Angry bakers have fingers burned as Baking Life Facebook game gets the chop
PopCap Games has angered virtual bakers on Facebook by deciding to shut the doors to its Baking Life app on Jan 31. Despite many users having spent real money buying virtual ‘Zip Cash’ to use in the game, PopCap says any remaining currency is non-transferable and non-refundable.
Baking Life currently attracts 730,000 monthly average users, and PopCap, which is owned by Electronic Arts, says that just isn’t enough. “The Baking Life player numbers have dropped … Continue Reading
Your users have multiple online personas — can they all log in to your site?
Patrick Salyer is CEO of Gigya, which makes sites social through plugins like Social Login, Comments, Activity Feeds, Social Analytics and Game Mechanics. You can follow him on Twitter @patricksalyer.
Back in 1999, Microsoft took a first step towards creating a universal Web identity when it launched Microsoft Passport. While the product didn’t catch on in its original iteration, Passport helped bring a critical concept to life that would eventually change the internet: that identity … Continue Reading
Janrain logs $15.5M to help log you in through social networks
An increasing number of sites are letting visitors log in through their existing social network identities. One company helping enable that trend, Janrain, announced a $15.5 million funding round led by Emergence Capital Partners, to keep ease of registration alive.
“We think the space we’re in, we’re just scratching the surface,” said founder and chief executive Larry Drebes (pictured) told VentureBeat in an interview.
Social logins are not only a way to streamline registration processes, … Continue Reading
Facebook Connect causes identity crisis for Hulu users
When streaming video site Hulu announced it was adding a new, first-of-its-kind feature (one that will become a staple going forward), it was not talking about giving its users the ability to access random strangers’ accounts instead of their own.
Yet, that’s exactly what happened when people tried to link their Hulu accounts with their Facebook profile via Facebook Connect. Connect is a service that lets Facebook users log into third-party services using their Facebook … Continue Reading
Following in FarmVille's footsteps, LOLapps takes a game beyond Facebook
LOLapps got knocked for a loop last month when Facebook abruptly shut down all of the company’s apps, which collectively draw more than 100 million monthly active users. So perhaps its no surprise to see today that the company is moving beyond Facebook.
San Francisco-based LOLapps has launched its RavenwoodFair.com website, where users of its popular Facebook game can play. The new game website still taps a user’s friend list via Facebook Connect, but the … Continue Reading
Skype 5 launches with Facebook integration and group video calls
After a beta test which lasted since May, Skype today has officially released the next version of its Windows client, Skype 5.0, which brings with it group video conferencing and Facebook integration.
Group video calling is a feature the company slowly ramped up throughout Skype 5′s beta. It first offered the ability for five-person video chats in May. At the time I argued that group video chat would become the next killer webcam feature. In … Continue Reading
Facebook finds a VoIP and video chat partner in Skype
Facebook and Skype are teaming up for extensive integration of the social network in the next version of Skype’s software, sources tell AllThingsDigital.
The partnership will allow Facebook users to easily log into Skype using Facebook Connect and will give users the ability to text message, voice chat, and even video chat with their Facebook friends from within Skype. It’s expected to appear in Skype’s upcoming 5.0 version, which will emerge from beta testing in … Continue Reading
Facebook has 400M users, 100M on Connect
Facebook and Skype are teaming up for extensive integration of the social network in the next version of Skype’s software, sources tell AllThingsDigital.
The partnership will allow Facebook users to easily log into Skype using Facebook Connect and will give users the ability to text message, voice chat, and even video chat with their Facebook friends from within Skype. It’s expected to appear in Skype’s upcoming 5.0 version, which will emerge from beta testing in … Continue Reading
Facebook Connect expands beyond iPhone to mobile web
Facebook and Skype are teaming up for extensive integration of the social network in the next version of Skype’s software, sources tell AllThingsDigital.
The partnership will allow Facebook users to easily log into Skype using Facebook Connect and will give users the ability to text message, voice chat, and even video chat with their Facebook friends from within Skype. It’s expected to appear in Skype’s upcoming 5.0 version, which will emerge from beta testing in … Continue Reading
Is Facebook becoming a new mobile advertising platform?
Facebook and Skype are teaming up for extensive integration of the social network in the next version of Skype’s software, sources tell AllThingsDigital.
The partnership will allow Facebook users to easily log into Skype using Facebook Connect and will give users the ability to text message, voice chat, and even video chat with their Facebook friends from within Skype. It’s expected to appear in Skype’s upcoming 5.0 version, which will emerge from beta testing in … Continue Reading
