Buried by the news this week of Twitter adding search was another Twitter feature release: invite friends.
The new invite friends option in Twitter allows users to invite friends by adding an email address or by importing Gmail contacts.
Twitter investor Fred Wilson writes that to date “Twitter has made it nearly impossible to find friends on Twitter. That’s a very big shortcoming of an inherently social service. It sort of makes me wonder how Twitter got any users at all.” According to Wilson the new feature overcomes that problem and that he “just tried it out and it worked great for me.”
KickApps Gets iPhone-Friendly with Video, Formatting
KickApps, provider of a platform for building white label social networks, will announce today that it has taken two initiatives to make the social networks hosted on its platform more accessible to iPhone users. First, all videos uploaded to KickApps affiliate networks will be viewable on the iPhone despite the device’s lack of Flash support. Secondly, the company is releasing developer tools that will enable affiliates to format their networks for display on the iPhone.
As of August 24th, KickApps has begun automatically converting uploaded videos to both Flash and QuickTime format. Over the next month or so, the company will also be converting its entire back catalogue of Flash videos to QuickTime. When an iPhone user attempts to view a KickApps-hosted video, he or she will be dished up a QuickTime file, whereas desktop clients will continue to load the standard Flash applet.
While technically speaking this probably wasn’t too hard to pull off, it is a nice gesture by KickApps to potential customers who see the things that other Web 2.0 companies - like Facebook, Meebo, and Netvibes - are doing with the iPhone and want in on the action. As the first white label social networking platform to roll out iPhone features, it also earns the company some bragging rights.
Given that Apple will likely add Flash support to the iPhone before too long, their second announcement about formatting KickApps networks for the iPhone will have longer lasting significance. The company will now allow affiliates to create two CSS files for each of their networks’ pages: one to style the page for a regular browser and one for the iPhone. The appropriate stylesheet will be served after a snippet of JavaScript determines the client’s browsing environment.
KickApps has created a test network (pictured above) at KickFlix.net to demonstrate how formatting and video playback works on the iPhone. While not terribly pretty, this demo lists videos and members in a way that fits nicely into the iPhone’s smaller screen. Unfortunately, the company did not also format the actual video and member pages for the iPhone. This oversight makes me wonder how easy it will actually be for affiliates to create CSS files that make all of their networks’ pages fit the iPhone.
While these offerings feel a bit like KickApps rushed to get them out the door, it’s good to see them taking the lead in the highly congested white label social networking space. Let’s hope that other companies like Ning follow suit.
For more coverage of KickApps, see our recent roundup of do-it-yourself, hosted social networking solutions.
Social bookmarking service turned Q&A style site Wis.dm was taken $5 Million in a round led by North Bridge Venture Partners.
Wis.dm was founded by uDate founder Martin Clifford. North Bridge’s Michael Skok will join the Wis.dm board as part of the deal.
Wis.dm provides a simple yes/no question service which aims to avoid long answers to life’s most elusive questions. Wis.dm also offers a Facebook application that gives users the ability to answer questions that appear on Wis.dm.
MyHeritage Takes 180 Million People Profiles To War With Geni
Israeli startup MyHeritage was a bit of a sleeping giant. Until newcomer Geni came along and shook up the genealogy world with its slick new viral family tree application. Geni quickly reached 5 million people profiles and a monster $100 million valuation just a few months after launching.
MyHeritage has been around since 2005. They’ve quietly raised $9 million in venture capital (about half from Accel and half from two angel investors, Yuval Rakavy and Aviv Raiz). Until recently MyHeritage required users to upload family genealogy information from desktop based software. The information was viewable online but no changes could be made. An unwieldy system, but they still managed to gather 150,000 family trees with 180 million people profiles from 17.2 million users. 150,000 new profiles are added daily. That dwarfs Geni, although MyHeritage had a long head start.
A couple of weeks ago MyHeritage unveiled a number of fundamental architectural changes to their service. They’ve taken the best features of Geni and married them to the stuff at My Heritage that has worked over the past couple of years.
