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BRISBANE AUSTRALIA SPAWNS A NEW FACEBOOK LIKE CONCEPT USING LIVE VIDEOS AS THE COMMUNICATION MEDIUM

A first name isn’t the only thing Mark Cracknell has in common with Mark Zuckerberg.

Like the Facebook founder, Cracknell is a young man with big dreams and a background in computing. He also has a website, Kondoot, which, like Zuckerberg’s famous social network, enables users to share their lives online.

Mark C may not have emulated Mark Z’s stratospheric success just yet, but the comparison is already being drawn – by no less than the Wall Street Journal – after the 21-year-old Brisbane-based entrepreneur and partner Nathan Hoad returned from the US with $3.2 million in funding for their site.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

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SKYPE VIDEO AND FACEBOOK MARRIAGE

Facebook, the world’s largest social network, is stepping up competition with Google by teaming with Skype to offer free video calls.

Facebook also said it has more than 750 million users, up from 500 million, in an announcement today at an event in Palo Alto, California, where it is based. Microsoft, a long- time Facebook partner, is acquiring Skype in a $US8.5 billion deal expected to close later this year.

Video chats can help Facebook fend off competition from Google, which introduced a social network with that feature last week, and offer an alternative to Apple’s FaceTime for the iPhone. Chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg is using partnerships and media features to increase Facebook’s audience and avert user defections.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, left, watches a demonstration of the new Facebook video chat during a news conference at Facebook headquarters. Photo: AFP

“You’re going to have more and more competition between Facebook and Google,” said Ben Schachter, an analyst at Macquarie Capital. “The two companies are going to be battling it out for some time to come.”

Facebook also unveiled a multi-person chat feature that lets several people hold online conversations at the same time.

‘Cool new scenarios’

Skype CEO Tony Bates, left, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg hold a news conference at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, California. Photo: Reuters

“We’re using the best technology that’s out there for doing video chat with the best social infrastructure that’s out there in order to create some really cool new scenarios,” Zuckerberg said during a presentation at the event.

Facebook began holding talks with Skype about offering web video calls on its social network in 2010, a person familiar with the discussions said earlier this year. An October update to Skype included voice calling between Facebook friends. Microsoft agreed to buy Skype in May.

“This is a really strategic long term deal between Skype and Facebook,” said Neil Stevens, vice president and general manager for consumer at Skype . “This isn’t just a one shot one deal implementation of a product. This is a long term relationship.”

Google’s new site, called Google+, includes Google’s maps and images, messages, comments and other content from selected groups of friends, as well as a video chat feature.

Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, invested $US240 million in Facebook in 2007 and entered an agreement to sell ads on the social network.

Facebook is forging ties with other media and technology companies. It added Netflix CEO Reed Hastings to its board of directors in June and discussed incorporating more social features into the online video-streaming service. In March, Time Warner’s Warner Bros. studio announced plans to offer movie rentals on Facebook for $US3.

Facebook is valued at $US71 billion on SharesPost Inc., an exchange for shares of private companies.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

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SHARING MOMENTS IN TIME OF A VIDEO

WITH YOUR SOCIAL SITE CONTACT NETWORK

Reuters Small Business presents expansion pitches from upstarts across the country. Boulder-based startup BlipSnips has created a Web platform that lets users tag specific moments in videos to share on their social networks. Here’s the pitch:

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Entrepreneur’s Edge: BlipSnips (2:13)

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

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Getting the message out on Facebook

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

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FACELIFT for FACEBOOK NOW READY

Facebook gets a facelift (1:41)

Dec 06 – Facebook’s new revamped profile pages put more user information front and center, raising new questions about how much users want to reveal. Bobbi Rebell reports.

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