Business in Virtual Worlds News – Mar 16-22 2009
Two big changes this week: I tweaked the title a bit (“roundup” was extraneous), and I’ll be starting the “Question of the Week” just for some fun interactivity where you can leave your answer in the comments.
Question of the Week:
How close are we to virtual worlds being as accepted as the web?
(Answer in the comments!)
Important links:
- Archive page of past weeks of Business in Virtual Worlds News
- Connect with me on Twitter, LinkedIn, Blip.fm, or in Second Life as Onder Skall
- Suggest stories at info [at] calebbooker.com
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
New partnerships and collaborations:
- Shidonni Joins Microsoft BizSpark Program
- Sci Fi Ventures Partner With ZooKazoo, Acclaim
- Virtual Greats Announces NBA License; WeeWorld, Cazmo, RockYou Get The Goods
- NHN USA Parters With LiveGamer For Player-To-Player Trading
- IBM And UC San Diego Partnering For Virtual Worlds Research
- PlaySign Signs On As RealXtend Developer
- Pearson Learning Solutions Partners with Engineering & Computer Simulations
China’s TenCent Announces Almost $1B In Virtual Goods Sales For 2008
Yes, that’s 1 Billion real dollars.
Events
Merged realities: events and issues for virtual worlds
Covering some fascinating outcomes from a recent meetup hosted by Jeremy Kemp of San Jose State University.
vBusiness Expo: Call for Case Studies!
This has already experienced great response, but there’s always room for more. If you can speak to a case study or “how-to”, check this out!
Business meetings: a lesson for teachers?
The latest from SLENZ covering the IBM Case Study, the Trade Promotion Management Associates meeting and some risk analysis.
Want to Hold a Virtual Event of Your Own?
Clever Zebra offers event support and white-label services for anyone interested in a branded gathering in a virtual space. Everything from venue setup and hosting to VIP orientation to speaker coordination.
Training and Education
Second Life’s Role in a Curriculum
Campus Technology takes another look at Second Life.
Singapore Issues Tender For Youth Olympics, Educational Virtual World
Singapore wants to be “a first mover to embrace the growing virtual world phenomenon.”
Daden Launching Open-Source, Platform Agnostic Tool For Virtual Worlds Training
More news on Daden Limited’s efforts with PIVOTE.
Harvard’s virtual education experiment in Second Life
Welcome Harvard!
Dubai Womens College in Second Life
Welcome Dubai Womens College!
Government and Military
Whitehall defends ‘fantasy world’
“The (UK) government has hit back at claims it is wasting taxpayers’ money on a virtual reality website.” As it turns out they’re quibbling over £12,000 a year. Oh brother!
NASA Officially Announces Astronaut MMO, Working With Educators For Content
In an economic recession moving space program efforts into virtual spaces makes sense.
Marketing
The Kaaos Effect launches in Second Life tomorrow
Orange launches a new marketing effort and appears to be getting it right!
Gaming
Virtual World Developer MindArk Granted Real World Banking License
Press Release. The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority has allowed MindArk to create a legal banking entity servicing all virtual worlds running on the Entropia Universe platform.
Big Fish Launches Private Beta Of Faunasphere
Been stories and rumors about Big Fish for ages but NOW it’s news! Check out this funny bit of hype:
“It is not Webkinz. It is not Neopets. It is not a virtual world,” said Chief Executive Jeremy Lewis. “It really takes the most unique and compelling elements of all of those.”
Paradigm shift. Taking it to the next level. Outside the box while redefining the box. Win-win situation. Synergy. Pushing the envelope. At the end of the day, it is what it is. Games just got interesting. Ok I’ll stop now.
Nerds Only
Vivox Launches Toolbar For Browser-Based Voice Chat
This is kind of a big deal! Vivox’s voice chat often works when Skype won’t, and is a lot easier on your bandwidth. Could a Facebook app be far away?
Finally, A Practical Use for Second Life
Clearly Read Write Web haven’t been paying attention, but we’ll forgive them that for now. Check out this brilliant work from Green Phosphor in 3D data visualization:
Newbs Only
Linden Labs Thinks It’s The Sex That’s Keeping Businesses Out Of Second Life
Well we saw this coming. As soon as Linden Lab tried regulating sex, someone was going to make an ass of themselves with another “Second Life sucks cuz I don’t know anything about what’s going on there.” Hey Carlo, here’s a helpful tip: it’s “Linden Lab”, not “Linden Labs”. Newbs newbs newbs…
Sociological Oddities
Jesuits say take word of God to Second Life
The Jesuits? Really? Hunh.
Burning Life 08 Redux
Burning Man in real-life is the ultimate sociological oddity. Burning Life no less so. Kudos to Dizzy Banjo for the nice work on the machinima:
Did I miss an important story? Got feedback? Leave a comment below, or email me at
info [at] calebbooker.com
March 24th, 2009 at 8:09 am
[...] Green Phosphor: Technology Tour – “Our technology puts users and data into the same three-dimensional space. This enables you to look around, and look at data from any perspective. Everyone working in the space is represented by an avatar.” – Via Caleb. [...]