Here the latest action:
Social network Hi5 publicly launches its developer platform — San Francisco-based Hi5 may be a big opportunity for developers of third-party applications that live on social networks. It is popular in places like Portugal, Thailand and select countries of Latin America. Overall, it’s one of the largest social networks worldwide, with more than 35 million monthly active users — and the company claims that only 25 percent of them also have profiles on other social networks.
Many developers have been excited about MySpace’s developer launch a couple weeks ago, but the company has yet to release a way for users to easily send messages to each other — friend invites and updates from an application — and application growth has yet to happen. One big difference with Hi5, as Mashable points out, is that it specifically lets applications tap into communication channels on the site. These so-called “viral loops” can lead to exploding traffic for applications, as seen on Facebook’s formative platform launched last May. But abusive applications spam users with too many messages — also a problem that Facebook has been dealing with. It remains to be seen how Hi5 will both help applications grow and keep users happy. See our previous coverage of Hi5’s platform here and here.
Facebook does regular old targeted advertising — The social network is working with job site CareerBuilder.com on a non-exclusive ad campaign, where Facebook will run its ads on the side of pages and in news feeds. The specialized recruiting ads will be targeted based on information on a user’s profile, like what their major is in college, according to Reuters. Many had expected to see more such ad targeting done by Facebook itself last year, but it instead introduced Beacon, which automatically tells your friends about the purchases you make on other sites — and proved unpopular with users.
Silicon Valley start-ups are losing their sizzle — The slumping stock market has stalled potential IPOs (initial public offerings) and may slow the creation of new start-ups for the next year or two, the San Jose Mercury News reports. There have been only four IPOs nationwide so far this year and the Nasdaq being down almost 15 percent isn’t likely to create a rush of new ones.
Social news site Buzznet may have acquired music application maker Qloud – The deal went down for a little over Qloud’s last valuation, a source tells Mashable. Backed by former AOL head Steve Case, Qloud has had over 1.8 million Facebook users install its “My Music” application. Meanwhile, Buzznet is rumored to be raising a new round of $25 million, according to PaidContent.
For the first time in 38 years, a new type of memory chip is about to hit the market — A joint venture between Intel and STMicroelectronics called Numonyx has created a new type of memory chip known as phase charge memory (PCM), CNET reports. The chips uses a laser to hit a material, which can melt into two different kinds of crystals. Those crystals serve as the ones and zeroes of digital memory. Interestingly enough, Gordon Moore (the co-founder of Intel and of Moore’s Law fame), predicted such a type of memory in an issue of Electronics magazine in 1970.
Personal shopping recommendation site StyleFeeder has opened its API — Developers will now be able to create third-party applications and widgets centered around StyleFeeder to put on any e-commerce site. Personalized search, bookmarking, item recommendations, watchlists, and customizable images will all be accessible through this API. The Watertown, Massachusetts-based StyleFeeder recently received a $2 million Series A round from Highland Capital Partners and Schooner Capital.
After months of delay, Livescribe finally releases its computer-in-a-pen device — We’ve seen several demos of the cool technology, which allows students to take lecture notes on a special paper. When tracing over those notes later, students can call up an audio recording of the words being spoken as those lines were written. The pen can also be used to do math calculations, translate words, and record conversations. Limited quantities of the pen have begun shipping, according to the company blog (currently down). We previously covered the company last year.
