive and transcribe text messages into the artist’s script, plus various projectors, and a specific public space, messages are transcribed and instantly written out in a conversation style, resulting in an engaging interactive street performance.

Called “TXTual Healing,” the concept is to promote interaction with public spaces using an “always on” technology—text messaging and cell phones—in a way that promote conversation publicly rather than just privately. For example, for a TXTual Healing performance, people receive a simple flyer with instructions and a cell number on how to send their texts. Texts are displayed in speech bubbles, usually from a window on the side of building as though the occupants were talking, and put together as though the texts are interacting in a conversation for onlookers to read—and then interact with as well by texting themselves.

As Notzold describes, the concept is to use cell phone technology to trigger dialogue and action and create content for a staged performance to the public. By using various city landscapes to project the text messages and speech bubbles, it also gives viewers an opportunity to consider their surroundings and how they share their world with others.

As we’ve reported more often in the last year, video and technology street art have become important tools of expression among a youth culture that has grown up with communication and self-recording devices. These concepts have also been used by a handful of progressive brands to promote their concepts in unique advertising campaigns, such as moving pictures on subways, “running” animation across several blocks of storefronts, or on the sides of buildings. By using text messaging and interactive art on buildings, these artists are connecting modern devices with art and performance that can’t help but move onlookers to engage, whether through texting themselves to see if their messages will appear, or at least read what’s written by others.

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(* Source: Duncan Riley *) 

Inspired by a childhood passion for paper dolls, Scandinavian born Liisa started drawing dolls and accompanying wardrobes, uploading them to Geocities. The personal page grew, evolving to Paperdoll Heaven in 2004.

Now calling itself Stardoll.com, the site took $4 million in Series A funding from Index Ventures in February 2006, and $6 million in a B Series round lead by none other than Sequoia in June the same year.

It’s a rags to riches success story that makes Stardoll worth taking a look at, and the space is seeing hyper growth. See our writeup of Zwinky last week.

Stardoll is all about dressing up dolls online.

Stardoll lets users create their own doll or choose from a large collection of celebrity dolls which can then be dressed up in virtual fashions. Every celebrity doll has a wardrobe full of unique clothes and outfits, with new celebrity dolls and outfits released weekly.

Each user is given a page from where they can share the dolls they have created, accompanied with a guest book, diary (blog), friend connections and album.

More here 

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(* Source: Anastasia Goodstein *)

Girls are spending hours dressing up avatars online—and both startups and big brands such as Disney and Mattel are vying for their attention

When you think about paper dolls, you probably think about children from past generations painstakingly attaching little outfits onto a cut-out female figure. Paper dolls have come a long way since then.

Teen and tween girls these days spend hours dressing up dolls—only these are online, in the form of avatars, or virtual representations. Consider Mattel's (MAT) Barbie, who was also a favorite paper doll. She now has a virtual world called Barbie Girls where girls can create their own avatars and try on clothes at a virtual mall. And Barbie isn't alone. A whole wave of avatar sites is hoping to capitalize on this age-old desire.

Part of the fun of virtual worlds for teens is experimenting with identity. Boys do this all the time in video games where they assume fantastic identities very different from whom they are in real life. For tween and teen girls, fashion has always been a big part of self-expression. How else to explain the popularity of Teen Vogue, which stands tall even in a ravaged teen-magazine market, where many publications are going online or folding altogether.

More here 

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(* Source: NYT *) 

NAME Choi Seang Rak

BORN 1971 OCCUPATION Academic

LOCATION Seoul, South Korea

AVATAR NAME Uroo Ahs

AVATAR CREATED 2004

GAME PLAYED Lineage II

HOURS PER WEEK IN-GAME 8

CHARACTER TYPE Dwarf Warsmith

SPECIAL ABILITIES Craft siege weapons, whirlwind in battle

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(* Source: Brian Crecente *)

The LEGO massively multiplayer online game in development by NetDevil is expected to ship in the fourth quarter of 2008 as LEGO Universe, LEGO Group announced today.

The game will feature character advancement, social and community features and the ability to customize your mini-figs and interact with the LEGO universe.

