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GamerDNA acquires 360voice.com

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gamerdna.pngGamerDNA has completed the acquisition of It Can Talk Inc., owner of the popular Xbox community website 360voice.com.

The Xbox 360 is a popular videogame console with an installed base of over 18 million units, and the 360voice.com website is a community that serves this audience. 360voice.com had the unique advantage of being an early member of the Microsoft XCDP (Xbox Community Developers Program), which enabled it to create software that “autoblogs” about an Xbox owner’s gameplay, and allows players to challenge each other in competitions for real prizes.

The founders of It Can Talk Inc. will relocate to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where they’ll continue as part of the GamerDNA team. Trapper Markelz, CEO of It Can Talk, will become the VP of Products for GamerDNA.

It Can Talk is the second acquisition made by GamerDNA. In November 2006, the company acquired Uberguilds, a network of popular MMORPG community websites.

Originally posted on April 28, 2008 @ 5:12 pm

New dating site for intelligent people only launches

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A new dating site exclusively for intelligent people has just launched. IntelligentPeople.com is an online dating and networking community which requires that its members pass an IQ test in order to join.

IntelligentPeople.com is intended for people with an IQ in the top 15% of the population. In comparison, you need an IQ in the top 2% of the population to become a member of Mensa. People with an IQ in the top 15%, are said to be “highly intelligent”. Most often, highly intelligent people communicate and interact best with other intelligent people. IntelligentPeople.com was created on the basis of that fact, with the purpose of giving intelligent people an opportunity to meet and form relationships, regardless of location, education and social status.

To become a member of IntelligentPeople.com, applicants need to pass the IQ test required for admission. The IQ test consists only of black and white images and is designed to be culture fair, meaning it will test intelligence while minimizing cultural or educational biases.

(Editor’s note: I wonder if this dating site for intelligent people is an intelligent idea at all)

Originally posted on April 24, 2008 @ 10:59 am

PaltalkScene version 9.4 released, offers new features including PC-to-phone calling

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Paltalk announced the launch of the newest version of its video chat platform, PaltalkScene. PaltalkScene v9.4 expands the many ways in which Paltalk users are able to connect with each other through voice and video chat including new PC-to-phone calling options, allowing users to make calls directly from their Pal list to any of their Paltalk buddies or offline friends.

In addition to PC-to-phone calling, PaltalkScene 9.4 will also offer many other features designed to enhance user-experience and engage community members more intimately as they chat and view video content produced for the Paltalk platform. Features include FindMe, which enables users to display what rooms they are currently participating in, and pet emoticons to enhance their one-to-one and community chat experiences. These features, along with the company’s Super IM capability, which allows free videoconferencing calls for up to 10 people at a time, as well as its recent partnership with Vumber to offer virtual phone numbers, separate Paltalk from other voice and video chat providers by providing the most robust offering to users who want flexibility in how they communicate with friends around the world.

Originally posted on April 12, 2008 @ 3:58 pm

Vignette launches new community products

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Vignette announced the immediate availability of Vignette Community Services and the upcoming availability of Vignette Community Applications. The new community products enable organizations to add social computing capabilities to their Web sites to help strengthen their brand, increase user loyalty and drive revenue. Additionally, the suite of products seamlessly integrates with Vignette’s Web experience foundation, making it easier for customers to quickly add engaging social elements and Web 2.0 capabilities to their sites.

Web users today rely more heavily on their peers for advice on which companies to trust, products to evaluate or buy and services to select. According to the 2008 Edelman Trust Barometer, “a person like yourself” is often viewed as an organization’s most credible spokesperson. Vignette’s Community product line enables organizations to give a voice to this group of peer influencers, driving new levels of audience engagement on anything from content reviews to product development.

Vignette Community Services can help organizations connect with and engage key audiences by offering ratings, reviews, commenting and tagging capabilities, similar to the services found on YouTube and Netflix. Users are demanding that organizations offer these services so they can share ideas and learn from their peers.

Vignette Community Applications enables organizations to add features like blogs, wikis and forums to any Web property to improve transparency, increase interaction with and build customized communities to better engage their target audiences. Additionally, these organizations can leverage user-generated content and peer influence to create valuable online communities. For example, a software company may leverage forums or blogs to solicit feedback from customers throughout each phase of a product lifecycle.

Originally posted on April 9, 2008 @ 7:16 pm

Flickr adds video to its community

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flickr.pngFlickr has launched video sharing. Flickr pro members can now upload personal video clips and share them with friends, family and the world. The new enhancement is helping to advance Yahoo!’s goal to become the leading starting point on the Web by offering an even more engaging and relevant service for sharing, exploring and discovering digital imagery.

The new video uploading feature will support up to 90 seconds of personal video footage captured with the video function of any digital video recording device including still cameras, camcorders and camera phones. Video on Flickr gives members a glimpse into daily and extraordinary activities, from watching dogs play in a park to seeing someone climb Machu Picchu. Flickr members can organize and share videos just like they do photos; they can upload videos to their photostream along with their photos, and set their privacy settings for friends, family or the world to see. Videos will be moderated through a combination of Flickr team review, community review and automated abuse-spotting mechanisms.

Originally posted on April 9, 2008 @ 9:48 am