MIAMI--Joseph Smarr, chief systems architect at Plaxo, has become somewhat of an icon of social media's future. An ardent supporter of open standards, Smarr is arguably one of the biggest proponents of Google's OpenSocial who can't officially claim to be a Googler. So it's fitting that Smarr has played a prominent role at the Future of Web Apps conference; CNET News.com had a chance to catch up with him on Thursday and find out some more about what "open" really means and what's next at Plaxo.
We did the math: If you bought popular apps instead of trying their gratis counter-parts, at the manufacturers' list prices you'd be out $5,183 and change! Why spend money when you can get what you need for nothing? Sometimes, you do get what you don't pay for.
I don’t know what they feed the developers at Plaxo but they just keep on coming up with new products and services. We have written about Plaxo a lot here at The Next Web Blog and there are two reasons for that. We like their service and they produce a lot of news.
Google Social Graph API Spotted in the Wild: Plaxo Public Profiles
While most of the day has been devoted to coverage of the proposed Microsoft-Yahoo deal, there is some pretty significant news out of Google as well: the launch of the Social Graph API. As Mark described earlier, \"it’s used by social app developers to let their users grab information on their social connections across the internet.\"
Google unleashes Social Graph API - indexes people connections
Following on its OpenSocial APIs for building cross-social network applications, Google has created a Social Graph API that searches the Web for explicit public statements of connections between people. The Web crawler looks for XFN (XHTML Friends Network) and FOAF (Friend of a Friend), which are standard formats used to indicate people connections.
One thing about "Web 2.0" is that it doesn't take long for companies to copy features that are working well on other sites. A prominent example of this is the ubiquitous "Status Updates" feature, which first gained popularity on Facebook and has since been copied by MySpace, hi5, and is in a sense the main purpose of Twitter.
Plaxo Pulse recently made its application available on Windows Mobile OS, and now it’s also available as an optimized application for the iPhone. Both of these releases come within the same time frame as Plaxo Pulse’s integration with the Mac address book as well as Microsoft Outlook. It’s very clear, as it always has been, that Plaxo is looking to insert itself into every possible social application that a large number of people are likely to use.
Plaxo Pulse recently made its application available on Windows Mobile OS, and now it’s also available as an optimized application for the iPhone. Both of these releases come within the same time frame as Plaxo Pulse’s integration with the Mac address book as well as Microsoft Outlook. It’s very clear, as it always has been, that Plaxo is looking to insert itself into every possible social application that a large number of people are likely to use.
Yahoo Implements OpenID; Massive Win For The Project
The rumor last week was that Google (as well as Verisign and IBM) were mulling over the idea of joining the OpenID 2.0 single sign-on framework. But the real news comes today, as Yahoo and its roughly 250 million user IDs officially jump on the bandwagon. Today, there are only approximately 120 million valid OpenID accounts. In one move, Yahoo more than triples that number.
At some point last year people started to realize that the email inbox was not only the “original” Internet social network, it’s also going to be the backbone of social networking going forward. You already have your friends (people in your address book), and the social graph is already filled (people you email, and who they email, etc.).
Facebook, Google And Plaxo Join Data Portability Workgroup
After publishing an invitation to Facebook to join the DataPortability Working Group January 4, we never thought that Facebook would accept it. Today changes everything you’ve ever thought about social-networking data and lock-in before, because today Facebook, Google and Plaxo have joined the DataPortability Workgroup.
If Facebook wanted more bad blog coverage it couldn’t have done a better job than picking on Robert Scoble, the publicity-seeking blogger. Mr. Scoble was kicked off of Facebook because he used a preview version of a Plaxo service that logged onto his Facebook account to download the names and e-mail addresses of his friends.
Spice up Outlook: New Plaxo Toolbar puts the Social Web in Your E-Mail
Plaxo has announced a new version of its toolbar for Outlook which now integrates your Plaxo Pulse feed, allowing you to see what your friends are up to before you try to contact them.
Plaxo Pulse Toolbar for Outlook = Real-Time Updates on Your Contacts
Plaxo is pushing its newest social networking tool, Pulse, even further into our existing applications with a new Outlook toolbar. Yes, Plaxo already had Outlook integration, which gave you updated contact information on the folks in your address book, and more recently offered up map and direction options and click-to-connect VoIP options.
First OpenSocial Application Generates Traffic Surge
Plaxo Inc., the first company to launch applications built using Google Inc.'s OpenSocial APIs, has seen a surge in traffic in the three weeks since the APIs were released. Google unveiled the APIs on Nov. 1 as part of an effort to help developers build social applications that can run on multiple sites.
Ever since Plaxo joined Google’s OpenSocial platform a couple weeks ago, the number of connections on Plaxo has skyrocketed from about 200,000 to over a million. Here is a graph from Plaxo marketing VP John McCrea (nice hockey stick, John)
Plaxo Sees Exponential Growth as First to Use OpenSocial
The company that got first dibs at implementing OpenSocial gadgets has seen its service grow more than tenfold in the 3 weeks since roll out. Plaxo Pulse, the service that lets you receive live updates on activity going on across your social networks based on the contacts you have in Plaxo, was quick to jump on the OpenSocial train; and that has turned into a gravy train since then.
