Entries from March 2009 ↓

Google has announced that the company now offers a secure way for third party websites to access any user’s list of friends, with their permission, and based on a proposed new industry standard. No more giving away your GMail password and then having random services you want to try go into your account and scrape the information there.

Called Portable Contacts, the technical spec offers a standard, interoperable way for social networks to serve up your friends lists to anyone you give permission to access them. This should allow application developers to innovate on top of your social connections much more efficiently.

Sponsor

According to the Portable Contacts website:

we’re seeing major Internet companies making contacts APIs available, such as Google’s GData Contacts API, Yahoo’s Address Book API, and Microsoft’s Live Contacts API (with more to come). Not surprisingly though, each of these APIs is unique and proprietary. We believe this creates the ideal conditions for developing a common, open spec that everyone can benefit from.

Why is This Important?

The social web works best when it’s truly social. New applications that use social sharing can be much more useful when new users can port in their existing network of friends and see who they know is already using a site. That’s much better than starting cold.

These types of standardized approaches to passing that data are secure (that’s good) and allow developers to write code once to use all the supporting sources of data. You’ve heard the old illustration about railroads? When all the railroads in the US accepted a standard size of rail, all the trains were able to travel much farther than ever before. That’s where we’re headed with all this information on the web. When we give it standard methods of transport, it can go further and do more than ever before.

That’s a pretty big deal and it’s fantastic that Google has moved to support the Portable Contacts standard. Hopefully sometime soon everyone will and then we’ll wonder what took the web so long to enable social interoperability.

Discuss

Ripdev’s InstallerApp makes installing third-party jailbreak applications on your iPhone slightly easier, by eliminating the need to jailbreak your iPhone at all. You just need to pay $7 for the privilege.

The process works by installing an app onto your iPhone that's not quite jailbreaking, but is enough to allow those not-quite-official applications to get on there. If you gave us the choice of paying $7 or running jailbreak on our phones—which is fairly easy as long as you have some tech knowledge—we'd choose real jailbreak. [Ripdev via 9 to 5 Mac]

What it does

We all are becoming more and more accustomed to turning to Twitter when we have to look up information. It is only fit, then, that different directories will crop up, giving us a good overview on any concept that we may be interested in. That is exactly what this website does – it collects information on different Twitter businesses, many of which include promotions.

This database can be browsed both alphabetically and by number of followers – the latter will give you something of an idea of the standing of each business. Moreover, the homepage highlights these businesses that have attracted the biggest numbers of followers so far, so that you can always see who are making waves online in a more or less immediate fashion.

Appropriately enough, you can tweet every featured company as links for doing so are provided.

On the other hand, if you want to have your business featured on the site you can do so effortlessly. This process involves setting down tags and so on. Furthermore, you can let twitterers know about any promotions through the site, and draw more attention to your business this way.

In their own words

“Twibs was created by a small group of people with one purpose: Give twitter users a place to find businesses on twitter. We are big believers in the power of twitter to connect customers with businesses. We’re working on making it easy for consumers to find businesses, both local and national. Keep in mind, we’re just getting started, so there may be small glitches and features missing, but don’t worry, we’re working hard for you to keep helping consumers find your business on twitter!”

Why it might be a killer

It is a direct way of knowing which businesses you can count on when it comes to the famed micro-sharing platform.

Some questions

How many businesses are already featured on the site?

Link: http://www.twibs.com
Our Review: http://www.killerstartups.com/Web20/twibs-com-twitter-business-directory

Sharing with Friends, Now Even Easier

Earlier this week Facebook released Facebook Connect for iPhone, which allows us to connect iPhone apps to the Facebook web site. Facebook Connect for iPhone is a set of classes that can be added to your xCode project and used to ease the process of logging into the site, granting extended permissions and posting status updates to the feed.

The documentation and the video provided by Facebook assume a certain level of experience creating Facebook apps. The process of creating an App, and creating Template Data for Feed stories was only briefly covered and not explained in their documentation. I’ll provide a little more background on those tasks here in part one.

Clearing Up UI Confusion:
In part one, I describe using the Facebook Connect for iPhone SDK. In the sample application provided by Facebook, a Get Permission button checks to see if the user has granted the appropriate extended permission to the application. It is a permission to post status updates. The permission needs to be granted only once. If the user clicks the button after permission is granted, they see this message: You have already granted this permission to the application. This begs the question, why display the button after permission is granted?

This AC adapter from Brando is pretty nifty. Not only can it power five USB devices, the adapter can also be used worldwide.

With internal voltage regulation (100-240V) and a number of travel plug adapters, the $22 “AC to 5-USB Power Adapter” should keep your USB devices fully charged through the US, Europe and Asia. It also looks a lot like a MacBook charger, which you may or may not love. [Brando]

These dolphins have a lot of fun blowing bubble rings from their blowholes and popping them. (Thanks, Bruce Stewart!)

With 30 million individual iPhone’s sold, 25000 applications available for download and with over 50,000 developers – Apple have created an incredible platform in record time.

