Monthly Archives: July 2009

Agriya Infoway, a Chennai-based web development company announces the release of the new add-on module called ‘Facebook Connect’ for the Anova software which is a knowledge sharing script that lets you start your own answering site.

The Facebook connect module is a boon for webmasters. By offering this great module the Anova team is taking their script to the next level. Facebook is one of the most popular social networking sites, which is accessed by millions of users daily. By integrating Facebook with an answering site, you can surely increase the rate of users visiting the answering site. Once the Anova application is integrated with Facebook, anyone can access the Anova site using their Facebook account.

Also it lets users to show their favourite questions asked, answered and points won on their wall on Facebook. Now anyone visiting their profile can get to know about the Anova site. This stands as a much better medium of advertising the Anova site to other Facebook users.

“The Facebook add-on module is the perfect complement for Anova users” said, Aravind Kumar, The Managing Director of Agriya Infoway, “Our goal is to deliver the best resource to our clients by updating products with new exciting features. We are confident that the new version will satisfy all our clients’ needs.”

Agriya Infoway is a leading provider of Web 2.0 applications and experts in social networking software for business enterprises and startups. Visit www.anova.tv for more details.

As of today, Wooxie has released a new URL shortener http://url.wooxie.com/

Wooxie is eager to move forward in the social space and will continue to be lead by creative minds, analytics, new testing and it’s cool users. Wooxie’s custom URL shortener, photo gallery and speak to post feature are a few of the networks new custom eatures.

About

Wooxie is a unique Social Network that allows you to choose your categories upon sign-up & only allow posts from those categories (up to 155 characters). Wooxie allows you to add your photo, website url, your bio on your profile page, customize your backround and colors, add a photo gallery with unique titles and now short URL’s directly to your post.

Wooxie is a free service http://www.Wooxie.com/register

Web: http:/www.Wooxie.com/

Wooxie is a new Microblogging Social Network. The look & feel of Wooxie is similar to Twitter. However, Wooxie allows 155 characters in posts (unlike Twitter’s 140 characters) and offers other unique features

With users, groups and businesses alike all looking to communicate online, social networks have become more and more popular. However, not everyone wants to get involved with the set up of their network and the work that designing and configuring one may involve. With many companies outside the digital world keen to communicate, social networking provides the ultimate bridge to close the gap.

As a result, SocialGO – a social network service themselves, have launched a new plan for users. The “Concierge Service” is the latest offering from SocialGO, and is basically a hands on approach from the team at SocialGO. They will not only set up, configure and design the social network website for you, but include a priority support system.

Concierge networks include “white label” services, so that your business or personal branding can be fully represented without any advertising from SocialGO (you can however run your own advertising if you want), and it even includes member billing services, should you want to charge potential users to subscribe to your site. In addition to billings, we provide custom configuration for user access and privacy settings.

With up to 100GB of bandwidth space provided per month, the Conceirge Service should accommodate most business or personal websites with no problems. You can use your own domain to set up the site on (plan includes hosting, but you have to already own the domain), and some of the key features include forums, blogs, and live audio / video chat.

Our team will design your website on SocialGO, including your existing brand or logo if applicable. It can be done as an add-on to your existing website, or as a new site altogether. Our support team is available 7 days a week, and the offer comes with a one month free trial. Upon signing up, a member of our team contacts you within 24 hours to help you set up your social network. You can add things like third party widgets as the site builds, for which we’ll be making an ongoing list of releases for, and you can create as many custom content pages as you like.

With ongoing advice and customer support managers assigned to your account – SocialGO Concierge is ideal for those who just want to get their social network website up and running right away.

Get more details on the SocialGO Concierge offering at www.socialgo.com/socialgo-concierge.html – including a video preview that details how the service can work for you.

More details at www.socialgo.com

Cowboy Syndicate will launch a new social network for the western industry and lovers of the western lifestyle on September 1, 2009.

This is the premier social network for everyone who loves the western way of life: cowboys, cowgirls, rodeo professionals, rodeo fans and western businesses from fashion to décor and everything in between!

Cowboy Syndicate Network will offer all the features that people have come to expect on their social sites including customizable profile pages, widgets and apps, photos and videos, as well as community areas. Discussion forums, groups and blogs will allow folks from a variety of backgrounds to connect and share their passion for all things western.

