Skyfire is a mobile web browser that seems like it’s been in beta forever.  That feeling won’t go away soon as the latest beta version has just been released, 0.9.  This new version of Skyfire adds support for new screen sizes on the Windows Mobile platform, WVGA and WQVGA, which means it will now work on the Samsung Omnia and the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1.

Skyfire is the server-based browser that can handle virtually any video streaming and that sets it apart from just about every other mobile browser out there. This new version is also adding social networking with the ability to aggregate your Twitter, Facebook and other network updates right on a convenient page.  From the press release:

The most noticeable change in the new version of Skyfire is a real-time activity wall which aggregates customized feeds from news, media, Facebook and Twitter. Skyfire is preconfigured with feeds from Digg, ESPN, Google News, Hulu, YouTube and Yahoo! News that display real-time updates on the start page. It is easy to customize your experience and add new feeds from your favorite websites.  Skyfire now always keeps you connected with the newest content that is relevant to you.

Windows Mobile is not the only platform to get this new beta as a new Symbian beta is going live too.  Owners of Nokia E or N series phones will be able to give Skyfire a good workout too.  Owners of phones on either platform can get Skyfire Beta 0.9 from the web site.  I have been running this new beta on the HTC Advantage for a few days and it works pretty well, although I am running RealVGA and it sometimes creates display problems.

Last year we interviewed the CEO of Skyfire, who gave us a glimpse of what this new version brings to the small screen and also where the browser is headed.

Gadget Gurus – GigaOM – Salon.com.

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This past weekend’s announcement by Facebook that the company would be opening up its APIs to allow for posting of notes, videos and more has left some companies scrambling to add new functionality to existing applications. Below we’ve highlighted a handful of the ones that let you post to Facebook from a desktop client, be it standalone or something that plugs into your browser.

We’ve talked to the people at each one to see when you should be expecting to be able to make use of the new API in each app:

“Blogo already supports Facebook status updates through its integration with Ping.fm,” says Benjamin Jackson, Blogo’s technical director. “As for more robust Facebook integration, you can be absolutely certain that we’ll be running to integrate this as quickly as possible. We’ll be shooting to send out a beta next week.”

Friendbar creator Edo Segal says “we love the fact that facebook [is] opening up more services,” and “definitely plan to include support for these API’s in upcoming versions.” Segal also says he wants a higher level of access to that data. “For example, to be able to post comments to users photos and status updates, and to directly send a Facebook message to a user via the API.”

Posting of notes through Ping.fm is up and running. “We’re still assembling some other ideas on how to use their new features,” says founder and CEO Sean McCullough. Worth a mention is that many of the services on this list go through Ping.fm to re-syndicate user messages.

“Sociagami has always been committed to deep integration with social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace and we will definitely be taking advantage of the new API features in 2.0,” says Charlie Robbins, director of social network integration for Sociagami. “Unfortunately, using an API based implementation will mean that Sociagami 2.0 will not have the messaging and wall posting features that came with 1.0.”

Working on it for an upcoming build. “The video part will be an important one!” says Loic Le Meur, CEO of Seesmic which acquired/owns Twhirl. The latest version, which was released on Monday added in Ping.fm support, letting you cross post messages to your Facebook profile.

“Yes, we are actively working on implementing the new Facebook API and rolling it out ASAP,” says Regan Fletcher, Yoono’s VP of business development. Our overall objective really is to maximize our use of the Facebook API in order to allow users who have added Facebook to Yoono to have the best possible experience and functionality.”

“It does look like some of this new functionality is available via the REST API which we use and we can run FQL queries (which we do),” says AlertThingy creator Clive Howard. “We will be revisiting this prior to the next version and if we can do then I’m sure it will make it into 3.x.” Version 3 of AlertThingy was released on Monday morning.
Apps that we pinged but have not yet responded: Flock, Feedalizr, Moodswing/blast, and Gwibber. We’ll update this post if we hear back.

Which apps are using the new Facebook APIs? | Webware – CNET.

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(Credit: Compete.com)

The blogosphere simply loves to slurp up social-networking traffic stats, and on Monday we got a nice tasty serving of them with some new numbers from Compete.com for the month of January. The results? Facebook is in the lead, with about 68 million unique visitors, well ahead of MySpace’s 58 million. (The two are pegged at 1.1 billion and 810 million page views, respectively.)

This may be the first survey we’ve seen that puts Facebook ahead of the News Corp.-owned MySpace in U.S. traffic. It also puts Twitter as the third-biggest social-media site in the country by total page views, with only about six million unique visitors but a whopping 54 million views.

