Business in Virtual Worlds News Roundup – Nov 17-23 2008
Headlines about virtual worlds just from the past week.
Blogger Shout-Out
I just want to give a belated blogger “shout-out” to AP Link who reposted Business in Virtual Worlds awhile back. If you’d like to do so, feel free and I’ll link you!
Past weeks:
- Nov 10-16 2008
- Nov 03-09 2008
- Oct 27 – Nov 02 2008
- Oct 20-26 2008
- Oct 13-19 2008
- Oct 6-12 2008
- Sept 29 – Oct 5 2008
- Sept 22-28 2008
- Sept 15-21 2008
- Sept 8-14 2008
- Sept 1-7 2008
- Aug 25-31 2008
- Aug 18-24 2008
- Aug 11-17 2008
Disclaimer: As with everything on my blog, the opinions expressed here are mine and do not reflect on Clever Zebra, the vBusiness Expo, my friends, my family, my blip channel, any of the other “Jack of All Strange” stuff that I do, etc etc etc… k here we go:
Top Stories
Google to shut down virtual world website
Google fails to figure out Lively, and gives up. Sad, but there’s an up side. I can hear the sound of a hundred small virtual-world companies rejoicing at the death of a dangerous competitor!
Follow-ups: VWN covers some disappointed would-be content providers, and the LA Times discusses why this happened: because Google is abandoning the practices that made it successful.
Deluded Companies Still Trying Second Life: Next Up, SAP
Silicon Alley Insider misunderstands SAP’s intentions with this experiment, and omits the dozens of examples of successful fast-prototyping already active. Noobs. At least they include the video overview of the SAP Future Retail Center:
Procter and Gamble Using Virtual Design in 80% of Initiatives
Yeah. So there.
KPMG’s virtual World Jobs Fair generates thousands of applications
Note: this is not the first recruiting drive in a virtual space by any means, so it’s not just “hype-driven”. We’re seeing some serious results from this application.
Healthcare for Avatars? Medicine in the Metaverse
An overview of the healthcare trend we’ve been observing.
Why Reuters Left Second Life, And How Linden Lab Can Fix It
Reuters’ reporter for Second Life tells us why Second Life just isn’t news, and offers up some random ideas on how it could improve.
PDMA and Invention Machine Host Green Innovation Panel in Second Life
Yet another meeting that is far more successful in virtual space than in real space.
Is There a Bull Market for Airlines in Second Life?
Air France-KLM has set up a special site in “Second Life” where investors can get the latest information on the airline company, including “interactive 3D stock market information”.
Global Broadband Subscribers at 400M
Bigger than some might have predicted, less than others might have thought.
Sulake Adopts Entrust IdentityGuard for Corporate Remote Users
Getting pro-active about security is a lot better than picking up the pieces later!
Cybercrooks making easy money from virtual worlds
“Online gamers have become a soft target for cybercrime, with three in 10 users reporting the loss of items of virtual property through fraud.”
Training and Education
Faculty see benefit to Second Life
Northern Illinois University teaches a Integrating Technology into the Foreign Language Curriculum class.
Lehigh recreates campus as island in virtual world
Lehigh University gets on the bandwagon.
Students get virtual lecture
The College of New Jersey tries its hand in SL.
Government and Military
The Rocky Legal Landscape of Virtual Worlds, Part 2: Patents
Informative article about property law quandaries arising in virtual worlds.
Virtual Goods Prices Rise in China After Tax Announcement
Thanks for the inflation!
Obama’s FCC Transition Team Co-chair a WoW Player
Maybe not Earth-shattering news really, but when it comes to issues like Net Neutrality this might start to matter.
Marketing
Wheaton Rants: I Told You So, Second Lifers
I can’t come down too hard on people predicting doom and gloom for Second Life as I’ve been guilty of it myself. The last one I wrote was, oh I don’t know, a year and a half ago. But I’ve since noticed something: Second Life is still there. It’s a mess, but it keeps on kickin’ kids. If your campaign fails, that’s your fault, not the world’s.
Gaming
Live Gamer to Launch Player-to-Player Exchanges for Acclaim Games, GoPets® and IAC’s InstantAction.com
About time people built features into their games that players want, rather than outlawing and banning these virtual goods trade practices.
Nerds Only
VastPark Expands Developer Program, Adds 5 Companies
VastPark is really ramping up! If you haven’t checked them out yet, this is well worth your time. Don’t worry: compared to Second Life, the learning curve is miniscule.
Meetsee.com Brings Water-Cooler Effect Online with New Virtual World for Businesses
Press Release. There are just too many virtual worlds to put at the top every time, but this is worth a mention. Think of it as “Google Lively for business”.
Altadyn Launches Browser-Based Meetin
Same week, a direct competitor launches. Go figure.
Linden Lab focusing on higher-end systems for Second Life
Well of course they are, because it already works so bloody fast on current machines…
Newbs Only
Second Life Wedding and Real Engagement
Weddings are actually an entire industry in the virtual world, as are funerals.
Sociological Oddities
Cybersex rules: Inside the world of ‘teledildonics’
Fun overview, with a fantastic picture of Kevin Alderman aka Stroker Serpentine of StrokerzToyz in a mo-cap suit. Hi Kevin!