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Gtalk Group Chat, anyone?

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Gtalk Group ChatGoogle Talk users, hear ye, hear ye. The browser-based Google Talk gadget now allows you to chat with a group of people at a time.

A much requested feature, the “Group Chat” option allows you to invite contacts to a chat room, whether they use the browser-based gadget, or the Google Talk desktop program. Just click the “Group Chat” link at the top of a normal chat and add friends to join your conversation.

Testing it, however, I see that while I can invite people who are using the desktop client, I cannot invite people through my own desktop client. I have to login to the browser-based gadget before I can start inviting people to group chat. In the same way, joining the group chat will direct my contacts to the browser-based application. Unlike the Yahoo Messenger which allows you to do various of things without having to launch your browser (i.e. send file, YM conferences, hide from contacts through its invisible mode setting, etc.), Gtalk still has a lot to work on.

Then again, this is an interesting development, especially for Gtalk users (like me) who use Google’s platform for business-related purposes. Some are already predicting major developments to Gtalk’s features soon. Let’s wait and see.

(Via Google Blogoscope)

Originally posted on June 25, 2007 @ 12:43 am

LinkedIn to open their platform to developers?

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No confirmations yet as of this writing, but the idea of LinkedIn opening up their platform to developers is not far from happening.

With Facebook enabling developers to create applications for their network a month ago, LinkedIn is expected to follow suit. Yup, you got it right. Facebook and LinkedIn — an unlikely competition to watch out for. Vallywag has already commented on this, anticipating a battle between the two networking giants:

On the surface, the two couldn’t be any more different: Mark Zuckerberg’s social network has only recently expanded beyond college students; and Linked In is a tool for recruiters, job seekers, sales execs and other corporate drones. But Facebook’s interface is sufficiently clean, and efficient, that it’s attracting a new class of user, the professional.

True enough, the LinkedIn VS Facebook battle is looming in the horizon. (Or, has it already began?)

With about 11 million members to date, increasing with 180,000 new members each week, Dan Nye, LinkedIn’s CEO, is confident that LinkedIn will own the business networking. He said, “people will most likely have a social network for personal purposes, and another for professional and business-related connections. After the inevitable social net shakeout, Facebook and MySpace will remain standing and will compete to supply an outlet for personal self-expression and community. Meanwhile, LinkedIn will dominate the business of business networking — serving as a productivity tool used for professional reference checking, recruiting, and to get expert advice.”

But what if you can have both your personal and business contacts all in one platform? Interestingly, more and more professionals now are using Facebook to invite business contacts and create professional networks — a territory that supposedly has LinkedIn’s name on it. And with more possible developments being considered to upgrade Facebook’s platform, the logical thing for LinkedIn to do is to open up to new development strategies as well and catch up.

Two things that could happen in the next few weeks, or months: (1) LinkedIn to deploy itself as an application on Facebook; or (2) The two networks to take on the virtual battle. Let’s wait and see.

Originally posted on June 26, 2007 @ 5:20 am

Business.com for sale, bidding starts at $300M

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Business.comBusiness.com, currently a search engine used to find business-related information, is now in auction block and is expected to be sold between $300-400 million.

Among the big companies who are expected to bid are media giants Dow Jones & Co. (publisher of The Wall Street Journal), and New York Times. As of the present, both companies are not giving comments. Entrepreneurs Jake Winebaum and Sky Dayton were known to have bought business.com in 1999 for $7.5 million, making the record for being the highest priced domain at the time.

With over 6 million unique visits per month, Business.com runs a search engine, web directory and pay-per-click advertising network.

Originally posted on June 22, 2007 @ 11:18 am

Getty Images acquires Pump Audio, enters commercial music licensing business

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Getty Images Acquires Pump AudioGetty Images, world’s leader when it comes to creating and distributing visual content, is acquiring Pump Audio, the leading provider of quality independent music to content creators.

With this acquisition, Getty Images enters the commercial music licensing business, in its pursuit to meet the growing content needs of media, advertising, and corporate users and clients. Getty Images, over the past 12 years, has largely contributed to the visual content industry. Starting today, they hope to contribute to the music industry as well, to benefit both customers and creators of music.

Getty Images now allows users to license professional quality music to enhance their film, video, and advertising projects with Pump Audio’s platform which makes it easier and more affordable for users to license music for commercial use, while allowing artists to keep ownership of their music.

“Today there is wide agreement in the music industry that the market for commercial music licensing is fragmented, inefficient and confusing, just as the imagery market once was,” said Jonathan Klein, co-founder and CEO of Getty Images. “We are confident that bringing our digital distribution, e-commerce expertise and our customer relationships, as well as our understanding of intellectual property, to the music industry will have a similarly positive impact.”

Sources say that Getty Images acquired Pump Audio for approximately $42 million.

Originally posted on June 24, 2007 @ 11:11 pm

Google to buy GrandCentral

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Grand CentralGoogle is reported to be in the process of acquiring GrandCentral, a telephone management start-up that was launched just last September.

GrandCentral allows users to have “one phone number for all your phones, for life”, covering the concerns that come with changing phone numbers at work, at home, or mobile. Also, it allows users to screen and block callers, record calls, let people call you from a web page without showing your number, switch phones in the middle of a call, and a whole lot more.

Raising less than $6 million in capital from Minor Ventures, GrandCentral has pushed on with their vision starting September last year and got press attention even before the product was ready.

(Via TechCrunch)

Originally posted on June 25, 2007 @ 3:07 am