"LEGO Universe ties together all aspects of our community and line of products in an online environment that can be enjoyed by LEGO fans of all ages," said Mark William Hansen, Director of Business Development, LEGO Universe. "By merging the online world of social interaction with the LEGO concept of play, LEGO Universe will provide our community with an entirely new way to experience LEGO and connect with other players in a fun and imaginative setting."

...

"LEGO Universe is being built as a place where fans and community members can discover nearly unlimited play possibilities," said Ryan Seabury, NetDevil Lead Producer on LEGO Universe. "Given the strength of the LEGO community, a large part of bringing the game to life will be working hand in hand with them to ensure that the core values of creativity, connectivity, and imagination are reflected in the end product."

I think this game has the potential to be the next big MMO. Let's hope all of that potential is realized. 

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(* Source: Bernadette Matroka *) 

 

In a genius move by H&M, the massive fast fashion retailer that always appears among the top stores in our European Youth Culture Study, they have collaborated with Entertainment Arts (EA) to produce The Sims 2 H&M Fashion Stuff Pack game and The Sims 2 H&M Fashion Runway Showcase. Basically, if you have The Sims 2, you can download the Fashion Pack from H&M and dress your characters in the latest H&M summer collection. You can also create your own H&M store, including arranging fitting rooms, move around a cash register, organize clothing racks, and dress mannequins. The Sims is one game that tends to appeal to both males and females across the board and has been one of the break-out games that’s captured the marketplace, particularly increasing the gaming time played among young girls in the last few years. This collaboration obviously brings awareness to H&M’s summer collection, but also is a game in that you can create a virtual store and entire shopping world that has the potential to move from virtual to real. For some, this will be more fun than, say, creating your own designs in SecondLife because you’re also playing The Sims as well.

More here 

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(* Source: Kristen Nicole *)

When it comes to virtual worlds for kids and teens, Runescape is leading the US market.

According to today’s stats from Hitwise, Runescape has 44% market share in this realm of virtual play lands, which also includes Webkinz, Neopets, Club Penguin, Gaia Online, Stardoll and Habbo (US version). Runescape is far in the lead, with runner-up Webkinz only taking 14% of the market.

While all of these virtual worlds are growing rather quickly, growth is only expected to increase in the coming years. Runescape is an MMORPG that lets you create an avatar to live, play and earn a living in their medieval landscape. The game currency is called GP (gold pieces), and there are premium accounts available for those that would like to buy a subscription in order to enjoy the full benefits of Runescape.

While it looks like Runescape is the king of this particular virtual avatar game domain, Webkinz is currently growing at the fastest rate. Zwinky, the avatar creator, has also released their own virtual world game, introducing another competitor in the field.

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(* Source: Paul Verna *) 

(* Source: Slideshare *)

Meet Charlie, the model citizen in our brave new world of collaboration...

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(* Source: Ross Dawson *) 

The intention of the Web 2.0 Framework is to provide a clear, concise view of the nature of Web 2.0, particularly for senior executives or other non-technical people who are trying to grasp the scope of Web 2.0, and the implications and opportunities for their organizations.

There are three key parts to the Web 2.0 Framework, as shown below:

Web 2.0 Framework

• Web 2.0 is founded on seven key Characteristics: Participation, Standards, Decentralization, Openness, Modularity, User Control, and Identity.

• Web 2.0 is expressed in two key Domains: the Open web, and the Enterprise.

• The heart of Web 2.0 is how it converts Inputs (User Generated Content, Opinions, Applications), through a series of Mechanisms (Technologies, Recombination, Collaborative Filtering, Structures, Syndication) to Emergent Outcomes that are of value to the entire community.

Web 2.0 Definitions

• We define the Web 2.0 Characteristics, Domains, and Technologies referred to in the Framework.

• Ten definitions for Web 2.0 are provided, including the one I use to pull together the ideas in the Framework: “Distributed technologies built to integrate, that collectively transform mass participation into valuable emergent outcomes.”

