Shaquille O’Neal Passes the Ball to Tout, a San Francisco Startup

Everyone knows Shaquille O’Neal is the proud owner of very many special things, enviable height, brawn, wit, and hooping talents among them. But did you know he’s also credited with owning the very first verified celebrity Twitter account? He is.

And on Wednesday, in one more show of his social media dominance, Shaq publicly announced his retirement by way of a 15-second video clip made on Tout, a new app. It’s used for sharing short videos that present “‘Life as it Happens’ instead of ‘Life as it’s Written’ in 140 characters of text,” to go by the San Francisco startup’s warring words of marketing — rather baldly aimed at Twitter.

Unsurprisingly, the Shaq announcement was a huge coup for Tout; only 30 minutes had gone by since O’Neal first tweeting of the Tout link when it received 35,000 clicks. The awesome baller has already acquired some equity in the company and presides as an advisor.

Tout works with the iPhone and the iPad and its videos, postable to Twitter and Facebook accounts, can also be sent by Snail Mail 2.0, email. Plainly seeing itself as Twitter’s direct competitor, Tout calls its service “Video Status Updates” and provides features like finding and following other users on its site, www.tout.com.

For the curious, the Big Shamrock did let the San Fran folks know he’d be making an important announcement through their service. Seems everyone’s been duly rewarded.

Read More:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/techchron/detail?entry_id=90284#ixzz1OFcsAbsS

http://blogs.forbes.com/billbarol/2011/06/02/how-shaq-put-tout-on-the-social-media-map-in-15-seconds/

Police Beat Crowd-Sourced by Bay Area Civilians

This week saw a very peculiar unfolding of a real-life crime drama in the San Francisco Bay Area. Two days ago (Tuesday), 27-year-old taxi driver Muthanna Aldebashi was apprehended and taken to the Alameda County Jail by Oakland police; he is suspected of “possessing stolen goods.”

The drama saw its start in March. Then, Joshua Kaufman, the interaction designer pictured first from left in a March 2011 photo, filed a police report following the theft of his MacBook from his Oakland apartment. Kaufman informed the police that his MacBook had an app — Hidden (basic plans runs at a $15 annual fee) — installed that rendered his MacBook’s movements traceable and had even managed to take photographs of the alleged thief while he used the stolen computer.

When Kaufman presented the incriminating information to the police, they did not pursue his leads; Kaufman stated on his blog that the police cited “lack of resources” for the position they took on the matter. Undeterred in his quest to get back his computer, Kaufman then went to the public by creating a Tumblr blog (http://thisguyhasmymacbook.tumblr.com/) and leaving postings on Twitter.

His web campaign worked. The media got wind of the story and, after slightly overwhelming the Oakland Police Department with requests for comments, the police took another look at Kaufman’s case. In a testament to the power of crowds, the police, pressured to follow Kaufman’s leads, carried out a successful investigation and handed back the missing computer to the designer on June 1.

Read more:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/06/01/BAUB1JOAQL.DTL#ixzz1O9XylWmq

http://www.businessinsider.com/this-guy-has-my-macbooka-tale-of-evil-redemption-and-the-power-of-the-app-2011-6

A Social Network for Cars? Toyota, Salesforce.com, and Microsoft Say Yes!

Japanese automaker Toyota and Salesforce.com are in the midst of perfecting a car-focused social networking platform that will enable users to, for example, get the car started in the morning or turn its seat-warming mechanism on with a few finger jabs to an iPhone, instead of the usual going outside. Microsoft, though apparently staying at the sidelines through the initial developmental stages, represents one of heaviest investors in the project. So far, Microsoft has forked out $4.1 million dollars, Toyota $5.5 million, and Salesforce.com $2.8 million. Reportedly, Microsoft will be constructing a “global cloud platform” with the popular automaker.

The in-development social network currently goes by the handle “Toyota Friend,” and responsible for its most current progress is Salesforce.com, a cloud computing company from San Francisco. Next year, drivers in Japan of Toyota plug-in hybrids and electric cars will be the first to make use of the evolving social network, which will be accessible from any gadget connected to the internet.

Users will be able to interact with the new network through Facebook and Twitter, but it will nonetheless remain a private network and run on Salesforce.com’s Chatter service. Benefits of joining the network will include receiving tweets about one’s car running low on battery power and finding out the status of tire pressure from a Facebook feed.

Akio Toyoda, President of Toyota Motor Corp., in a released statement commented: “Social networking services are transforming human interaction and modes of communication. The automobile needs to evolve in step with that transformation.”