The team at the Cowboy Syndicate marketing agency began developing the site to address their own need to be able to effectively communicate, network and collaborate with industry partners and an ever growing list of friends. From this initial phase, the site began to blossom on its own. Now, there’s no end to the networking possibilities. Here are just a few of the opportunities found on the network:

• Athletes can join the Rodeo Ride Resource group and arrange rides to rodeo events.
• Rodeo Parents’ group can offer tips for dealing with the expense and issues of having rodeo kids.
• Women business owners can network and collaborate through the site’s Cowgirl Syndicate group.
• Fans can connect with athletes, businesses, meet new people and make new friends.

Kelly Cooper, co-founder of the Cowboy Syndicate Network, said that she expects the site to draw members from across the nation and from around the world. “Western isn’t just a nostalgic phase in history or a quaint part of the country. For millions of people around the world, western living is a dynamic way of life.” Cooper went on to say, “We are so pleased to bring the Cowboy Syndicate Network and its built-in resources to those who love the western lifestyle as much as we do.”

An exciting list of industry partners and sponsors are joining with Cowboy Syndicate Network to help launch the site by providing exciting benefits and special offers for new network members. Businesses wishing to participate in the launch may contact Cowboy Syndicate at info[.]cowboysyndicate.com.

The countdown is on. September 1, the network goes live and anyone can join free of charge by going to cowboysyndicate.org and signing up.

The social network is a division of Cowboy Syndicate (cowboysyndicate.com), a creative agency based in Austin, Texas. The Cowboy Syndicate agency specializes in marketing for the western, rodeo and equine industries. Services include advertising, graphic design, photography, public relations and athlete representation.

SMS GupShup, India’s largest social messaging platform today announced that it is working with Facebook, the world’s largest social network, to enable Indian Facebook users to go mobile. SMS GupShup’s messaging platform will enable Indian users to take Facebook with them, wherever they go, using SMS.
By working with SMS GupShup, Facebook is enabling its service on SMS, the most popular messaging platform in India. Facebook users can now update their status updates and message friends using SMS. They can also receive status updates, messages and wall posts instantly in their SMS inbox.
SMS GupShup will provide the underlying messaging infrastructure to rapidly and reliably deliver the high volume of incoming and outgoing messages between users and Facebook.
“SMS GupShup has built the largest SMS-based mobile community in India, on the foundation of a high-performance messaging platform that supports nearly 6% of India’s SMS traffic”, said Beerud Sheth, CEO, SMS GupShup. He added, “We are excited to enable mobilizing the Facebook service in India and look forward to delivering a great mobile experience to their users.”
“We are very excited to work with SMS GupShup, given their experience with both mobile messaging and social media in India”, said Henri Moissinac, Director of Mobile, Facebook. He added, “We realize how important it is to work with great companies in the mobile space in countries like India, and by enabling Facebook on SMS, users can now use it even when they’re not near a computer.”
Users can activate Facebook on their mobile devices by visiting www.facebook.com/mobile. Users can then update their status by sending a message to 92-FACEBOOK (9232232665). Users can reply to their friend’s messages by simply replying to the incoming SMS. The service will operate on longcodes (i.e. regular 10-digit phone number). Facebook does not charge anything for the mobile service, but regular carrier charges may apply for messages sent to Facebook.
About SMS GupShup
SMS GupShup is a social messaging platform that enables users to build mobile communities. Consumers use it to communicate and connect with family, friends and fans. Businesses use it to engage with their customers. Launched in Apr 2007, it is used by nearly 25 million users in over a million communities. Funded by Charles River Ventures and Helion Ventures, the company is founded by seasoned Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and incubated at the IIT Bombay Business Incubator.

The Society for New Communications Research (SNCR), a global nonprofit research and education foundation and think tank, today announced the launch of a new research study to explore how business leaders use online communities and peer networks to support their decisions. SNCR Fellows Vanessa DiMauro, CEO, Leader Networks and Don Bulmer, vice president, SAP, are conducting this study. This study will examine the role of social media has on decision-making among enterprise users.

Specifically this study will explore the following questions:

Is social media typically regarded as a trustworthy source of information for professionals?
Are social media tools effective sources of information, advice and peer collaboration and how do they compare to traditional off-line networking and knowledge share?

An online survey is available at: http://www.newsymbiosis.com
“A great deal of attention and research has been devoted to evangelizing social media as a new form of customer-centric relationship building,” stated Bulmer. “However, what is often overlooked is the impact of social media to change behaviors, and the potential to leverage social media to impact professionals’ decision-making processes. While everyone is endeavoring to capture the mindshare of the buyer, few understand what success truly looks like.”

