Daily Archives: February 19, 2010

LifePics announced today the BETA launch of its Facebook integration, which allows consumers to share images from their LifePics online account to their Facebook page, as well as add their Facebook images to their LifePics account. The integration is the latest application launched through LifePics’ OPEN program, which gives app developers and affiliate sites the ability to drive users, images, and orders into the LifePics Retail Network.

“We are thrilled with what LifePics has been doing this year to drive us orders,” said Mandy Earnshaw, Lab Manager at Precision Camera. “LifePics’ OPEN program gives our customers more places to access their digital images and send the images to our store to print, and the new Facebook integration is the latest milestone to emerge. We love that our customers can add Facebook photos to their online photo account, and share photos from their online account to their Facebook page. It gives our customers a better overall web experience, and gives us more exposure and value as a photo service provider, which will ultimately lead to more orders to our store.”

A recent article by Seeking Alpha (http://seekingalpha.com/article/175351) indicates that larger photo sites have seen a 37% decrease in photo sharing since 2007, while social networking sites like Facebook are gaining momentum as the industry’s most popular photo sharing sites. With the launch of its OPEN program, LifePics sees its new Facebook integration as only the beginning of its social networking partnerships, and expects that by giving consumers the convenience of accessing their Facebook photos in their online photo accounts, consumers will print their Facebook photos through the LifePics Retail Network.

“Clearly, Facebook has established itself as a force to be reckoned with in the photo sharing world,” said Ken McDonald, Vice President of Marketing at LifePics. “Our Facebook integration is a primary example of what potential third party partners can do through our OPEN program; the ability to share and add images between Facebook and LifePics accounts has opened the door for other developers and partners to take our integration to the next level.”

Zabaware is the maker of the award winning Ultra Hal software, artificial intelligence technology that won the “most human” computer of the year in the 17th annual Loebner Prize Competition for Artificial Intelligence (AI). Zabaware’s Ultra Hal has recently become an app on Facebook that socially interacts with and learns from Facebook users that talk with it.

Zabaware is an Erie, Pennsylvania based company that specializes in artificial intelligence technology. The company’s mission “giving your computer the power of thought” once considered a futuristic pipe dream is becoming a reality. It is one thing to talk to your computer it is quite another to have a conversation where you are exchanging information and the computer learns and utilizes the information in the future. Zabaware’s Ultra Hal technology and its associated brain are currently doing just that. The software can give computers a personality using AI technology, speech recognition technology, and real-time animation.

Ultra Hal is like an inquisitive child and is capable of learning new things from conversations based on complex natural language processing technology capable of statistically analyzing past conversations. The social aspects of Facebook allow the technology to dynamically alter and optimize Hal’s personality to each individual Facebook user and their group of friends. If a Facebook user teaches Hal about their own life and about their group of friends then Hal will be able to utilize that information when speaking to any of that person’s friends, but will not use that information when speaking to a different Facebook user that is not a friend. This way Hal can evolve to be like one of your closest buddies because he knows all the information you and your friends taught him while ignoring information from strangers. Facebook users can find Hal on Facebook at apps.facebook.com/ultrahal.

In addition to being on Facebook, Zabaware’s Ultra Hal software is available for anyone to download and install on their Windows PC. Once installed, it can be used as a companion or entertainment product. Hal can discuss any topic and learns and evolves from conversations. Hal can also be used as a personal or office assistant. Hal can function as a personal information manager (PIM) and keep track of your appointments, contacts, and more. The artificial intelligence software is available for download at www.zabaware.com as a free 30-day trial, and costs $29.95 to use after that.