Read More:

http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/23/autos/toyota_friend_social_network/?section=money_latest

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/05/toyota-and-salesforce-team-to-build-toyota-friend-social-network.html

Bing Goes Deeper into Social Search

It seems Microsoft may be in for a much-delayed social media breakthrough with a more socially searchable Bing. Reaping some of the rewards of its recent partnership with Facebook, Bing’s search results will be featuring a searcher’s Facebook friends’ Likes and Shares. The people at Bing are describing the new search layers as “conversational,” and adding, in the words of Bing director, Stephan Weitz, that “it’s a first step in the evolution of how search can become more human.”

Bing is en route to “humanization” by way of special highlights in its results alerting searchers to social media friends’ recommendations that coincide with one’s latest topic of inquiry. For example, as Weitz was helpfully paraphrased in the New York Times, if someone searches for a website “like NYTimes.com or Cooks.com, Bing will” produce “news articles or recipes deep inside those sites that … friends have recommended.” Moreover, the folks over at Microsoft not being ones to forget the ever-growing importance of location-based sociability, they are also piling on Bing a feature that will make note of which of a searcher’s friends live in a given city or other locale if it’s a destination being searched for. Microsoft may be, indeed, gaining some steam.

Read more:

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/16/bing-taps-facebook-data-for-fight-with-google/?ref=technology

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/techchron/detail?entry_id=89057#ixzz1Mdz4qWW3

The Makings of an E-Smokers’ Social Network

Yes, today the web is abuzz with news of Facebook’s no-longer-so-stealth smear campaign against Google, but did you hear the news that social media networking’s manifest destiny is currently in the throes of conquering the frontiers of electronic smoking? Say what?

Blu is the maker of devices termed “electronic cigarettes.” They’re supposed to have the look and feel of standard cigarettes but, as Blu’s site states, do “not burn or use tobacco,” produce any ash or smoke, and do well without the “smell associated with traditional tobacco cigarettes.” The gadgets do, however, provide some vaporized nicotine.

In a wireless-communicatory twist, it’s no longer necessary to signal your smoking presence to other smokers in the perimeter through tobacco’s aroma and perceptible cloud — no, it’s now possible to set the e-cigarette carriers of others alight and vibrating if they enter a 50 ft radius of your own pack. How’s that for expanding one’s social graph?

Furthermore — and distinctly evincing someone’s business savoir faire — the e-cig packs also vibrate when an electronic smoker approaches a store selling Blu cigarettes. The technology makes use of radio waves to connect e-smokers when they’re physically near each other and are programmable for the electronic sharing of the smokers’ contact information, like links to personal online pages. Blu has plans for delving deeper into the sharing aspect of its product through mobile apps, much like Color, which is used for the sharing of mobile phone photos among the app’s users when in close proximity of one another.

Read More:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/technology/11smoke.html?_r=1&ref=technology

http://www.pcworld.com/article/227677/electronic_cigarettes_trying_to_put_the_social_back_into_smoking.html

http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/12/technology/facebook_google/index.htm?hpt=T2

Promising Stock Market Debut for Chinese Social Media Fixture RenRen

The U.S. has just witnessed the first IPO of a social media group — RenRen Inc. If ranked according to page views, then RenRen is the most important Chinese social network and today it made its grand debut on the New York Stock Exchange. Its underwriters were Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, and Morgan Stanley. The company is based in Beijing but it is not actually listed in China. RenRen’s initial price per share was $14; at closing, its price stood at $18. 01 though earlier in the day the number reached $24. The $18.01 figure comprises a nearly 30 percent increase (28.6%) in value.

RenRen’s market value is approximately $7.5 billion and its net revenues from last year tallied $76.5m. By comparison, Facebook’s market value is estimated to be $65 billion.

Of China’s 1.3 billion people, 117 million use RenRen. Initially conceived as a Facebook copy, RenRen now features games and daily deals. Almost no one in the country has access to Twitter, Facebook, or Youtube because of issues related to the Chinese government’s stance on censoring.

In addition to being the first social media IPO, RenRen’s NY debut represents the largest offering from the Chinese tech sector on the New York Stock Exchange.

Read More

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/05/renren-china-social-networking.html

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/c08d1072-764f-11e0-b4f7-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1LW5LwFjX

Friendster’s Getting a New Identity

In an email to its registered users, Friendster let the world know that in an attempt to forge a new identity, it’s soon to undergo an extensive revamping. Many are saying it’s more than a little too late. Perhaps, in tacit agreement, if the rumors are to be believed, that’s why Friendster may decide to shed its coat of many profiles and emerge from its reinvention as a “casual gaming destination,” in the words of CNNMoney.com’s Julianne Pepitone. Friendster itself has yet to give out specific details about the coming changes.

