Open source Web meeting company Dimdim has just raised a $6 million Series B round of funding, led by existing investors Index Ventures, Nexus India Capital, and Draper Richards, out of the US, Europe and Asia. Having launched its private beta nearly a year ago at DEMOfall 2007, Dimdim’s open source Web meeting project has grown to reach hundreds of thousands of users, and has been downloaded a reported 250,000 times.

Being an open source project, Dimdim is also free for users, providing an alternative to other Web-based conference tools that dominate the space. Dimdim features the tools you’d expect from a prominent Web-based conference tool, including the ability to share desktops, chat and broadcast via webcam. While Dimdim hasn’t released any specifics about what the latest round of funding will go towards, the company plans on building out its feature set, and further marketing its service. That means working closely with developers and potential user bases to find better ways in which to implement its free service.

In its efforts to defeat the likes of WebEx, Dimdim has promoted the cost-efficient aspects of its open-source product, and has been steadily rolling out a series of updates to go along with this. The latest, Project Eagle, was a direct offering to the developer community. The result has been some interesting applications that aren’t even tied in with business use for Web meetings.

As Dimdim expands its marketing efforts and seeks out more users, I think a focus on the non-business demographic could be beneficial, especially as chat platforms are being leveraged for multimedia communication purposes. VoIP services like Jajah have found a road to expansion with increasingly deep integration with other social media and networking sites, and I think Web meetings have reached a point where this is useful as well.

---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The Social Networking Blog:

Dimdim Launches Open Source Web Meeting Service
Widgipedia, DimDim, SuperPages, Digg Payola, TurboFlix, iQZone, Traineo, Startup School, Boorah, GetaBuz, Reinvigorate
KateModern Team Creates Series For MySpace
Joost Announces Partnership with Major League Baseball
Bebo’s Next Kate Modern is Named Sofia
New Animated Series Attacks Clinton, Obama & More
MySpace TV Debuts “quarterlife” This Weekend

Yesterday Google entered the realm of virtual worlds with the launch of Lively. While some bloggers and analysts were surprised by the move, Hitwise is taking the news as an opportunity to say “we told you so!”

The stat tracking company is toting the fact they predicted such a move back in January. They made that call based on clickstream data (i.e. – what categories people are clicking on in Google search), and have created a chart showing the top 20 categories and which properties Google owns within them:

In turn, it becomes pretty clear how Google is going about launching new products or acquiring others: analyzing the most popular topics within its search engine. Of course, Google then integrates as many of those products as it can into search results too: for example, maps, photos, and YouTube videos now appear for relevant queries, in turn creating more page views across Google properties.

So what might be next for Google based on this data? Autos, music, and government are the only categories where Google doesn’t have a presence in the top 20 according to Hitwise. An iTunes competitor from Google has been long-rumored, while an automotive search product is hardly a quantum leap. Both could easily be integrated into search results, and unlike some other Google products, have obvious business models attached to them (pay for music downloads, referral fees on auto leads).

What do you think Google will launch next? Leave your best guess in the comments so you can also say “I told you so” in a few months

---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The Social Networking Blog:

Google Ditches Video Link, Replaces It With Products
Google Checkout Trends Knows Your Shopping Habits
Google Product Search Not as Froogle
Google Answers Is Dead
Zlio Cut Off by Amazon
Google Earth Enterprise Version Update Released
Google Reader Starts Counting

CBS and Dogster.com Partner for Summer TV Series

Posted: 09 Jul 2008 11:46 AM CDT

CBS is showing much love for four-legged hounds in advance of the premiere of a new television series for the summer season, “Greatest American Dog.” It has unleashed a blitz-level marketing campaign that spans virtually every facet of American life, including the online social networking realm.

The first episode of “Greatest American Dog” will be broadcast the evening of July 10 and the network is gearing to make it as big a hit as possible. How so? There are the advertisements delivered through cable TV, radio, and movie theaters. Print gets its share. Some supermarkets have video displays. So-called “dog walker street teams” in New York are commissioned to spread the word. Hot dog stands will be branded accordingly. Dogster.com is getting some attention, too.

Yes, the pooch-friendly social network, home to hundreds of thousands of users, will have “Greatest American Dog” fan club groups to complement the weekly shows, where network members can converse about the stars and the inevitably under-appreciated actors. Members can also see highlights as well as teasers of upcoming episodes. All that in addition to customary promotions shown via front page advertising and through the Dog Blog and newsletter.

Considering the popularity of live dog competitions on television, CBS’s summer series is likely to garner ample attention as well. Will the presence of “Greatest American Dog” on Dogster increase interest in the website? Perhaps. My sense is that any additional traffic will be brought on by the most devoted of pet owners around the nation, though, so growth would be relatively limited, given the extent to which Dogster has developed since its founding in 2004. That being said, the more the merrier, eh?

