While MySpace keeps falling back as a distant second to Facebook in the Social Network arena, it has devised methods to stay ahead in one department; layoffs. We have reported that MySpace axed close to 500 employees from its U.S offices but that appears to be a small part of a bigger news. Reports state that the company will shedding off some more weight across its three dozen or so offices around the globe. The numbers could reach beyond a hundred out of the 300 or so employees it has internationally. Whatever number of layoffs is heading its way, every employee must be going through business cards and websites to find their next professional abode.
Archive for June, 2009
Image recognition startup, SnapTell that lets users identify products has been acquired by Amazon’s A9. The terms and finances for the deal remain undisclosed. The startup utilizes visual product search technology and enables users to identify any product by simply taking a photo of any item; books, DVDs, etc and then extracts the items’ rating and price from online services like Amazon, Google to name a few. With a database of over 5 million and an app for the iPhone to do the business, SnapTell is definitely a must have tool for all shopping enthusiasts.
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AdWhirl, the mobile ad platform that makes it easier for developers of iPhone apps to easily change their ad networks raised a healthy $1 Million. The round was the first for the ad platform after it had been running on angel investment for quite a time. Foundation Capital led the round along with its existing angel investors. There are reports that AdWhirl’s members crunch a good amount revenue each day in the range of $400 to $5,000 daily. That sounds alluring enough and if only I had the brains to create a killer app, I would gladly quit my job.
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Facebook had some serious problems with StudiVZ, the German social network that Facebook claimed to have copied its design. The battle had been going on for almost a year, beginning in August last year when we first reported it. However, Facebook has lost its case of charging StudiVZ for Intellectual property theft which it had filed in Germany. To tell you the truth, the only difference between the two is of color and language and StudiVZ appears more like a translated version of Facebook. What appeared to be more interesting were the remarks from made by the jury on lawyers who represented Facebook, calling them careless and resorting to wild guesses instead of providing proofs. Sounds harsh and most Facebook will feel the pinch of being far off when it comes to having users in the region. According to stats, StudiVZ has close to 13 million users, almost six times that of Facebook (which has 2 million approx).
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It wasn’t a rumor and the cuts were not meant to happen at Fox Interactive Media when we said that as many as 30% of the staff would be laid off at MySpace or Fox. Today it has been confirmed that the head count is going to lessen at MySpace alone. With this coming out to be true, MySpace will be sending close to 500 of its employees back home. Sad day, at MySpace and our wishes with the unlucky employees.
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StatusSearch is a new startup that enables you to perform searches through your friend’s statuses on Facebook and Twitter. The startup is useful as it lets you search for things on your friend’s statuses, profiles on numerous social networks. So if its some search associated to parties, jobs, etc, amongst your friends then StatusSearch is your kind of place.
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If you are one of those I can bet type of person who would bet on anything then Flusta is where you should be betting. The site lets you post questions on he site and have others vote on the options. These questions can be based on the latest topics or simply a question you ask for fun. There isn’t much you need to do in order to use Flusta, simply signup and post a questions along with the choices and participate. So if there is a bet you need to throw on the web, Flusta is waiting for you to do so.
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When it comes to music, almost everyone on the web would resort to Last.fm but music lovers won’t mind having another one to add to the options. Meuzer is a new startup that lets you search for songs and play them immediately, without the need to download anything. You can filter search via the numerous genres or perform a search for an artist or a song name. Once the results are displayed you can click on any and options appear for you to play the song right there.
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Location based social network, Brightkite is coming to the Android as will. The social network had earlier introduced the same for the iPhone and integrated with Facebook. The app appears to have the same functionality as of that found on the iPhone app and is very easy to use and offers wide functions which include search, contact management, messaging, etc. You can follow the steps here to use the app on the Android phones.
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