The same email alerting users to the changes underway also let them know that most of the data on the site will be deleted. In an apparent attempt at serviceableness, Friendster is pointing the way to a data transfer app for those wanting to safekeep a few — or all — Friendster mementos.

Right now, Friendster is owned by MOL Global, an internet company based in Malaysia. It’s believed that MOL Global paid $26 million in 2009 for the site. In any case (and for a different sum), MOL Global sold to Facebook the intellectual-property rights to Friendster “inventions like connecting users within social networks, linking relationship information with outside databases, and compelling users to upload and share their own content.” That means the patent portfolio was handed over. Some believe Friendster’s road to ruins was paved through its inattention to active and constant information-sharing tools, like newsfeeds, à la Facebook.

Get your Friendster information saved by May 31. Only your list of friends and a limited profile will remain.

Read More:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2384588,00.asp

http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/26/technology/friendster/

New Deal: Japanese GREE Buys American OpenFeint

The announcement came last night that GREE, Japan’s biggest social networking service paid $104 million to buy OpenFeint, a social gaming platform that lets users add friends, view friends’ activities, and participate in forums and chats. Yoshikazu Tanaka is GREE’s founder and CEO.

News outlets are reporting that OpenFeint’s own CEO, Jason Citron will not lose his leadership position. Also, “his team will remain in place.” The Wall Street Journal says there will be no “merging” of services, instead, the two entities will collaborate through application sharing and the joint development of projects. Perhaps more to the point, they’re saying that by coming together they hope two heads will, indeed, be better than one.

OpenFeint is based in Burlingame, CA and GREE International recently opened an office in San Francisco. In a released statement, Yoshikazu Tanaka said concerning the deal: “We are socializing the next evolution of games and, as the best-in-class US-based mobile social network, OpenFeint is the ideal partner for us to offer the best mobile social games to the largest global audience.”

Finally, it’s also reported that through the deal, GREE will speed along OpenFeint’s outstanding growth and also get its outstanding securities. The two companies are envisioning the development of a “global ecosystem” for social gaming and networking.

Read more:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/techchron/detail?entry_id=87553#ixzz1KIMULU9v

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110421-719144.html

Walmart Wants to Stand Out in the Social Commerce Environment — Buys Kosmix

The announcement came today that Walmart is set to buy Kosmix, a social media company operating from Mountain View, CA. Kosmix’s price tag upon being taken over by the massive discount chain store has yet to be peeked.

Walmart sees the buy as a way to increase its sales through having a greater presence among online and mobile-device shoppers. As quoted in today’s L.A. Times, Walmart’s vice chairman, Eduardo Castro-Wright, had the following to say about the purchase: “We are expanding our capabilities in today’s rapidly growing social commerce environment.”

Venky Harinarayan and Anand Rajaraman are Kosmix’s founders and it’s not the first time they sell big — in 1998 the pair sold Amazon.com Junglee, their first start-up. In its current state, Kosmix makes apps to organize social media content online and owns Kosmix.com, RightHealth, and Tweetbeat. Walmart’s purchase of Kosmix is also a way to prove itself more competitive against Amazon.com. In addition to the Kosmix deal, Walmart has also come out with @WalmartLabs, a new tech department.

As we couldn’t have said much it better ourselves, we’ll concede parting remarks to Castro-Wright: “Social networking and mobile applications are increasingly becoming a part of our customers’ day-to-day lives globally, influencing how they think about shopping, both online and in retail stores.”

Read More:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/04/wal-mart-to-takeover-social-media-firm-kosmix.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/18/walmart-social-media-kosmix_n_850678.html

New Social Video App for iPad

You are now free to watch the videos your friends post on Facebook, Twitter, and Vimeo in a personalized and streamlined format, you’ll just need an iPad or iPhone. Today, Remixation (the Vodpod people) released the free iPad app Showyou.

The app’s claim to fame is its ability to create an attractive video display grid of clips posted and shared on almost the whole gamut of available social networks. YouTube, Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, Vimeo, Vodpod (of course) are all supported. Hulu and other websites belonging to major television networks are not. Kind of more than a little bit of a let-down.

But Showyou comes with a nifty set of tools. You can follow people, post your videos on the main site, and share them directly with your other social networks. Users can also leave comments after watching a Showyou clip and contribute to the popularity ranking of the ones best liked.

A Showyou subscription service may be in the horizon and though providing no direct quote on Remixation CEO Mark Hall’s true ambition for the app, the L.A. Times handily cues us in with: “to become a prime-time TV alternative.”

Clearly, social video is on the up-and-up. Have you got your moving pictures camera ready?

Read More:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/04/showyou-brings-a-new-vision-of-tv-to-the-ipad.html#more

http://fangaroo.org/vodpod-founders-launch-showyou-a-social-video-app-for-ios/

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