“This study is designed to get inside the heads of decision makers as to how social media tools like online communities are changing the way they make their decisions,” added DiMauro.

About the Society for New Communications Research (SNCR)
The Society for New Communications Research is a global nonprofit 501(c)(3) research and education foundation and think tank dedicated to the advanced study of new communications tools, technologies and emerging modes of communication, and their effect on traditional media, professional communications, business, culture and society. For more information about the Society for New Communications Research, visit http://www.sncr.org or call +1 (650) 331-0083.

“YOYOIndia offers users a venue to connect, share thoughts, write blogs, find information on anything and everything India in a clean and CLUTTER FREE environment and will become a premier place for Indians and those with interest in India and its culture to hang out” said Lavisha Mirpuri, CoFounder and CEO, Monarch Incorporated

YOYOIndia is the next generation social networking web site which brings people with similar thoughts and interests together in a fun, open and safe online environment.

YOYOIndia users can set permissions on items they publish on the site, whether it be a comment, a blog, an item for sale or a review on a movie, and can express themselves in an open environment without any fears.

Built on latest technologies with rich user interactive features , YOYOIndia will now become the favorite destination of many Indians who are fed up of other cluttered and ad filled slow loading Indian portals said Lavisha. With an open API, YOYOIndia will enable developers to build yoyo’s for yoyoIndia much like google gadgets which can be integrated with users websites.

Unique way of presenting information, rich user interactive features and bringing people together based on their interests, locations, friends, schools or colleges attended, places worked put YOYOIndia ahead of other web 2.0 social networking sites says Raj Nukala CoFounder,YOYOIndia.

YOYOIndia is the brainchild of Lavisha Mirpuri and Raj Nukala. YOYOIndia concept first came to Lavisha while she was on one of the Indian Portals where she experienced pop-up ads and finding information was like finding a needle in haystack. After talking to friends and realizing how many others had shared a similar experience, she decided to implement an online social network and a portal which is clutter free.

About YOYOIndia
YOYOIndia is an interactive, user-empowered portal and an online community. It is the first major social networking site dedicated for everything India built from ground up to present and bring together people based on their interests, geography and offering open API for developers to build their own YOYO’s.

Loo-Lee, the cell phone directory created and maintained by and for individual consumers, is adding new features that will expand mobile marketing capabilities and visibility. They are developing a geochat feature which will allow businesses to target their advertising efforts toward the consumers most likely to respond to those advertisements.

The growth of the mobile marketing venue has created an environment in which businesses need to stay abreast of the latest options for reaching users of mobile devices in order to effectively communicate their message and make the most of their advertising dollars. Loo-Lee is ready to assist businesses by making it possible for them to network with consumers through the Loo-Lee mobile phone directory. Consumers will be able to opt in to receive advertising messages and businesses will be able to send text messages to mobile devices. Location based services will allow advertisers to target an audience with information specific to a particular area.

The Loo-Lee website allows cell phone users to post their mobile device numbers to the directory and to monitor viewing capabilities. Options include viewing by anyone or by a list of approved contacts only. Businesses can create postings as well and can make use of the group feature to create and maintain a network of contacts. Business information, scheduling, contact information, and promotional material can all be posted and monitored through the Loo-Lee website.

Mobile marketing is the advertising venue of the future and by making use of Loo-Lee’s comprehensive cell phone directory and networking features, businesses can ensure that they are on the cutting technological edge of the advertising industry. Loo-Lee is the best way for businesses to reach mobile phone users with Short Message Service, Multimedia Message Service, and other mobile marketing options.

Registered users of the Loo-Lee directory will be able to view business information quickly and easily while maintaining control over the privacy of their mobile phone information. Registration is free, but upgrades are available for purchase that will allow access to various portions of the website that are not available for public viewing.

Loo-Lee’s blog provides users with the latest information regarding mobile marketing capabilities, technological advancements, and industry news. Users with questions about the website can contact them at:

Loo-Lee, Inc
1124 Balboa Street
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 309-3008
[email protected]
http://www.loo-lee.com

Tweets! Followers! Pokes! It seems that mastering social media is about 90% vocabulary-related, or is it?

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Social Media, but were afraid to ask is designed to help people understand the new world of social media and learn about its uses for personal, professional and business development.

The book, authored by Hilary JM Topper, MPA, was published in July 2009 and is available at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.

