Second Life generates 15 billion minutes in web voice calls

Second Life generates 15 billion minutes in web voice calls

When you think of phone companies, Linden Lab’s Second Life virtual world doesn’t come to mind. But the company is announcing today that its users have used its web-voice calling feature to talk to each other for a  total of 15 billion minutes since it… Continue Reading

Real world laws intrude on virtual world behavior

Real world laws intrude on virtual world behavior

Navigating the laws of cyberspace is getting ever more complex as virtual worlds themselves become mirrors of the real world. That’s one clear message from a Stanford University event on legal frontiers for digital media that I attended today.

Protecting children from predators is at the… Continue Reading

How I became a virtual world believer

How I became a virtual world believer

The media narrative about Second Life and virtual worlds is starting to get past the hype stage, past the bashing stage, and is beginning to resemble reality. VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi has covered this shift in a thorough Q&A with parent company Linden Lab’s CEO Mark… Continue Reading

Second Life moves into the virtual goods market business

Second Life moves into the virtual goods market business

Diving into one of the hot business models for virtual labs, Linden Lab said today it has acquired two virtual goods markets that sell items for the denizens of its Second Life virtual world.

Linden Lab has bought Xstreet SL and OnRez, two burgeoning online markets… Continue Reading

Sony sets the stage for launch of its Home virtual world

Sony sets the stage for launch of its Home virtual world

Sony has started setting the stage for the launch of its Home virtual world. The company has been running beta tests with thousands of users for weeks now, and the formal launch is still expected to be this fall on the PlayStation Network.

About 18 months… Continue Reading

Q&A: Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon on Second Life’s latest evolution

Q&A: Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon on Second Life’s latest evolution

Virtual worlds are in fashion now, drawing investments of $184 million in 23 worlds in the first quarter. But the original player here is Linden Lab, which launched Second Life in 2002. Mark Kingdon came aboard as chief executive of Linden Lab in May, replacing… Continue Reading

Will Martian water discovery fuel interest in sci-fi Blue Mars world?

Will Martian water discovery fuel interest in sci-fi Blue Mars world?

The discovery of water on Mars might spur a lot of interest in the science fiction dream of terraforming the Red Planet into a habitable place. That could be good for Avatar Reality, a virtual world company in Honolulu that is building “Blue Mars,” a… Continue Reading

Funtactix launches cross-platform Moondo gaming universe

Funtactix launches cross-platform Moondo gaming universe

Funtactix wants to set itself apart in online games by addressing one of the most annoying problems: the inability for users to take their game characters and achievements from one game to another. With the Moondo cross-gaming universe being unveiled today, you can do just… Continue Reading

Vollee helps Second Life make the leap into mobile

Vollee helps Second Life make the leap into mobile

Fans of Second Life can now access the virtual world through their mobile phones, thanks to a Redwood City, Calif. startup called Vollee.

Squeezing a relatively high-end game like Second Life onto your mobile phone without slowing the experience to a crawl is an impressive technical… Continue Reading

Roundup: Mashups at Web 2.0, Linden Lab gets new executive and more

Roundup: Mashups at Web 2.0, Linden Lab gets new executive and more

Here’s the latest action:

Mashup companies take over Web 2.0 — InfoWorld profiles three companies making announcements at this week’s conference: Serena, which is launching an online marketplace for business mashups; JackBe, which has a new version of its enterprise mashup platform; and Kapow, which provides… Continue Reading

Linden Lab CEO Rosedale plans to step down

Linden Lab CEO Rosedale plans to step down

Linden Lab, maker of the online virtual world Second Life, is looking for someone to fill founder and chief executive Philip Rosedale’s shoes. Rosedale (pictured on the left) has announced that he plans to step down as CEO of the San Francisco-based company, although he… Continue Reading

Book review: The Making of Second Life

Book review: The Making of Second Life

Last week I interviewed Wagner James Au about his new book, “The Making of Second Life: Notes From the New World.” Today, here is my review of the book. The Wall Street Journal published this review today and with their permission we’re making it available… Continue Reading