Users can now upload data (name, email, born/died dates, photos, etc.) directly on the MyHeritage website in addition to the client, choosing from17 different languages. The user interface, which like Geni is in Flash, shows a couple of different views to quickly move around a family tree. Over 100 million photos have been uploaded to the site, and users can tag faces with names an attach them to user profiles.
That isn’t all MyHeritage is up to, though. They acquired Pearl Street Software late last year. That acquisition brought matching technology to the company which allows the service to compare family trees to find overlap - even if names are spelled differently or the basic data is somewhat off (slightly different birth or death dates, for example). They are just beginning to roll out the matching service, but they expect to see a lot of overlap between family trees. If both sides agree, the trees can be merged at appropriate places.
MyHeritage hopes, like Geni, to one day have much of the world’s genealogy mapped online. Given that 1 billion people are online today, MyHeritage’s 180 million people profiles is a good starts towards reaching that goal. They eventually hope to have 3 billion profiles, including people who’ve passed away. And at that point the family relationship between any two people in the world is just a mouse click away.
It’s a grand vision, but one that is likely to be achieved someday by MyHeritage or one of their competitors.
As an aside, MyHeritage also has a robust (and free) genealogy metasearch engine that taps into 1200 genealogy databases around the world.
Sprint has a new website up called My Cell Style that asks you a few questions and then tells you what kind of mobile phone personality you have. I took the quiz and answered the questions honestly.
What does your cell phone say about you? According to a new website launched this week, if you’re sporting a Moto Q, you may be, uh-oh!, a “Technosexual.” But don’t come out of the gadget-geek closet just yet, maybe your phone is designed for a rugged and in-no-way-sexually-ambiguous “Trail Blazer.” Whichever way your cell phone swings, check out www.mycellstyle.com to test your phone’s personality (sponsored by Sprint).
I am not offended that Sprint says I am a Technosexual (just like the guy in the video above). No. But I AM offended that they say the perfect phones for me are the Treo 755p, the HTC Mogul and the…wait for it…Motorola Q, which is quite possibly the worst cell phone ever created. Sprint then tried to sell me one of those ghastly phones. I guess I should just be thankful I wasn’t deemed “Runway Ready.”
Sprint doesn’t sell the iPhone, of course, so they couldn’t be honest and recommend the perfect phone for me. And they also don’t sell the phone I’d be using if the iPhone didn’t exist, the Helio Ocean.
I’m not a fan of Sprint. They fire customers who complain too much. And they have the dubious distinction of supplying me with the only phone I have ever thrown out of a moving vehicle (in 1999) because of poor call quality. Even today, it is the only mobile operator which has no coverage at my house.
In the interest of full disclosure, I participate in the Sprint Ambassador program where they send me a new phone once or twice a year to test out. I’ve never written about those phones, though. My guess is they won’t be sending too many more.
The Apple TV You’re Having When You Don’t Own An Apple TV
Not Apple TV has a fairly simple goal: to recreate the Apple TV experience for users who don’t own an Apple TV, via the web browser.
The flash based interface feels exactly like the Apple TV interface, with a few changes. Features such as a “History” and a “Favorites” have been included, along with a wider variety of online video choices; services available via the Not Apple TV interface include YouTube, Google Video, Pornotube and others. Just like Apple TV, the site is unable to interact or record live TV.
Aside from the obvious novelty value, Not Apple TV actually provides a reasonable interface from which to video popular user generated video sites. It’s a clever site, if perhaps not an earth shattering one.
Site designer Paul Yanez has also created web versions of Joost and Babelgum (here and here) that access the same video sites.
Thank You Sponsors: Featuring Real Time Matrix, DOmedia and Profile Builder
It’s time to say a quick “thank you” to the sponsors of our party at August capital last month:
Tune in to learn more about Real Time Matrix’s Vortex, DOmedia’s platform for alternative media buying and Profile Builder’s profile mangement platform. Michael Arrington and Steve Gillmor from Podtech.net and Bad Sinatra interview Jeff Whitehead, Todd Cameron and Boyan Josic. Watch closely for a quick guest appearance from another famous blogger… or was that really Yahoo’s Salim Ismail? Interviews were shot live at the TechCrunch 9 Meet Up at August Capital. Thank you again to all the sponsors who helped make the Meet Up a success.
iJ.am - The Real Time Matrix’s iJ.am lets you create a personalized RSS feed widgets of the news you care about the most. Check out the iJ.am Vortex headlines widget that Real Time Matrix developed for TechCrunch.