Compete’s numbers are interesting, because they often are pretty different from other analytics firms’. Here are some clarifications, explained to CNET News in an e-mail sent by Compete’s Andy Kazeniac: These are numbers stemming entirely from Web browser data in the U.S. That means that you won’t be pulling in any international numbers, where most of Facebook’s users are now, or data from widgets or third-party applications, which are how many avid Twitter users access the service. That means that it’s likely that Twitter’s reach is bigger than the numbers indicate.

What’s also intriguing is that there are a few social-media sites, like Flixster and LiveJournal, with relatively low unique visitor counts but proportionally very high page view counts, indicating that they probably have smallish bases of very loyal users.

Also pulling in notable numbers are LinkedIn, with about 11 million unique users, Classmates.com, with about 17 million, and Reunion.com, with slightly under 14 million. On the other end? AOL’s Bebo, an $850 million purchase, which Compete.com clocks in as having just shy of three million unique visitors. True, its biggest user bases are in the U.K. and Ireland, but that’s not good considering the price tag.

Still, statistics are like tequila shots. Always take ‘em with a few grains of salt and a slice of lime, and be warned that they may give you headaches.

Whee! New numbers on social network usage | Webware – CNET.

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Facebook Opens Up (a Little) With New Developer Tools | Epicenter from Wired.com.

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You’ve come to terms with the reality of the current job market. There are jobs available; but, it will take focus, dedication, and a bit of savvy to land one. No problem.

You’re ready to take a no-excuses approach to your job hunt and you’ve diagnosed any underlying job search issues. You’ve spotted a few areas where you need to improve your job search skills. Working with a career professional isn’t an option for you right now. So, what other options are available?

Here are seven, no-cost resources to help you become a more savvy job hunter that has the skills to compete in the current job market:

1. LinkedIn.com – LinkedIn is a social network for business professionals. An updated LinkedIn profile is practically a must-have for every job hunter. However, LinkedIn isn’t just for job hunters. It’s an essential tool for anyone who understands the importance of networking as a career management tool. You can connect with current or former colleagues and alumni and request recommendations (a professional endorsement) from people you’ve worked with in the past. LinkedIn also offers a great opportunity to connect with people within organizations you are targeting during your job search.
2. O*NET Online – A full-access version of the occupational network database. This is an invaluable tool for researching industries and discovering occupations that you might not have previously considered, but closely match your skills.
3. JibberJobber.com – This career management tool works seamlessly with LinkedIn or any spreadsheets that you might already be using. This tool will enable you to keep track of all of your job search and networking contacts and any correspondence or follow-up.  Best of all, if you need to resume your job search in three years, the information you collected this go-round will still be there waiting for you.
4. VisualCV.com – This online tool truly allows you to bring your resume to life – complete with presentations, documents, video, and a photo, if you so desire. It is especially useful for creatives with large portfolios. However, it can be a great way for any job hunter to stand out. Rather than just reading about your accomplishments, an employer can view a presentation you gave, see certificates you’ve received, and go through your portfolio. Note: The VisualCV does not replace your traditional resume. Rather, it should be used in conjunction with it.
5. JobRadio.fm – Up late worrying about tomorrow’s interview or wondering whether you should have listed every job you’ve ever had on your resume? JobRadio.fm – available online 24/7 – will keep you company and keep you informed about the latest job search strategy news. Listen to career and job search-related podcasts anytime or download a show and listen to it on your computer or MP3-player at your convenience. JobRadio.fm features content from Secrets of the Job Hunt, Career Communique, Jobacle, Jobs in Pods, Total Picture Radio, and the SavvyJobseeker Podcast – hosted by yours truly.
6. TheJobLab.com – Get 24/7 access to article, video, and audio libraries; online forums; and a number of other tools and resources for job hunters. Need more support at a minimal price? A low-cost upgrade gives you access to live workshops and bi-weekly Q&A sessions.
7. Free community resources – CareerOneStop is a great online and local resource for job hunters. Many local employment networks, libraries, and churches are now offering job search training or hosting job search support groups or networking groups. Do your homework and find out what is available in your community.

The current job market certainly requires a savvier jobseeker. However, there are lots of resources and sources of support available to job hunters – regardless of budget. Take advantage of any available resource that will help you to improve your job search skills and your job search fortune.

Cleveland Job Search Examiner: Seven no-cost solutions for the savvy job hunter.

