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PR NEWSWIRE -- Mar 28 -- HIVConnect.net, a nonprofit project by former Manhunt general manager, Stephan Adelson, is a place of free dialogue for people with HIV/AIDS, AIDS Services Organizations and researchers. FULL ARTICLE @ PR INSIDE
E-CONSULTANCY -- Mar 28 -- Xing, the German-based business social network, is expanding into the Spanish-speaking market with the purchase of eConozco, Spain's second biggest professional network, launched 2003, with 150,000 members. Xing has ~1.7m members, and ~13% pay €5.95 a month for added benefits. FULL ARTICLE @ E-CONSULTANCY
Mark Brooks: Ryze and Linkedin also charge for value added services these days.
EYE FOR TRAVEL -- Mar 27 -- Travel and lifestyle online community WAYN (Where Are You Now) has signed a strategic partnership with Kayak to offer a comprehensive flight search service for its eight million members. FULL ARTICLE @ EYE FOR TRAVEL
MEDIA POST -- Mar 27 -- MySpace and YouTube both flourished in large part because of their simplicity. There has been a lot of griping about the mobile interface in the wake of the Apple iPhone announcement, for instance. One radical answer I have seen to the clutter and irrelevance of the deck is Widsets, a widget-based approach to connecting to the Web. You manage this downloadable Java app from the Web by dragging and dropping widgets for eBay, branded news feeds, Wikipedia, and FlickR onto the Web interface so they show up on your phone screen and configure each widget to access your personal data like a GMail account or a specific RSS feed. Major sites are already available but it looks as if fans, not the companies themselves, made them. FULL ARTICLE @ MEDIA POST
BUSINESS WIRE -- Mar 28 --NewBay (funded by Banchmark) allows Bebo mobile photo upload. Its UGC Gateway now supports interaction with Bebo. Beboers will now be able to upload images and text, browse profiles and receive text alerts to their mobile phone. Orange UK today announced that it is the first mobile operator to partner with Bebo. Orange UK customers will be able to stay in touch with their friends on Bebo, meet new people and express themselves anytime, anywhere from any Orange phone. FULL ARTICLE @ YAHOO
PRESS RELEASE -- Mar 26 -- MyCircles.com specializes in alternative lifestyles. Said CEO LeonGomez, "Our plans are to have some portions of MyCircles as free communities and other areas that have adult content on them which will require a paid membership. At this time we are a free site for all of the communities though. We are requiring all users to go through an age verification process and will be offering all of our US users a free criminal background check that also includes a screening for sexual offenders." FULL ARTICLE @ FAST PITCH
ARS TECHNICA -- Mar 22 -- News Corp. and NBC have formed partnerships with Yahoo!, Microsoft, and Time Warner/AOL to supply content and provide distribution channels. The YouTube competitor will launch this summerwith a number of TV shows and movie content. FULL ARTICLE @ ARS TECHNICA
VENTURE BEAT -- Mar 21 -- Facebook, the popular social networking site, is planning to simplify the design of its users profile and feed pages, and to create new network pages and has created a "Facebook Sneak Preview" group to get feedback before it implements them. The Profile page will be a sleeker with fewer links under the profile picture and a briefer Mini-Feed. Messages and shares will be found in one inbox. You can message several people at once, and they can reply to everyone on the thread. Finally, each network will have their own page. FULL ARTICLE @ VENTURE BEAT
TIMES OF INDIA -- Mar 21 -- Move over Mr and Miss World and make way for Mr and Miss Orkut. The prize: Just bragging rights! Members are now voting for Mr and Miss Orkut and the final results will be declared on April 1. FULL ARTICLE @ TIMES OF INDIA
Mark Brooks: Widget providers make money from riding on MySpace's coattails. If MySpace clamps down too hard, it will restrict their growth as users shift to alternative, less restrictive social networks. Remember, users went to MySpace instead of Friendster three years ago because they were more empowered; Friendster had nothing in the way of profile customization features. But they are seeing money spilling through their fingers so it must be frustrating. What will the executives at MySpace do. My vote...minimal restrictions. Come up with a 'MySpace Approved' list of widgets and promote them on the site. Keep the members happy. It's their space, after all.
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