Wallhogs - Wallhogs makes semi-adhesive vinyl posters of whatever images you’d like, ranging from your own family photos to cutouts of full-sized football players. If you came to TechCrunch 9, you would have seen WallHogs’ stickers denoting the spots for each of the presenting companies. They have a wide variety of existing posters in different sizes for about $20 to $50.
Template Monster - They have oodles of website templates, flash templates, flash intros, WordPress themes, and corporate designs. As a celebration of Template Monster’s birthday TechCrunch readers get a 15% discount.
Text Link Ads - If you’re looking to monetize your site, or for new advertising opportunities, check out Text Link Ads. TLA helps improve your site’s ranking and target 10,000+ niche communities, all at a flat rate.
Lewis PR - A multinational public relations firm representing clients like Second Life, Citrix Systems, and St. Bernard Software. Check out their blog for a more in depth view of the company.
Ads-Click - One of the most popular features on blogs is a tag cloud, which gives and idea of the main key
Adicate - Time is money and Adicate has applied that to advertising by allowing advertisers to buy time slots on a publisher’s page. They manage all the headache and provide the backend support to sell the ads.
Edgeio - Classified listings have always followed the eyeballs in print. Edgeio takes the same principle to the web, letting you monetize your site by tying in relevant listings. Edgeio Marketplaces currently powers TechCrunch’s job board and have several affiliate programs that publishers can use to boost their revenues.
After the recent ban on gambling, Second Life residents have had reduced opportunities on where spend their hard earned (or bought) Lindens (the Second Life in-world currency).
The world of share trading, regarded by some to be actually worse than gambling, has started to make its presence felt in Second Life. I went undercover (see picture) to see if good money could be made.
First Impressions
The World Stock Exchange (WSE) sits on its own Second Life island in a shiny multi-story edifice that just says money.
The trading floor on the third floor presents an initial lobby that includes an ATM machine (players must deposit money to trade stocks), rule boards and advertising for a bank that offers 15.75% PA. Walking through the lobby players are presented with a lounge area and customer service desks. There is usually a WSE representative on hand to assist with inquiries.
No In-world Trading
The trading floor itself is a misnomer as players are unable to trade via the Second Life interface. Company listing boards and IPO information all lead through to the WSE website. A video viewing area is surrounded by price quote boards, although the space sorely lacks a traditional style transaction ticker.
The WSE website is simple enough.. The trading room page allows players to buy or sell shares, with Limit Ordering also available. General information is provided about companies, as well as stock price history and recent trades.
Can You Make Money Though?
There is only one way to find out. After perusing the 30 odd listed companies I made a number of investments which I may revisit at TechCrunch in the future to report on how they went.
wse2.jpgFor my opening portfolio I bought companies that sounded like they had substance. Hope Capital Limited (HCL) sounded hopeful, and as this is the holding company for the WSE you’d expect good results. Hype String (HYP) may not make string, but hype always rises, right? I expect Spontaneous Rich Investments, Inc. (SRI) to perform well. Ginko Perpetual Bonds (GPB) are all that remains of the funds from the collapsed Ginko Bank. After trading as high as L$26, today’s price of around $L0.19 makes them a steal. For good measure I rounded out my portfolio with the two IPO’s scheduled for August 20, Taft Worsley Enterprise (TWE) and Apez Corp (APZ). I have no idea what either do, but given the history of IPO’s in such markets, I’m confident of a strong performance. More in a week or so, unless of course I’ve made so much money that I’ve retired.
For a quick tour of the WSE trading floor, view below.
Viacom And NBC Inject Themselves Into Online Video Litigation
Viacom and NBC aren’t content with suing YouTube and other video sites for copyright infringement - they are also trying to inject their opinions into other lawsuits that they are not otherwise involved in.
