network

Scurrying back and forth like scared little bunnies

Seriously, this just gets more pathetic every day. Now the Macalope reads that Real and -- are you read for this? -- MTV are joining forces against iTunes.

Yes, it's the greatest team-up since Ant Man and Tigra!

But, wait. Didn't Real already try partnering with some other has-been juggernaut?

A year ago, analysts loved the idea that Microsoft appeared to be challenging Apple's powerhouse music store, iTunes, by joining forces with a music-industry icon in MTV.

Ah, analysts! And they're never wrong.

But MTV's Urge music service fell flat.

One reason may have been … Read more

Build your own social networks with Groupsites

I got the rundown on CollectiveX's new 2.0 product, Groupsites, yesterday. It's a customizable workgroup and social network site, and it's got some nice features. There's a lot on the service that's quite good. I would have no problem recommending Groupsites to someone who wants to build a professional or a social site. I don't think the service will bite or frustrate its users. But it might not excite too many people, either.

The big selling point of today's version 2.0 launch is that login credentials can work across its sites. Say you're a member of a professional group for work, a social club, and a parents' group. With Groupsites, you only have to log on once to get access to all the sites. Moreover, you only have to create your profile once, and if you like, you can create both business and social profiles, and select which one you want to use on each site you're a member of.

The service offers the groups themselves some nice features: Forums, a group calendar, a file library (although with limited storage), an email broadcast manager, and an activity log not unlike the Facebook mini-feed. Groupsite navigation is simple and clear. And there are some clever touches. For example, when users are setting up their professional profiles, the system can automatically write a bio based upon questions that they answer.

As a business tool (which it was originally designed for), the service is solid, if basic. There's no wiki and no open API to build custom apps. The API is 30 days out, CEO Clarence Wooten told me. In the meantime, you can put custom elements on pages, Myspace style.

The service will be compared to Ning (review), which is fair. Ning is a great tool for building mini social nets, and it's being used for both personal and professional groups. Wooten says Groupsites could also be called a "build your own Facebook," but until the Groupsites user base grows quite a bit, that's more aspirational than accurate. The service can also be compared to Microsoft SharePoint, Yahoo Groups, and Google Groups.

I like Groupsites, but its free service isn't radically better than its competitors. Business users looking to control access and branding, though, might want to seriously consider it. You can redirect custom domains to Groupsites, and for reasonable fees, you can strip out the default ads and skin the site to look just the way you like.

… Read more

Bebo's new instant messaging is Microsoft-flavored

Social networking site Bebo, with a 36-million-strong member base centered primarily in the U.K., announced Tuesday that it has partnered with Microsoft on a new instant messaging initiative. The Windows Live Messenger service, formerly known as MSN Messenger, is now the fuel behind Bebo's new internal IMing operations.

Bebo users who have hooked their Windows Live usernames up to the service have an "IM Me" button on their profiles that they can use to communicate with other members in-browser if they're online, but Bebo's IM is also open to members without Windows Live Messenger. … Read more

Facebook messaging gets some new juice

Facebook, according to a post on the company blog, has added new functionality to its internal messaging service that allows you to share select content and send messages to e-mail addresses rather than just other Facebook accounts. This means, effectively, that Facebook junkies can do all of their e-mailing through the social network's interface without needing to open up their e-mail accounts at all.

The person with the e-mail address in question will then be able to read the message and respond without needing to sign up for a Facebook account. Members can also use the enhanced messaging to … Read more

Extend your Wi-Fi reach while on the road

Maybe we've seen too many spy movies, but when we first heard about the Wi-Fire, a portable Wi-Fi booster, we imagined some sort of collapsible parabolic antenna, maybe with an accompanying mini-tripod so it can sit next to you on your desk. In fact, the 3x4x3/8-inch directional antenna is rather boxy, and it attaches to your laptop's lid much like a Webcam. According to manufacturer hField Technologies, the Wi-Fire can connect to an 802.11b/g access point as far as 1,000 feet away, giving you the opportunity to roam beyond the range of your laptop'… Read more

National Lampoon to launch women's Web site network

Comedy house National Lampoon, which has brought the entertainment world everything from Animal House to the more recent Van Wilder, is courting the babes. A Media Week article details the brand's impending launch of 8228, the latest addition to the online National Lampoon Humor Network, which is a network of gossip and entertainment sites for a female audience.

We're guessing the tone will be a little different from TeamSugar or iVillage.

Expanding its Web presence is inherently a good move for National Lampoon: Van Wilder was a hit on DVD among the college crowd, but the once-iconic comedy … Read more

Not every iPhone is equal

As per usual, the weekend rolled around and we headed up to Stinson Beach armed with our iPhones. In between catching rays and laying out my friends I wanted to check out the new features from Meebo and Facebook for the iPhone. Strangely, the EDGE network was very either/or--it was on...or completely off. Spotty coverage with the EDGE network? Surely not.

In another comparison, my friend Max and I were waiting for a table at a popular crepe place in San Francisco's Mission District and were surfing the net via our iPhones. Yet, we noticed that while … Read more

Netflix: How to build a killer community

Netflix is one of the companies that really "gets it" right now. I have been following their Community Blog for the past few months and I have been really impressed with the level of communication that they have going with their users. Netflix's community team has developed one of Netflix's defining features, that I like to call movie discovery.

The true value in having a library of movies as large as Netflix's is being able to discover movies that you might like, but that you had not previously heard of. Of course, Netflix already offers … Read more

Hearst launches cross-platform High School Playbook network

Here's one that's good for back-to-school season. The Web has made it possible for media niches that normally would get squeezed out of newspaper margins or TV time slots to find a way to be heard, and high school sports are no exception. We've already seen Takkle (earlier coverage here) fall into this sector, and now media giant Hearst-Argyle Television has launched a competitor--High School Playbook, which aims to go for a cross-platform strategy of TV, Internet, and mobile content. Sponsored by Canon, the site has launched in beta for a select number of sports-obsessed metro … Read more