Xobni brings Facebook streams into Outlook

April 27, 2009 | Anthony Ha | Comments |
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More and more communication is moving to social networking services like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. The migration is so pronounced that Facebook Era author Clara Shih and many others argue these sites are becoming our new email inboxes. But startup Xobni has been trying to move things in the other direction by using social data to improve email, and now it’s taking a new step in that direction with the incorporation of Facebook “streams” (previously known as news feeds) into Microsoft’s widely used email program Outlook.

This integration is enabled by the new Facebook application programming interface (API) announced this morning, which lets third-party sites and applications publish a user’s stream, with the user’s permission. It’s easy to see why a Xobni user would benefit from seeing not just a correspondent’s Facebook or LinkedIn profile (which Xobni already allows) but also their most recent activity on Facebook as published in their stream, since that might provide more up-to-date and relevant information. The San Francisco company says it has wanted to add this feature for several months but couldn’t until Facebook released the new API.

Xobni’s stream integration is scheduled to go live at 6pm Pacific Time tonight. I’m still not completely onboard with Bill Gates’ statement that Xobni represents “the next generation of social networking,” but his words make a little more sense with this latest announcement. The company has raised more than $14 million in venture funding.

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About the Author, Anthony Ha

Anthony is VentureBeat's assistant editor, as well as its reporter on enterprise technology, cloud computing, and tech policy. Before joining VentureBeat in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. You can also follow Anthony on Twitter.

  • Graeme Dollar
    I have been a xobni user since day dot, and have come to view it as an essential part of my email experience. The streams functionality adds that personal touch to email that has been missing since its inception. Pity people don't typically use a corporate email address in Facebook and don't typically use images in Linked In. (btw that guy in the black sweater has a serious head of hair!)
  • I love the service too and it helps me stay on top of things as I live in Outlook.
  • Foo
    Xobni is slow and crashes frequently.

    I see the facebook integration as a hack.

    And why does their CEO look like a muppet?
  • "Xobni is slow and crashes frequently."

    I've heard that complaint. I'm not a Xobni user myself, so I can't say, but I wonder if you've used it since it left beta last month? It's supposed to be much better now.

    "I see the facebook integration as a hack."

    Meaning what?
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