Last week Viacom and NBC petitioned to file a document known as an Amicus Brief in a little known case between Veoh and an online porn site called IO Group. Amicus briefs are a way for people or entities not involved in a given case to let the court know what they think - they are usually filed by those who have some interest in the outcome of a case because it affects their business in some way. Courts often welcome them because they amount to free research and can be used to help them come to a decision.
Does this mean Veoh can soon add Viacom and NBC to the growing list of companies they are fighting in court? Probably not. Veoh is fighting to keep the brief out of the court’s hands, but is also making it clear that they don’t want to end up with new litigation with Viacom and NBC. In fact, the two companies continue to negotiate on a distribution deal. Veoh CEO Steve Mitgang says:
This is a critical juncture for both service providers and content holders and, ultimately, users. We do not see Viacom’s brief as an indication of lack of interest to work with us; in fact, all of our conversations withthem and other studios have become increasingly positive. That said, we do think this move reflects the importance of our case to the studios and the industry.
The cases being litigated now are crucial in determining what level of freedom video sites have in letting their users upload and distribute content. Content owners are not happy with the protections provided under the DMCA - they want video sites to be far more proactive in stopping uploads in the first place. The outcome of these cases will guide how much freedom these video sites have to continue current practices, and ultimately determine the value of these companies down the road.
Associated Press writer Rachel Metz covers InviteShare, the company we acquired last month that lets users get hard-to-find invitations to private betas.
I spoke to Rachel a couple of times while she researched the article. She mentions the fact that some startups might not like the fact that InviteShare allows people to bypass the normal invitation mechanisms they set up. But she also gets the fact that if someone wants into a beta badly enough to go through InviteShare, they are probably the perfect person to test the product. And the days of people paying for beta invitations on eBay should be long gone now.
New Paris startup Jooce says they are targeting the “cybercafe generation” with their new Flash-based web operating system and sharing platform.
Jooce is most like Goowy, another Flash based web OS/desktop. But Jooce is different enough to merit a closer look. They says 500 million people a day log on to the Internet from a cybercafe, and they are the target of the Jooce product. They want access to core customized applications like instant messaging, storage, media player, email and widgets. Jooce offers all of that, and is also a private sharing network among friends.
Every user has their own private desktop for IM, email, storage, etc. But they also have another desktop that friends can access and grab shared files, or drop off a file that they want to share.
The company has raised an initial seed round of financing from Mangrove Capital Partners, one of the original investors in Skype. It is currently a closed platform, but they will be releasing an API in the near future.
Jooce enters a crowded space but is targeting a clear audience. Being backed by Mangrove doesn’t hurt either.
Israel-based G.ho.st, another web OS startup that recently launched, is taking a different approach from Jooce. They’ve built some basic applications to show off the platform but are counting on third parties to do most of the heavy lifting via their API.
Maryland based CollectiveX launched in February 2006 as a way for groups to create a quick and well designed social space online. Users could share calendars, files and contacts, and message each other on a forum.
We covered CollectiveX in our roundup of “build your own social networks” last month.The original idea overlaps with both LinkedIn and Ning. CollectiveX is a good place for groups like boards of directors to share contact information, files (board minutes, financials, etc.) and share a forum for communication. Since your business contacts are shared just with the people in your group, you don’t have to worry about the “LinkedIn problem: -being constantly spammed for introductions. And like Ning, CollectiveX lets users quickly and easily create a social network. There is less flexibility on the types of networks that can be created, but the added structure is good for certain types of users.
The new product that CollectiveX is launching now is called Groupsites. The video above gives a good introduction to the service. The company is expanding the service to allow for social, not just business, networks. New networks can now be public by choice, and users can create separate professional and social profiles.
Users have a single dashboard to access all of the networks they belong to. They can be viewed one at a time, or grouped. For example, a user can click a button and see all stored files for all groups, and then search within those files.
The basic service is free, and the company charges additional fees for additional storage, advertising removal, etc. Large companies can also pay a yearly license fee to create multiple networks. Accenture and others are customers of this enterprise product.