Web 2.0 Landscape

• Sixty two prominent Web 2.0 companies and applications are mapped out across two major dimensions: Content Sharing to Recommendations/ Filtering; and Web Application to Social Network. The four spaces that emerge at the junctions of these dimensions are Widget/ component; Rating/ tagging; Aggregation/ Recombination; and Collaborative filtering. Collectively these cover the primary landscape of Web 2.0.

As with all our frameworks, the Web 2.0 Framework is released on a Creative Commons license, which allows anyone to use it and build on it as they please, as long as there is attribution with a link to this blog post and/ or Future Exploration Network. The framework is intended to be a stimulus to conversation and further thinking, so if you disagree on any aspect, or think you can improve on it, please take what is useful, leave the rest, and create something better.

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(* Source: Marta Strickland *) 

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(* Source: Molly De La Rosa *)

We've written a lot about virtual worlds on Threeminds.  Here's an interesting application that helps us experience our collective past. The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities at the University of Virginia has collaborated to create a digital 3D model of Ancient Rome. Bernard Frischer, who led the project said, “This is the first step in the creation of a virtual time machine, which our children and grandchildren will use to study the history of Rome and many other great cities around the world.”
 
Sounds more fun than reading about Rome in an old text book! 
 
http://romereborn.virginia.edu/
 

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(* Source: Chad Stoller *)

Some of you may be aware that Facebook launched a polling service last week that allows you to run a flash poll across the Facebook network. You get to ask a single question and provide up to 5 multiple choice answers. The pricing is flexible as you pay per response. You can pay as little as .25 for a response or up to $1. The higher the price, the quicker your poll will be completed. We recently did a few polls here in New York and a $1/response poll was completed in about 25 minutes while a .25/response poll was completed in about 45 minutes.

In addition, you can segment your audience by interest, age, gender and location.

While this information isnt exactly scientific, its a great way to test the waters of an idea or get some insight from the community. A little knowledge can go a long way.

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(* Source: Nick Gonzalez *) 

According to Reuters, British Omnifone has signed deals with the big four music labels (Universal, EMI, Sony/BMG, and Warner Music) and 30 cell carriers to sell subscriptions to unlimited music downloads on cell phones.

No doubt this is in response to the iPhone/iTunes integration and Apple’s existing iTunes mobile extension. The spread of iTunes on mobiles, which cuts out carrier commissions, has carriers worried.

The service, called MusicStation, will work on all 2.5-3G compatible phones. It is being released throughout Europe, starting today with Sweden, a full two weeks before the iPhone release. They expect 80% of Western Europe’s existing phones to be compatible with the service.

MusicStation costs 2.99 euros/week or 1.99 pounds/week for downloading an unlimited number of songs. Songs take about 15 seconds to download and by the end of the year Omnifone expects to have a library of over 1 million songs. The application lets you make playlists, find new artists, and follow artist specific news.

Some alternative mobile music services are MyStrands, Avvenu, Pandora, or mobile Rhapsody radio, which costs $6.95/month. However, a study conducted last year found 44% of users had no interest in downloading music to their mobiles and only 6% of users would download music from their mobile provider.

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(* Source: Duncan Riley *) 

Three separate news stories involving numbers this week caught my eye. iLike announced it has now has 6 million registered users and is now adding 300,000 new users a day. Apple’s Safari browser for Windows has now had 1 million downloads. Finally SpaceTime, a 3D browser we reviewed June 5 passed the 100,000 download mark.

All three may not seem obviously related, but there is something they all share: large user numbers.

It wasn’t that long ago that 100,000 users was considered huge for a Web 2.0 related business. Today a small startup such as SpaceTime can gain those numbers in two weeks. 6 million users three years ago would have seemed an impossible dream, and yet iLike joins a long and growing list of Web 2.0 sites with 1 million or more users. Web 2.0 offerings are improving their appeal to a broader audience which in turn is driving growth in the overall market: the Long Tail is getter fatter.

