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BillMyParents launches online payment system for teens and parents

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Socialwise, Inc. has launched BillMyParents, an innovative online youth payment system that gives teens the freedom to shop online and parents the control over these purchases– all in a simple, automated system that keeps credit card numbers and other personal information safe and secure.

The BillMyParents payment system platform addresses this untapped teen spending market with a multifaceted approach to online payment processing for teens and tweens, and gives them an easy way to purchase products online without a credit card. Using the BillMyParents button at the point of sale, teens can initiate a purchase in seconds. Parents complete the purchase at their convenience through a simple, easy to use, and automated system enabled by instant email and text notifications.

Filed Under: Web

MobiLuck hits milestone with one million members

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Mobiluck, a privately-held mobile services company that offers a location-based mobile social network, has exceeded one million members worldwide since the launch of its service two years ago. MobiLuck allows users to find nearby friends, people and places using simply their mobile. It is one of the largest worldwide location-based mobile social networks in the world and the fastest-growing with 6 000 new members per day. Page views tripled over the last three months to 42 million per month.

Mobile social networking is the number one use of the mobile internet worldwide and a billion people will be doing it by 2012, according to Pyramid Research.

MobiLuck’s users average age is 23 and come mainly from the US, Europe, India, Middle East and South Africa. This new generation of users is making the most of their mobile, using it as their primary connection to the internet. They want a full social networking experience on the go so they can be always connected with their friends wherever they are. They constitute an attractive audience for brands and premium ad agencies who are currently seeing 2% click through rates on their ads on MobiLuck.

Adobe introduces Acrobat.com Presentations

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Adobe Systems Incorporated announced the preview release of Acrobat.com Presentations, available for free sign-up as a public beta on Adobe Labs. Acrobat.com Presentations extends the Acrobat.com vision of enabling a better way for people to work together on the web by providing an engaging presentation application built on the Adobe Flash Platform.

Acrobat.com Presentations builds on the Acrobat.com set of hosted services, including Adobe Buzzword and Adobe ConnectNow, by making it easy for virtually anyone to create professional-looking presentations online. The application includes built-in tools and layouts for adding visually appealing elements, such as pre-defined color sets, intelligent image placement and graphic tools for creating diagrams and adding effects. Users can enhance their presentations with visual special effects, slide transitions and embedded videos that can be accessed by anyone with Adobe Flash Player, which is installed on 98 percent of Internet-connected desktops worldwide.

Acrobat.com Presentations lets people work together on a presentation, all contributing at the same time or separately, regardless of where they are located. Now, there is no need to search for the latest version or combine multiple copies in order to capture everyone’s changes. With simultaneous editing capabilities, no one is locked out of the presentation while others are making changes. The application also makes it easy to see who has access to the presentation, who is viewing, who is editing and which slide each person is editing. Because the presentation lives online, people can access the latest version from any Internet-connected computer and deliver the presentation from anywhere online via ConnectNow or offline by exporting to PDF.

Filed Under: Web

AdventNet Inc. announces change to ZOHO Corp.

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Zoho announced that the name of its parent company has changed from AdventNet, Inc., to ZOHO Corporation, effective immediately. The name change represents the evolution of the company and the emergence of Zoho as its widely known division.

“In 1996, we started the company with a primary focus on network management. Over the years, we grew significantly, serving different markets,” said Sridhar Vembu, founder and CEO of ZOHO Corp. “We are now best known for the Zoho suite of on-line business applications. Given the reach of Zoho, we are renaming the company to ZOHO Corporation, and Zoho.com will be one division. The other divisions — ManageEngine and WebNMS — will continue operating under their established names and also become divisions of ZOHO Corp.”

The new name complements the rich history of ZOHO Corp. Founded in 1996, the 13-year old company has grown to 1,000 employees and remains privately held and profitable, having never sought nor raised venture capital.

Over 15 billion minutes of voice delivered in Second Life

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Linden Lab, creator of the virtual world Second Life, revealed that it has delivered over 15 billion minutes of voice services, demonstrating the rapid growth and broad adoption of VoIP in Second Life. The company also revealed its product roadmap for the remainder of 2009, such as introducing new features that will enhance the Second Life platform and provide unique monetization opportunities. With 700,000 unique users consuming more than a billion minutes a month, voice has become an integral component of the Second Life experience.

Over 50% of Second Life users, a group that includes a broad range of consumers, educators and large enterprises, use voice as part of their everyday inworld experience. In addition to making education, business meetings, simulations, training and casual conversations more meaningful, realistic and fluid, voice is also a key component of Linden Lab’s business model and strategy moving forward. With several key product launches scheduled for the latter half of 2009, Linden Lab expects this rapid adoption to continue while also adding several new revenue streams for the company.

In addition to revealing its roadmap for the rest of the year, Linden Lab is also introducing a new service called AvaLine that enables residents to receive voice calls inworld from an outside number. Greatly extending the reach of the Second Life experience, AvaLine lets friends, customers, colleagues and business associates connect to the Second Life viewer via a landline, cell phone or VoIP application.