“I’m so pleased Hilary wrote this book,” said Cole Imperi, Creative Director at Doth Brands and Managing Partner at Imperi Partners—two Cincinnati-based firms, “With social media, there seems to be many more questions than answers, and this book does a great job of de-mystifying social media.”

This book, written specifically for beginners, analyzes nearly 20 different social media sites.

“It goes in depth into how each site can be used for business gain,” said Topper, “Although the book is for the professional, it can still be utilized by every day people. I wanted to make sure it was readable and understandable even for parents looking to better communicate with their children.”

Imperi opens the chapter on Tumblr, a popular and simple blogging platform.

“I use Tumblr for personal and business purposes; it’s a great platform,” said Imperi, ”I am honored to have contributed to this book—it’s something we’ll hand out to clients that feel completely overwhelmed by social media.”

Imperi has been featured in three social media books, is a contributing author on a book scheduled for release next autumn and has been featured as a social media expert source on MSNBC.com. Imperi is an experienced advertising, marketing and graphic design professional working with public, private and non-profit clients. Imperi is also a social media speaker specializing in baby-boomers and social media for business use.

Doth Brands is a blend between an advertising agency, graphic design studio, web design and development firm and PR company based in Cincinnati, OH.

To buy the book:
Amazon.com
www.amazon.com/Everything-Wanted-Social-afraid-ask/dp/144…
Barnes & Noble
search.barnesandnoble.com/Everything-You-Ever-Wanted-To-K…

For more information on Cole Imperi, visit www.coleimperi.com
For more information about Doth Brands, visit www.dothbrands.com
For more information about Imperi Partners, visit www.imperipartners.com
For more information about Hilary JM Topper and HJMT Communications, visit www.hjmt.com

Doth Brands is a blend between an advertising agency, graphic design studio, web design and development firm and PR company.

Open-Xchange, the leading provider of open source groupware, today announced the ability to consolidate social network communication in one central application with the availability of Open-Xchange Server 6.10.
Open-Xchange 6.10 introduces a new groupware concept called “Social OX,” which aggregates e-mail and contact information in one place — whether personal or business — avoiding time-consuming searching and giving users access to information anywhere, anytime and with any device.
“Social networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Plaxo and Xing are great tools for business networks. And, Googlemail and Yahoo free mail accounts have changed our way of communicating,” said Juergen Geck, CTO of Open-Xchange. “Before we end up in confusion with lots of e-mail accounts and address books, Open-Xchange overcomes the barriers between the variety of desktop and web applications, where we store and handle our multiple addresses, appointments, tasks and documents.”
“People today use a number of different e-mail addresses and social network tools to store contact information generated from their personal and professional lives,” said Philbert Shih, senior analyst, Tier1 Research. “Social OX is designed to bring the contact information stored in e-mail and social networks closer together, allowing the user to control everything from a single platform. This is a very useful innovation that messaging vendors are only starting to catch on to.”
New features of Open-Xchange 6.10 include:
• Integration of any kind of existing webmail accounts (from Google, Yahoo, etc.) into a folder in Open-Xchange, including merging of data.
• Contact details from social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn or Xing will be added automatically to the Open-Xchange address book – giving users easy access to the latest contact information within their personal network.
• In addition, Open-Xchange users can share their data with other users in a controlled way — without sending the information via e-mail. For example, with Social OX published data can be shared so there is no need to send large documents as an attachment via e-mail.
“Our customers depend on their email to run their business,” said Miguel Ramos, manager of Hosting Product Development at Network Solutions®. “Social OX will give them the ability to engage with their customers and vendors regardless of the social network their contacts are using.”
Anyone can try Social OX for free at this special preview website, http://ox.io.
Open-Xchange is installed by more than 3,500 companies and organizations worldwide. Furthermore, the Open-Xchange Hosting Edition is used by more than 10 million users worldwide as hosted business-class e-mail, along with personal information management (PIM), and full groupware.
About Open-Xchange
Open-Xchange is the innovator of scalable and integrated open source e-mail and collaboration solutions for enterprises, academic institutions, and government authorities. The company provides on-premise versions called Open-Xchange Server Edition and Open-Xchange Appliance Edition, along with Open-Xchange Hosting Edition, which enables web hosting companies to provide an easy-to-use and feature-rich application delivered as Software as a Service (SaaS). The Open-Xchange Hosting Edition is architected to integrate into a hosting provider’s existing infrastructure, such as authentication, provisioning, billing, and e-mail storage and does not require that these systems be replaced.
Open-Xchange AG is a privately-held company headquartered in Nuremberg, Germany with offices in Olpe, Germany and Tarrytown, N.Y. For more information, please visit www.open-xchange.com

We announce the creation of Massive Finger (http://massivefinger.com), a video game studio focusing exclusively on new connected platforms such as iPhone and Facebook to provide new game experiences.

iPhone and Facebook platforms, adopted rapidly by users, continue to evolve at a very fast pace, and are providing more and more services to developers and users.