Dogster

---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The Social Networking Blog:

Dogster and NBC Partner for Dog Show USA
Dogster & Catster Reach 500,000 Users, Launch “Coolest Pet Contest”
Dogster’s Friendster for Dogs Raises $1M
Dogster Local, Catster Local Launch
Dogster Teams with Traineo for Pet & Owner Wellness
More Funding of Social Networks for Pets: United Dogs & Cats
PetSugar is for Girlie Dogs

The iPhone Apps Store will presumably make for a fairly substantial cottage industry in the year following its launch this week. And with applications, whether on the desktop, entirely Web-based, or on mobile devices, the issue of support and development costs are on the agenda. Apple partner KPCB has ponied some $100 million to fund software development, which is quite hopeful news for everyone. But eventually the market will have to sustain itself. And a good portion of those making up the third-party set will naturally delve into advertising for financing. Particularly those who consider themselves first and foremost developers of Web services. In that case, there will be ample room for Medialets to operate. The role of Medialets is to deliver display CPC/CPA-type advertising and give its clients the wherewithal to easily manage and observe analytics and tracking data. Which is of course the logical package for such a company to deliver. Something for the small guy to wrap his head around and use effectively to drive and potentially grow a software business. Will there be enough activity on the iPhone front to make such a network worthwhile? I’d venture to say yes. Several years ago I would’ve undoubtedly called such an effort silly and wasteful. But seeing as how more and more applications and services require an Internet connection to function properly, and how consumers are increasingly interested in managing data out in the cloud due to the outstanding convenience factor, Medialets’ offering for the iPhone class of applications has a strong chance of garnering enough attention among developers. Let’s remember brands’ and marketers’ evident interest in reaching iPhone owners. Months ago it was made quite clear that the percentage of users of Apple’s mobile device that grew increasingly accustomed to searching the Web and generally interacting with their phone’s data-enabled features was enormous. A virtual sweep, compared to other devices on the market. So if any block of mobile consumers is going to go through with the requisite software installs and fire up their 2.5-3G connections to full effect, it’s Apple’s growing army of enthusiasts and the circle of more casual converts surrounding them. Thus, if we’re to play the numbers game, Medialets has a real shot at success with marketing on the iPhone. As good as it has any place else, at least.

Discover New Music with Muxtape Stumbler Posted: 09 Jul 2008 03:04 PM CDT Remember Muxtape, that painfully simple yet really effective way of creating online mixtapes, err…muxtapes? I thought it would only appeal for us melancholy types who still can’t get over the wonderful era of cassette tapes, but it caught on; there are many thousands of muxtapes available right now, and a couple of interesting applications grew from the concept. One of these is Muxtape Stumbler, which allows you to find muxtapes according to artist or track. The former, unlike the latter, will yield results which don’t necessary contain the artist you’ve searched for. It doesn’t seem like much, but try it out: I swear it’s the best way to discover new music right now. Besides the search function, Muxtape Stumber also maintains a list of top artists, top tracks and top artist searches featured on the service. It’s fun; the only problem, unfortunately, is that RIAA will probably eventually find out about it. For alternative ways to search Muxtape see MuxFind, a straightforward but also effective search engine. --- Related Articles at Mashable! - The Social Networking Blog: Muxtape. The Simplest Mixtape Service Yet. Google Is Right About This: YouTube Lawsuit Threatens The Net 30+ Awesome Sites for Streaming Music Has the StumbleUpon Algorithm Been De-Coded? 30+ Adobe AIR Apps

Glam’s New Ad Exchange Connects Marketers, Publishers, & Ad Networks Posted: 09 Jul 2008 02:40 PM CDT

The iPhone 3G will be descending on populations all across the globe this Friday, with a staggered rollout set according to time zones. Which is all good and well (mostly, anyway; see Walt Mossberg’s preview).

Nothing like a cool new device to close out a hot summer week, right? Sure. Much more important, however, is the associated iPhone 2.0 software update. The arrival of the new software package is something that has many in the consumer crowd eager to outfit their flash drives with an array of third-party developments by way of the long-awaited iPhone App Store.

The question now is, what can we expect to see this week, and what won’t we see? Here are some names that we think will whet your palates.

Social Networking:

Loopt

This one’s been talked about quite a bit. It will help iPhone users connect with fellow Loopt members and let you know whether friends are across town or just down the block. Send messages and photos if you like. Maintain a journal/blog of your time out in the world, too. The service’s demonstration at Apple’s WWDC 2008 conference signified the potential for location-based services, whether they be social or simply informational in a geographic and directorial sense (which Loopt is, in part. It lets you find interesting places and events shared by network members, and vice versa).