Although this fattening of the Web 2.0 marketplace makes it more difficult to stand out from the crowd, the marginal cost and ROI potential has now improved. Consider the SpaceTime browser. Immediately many would question the need for an alternative browser, yet this isn’t an all or nothing proposition. Every single user of SpaceTime presents a ROI for the company due to search deals. An average SpaceTime user might return $5 per month to the company by clicking on Google ads or surfing eBay; $500,000 per month @ 100,000 users. The figure could be lower or higher, but it’s still a return. Safari will be operating on a similar model for Apple. The need to find appeal has actually decreased as a percentage of the overall market. Conversely the bar to creating a sustainable business hasn’t risen in line with the number of potential users, today startups can achieve with a smaller percentage of the overall market.

From a developers or startups view, the fattening long tail should be seen for what it is: a marketplace that has improved opportunities for smart startups. A bigger marketplace makes today and tomorrow an even better time to build a Web 2.0 business than yesterday. A fatter long tail means that as a whole there will be an increasing number of success stories and sustainable startups, a win-win all round.

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(* Source: Techcrunch *) 

An progressive move for Adobe the leading application player into the web2.0 space. 

Techcrunch reports... 

YouTube has officially launched YouTube Remixer, a new service that allows users to edit their videos from within YouTube itself.

The new feature is powered by Adobe Premiere Express and supports insertion of graphics, text and audio as well as overlays and in-video transitions. YouTube Remixer is nearly identical to Photobucket’s Remix tool; both are powered by Adobe.

This isn’t an offering that is going to be embraced by serious content creators but it is ideal for casual YouTube uploaders. The interface is fairly simple if perhaps a little bit dull and boring. Creating a one stop shop for all things video at YouTube is a natural progression path that gives prosumers another reason to spend more time on the site; it’s just that it’s grey, uninspiring and so very not Google. I can also find no personal appeal in adding Gingerbread men to my videos; however others may view the service differently.

Posted by brian tiong at 10:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(* Source: Kristen Nicole *) 

Ambient Sound Investments (ASI), which was created in 2003 by four founding Skype engineers, will acquire a stake as part of a Series A funding in Frenzoo, the Hong Kong-based, 3D social networking platform. ASI founders include Ahti Heinla, who serves as Chief Architect at Skype, Priit Kasesalu, Senior Developer at Skype, Jaan Tallinn, another Senior Developer at Skype, and Toivo Annu, former Head of Engineering at Skype. Terms of the upcoming acquisition have not been disclosed.

Frenzoo, currently in private beta, aims to be a centralizing hub for teen culture, providing a space for young adults to connect with friends and experience fashion. Users can create their online persona with 3D avatars, and participate within Frenzoo by interacting with virtual clothing, mixing and matching a variety of branded clothes, furniture, accessories and other lifestyle items. Frenzoo is looking to be an ideal advertising network for big brands looking for creative ways to penetrate the teen demographic. In a move similar to Second Life, items within the Frenzoo game will be virtual replicas of branded items, that players can incorporate into their 3D online space.

Other virtual world games that are good for brand marketing include CyWorld, which has recently launched its own fashion directive along side its Eyespot video editing addition, Habbo, and Sony Home.

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(* Source: Sophie Taylor *)

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(* Source: Mark Hefflinger *) 

U.K. Social Network Bebo Links Artists' Pages to iTunes Store

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(* Source: eMarketer *)

Brand advertising is moving onto the Internet.

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(* Source: Nick Gonzalez *) 

Virtual world Entropia, which combines chatting with friends and blowing up aliens, announced their expansion into China through a deal with Beijing’s Cyber Recreation Development Corp (CRD) over a year in the making. The CRD is supported by Beijing’s Municipal government and intended to promote and develop investment in “cyber recreation” in China. The company says Second Life was also in the running for the deal.

The deal is quite ambitious. Entropia currently has over 500,000 registered users, but the new Chinese partnership will permit up to 7 million concurrent users with an overall aim to attract an unheard of 150 million world wide. The company also expects their virtual economy’s bottom line to grow, eventually adding another 1 billion real dollars annually from the partnership. Entropia has already been able to sell a virtual banking license for $400,000. David Liu, CEO of CRD, envisions an Entropia utopia. He expects the partnership to bring 10,000 work-at-home, pollution-free job opportunities to China.