The company is also simultaneously launching directory of their open social networks at Groupsites.com.
CollectiveX is certainly comparable to some of the better funded sites who’ve spent millions on development. The company has raised only a very small amount of seed funding to date, and what they’ve done with it is impressive. They are also nearly cash flow positive, the company says, and should be profitable by year end. They are beginning to pitch venture capitalists on their Series A round of financing.
Google Reverses Position On Video Refunds; Good For Them
We criticized Google last week when they shut down their video marketplace and told users they would receive refunds only through a Google Checkout credit. We called it a “mistake” and suggested that users might be hesitant to try out for-pay Google products in the future.
Today, though, Google admits the error, says they will give users a full refund via a credit card, and allow users to watch video for another six months. Previously Google said videos would be unavailable after August 15.
The American Intelligence community has joined the social networking phenomenon with the launch of A-Space, a MySpace style social network.
The move is said to be part of the ongoing effort to transform the American Intelligence community following the failure to detect the 9/11 terrorist attacks or find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
In a FT.com report, Thomas Fingar, the Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Analysis said that A-Space would be “MySpace for analysts” that will break down firewalls across the “traditionally stove-piped intelligence community.”
A-Space will initially be voluntary “to assuage worries of spies concerned about blowing their cover.” The service will be equipped with web-based email and software that recommends areas of interest to the user “just like Amazon suggests books to its customers.” The site will also allow users to create and modify documents and determine user privileges
The US Director of National Intelligence will open the site to the entire intelligence community in December.
Google has launched Sky for Google Earth, new functionality that adds imagery of the stars to Google Earth’s already extensive imagery of our planet.
According to Google, the new functionality allows users to “explore the universe from the comfort of your chair.” Users can zoom in on galaxies hundreds of millions of light years away, explore the constellations and even witness a supernova explosion.
The space imagery includes over one million photographs from various sources, including the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the Palomar Observatory at the California Institute of Technology and the Hubble Telescope.
It’s often said that Google Earth and Google Maps took Cartography to the masses, Sky could well do the same for Astronomy.
To access Sky, users must download the latest version of Google Earth.
Lypp’s Free-n-Easy Conference Calling Coming In September
Lypp.com (site is not yet live) is a new group calling service set to launch a private beta in September. There are a lot of conference calling services out there already, not least among them being the full blown meeting applications (GoToMeeting, WebEx). However, Lypp wants to make initiating a conference call dead simple (download free) over IM, SMS, and email. The service will be free at the time of launch (each user will get 500 minutes of free calling, no per-min charges, no monthly fees).
IM will be the first mode for initiating conference calls. Users will associate an IM ID with their service and add Lypp as a friend. You’ll then be able to initiate a call by sending a command to that IM buddy, such as call [number, number, number]. Lypp will call your phone and those of your friends, connecting you all in a conference call. Most likely the calls are initiated and tied together over a VOIP bridge. Typing in my friends numbers instead of just selecting contacts on a downloaded application seems like it could get annoying, though.
They’re keeping it simple for launch, but have plans for an API, advanced in-call controls, recording, and possible location based. The API will integrate with calendaring, address books, and other complementary applications.
AdaptiveBlue has announced that their SmartLink Feeds for books, music, movies, and stocks are now “viral.”
The new SmartLink Feeds from the companies flagship Blue Organizer Firefox Add-on now include a “Grab Me” button that allows anyone to copy a list of favorites and place it on their web sites and social networking profiles. SmartLink Feeds can also be customized in appearance, content and users can also plug in their personal affiliate ID to monetize traffic to participating sites.
AdaptiveBlue will also now publish and update popular SmartLink Feeds to enable anyone to paste them into their own sites without having to be a regular user. SmartLink Feeds include the New York Times Bestsellers, Netflix Top Rentals, Amazon Hot Gadgets, iTunes Top Albums, and Wine.com Top Wines.
See our previous coverage of AdaptiveBlue Smartlink here.