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Facebook has joined the board of the OpenID Foundation, the company has announced. The move is a ringing endorsement of OpenID, which already has the corporate backing of Google, Microsoft, IBM, PayPal and other web heavyweights.

In a blog post Thursday, Facebook’s Mike Schroepfer (formerly of Mozilla), said, “It is our hope that we can take the success of Facebook Connect and work together with the community to build easy-to-use, safe, open and secure distributed identity frameworks for use across the web.”

Prior to the announcement, Facebook was seen as a sideline player — and even a disruptive presence — for the open-source single sign-on technology. Late last year, Facebook launched its own trusted authentication technology for letting its users log in and participate on other websites. The company’s system, Facebook Connect, has since been implemented by around 4,000 websites, including numerous high-profile destinations like CitySearch and TechCrunch.

With Facebook Connect, the company came up with an elegant, easy-to-use experience that effectively solved several of OpenID’s problems with user experience, trust and security. However, Facebook Connect was built with proprietary code, and was therefore largely incompatible with competing open-source technologies like OpenID.

The resulting effects of this partnership on data portability are unclear. And whether Facebook and the rest of the internet are now part of the same big happy family remains to be seen. But for those worried about Facebook Connect derailing OpenID or causing it to die on the vine, this is huge.

Certainly, we can expect OpenID’s public profile and reach to get a boost. Also, a post on OpenID’s website trumpets Facebook’s dedication to improving OpenID’s user experience.

More from Facebook’s Schroepfer:

The future of an open and social web will be measured not by protocols, but by how much we collectively improve the standards and technologies that enable us and others to give people more powerful ways to share and connect.

There’s even an OpenID design summit being planned for next week, to be hosted (where else?) at Facebook’s offices in Palo Alto, California.

Facebook Throws its Weight Behind OpenID | Epicenter from Wired.com.

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It’s especially good news for Sentinel, the security company that MySpace used to track down the accounts. And now Sentinel appears to be trying to take advantage of its success with MySpace into a PR campaign partly aimed at getting Facebook into signing a contract as well.

John Cardillo, the CEO of Sentinel, gave an interview to TechCrunch in which he said thousands of those who were banned from MySpace can now be found on Facebook–not yet one of Sentinel’s clients.

“As the first and only social-networking site to use state-of-the-art technology to identify and remove registered sex offenders from its site, MySpace is proud of its leadership position and hopes that Facebook follows our lead in providing their members with the same protections,” a statement from MySpace read. “As part of our long-standing partnership with law enforcement and state attorneys general, we will continue to readily provide information on these removed offenders for their investigations.”

Unfairly accused? With the headline of the TechCrunch post referring to sex offenders on Facebook as “refugees,” and Cardillo calling the Palo Alto-based social network a “safe haven” for them, you’d think that there was some kind of mass creation of Facebook profiles on the part of sex offenders who had seen their MySpace profiles axed. There is, however, no evidence of that. Millions of people have profiles on both social networks, so it’s safe to assume that sex offenders probably do as well.

Facebook’s representatives weren’t thrilled by the “safe haven” allegation, to say the least.

Read More…

MySpace, Facebook, spar over family safety | Webware – CNET.

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Davos town: not the most accessible venue Photo: Reuters

Preparing for the World Economic Forum – aka Davos – is such a stress. Not for me, but for my wonderful colleague Jane who spends weeks fixing, and then re-fixing, meetings so I can get the most out of it.

The beauty of Davos is that one can meet large numbers of the world’s most important/interesting/powerful/egotistical people in the space of four days. Interviews that would otherwise take months to arrange, and hours to travel to, take place in a small Swiss ski resort. It’s a journalist’s dream – and a PA’s nightmare.

* It being a ski resort, Davos is not the easiest place to get to. The flight to Zurich is fine, but then you have a choice – a train journey during which you have to change twice, or a two-and-a-half hour car journey with cartoonish icy mountain road bits thrown in free at the end. I plumped for a car this year, and used the time to start “tweeting” (ie micro-blogging on twitter). With no more than 140 characters to put in your email-cum-blog, it takes a while to get used to.

An innocent attempt to pass on a story about how Lord Levene (chairman of Lloyds of London) was impressed with the Davos hospital – after slipping and whacking his head on a ski – backfired. I ran out of characters and had to split the message in two, giving the impression that I had been pleased that the noble Lord had taken a tumble. I can only hope he dismisses it as a twitter schoolboy error on my part. And quite how interesting “traffic in Davos is bloomin’ awful. Worse than London/Atlanta” is to people, I’m not sure. But there is something quite compelling about it – I can see why Stephen Fry has become an addict.