Entropia also plans to expand their virtual real estate from the deal by enabling media companies to add their own planets to the universe. They’re currently in negotiations with film, music, and gaming companies for their own planet. Competitor Second Life has made several similar corporate branding deals in their virtual world.

Entropia still faces competition from Second Life in China and their own home grown competition from HiPiHi and a TBA world from Shanda Corporation. Second Life’s top entrepreneur Anshe Chung has even been running operations out of China since last January. However, adult themes and continued investigations into illegal activities within the virtual world (child abuse, stalking, gambling) don’t bode well for getting the seal of approval of a government that blocks Wikipedia.

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(* Source: Ben Gold *)

When you think of social networks you probably think of MySpace. But recently, Facebook has been gaining popularity - since it opened up beyond college users, it has enjoyed a flood of new users, boosted further by the launch of Facebook apps. It’s time these two social networks fought it out.

Round 1: Design

Layout: Facebook wins here because the profiles are well set up and neatly organized and it’s easy to navigate through the profiles to find the info you want. It mainly beats MySpace because most profiles are so ugly and inconsistent.

Overall Site Design: Facebook is obviously the winner here. MySpace looks so unprofessionally done when compared to Facebook, mainly again because of it’s inconsistent design. This time its MySpace themselves, not the users, who make the site difficult to use.

Profiles: This is a tie because MySpace has a lot of customization, but Facebook’s default looks better than MySpace’s and it’s very neat and well organized.

Customization: MySpace and Facebook tie here. While Facebook lets you add and remove applications, MySpace lets you do whatever you want with the pages, if you know a little HTML that is. Unfortunately thats the reason MySpace’s design is so unruly for the most part.

Site Organization: Both site are pretty well organized. However, Facebook wins because of its clean layout that allows you to find everything right away, and it’s start page is a link to everything you need in neat and tidy boxes.
Round Winner: Facebook!

Round 2: Media

Pictures: Facebook wins here because of its well-organized picture section and the ability to tag people and have people tag themselves. Also, with the apps recently released you can now add Fiickr and other photosharing site streams to your profile. However, Fox now owns Photobucket, which provides photo hosting to MySpace users.

Videos: This one is a tie because both MySpace and Facebook let you upload video and they both have their own flash player. MySpace will let you embed video into your profile but you can post videos to Facebook as well.

Music: MySpace wins, but only just - we all know that every band ever has a MySpace account . However, with the new Facebook apps you can add your data from music tracking sites like Last.fm and iLike: in fact the top app on Facebook at the moment is the iLike app.

Sharing: Now, Facebook’s advantage here is only a slight one. Facebook allows you to share media links very easily and i fact automatically though the Facebook feed, something that I’m sure many MySpace users would like to be able to do (MySpace News isn’t really suited to this). You can, however, grab embedded media like videos from other profiles to repost on MySpace.

Round Winner: Facebook!

Round 3: Community

Relationships: A big difference on Facebook is that the friends you add are usually your real friends. It’s not a contest like on MySpace where everyone is trying to have the most friends. On Facebook it about talking to the people you know and sharing things with them.

Groups: Both sites have groups, but Facebook makes them more prominent. They are a bigger part of the service and there are a lot of people using them for clever uses like planning meet up and giving info to fans.

Keeping Track of What’s New: Facebook kills MySpace here. On MySpace the only way to know if a friend added something new to their profile is to go look at it, and the only way to know if you made a new friends is to look for the person. Facebook has two feeds. One tells you what’s new with you, like who accepted your friend request or your posted items, etc. The other feed tells you what’s up with all your friends, like who they added and what groups they joined.

Messaging: This is a tie. They both have a place where people can leave messages on your profile and they both have a basic mail system.

Co-Workers: Facebook can be used as a tool to talk to the people you work with also and see what’s new with them. You can even join a network for your company. MySpace was really designed for teens so it doesn’t really have these types of features.

Round Winner: Facebook!

