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Breaking: Google Friend Connect Goes Live for All Posted: 04 Dec 2008 11:39 AM PST We just received word from Google that Friend Connect has gone live and that all websites can now implement the service by visiting google.com/friendconnect. Check out the video below for more information. The timing of this announcement could not be better. I can’t elaborate currently but within the next hour and a half there will be big news related to this announcement. Yesterday I highlighted that Google was now making a hard push with Friend Connect. Today, the company has decided to release it for all to integrate. This service makes it so that you can instantly connect with all of your Google contacts as well as your Plaxo and Orkut contacts. The race is officially on for owning consumers’ web identities and social connections. Google is attempting to position themselves to become a leader in the space despite the lack of having a dominant social network in the North Western hemisphere. It will be interesting to see what type of uptake the company experiences following the full launch of their service. The chatter on Twitter is already beginning to surge and I’m guessing we will be seeing a similar response to Facebook Connect in the near future. Update I’ve added Friend Connect to the sidebar so login to try it out and join our community!

SGN’s Presence Almost Larger on iPhone Than on Facebook Posted: 04 Dec 2008 08:14 AM PST Today SGN released some numbers about their iPhone applications. So far, the company’s five applications (iGolf, iBowl, iBaseball, iBasketball, and iFun) have been downloaded more than 4.5 million times. Compare that with Facebook where the company has approximately 4.7 million monthly active users. While the company’s Facebook growth continues downward, their growth on the iPhone has been phenomenal, growing to over 4.5 million download since they launched two and a half months ago. It does appear that the company has reallocated their resources from Facebook all together almost as they practically hasn’t had a single up traffic day over the past month (based on monthly active users not daily active users). Given the company’s ongoing success on the iPhone it wouldn’t be surprising to see a continued trend to all mobile application development. Playing in the mobile gaming space is most definitely a challenging one as numerous large players have entered and have seen relatively widespread success. As I recently mentioned, a quick glance at the top selling applications on any given day shows over 50 percent tend to be games, frequently more. That’s good news for SGN who has been churning out new iPhone games at a furious pace. While the iPhone uptake has been great, social networks still provide companies with a larger distribution opportunity. Slide and RockYou for instance both have around 36 million monthly active users, much more than the number of iPhone owners (which is somewhere around 10 million). I’d imagine that Apple will continue to close the gap over the coming months. What platforms are you developing on? Do you have the resources to build on both?

LaunchBox Funded Koofers Gets $2 Million Series A Posted: 04 Dec 2008 07:33 AM PST Yesterday PeHub reported that Koofers, a Reston, Virginia based startup which was one of the first round participants in the LaunchBox Digital fund, “has secured $500,000 of a $2 million Series A”. I’m guessing that more cash will be delivered as various benchmarks are met. Matthew Jacobson of LaunchBox Digital says that “5 of the companies in LaunchBox Digital’s LaunchBox08 class have received additional formal funding.” Considering there were only 9 participants in this year’s LaunchBox Digital round, the company is building a pretty good track record. There are 3 rounds that have not been publicly announced yet but I’m sure we’ll hear about them in the coming weeks. Koofers was also a recipient in the most recent fbFund which will have 5 final winners that are expected to be announced next week. If you aren’t aware of what Koofers is, you can check out the video below. Koofers is a tool for sharing tests, quizzes, and class notes, something which I’m sure students around the world would love to have access to. Koofers also has a pretty good shot at becoming the default courses application on Facebook as no other applications have seen widespread success in the education space. Web based education is a pretty hot trend as we’ve seen companies like Teach the People, which also was accepted into the most recent fbFund round, receive a substantial amount of buzz. The next step for Koofers is gaining traction, but it is definitely great to hear about another D.C. metro area web startup get funding.

Mint.com Becoming Mainstream in Economic Turmoil? Posted: 04 Dec 2008 06:01 AM PST Online personal finance tool Mint.com has come a long way since launching last year. Having gained a good deal of attention for its service, which allows users to manage their finances and access various recommended services such as credit card accounts, Mint.com has swiftly grown to over a reported 600,000 users. Emerging from its beta test phase, Mint.com also has a lot to be thankful for this holiday season. The company has been selected as a Technology Pioneer 2009, by the World Economic Forum. The requirements for such a globally recognized award include having an impact on business as well as society. As a result of being a select company for the forum, Mint.com will be participating in the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland next month. What’s especially encouraging about Mint.com’s recongition by the World Economic Forum is its poential for pushing out web-based services as widely adopted products ready for mainstream use. There are a number of other services hoping to do the same thing, from Geezeo to SmartyPig. And such a personalized service such as Mint.com also goes along with the custom, web-based “concierge” services we’re seeing emerge as stand-alone apps as well as added perks from financial institutions. So such recognition from an organization like the World Economic Forum can do wonders for not only Mint.com but others in its space. Especially important is the financial benefits of having a tailored DIY service, in light of the current US economy when many are looking for reasonable ways in which to manage their finances.

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