friendster

Facebook could learn a thing or two

Wednesday, I discussed all the features Twitter's competitors offer that it doesn't. Now I'm back with a discussion about Facebook and all the features its competitors offer that it doesn't. Will it take the advice and start rolling them out?

Bebo: Sharing an artist's dream Maybe Facebook's groups feature is enough for some writers and musicians to come together and share their work, but I don't think the social network does enough.

Bebo, on the other hand, doesn't just allow users to band together around similar interests; it provides an author's … Read more

Friendster awarded 'compatibility scoring' patent

Social network Friendster announced Tuesday that it has been awarded its fourth U.S. patent, called "Compatibility Scoring of Users in a Social Network." It does pretty much exactly what it sounds like--it parses user profile data to find people who might be compatible as friends.

The social network, considered an also-ran in the U.S. but a much bigger phenomenon in a number of Asian countries--it has 65 million registered users in Asia--had its first patent granted in July 2006 and says that more are on the way.

"In just six years, social networking has … Read more

Fun with iPhone Moblyng slide shows

One of the cool features of the iPhone is its ability to handle photos in a way that allows you to flip through the images very easily or view them as a simple slide show. However, after a while it gets mundane.

For this reason, I was excited that Moblyng announced on Thursday its slide show application for the Apple iPhone. Being an amateur photographer, I decided to try it out. And it delivered!

Almost immediately I appreciated its improvement over the phone's built-in photo-managing tool. It was very easy to pick either existing photos or take new ones … Read more

Friendster announces support for Facebook apps

Developers who have created applications for Facebook's platform can now bring them over to social network Friendster. This means that Friendster supports both Facebook's code and OpenSocial, the standard created by Google for social-network widgets.

"Friendster's support of both the Facebook and OpenSocial platforms is a big win for business and individual developers, as well as for Friendster users," David Jones, vice president of global marketing for Friendster, said in a release. "For the developers that have invested resources in developing and launching a Facebook app, Friendster has now made it very easy for … Read more

AMC decides to allow fans' 'Mad Men' Twittering

It looks like wiser heads--or at least those who could be made to recognize a great PR opportunity--have prevailed at AMC.

If you're one of the many hooked fans of the cable channel's hit show, Mad Men, which chronicles the goings-on at a fictional 1960s New York ad agency, and you're also a Twitter user, you might have found yourself eagerly following tweets from folks like Don Draper, Roger Sterling, or Peggy Olson.

And getting people to follow the show's characters probably seemed like a clever way of using Twitter for marketing.

Except that AMC had … Read more

The OpenSocial roadmap

On November 1, 2007, Google launched OpenSocial, a set of APIs that leverage JavaScript and HTML for creating applications that access friends and update feeds from any compliant social network. Nearly 10 months later, Google is touting the maturation of the OpenSocial specification and growing developer and user adoption.

At this juncture OpenSocial version 0.7 has an addressable market of more than 300 million social network users, including the social networks that have delivered OpenSocial applications or are actively developing them, according to Joe Kraus, Google's director of product management. Friendster, which claims 75 million users including 55 … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 781: Cablevision born again!

OK, we mean it's 'reborn,' thanks to a U.S. Court of Appeals, which reversed charges that Cablevision's remote-storage DVR violates all kinds of copyright laws. But 'born again' has some nice drama to it. But "born again" has some nice drama to it. In other news of the day, Steve Jobs admits Apple seriously biffed the MobileMe launch, and it's a pretty good internal memo, at that. In downer Apple news, no Black Hat security panel for you. Oh, and Friendster is back! With venture capital! Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 781 … Read more

Friendster gets $20 million, ex-Googler as CEO

Updated at 7:24 a.m. PT on Tuesday with comment from Richard Kimber.

Brush off your Monty Python and the Holy Grail references: although long forgotten by social-media junkies in the United States, Friendster is not dead yet. The pioneering social network announced on Tuesday that it has raked in $20 million in venture funding led by IDG Ventures and has hired Richard Kimber as its new CEO.

Kimber was hired from Google, of all places, where he served as the regional managing director in Southeast Asia. That's key for Friendster, which has seen most of its recent … Read more

Webware 100 winner: Friendster

Friendster is a popular social network, and one of the first sites to offer user profiles and the capability to network with others. This very functionality led to a patent by the United States Patent Office that has been the subject of some criticism both about patents in general and their effect on Web services.

Friendster may be best known for turning down a bid by Google to buy the service in 2003, which is right around the time when the site grew too large and popular to support its scale. The site still has more than 50 million members.… Read more