Round 4: Usefulness

Finding Old Friends: One of the major reasons for joining a social network is to reconnect with old friends or classmates. Facebook makes this really easy because the whole site is organized by schools and now by locations too. So unless you forgot your friends name you will probably be able to find them if they have an account. MySpace lets you search for school friends, but doesn’t put the emphasis on real friendships.

Communication:Facebook is a good way to contact people if you don’t know their contact info. Someone is more likely to notice a Facebook message than a MySpace Message due to the fact that there is less Facebook spam.

Promoting Yourself: MySpace wins here. Thousands of bands use MySpace to promote their music and their fans use it to show their support. This isn’t nearly as evident on Facebook, although groups allow companies to promote themselves.

Getting Laid: If you are looking for action, then you’ll probably want to go with MySpace - see our survey for the reasons behind this.

Round Winner: MySpace!

Round 5: Ease of Use

Adding Friends: MySpace wins here because adding new friends and accepting friends requests is usually a one click process. The major advance here over Facebook is the ability to add large amounts of friends at once which for some reason was never added to Facebook.

Search: The winner here is a little bit surprising when you consider Google does the search for the loser. Facebook’s search beats MySpace by a mile. Even though the search engine giant Google is providing MySpace’s search, its results are not nearly as useful as Facebook’s. The big issue here is that MySpace’s search looks in the whole profile, even when just looking for a person, Facebook’s is smart enough to know if you are looking for a user or a movie in someone’s interests.

Navigation: Both MySpace and Facebook have pretty decent navigation, but Facebook beats MySpace when it comes to getting to specific people’s profiles due to its superior search.

Privacy: Facebook makes it really easy to hide info from certain people and to not show information that you want to be kept private. So, if you only want you close friends to see you contact info, it only takes a second. MySpace has privacy too, but it’s far less granular.

Round Winner: Facebook!

An the Winner is… Facebook!!

MySpace was a great social network for a while, but now there are too many spammers and the developers have stopped innovating. Facebook is just starting to become popular (well, popular with those who were not on it when it was limited to schools). So, you might want to check it out, while it’s still cool.

Posted by brian tiong at 02:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(* Source: Compete *) 

In September 2006, Compete reported on the marginal, albeit growing, interest in mobile TV and video products services online at Big-4 carrier websites. At the time, online consumers exhibiting interest in mobile TV and video services comprised just half of a percent of all Big-4 carrier website traffic.

Compete recently completed an online study surveying existing Big-4 customers regarding their interests and preferences around this new entertainment medium. Of 2,500 of customers surveyed, 13% indicated that they would be interested in watching TV and videos on their wireless phones, with men more likely to adopt (17%) than women (12%). When asked about specific content that they would be interested in watching, Big-4 customers reported that live TV was the most appealing.

The mobile TV industry has evolved since September, specifically with Verizon Wireless launching V-CAST Mobile TV during early March in select cities around the United States. Advertising and marketing campaigns promoting V-CAST Mobile TV have led to a 104% increase in consumers evaluating the service on VerizonWireless.com. Big-4 carrier interest in mobile TV and video has thus grown to almost 1% of all web site traffic, and looks to continue growing, with AT&T planning a live video service of its own in coming months and Sprint continuing to add channels to its own MobiTV lineup.

This early data bodes well for key players in the mobile TV supply chain, including the content networks, technology enablers, and of course, the wireless carriers and MVNO’s. Consumers, however, should prove to be the real beneficiaries as interfaces improve with the advent of more advanced multimedia handsets (iPhone anyone?), programming options expand with more content players getting into the mix, and the price inevitably decreases as competition heats up. This all adds up to a rosy future for mobile TV adoption if these early signals are correct. Stay tuned.

Posted by brian tiong at 02:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(* Source: Allison Mooney *)

Have a look at the online myspace profile.

PSFK wrote,

Cory Kennedy, the Internet It girl that rose to fame in a matter of months last year, is at it again. Or rather, she never really stopped. Blogging that is. Or modeling, partying, shopping.... What happened to The Cobrasnake muse getting grounded? The LA Times piece on "The Secret Life of Cory Kennedy" reported that mom had discovered her precocious social life and placed her in a "nonpublic therapeutic placement"  school with limited phone access and a  get-out-of-jail-free card for weekends only.