SpotJots

Also built with user location in mind, SpotJots allows users to microblog their way through life with a geo-tagging element tossed in for good measure. If you manage a microblog, but think that providing friends with your location would help some in making sense of the “spacial” dimensions of your social network, this one’s definitely a goodie. Unfortunately, a native iPhone-friendly SpotJots application won’t be distributed this week. The service, developed by Ten23 Software, is scheduled to hit the shelves roughly around the first week of August.

Twitterific

What does it take to get premium placement on Apple’s website, anyway? Twitterific for iPhone, which just so happened to nab a 2008 Apple Design Award for “Best iPhone Social Networking Application” in June, is pretty impressive. According to Apple’s site:

“Twitterrific uses iPhone OS technologies extensively including Core Location to integrate geographic location and help people communicate their whereabouts, Core Animation for subtle animation effects to reinforce state changes, WebKit for the built-in browser view and integration with Safari, libxml to provide the fastest and most efficient parsing of XML data returned by the Twitter REST API, and integration with Maps making it easy for people to locate friends, family or co-workers.”

Publishing:

TypePad

This is another item that was featured during the iPhone-centric WWDC keynote, and quite an attractive one, I must say. The application allows the user to quickly post text and photos to the Web, all very intuitively. SixApart, the creator of the TypePad platform, had previously launched a piece of software for the iPhone, but it was Web-based. The native option to soon debut will undoubtedly operate in smoother fashion. And it’s integration with the device’s camera utility is a great convenience.

News Reading:

AP Mobile News Network

Also demonstrated at WWDC was the AP’s Mobile News Network program, which builds upon the concept first introduced through its Web-based iPhone service APnews.com. It will be available free from the App Store later this week.

NetNewsWire

This one is certainly the most appealing option for the category currently. That’s because the AP’s feeds only give you so much variety. NewsGator’s NetNewsWire, on the other hand, is as customizable as can be. Crafted for a preliminary demo at WWDC (Clint Ecker of Ars Technica seemed to enjoy a trial run of the application), was purportedly ready for a launch in the middle of June, so cross your fingers. If you’re hoping to pull feeds from multiple sources, this one is definitely something to watch for.

Photo Browsing/Sharing:

Phanfare

We shared the news of Phanfare’s iPhone support last month. Like the SixApart’s TypePad application, Phanfare utilizes the iPhone’s camera to take pictures and upload them to the Web, along with titles or captions. There they can be edited, browsed, and shared according to your account preferences.

Entertainment:

AOL Radio

Conventional radio may not be seeing the kind of audience that it had a decade or so ago, when the iPod was still just a figment of the imagination. But it’s still around. Over-the-air, over-the-Web, from zero gravity. Whichever. You can get radio any way you like these days. And AOL appears to have spent time ensuring the relevancy of its own digital audio streams as well as some 150 CBS channels by piecing together an application that will determine through Apple’s Core Location technology a user’s position, and present choices for quick and easy listening, either over Wi-Fi or even over a cellular connection.

Miscellaneous:

Where The Locals Eat

We touched on this startup some days ago, at which time they notified us of an iPhone application launch scheduled for July 11. Simply put, Where The Locals Eat gives you a list of the Top 100 restaurants, segmented by food type, in 50 American cities.

… And The Question Marks:

XM Radio

Yes, there’s still that merger with Sirius Radio up in the air (so to speak), but according to Executive VP and Chief Marketing Officer of XM, Vernon Irvin, the satellite radio broadcaster is working on an iPhone client. Given the likelihood that an such a service will require a monthly fee from users, though, I’d put my money on AOL Radio coming out far ahead in download count when all is said and done.

SlingPlayer Mobile

We all know it’s coming, but when exactly is a mystery. Sling Media hasn’t been known for its expedience when shipping products. Estimates run into 2009 for this iPhone application.

AOL IM

It was demonstrated at a gathering at Apple’s home campus earlier this year, but the company has kept mum about it since. I would personally like to see something along the lines of an Apple-approved download of Adium or Apollo IM, but chances are those will have to wait. Apollo IM is presently available only for jailbroken devices. And Adium’s developers explain the battle a virtual total recoding of the application for iPhone compatibility will be an arduous one. That is if they do in fact go through with the effort.

Google

Google’s VP of engineering, Vic Gondotra, was quoted in May as having said, “We expect to have applications at day one.” Does this mean a suite of localized Google Apps? We already have Google Maps. And Google assembled a portal with a half dozen or more services for use on the iPhone. What else could there be?

Qik

It’s been proven possible. How soon ‘til it arrives in the App Store? (Ditto for Flixwagon.)

---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The Social Networking Blog:

iPhone Apps Can Void your Apple Warranty
Apple Making a Directory for iPhone Apps?
Steve Jobs’ Change of Heart: iPhone SDK on its Way!
World’s Simplest iPhone App
TypePad Announces Native iPhone 3G Application
Apple’s iPhone Directory is Really Real!
Digg Optimized for your iPhone