Archive for May, 2011

Check Templeton, founder of OpenTable, a portal for free restaurant reservations, now has a new baby: he and Arun Sivashankaran have created a local network with literally a social personality called OhSoWe. On the platform, users can not only meet their neighbors, but also discuss local issues with them. Users can potentially borrow things from one another that they would otherwise have to buy. Community users should therefore save money and protect resources. Read the rest of this entry »

Das Telefonbuch has optimized its app for the iPhone and iPad. With the release of the 3.0 version, new features have been added and now there are even more possibilities to customize the search function. The app is also approaching its one-millionth download.
For the occasion, Das Telefonbuch is raffling off an iPhone and iPad in a package. It’s possible to participate through Facebook. Users can try their luck by guessing when the millionth download will happen. The first person to have guessed correctly is the winner. For 24 others, Das Telefonbuch is raffling off iTunes gift cards. Read the rest of this entry »

So much for the idea that the internet and its social web-communities have led to an anonymous, cyber exchange and the destruction of real social life. Critics, be prepared, because that definitely isn’t the case: social online networks maintain old relationships, according to a Germany-wide survey by the polling firm Aris on behalf of the high-tech union BITKOM.

Two-thirds of all German internet users maintain their friendships online, according to the survey. Last year, BITKOM reported this number at 57 percent. Six out of ten respondents have found old friends using the internet. Especially older people have been using the perks of the social online network. The quarters of users older than 65 said that they maintain old friendships using the internet, and two-thirds have found old friends through the net. This means that the elderly are even ahead of all other age groups, according to BITKOM.

Last year, Microsoft announced its new partnership with its search engine Bing and the social network Facebook. Now, about five months later, we are finally seeing a result: users who have logged into Facebook and then who conduct a search on Bing will see results that friends have recommended using the “like” button. Read the rest of this entry »

Dependability, professionalism, and friendliness are the deciding factors for online users when looking for a local provider, according to the three-part Local Consumer Review Survey 2010.
Experts from BrightLocal, which specializes in SEO, surveyed a total of 2,012 online users in the USA and Great Britain between the 30th of September and the 10th of October last year. The third released portion reveals users’ composure in relation to write-ups and reviews. Mouth-to-mouth propaganda remains the most common method for recommending local providers with 80 percent of the users. Praise on Facebook follows with about 27 percent of users, beating out online directories with 11 percent and Twitter with 6 percent. Read the rest of this entry »

Apple has a net worth of 153 billion US Dollars, surpassing the previous leader Google, whose worth dropped to 111 billion USD, according to the market analyst Millward Brown. The US software company Microsoft only got fifth place with a net worth of 78 billion USD. Microsoft’s purchase of the online telephone service Skype may be just what it needs to get back its edge. Read the rest of this entry »

Starting the end of 2011, the standard search engine and map service from Microsoft Bing will be integrated on all new Blackberry devices worldwide. This bit of information was announced by Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer at the Blackberry World in Orlando.
Previously, the Canadian developer Research in Motion (RIM) has offered the services provided by Google. The new cooperation with Microsoft will not only be seen on RIM’s smartphones, but also on their first tablet computer, the Playbook. Accordingly, both of the companies also plan on developing new apps for local and social services or other augmented reality apps.

Certainly an interesting question: are there people out there that have visited the same place, at the same time, several times, without knowing each other? And what would have been if they had known each other? Because of questions like this, Ryan Kennedy developed Conga, which is actually a hand drum. With the help of location-based tweets, check-ins on Foursquare, or manual entries, the new community informs users whether or not they have subconsciously run into each other before. After all, when these people regularly visit the same places, there might even be a chance that they have similar interests. And who knows what the “congo” might lead to…

Google just continues in the direction of Twitter and Facebook. The search engine has now integrated in addition to the two other social communities like Quora and Gowalla in its real-time search. User questions, answers, posts and ratings – all food for the lagging Google feature. However, with a “lucky” algorithm, the posts can also show up in the universal search.

This app is a lot of fun: Broadcastr has released its free app in the iTunes app store that allows users to listen to audio posts from other users in the vicinity using GPS locating. As an example, someone strolling through Berlin can listen to audio stories that relate to the user’s current position. The service wants to continue expanding its range through its partners, which include NBC Universal. Although the app has only been out for a few weeks, there are already about 40,000 active users registered.