It seems this alluring MySpace socialite would not be held back though. Cory is on the cover of Spain's NEO2 this month, which she can add to recent clips in Jane, Nylon, and French Elle. She also just wrapped a shoot with Interview.  Her blog has her out on school nights, at Coachella, in NYC, DJing, going to fashion parties....

Cory is truly an icon of Gen Y. While many girls blog to "invisible audiences," she garnered a real one from New York to the Netherlands. She is living proof that social media democratized celebrity--and its pitfalls (seriously, when does this girl go to school?)

Try as her parents may (or may not), rehab doesn't appear to have stuck for this web celeb. Like Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, and Amy Winehouse, she's just way too busy having fun.

Posted by brian tiong at 01:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(* Source: Fred Guillet *)

Super cool web & mobile applications that everyone should know about...

Thanks Fred!

1-800-GOOG-411

Google 411 is a free service for mobile phone users who want to get phone numbers or addresses while on the go.
http://labs.google.com/goog411

3Jam

3Jam lets mobile phone users do a reply-all to their friends via SMS.
http://www.3jam.com

4Info

4Info is a mobile alert service that can deliver SMS alerts to your phone for any news or sports feeds you're interested in.
http://4info.net

Cellfire

Cellfire delivers coupons to your cell phone that you can then show at checkout to get discounts.
http://www.cellfire.com

Google Gmail Mobile

A downloadable mobile version of Google's Web mail that runs on any phone with Java.
http://www.google.com/mobile

Google Maps Mobile

Get directions and find places online using your phone.
http://www.google.com/gmm/index.html

GoWare DoMo

GoWare's Domo lets you create a home page specifically for your mobile phone. You choose what content it contains.
http://www.goware.biz

JuiceCaster

JuiceCaster is a mobile media-publishing platform that lets you post pictures, videos, and text online.
http://www.juicecaster.com

KushCash

Manage your money on your cell phone. KushCash is a secured money management system that you can access while on the go.
http://www.kushcash.com

Kyte.tv

Kyte.TV lets users create their own TV network with photos, videos, and music. Users can publish content from their computer or on the go with a mobile phone.
http://www.kyte.tv

Mobivox

Mobivox lets Skype users keep in touch with their mobile phone. Using the service, they can chat with their Skype contacts and see who is online while out and about.
http://www.mobivox.com

Mundu Radio

Mundu Radio puts Internet radio stations on your mobile phone.
http://radio.mundu.com

MyStrands

MyStrands Social Player is a music player and discovery tool for mobile devices running Symbian. Users can listen to music, and keep track of what others are listening to in real-time.
http://www.mystrands.com/mystrands/mob-symbian/symbian.vm

 

 

Pinger

Pinger offers a variety of mobile services, including text messaging by voice, and group calling.
http://www.pinger.com

Plusmo

Plusmo delivers slide shows.
http://www.plusmo.com

Radar.net

Radar.net lets you share camera-phone pictures with your friends.
http://radar.net

ScanR

ScanR is a business service; it processes pictures of documents, whiteboards, and business cards, making them readable.
http://www.scanr.com

ShoZu

Shozu is a utility for getting media files (photos and music) on to and off of your phone.
http://www.shozu.com

SimulScribe

SimulScribe converts voice mail to text and can then send the text to your mobile device.
https://www.simulscribe.com

SoonR

Soonr connects your phone to your PC-based files and programs.
http://www.soonr.com

Tellme

Tellme's free 411 service works as a call-in number and as a Java application. Users can get directions and search for local businesses using their phone.
http://www.tellme.com

 

 

uLocate

Where provides customizable widgets for your phone that can display information that's customized to your current location using GPS.
http://www.ulocate.com

WidSets

WidSets makes content widgets for your mobile phone.
http://widsets.com

Winksite

Winksite is a tool for publishing mobile Web sites.
http://www.winksite.com

Yahoo OneSearch

Yahoo's OneSearch integrates all of Yahoo's mobile services in one lightweight application.
http://mobile.yahoo.com

Posted by brian tiong at 01:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(* Source: Baron Conway *)

 

Listen to your iTunes library anywhere, online for free, including synching with your iPod!