The New York Times took their personalized home page product out of beta today - see it here. The look and feel is about the same as it was a a year ago when it went into private beta - Think MyYahoo, Pageflakes or Netvibes, with the New York Times logo and without the widgets.
There’s an argument that the product will bring customized home pages to the masses, although frankly Yahoo has already done a good job of this with well over 50 million users. This will be particularly useful for people who live, eat and breathe the New York Times, but others may find it a bit much.
Users can also add pre-selected non-NYT content or their own favorite RSS feeds, and modules can be dragged around the page, just like every other customizable home page.
We rarely mention Google’s three year old social network Orkut these days. Except to point out down time or flawed Alexa stats that suggest it is bigger than MySpace. But now some real news.
Take a good look at that screen shot because Google is promising an “updated look” for the site. They are staging this to users in batches, so it may take a while to make its way to you.
Damn, I guess I need to add a friend or two. I sure hope they create a Facebook application. I can’t keep track of all of these social networks.
YouBeQB is a new Football game playing site that will snatch up even more time from fantasy sports junkies (see Screaming Sports and FleaFlicker for examples of some of the new thinking around fantasy sports).
Watch a game on TV and play along against other players by trying to predict the next play. Users can follow professional or college games. Points are awarded for each correct play called, as well as consecutive correct calls.
John Cook has the details on investors, which include HRJ Capital (partners include Hall of Fame football players Ronnie Lott and Joe Montana, and former San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman Harris Barton), Bob Whitsitt, Paul Abramowitz and Bill Savoy.
The new Yahoo Mail interface went into public beta in September 2006, although Yahoo was testing it long before that. Tonight Yahoo takes the “beta” label off of the product and makes it the default interface for all new Yahoo mail accounts.
They are also releasing a few new features. Shortcuts: Mail now has a number of intelligent shortcuts. Things like addresses, places, dates, contact information, etc. are underlined with blue dots. Click on the link and see a mashup with maps (for addresses), travel guides (for places), calendar (for dates), etc. New services are being added regularly.
SMS/Text Messaging: Yahoo wants you to use their mail application whenever you contact your friends, however you contact them. In addition to emailing or instant messaging clients, you can now send them a text message from the mail interface. Their responses also come in directly to Yahoo Mail. It currently works for U.S., India, Philippines and Canadian mobile numbers.
Is Yahoo Mail a better webmail application than GMail? In our comparisons GMail always comes out on top, although the main reason is tagging of messages and the fact that GMail gives free forwarding and POP access to the account. Yahoo still charges $20/year for forwarding or POP access. For users who still like their desktop mail clients, POP access is an important feature. Yahoo says they are considering making it a free option, but they have a lot of paying mail customers. If they make too many features free, they jeopardize that revenue stream. Offering unlimited free storage really pushed the limits, so I don’t expect them to move more features from paid to free any time soon.
The new interface is the final realization of Yahoo’s 2004 acquisition of Ajax pioneer Oddpost. The new mail product is based largely on ideas first launched by Oddpost in 2002.
Startups aren’t just sitting around as the big guys upgrade their webmail apps, though. Our favorite product in this space is Orgoo, which launches this fall and lets users pull in mail and IM accounts from any number of providers. Foldera is another promising product in this space (I was previously on their board of directors, but I do not own any stock in the company).
The owners of the now infamous cut price Russian MP3 retail site AllofMP3have posted that the site will soon recommence trading.
The announcement follows a Russian court decision August 15 that found AllofMP3’s previous CEO was not guilty of breaching Russian copyright laws, and therefore the AllofMP3 service was legal.
EMI, NBC Universal and Time Warner had led the legal case against AllofMP3, with the US Government previously threatening to escalate the dispute regarding AllofMP3 to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
According to AllofMP3, “The service will be resumed in the foreseeable future.”
FUTURE SHOPPING BAZAR
FutureBazarOnline.com is the initiative to make available the products, items, updates and information on online shopping bazar and make it universally accessible online anytime, anywhere. Through its online operations it provides a worldwide and domestic service for shopping.
Associated Press writer Rachel Metz
covers InviteShare
New Paris startup 
The new product that CollectiveX is launching now is called 