* Americans have dominated Davos in all the years I have been attending. But they are nowhere to be seen, enabling the Chinese and Russians to flex their muscles. Chinese premier Wen Jiabao was a big hit with the business and media crowd at Wednesday’s private session. Knowledgeable and confident, he hit most of the right notes – including references to his recent re-reading of the work of Adam Smith. Warm applause from an audience including Henry Kravis of private equity house KKR, Sir Martin Sorrell of media conglomerate WPP, BP’s Tony Hayward, and Stephen Green of HSBC.

Davos is all a twitter with Wen and Vlad – Telegraph.

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Through social media management, a PR pro can help businesses interact with clients, customers and prospects to increase brand awareness and direct traffic to the desired website. A channel like Twitter allows your business to engage with customers, other industry leaders and the media to grow your list of followers and update them on your latest company news. Another top networking site and PR opportunity is LinkedIn. Through discussion forums and queries regarding a particular industry, you can be positioned as an expert. A high level of involvement online improves brand/business recognition and gives search engines and crawlers extra opportunities to find you and place you higher on search engine rankings. Regardless of which sites you use to increase your exposure (or your clients’), below are five ways to get the most out of social media as part of your public relations strategy.

1. Link to articles. Almost every media outlet has online versions of articles and news segments. When an article runs about your business, let others know by posting a link on your social media networks. This not only heightens brand awareness, it also shows the publication or channel that the public is interested in what the reporter said about your business. Bookmarking sites like Reddit, Delicious, StumpleUpon and Digg are also great ways to flag an article for others to find through keyword searches.
2. Drive traffic to website. Do not forget to always include your website in every email, blog comment and forum post. On LinkedIn, for example, after answering a question or posting on a forum, include your URL. If your post was interesting or informative, chances are high that the viewer will click on your link for more. In public relations, the online objective is to do more than just raise awareness; it is to direct interested parties to the business? door or web page. Then it is up to the business to make the sale or pursue the relationship.
3. Be an industry expert. Rather than focus on selling, present yourself as an educator. If you are in the IT industry, answer general questions and prove yourself to be a credible resource. When others view you as an industry expert, they will be more likely to turn to you for their IT needs and refer others to your business. This particularly applies to LinkedIn or any professional network.
4. Respond to feedback. The general public freely gives opinions all over the World Wide Web. A big aspect of managing social media is maintaining a pulse on what your customers and prospects are saying about you or the brand you represent. Gossip is no longer exchanged behind your back, it is public and is as simple to find as a Google or Twitter search. Once you discover comments, whether positive or negative, respond. If people sing your praises, thank them and use the feedback as a testimonial or an opportunity to retweet on Twitter or include as a status update on Facebook, FriendFeed or LinkedIn. If you come across disgruntled customers, it is best to make it right and put your best customer service practices to work.
5. Involve the audience. Some of the best viral marketing campaigns involve audience participation on Twitter, Facebook fan pages, YouTube and Myspace. One way to harness attention of your business through public relations is to host a contest. If you have a new product, invite your customers to think of a name for it. Include directions on your website, then direct participants to submit YouTube video entries and vote via Twitter or other sites. Not only would this make your company be incredibly searchable, but you generate a big hype around the new product that may warrant news coverage for your company as well.

5 Ways to Integrate Social Media with Public Relations | SocialComputingMagazine.com.

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Facebook may be at it again.

Efforts by the popular social networking site to better leverage the enormous amount of data it has on its users’ interests haven’t always gone over well. But with the privacy flap over its Beacon ad program now in its wake, Facebook may be next studying how to tap users’ information for a new purpose: to make their online experience more in sync with their mood.

Tech blogger Robert Scoble mentioned the plan in a blog post from a discussion he said he had this week with Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder and CEO, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

According to Scoble, Zuckerberg said Facebook is studying “sentiment” behavior: Based on users’ posts, the site can tell when bad news has hit, like stock prices tumbling.

Facebook did not return requests for comment by press time.

The speculation comes as Facebook continues seeking ways to parlay its staggering traffic into advertising revenue and to develop new business models. Thus far, the site’s success in either has proven limited.

Privacy, security and advertising

It’s unclear how much of this plan — if any of it — will make it into a live feature on the social networking site. It’s also uncertain whether it’s even a good idea, considering some of the problems Facebook has encountered in the past when it’s explored other ways to monetize user data.

Complete Article…

InternetNews Realtime IT News – How Ya Doing? Facebook Wants to Know..

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