I am not sure if this is really going to work as promised, and the interface is not great. However if they pull this off it will transform how we could be listening to our music libraries!

The share functionality makes some assumptions around fair use - i.e. that you and those you are sharing with legitimately own every song in your library,

It is in beta so it's not always that stable, but check it out.

http://www.lala.com/

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(* Source: Yee Peng Chia   *)

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(* Source:  Stan Schroeder  *)

(* Source: Adam Tornes *)

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(* Source: eMarketer *)

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(* Source: Neville Hobson *) 

Neville reports... 

Last Friday evening’s Die Hard 4 virtual press conference and expo launch in Second Life was a great example of how this virtual medium can work well when you have some real imagination and execute a good plan of organization.

The event featured a live Q&A session with Bruce Willis, the star of the film. As with the 300 movie event in Second Life in March, this event featured a moderator who fielded text questions from the assembled journalists, bloggers and contest winners (yes, there had been a contest for Die Hard fans to win a place at this virtual launch and ‘meet’ Bruce). The answers came in the spoken word from Bruce Willis via a real-time audio stream.

This was the scene about half an hour before Bruce Willis’ avatar arrived and things kicked off. I reckon there were about 60 people there, close to the capacity limit of a Second Life sim.

Judging from the text chat scrolling up the screen, they came from all over the world, from North America, South America, Europe, Japan and other points east.

The interest of people to be there was really interesting. Clicking on people’s profiles, I found few showing recent Second Life sign-up, ie, most I saw had been resident for some months at least. A very different picture to the 300 event where the majority of journalists who participated had signed up for the first time literally that day or, at most, a few days prior.

Once Bruce Willis arrived, the floodgate opened on questions. He was a terrific sport, answering questions and talking for well over 45 minutes.

During the Q&A session, I twittered a bit (actually, twitku’d would be a better word) including some instant quick posts on some of the things Willis said:

At the Die Hard 4 press conference in Second Life. Bruce is late! 01:32 AM June 02, 2007  from web
Lot of avatars here, i reckons about 60. Many nationalities. But still no Bruce. 01:35 AM June 02, 2007  from web
Yay! Bruce Willis finally arrived! 01:41 AM June 02, 2007
Questions for Bruce Willis coming faster and faster. Lots of them. 01:46 AM June 02, 2007  from web
Bruce sounds knackered. Must be that 5-week press tour he wasn’t looking forward to. 01:51 AM June 02, 2007  from web
Bruce: “Version 2.0 of Holly McClane in Lucy McClane” in DH4. 01:55 AM June 02, 2007  from web
Bruce: “This is a very cool way to interact with my fans.” 01:58 AM June 02, 2007  from web
Bruce: “Everything has become entertainment including the news.” 02:00 AM June 02, 2007  from web
Q: If you could be one movie hero who would it be? Bruce answers: Steve McQueen. 02:05 AM June 02, 2007  from web
Q: Are you a Mac or a PC? Bruce answers: A Mac. 02:13 AM June 02, 2007  from web
DH4 press conference in SL just concluded. Very neat. Bruce Willis was great. 02:17 AM June 02, 2007  from web

I grabbed quite a few screenshots during the briefing, as well as some scenes from around the excellent Die Hard 4 Expo that had been created and which opened at Silverscreen on Friday. The pics are all up on Flickr.

I have seen few media reports or blog posts so far about Friday’s event, which surprises me a bit. But in any event, I think it was a great way to connect Bruce Willis and the new Die Hard movie with fans as well as mainstream media and interested social media types.

Posted by brian tiong at 05:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(* Source: Guy Kawasaki *) 

Web2.0 told like it is lived. Guy showing the state of the web2.0 startup nation and how cheap it is to start your own... agencies beware!  

Guy says... 

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