Today’s announcement comes with the development of the studio’s first title : Pinball Ride for iPhone, a pinball game with an online competition system and social features. This game is exclusive to iPhone and iPod Touch product lines, and will be available on Apple App Store.

The goal of the game is to reach the highest score within the limit of a number of given balls. To build this high score, the player must progress through various challenges and unlock Jackpots offered by the table. Precision and focus are key to the player’s success.

The game offers a long list of challenges you will have to pass to maximize your score, using targets, bumpers, ramps. It also provides the classic rewards of “multi-balls” and “extra ball”.

Facebook Connect allows players to compete asynchronously against their Facebook friends. It gives players and friends their rank based on score, and lets players compare their game profiles. It also allows players to share game stories directly through the game itself.

Pinball Ride reproduces the physics of a real pinball machine that will please pinball fans, and runs at a very smooth frame rate to render an authentic feel. For instance, flipper controls are precisely tuned to replicate the feel of real pinball and make the game easy to learn but hard to master.

Pinball Ride features a unique table with an original universe and offers story progression through an illustrative style. The style is supported by an original soundtrack created exclusively for the table.

“Pinball Ride has been designed with the iPhone in mind to provide an experience where the player creates content for his social network by playing, and where bringing friends adds value to the game.” – Laurent Mascherpa, CEO of Massive Finger.

For additional material, please visit : http://massivefinger.com/pinballride_press-kit.zip

Transparent Language® today announced the next release of Byki for iPhone (the Language Learning App) with the new Twitter search feature. Byki for iPhone now supports for 4 new languages; Tagalog, Norwegian, Polish and Swedish – bringing the total to 15 available languages for download. The New Twitter search feature works in real time, enabling users to search for words/phrases they are learning with Byki and see how real people are using them in conversation. To start Twittering, users can select a word/phrase they want an example of and simply press the Twitter icon in the bottom right corner of the Byki application. In seconds, live examples from current Twitter posts are displayed on the user’s iPhone (and/or iPod Touch). These live examples can display slang, formal, and informal vocabulary as it is actually used on Twitter. Byki for iPhone (and iPod Touch) App sell for $7.99 per language, and is available from the Apple iTunes Store. For more information, visit http://www.byki.com/iphone/iphone.html.
Byki for iPhone includes approximately 1000 words and phrases in each language, all taught with Byki’s rapid 3-step learning method. Byki’s words and phrases include native speaker sound, and the popular SlowSound function that allows users to slow down the audio to help perfect their pronunciation. Byki’s new Twitter feature works for all 15 languages except Chinese, Japanese, and Tagalog. The Chinese and Japanese Apps come with both transliterated text as well as native script for the user’s convenience.

“We are very excited to announce the new Twitter search feature presented in our Byki for iPhone App.” said Michael Quinlan, CEO of Transparent Language. “Byki for iPhone now enables learners to connect with a wide variety of real world materials, people, and content that consists of natural language for every day use. By doing this Byki provides a great opportunity to practice new words and phrases by the minute.”

ABOUT THE BYKI SYSTEM

Byki, formerly “Before You Know It,” is a 3-Step, rapid learning system employing spaced interval repetition. Experts agree that the key to language learning is to first build a strong lexical foundation – a ready supply of words and phrases locked into one’s memory. Byki is the fastest, most direct path to that goal. Byki takes users through three simple steps to memorize words and phrases in a new language, including their meanings and proper pronunciation, in the shortest possible time. More than 3 million people around the world already use Byki, which currently comes in more than 70 languages.

ABOUT TRANSPARENT LANGUAGE, INC.

Transparent Language is a leading provider of best-practice language learning software for consumers, educational institutions, government agencies, and businesses. Since 1991, Transparent Language has helped millions of individuals learn new languages quickly, easily, and effectively. Transparent Language’s products are also used in more than 12,000 civilian and government educational institutions, including major universities and government facilities, such as the Defense Language Institute and Foreign Service Institute. Call 800-567-9619 or visit www.transparent.com for more information.