Apple’s latest round of updates have seen an immense number of notable improvements and features.

Let’s go through the new features, grab a coffee…this may take a while.

Cut, Copy and Paste
You can also copy and paste web content as well as regular text you might be typing. If you didn’t mean to paste something, shake your phone in order to Undo (or Redo) your paste.

MMS
You can send and receive Photos right over the network. Contacts (VCard). Audio files. Or your location. No word about video yet though.

Mail Search
You can now search inside all of the major default iPhone applications, including Mail. In Mail you can also search email now downloaded, i.e. still on your server!

Email Multiple Photos
You can now send multiple photos by tapping the action button, selecting a bunch of photos, copying, and then pasting it into Mail.

Landscape
You can now you can use landscape mode in “all key applications” including Mail.

App Subscriptions
Applications will now be able to charge on a subscription basis.

Text Message Forwarding and Deleting
You can forward and delete messages–individual messages or multiple messages.

Spotlight for iPhone!
Instead of having to slide between screens you can now simply flick your finger left from your home screen and start typing whatever application you’re looking for. Superb. It essentially becomes your new home screen.

Calendar Updates
CalDAV has been added, particularly useful for shared calendars.

Notes Sync
You can now sync your notes between the iPhone and Desktop

Voice memo application.
Allows you to record audio.

Stereo Bluetooth A2DP support
High quality audio can now be streamed from your iphone to another device via Bluetooth.

Peer to Peer Connectivity
Two iPhones or Touch’s and any other supported device will be able to connect directly —peer-to-peer—via Wi-Fi, without needing any Wi-Fi network. They can discover each other initially using Bluetooth, and then start a Wi-Fi connection automatically. You can send files via both devices.

Accessories SDK
You can now communicate directly with other accessories. So you’ll be able to control your TV’s volume for example.

Maps API in Apps
Notice how in some applications your directed over to Google Maps whenever the application needs to show you a map? Well no more, maps can be integrated into applications.

Turn by Turn
iPhone app developers can now create applications that perform turn by turn functionality as you have become familiar with on its google maps application.

Push Notifications
So no background apps but Apple have introduced “push notifications” which will mean you can still receive notifications from applications even if they aren’t actually running – particularly useful for instant messaging clients.

Voice Communication within Applications
So say your playing a shoot em’ up on the iPhone. With this update you’ll be able to talk against your competitor from within the app. Just like you would do with a headset on your desktop.

Update apps from within apps
So games can “sell” you new levels for example.

…When and How Much??

iPhone OS 3.0 will be a free upgrade to all iPhone users, including the first generation iPhones. iPod touch users will be able to buy it for $9.95. The beta version is available to developers now but the final release won’t be until the summer.

With great thanks to Gizmodo for their awesome live coverage of the event!

Dan Schawbel is the author of Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, April 09), and owner of the award winning Personal Branding Blog.

Looking for a job? Consider creating your own. There are a number of social resources to help you connect with other entrepreneurs and get your business ideas off the ground.

Here are the top 10 social networks for entrepreneurs. Each helps entrepreneurs succeed by providing them with the guidance, tools and resources they need to setup their company and gain exposure.

Have another social site to add to this list? Tell us about it in the comments.

1. Entrepreneur Connect

Entrepreneur Media, the company that produces Entrepreneur Magazine, started a social network over a year ago specifically for entrepreneurs and small business owners called Entrepreneur Connect.   Like all social networks, you have the opportunity to create your own profile, explore the community, share ideas with other entrepreneurs and network. Unlike most social networks, this one frowns upon too much self-promotion and applauds idea sharing. 

You can use this network to connect to service providers, suppliers, advisers and colleagues.  Just like LinkedIn and Facebook, there are professional groups that you can join or create.  Another cool feature is that you’re able to start your own blog and possibly have it appear on the main page.  This is similar to what Fast Company has done with their website.

2. PartnerUp

PartnerUp is a social network for entrepreneurs who are searching for people and resources for business opportunities.  Anyone can join, but business partners, co-founders, executives and board members will get the most out of this one.  In this network, you can ask or offer advice, find commercial real estate and find service providers like accountants and marketers for your business. 

The big differentiator with this social network is the commercial real estate “MoveUpSM” program that serves entrepreneurs who have experienced a hard time trying to find office space for their business.  They also have a Resource Directory that allows small and mid-sized businesses to advertise their services.

3.  StartupNation

Most social networks neglect the content aspect that makes StartupNation so useful.  With articles, forums, blogs, on-demand seminars, and podcasts, entrepreneurs will be better prepared for their ventures and have the resources required to make better business decisions. 

There are a wide range of topics being discussed on StartupNation right now, including business planning, marketing and web-based business.  The site also offers a series of competitions, such as a dorm-based 20 contest and an elevator pitch competition. If you’re an entrepreneur or hope to become one, this site is definitely one you can’t miss out on.

4.  LinkedIn

It’s difficult to leave LinkedIn off of any social networking list because it’s so useful for anyone who’s either searching for a job, is trying to network with like-minded individuals, or building a company.  LinkedIn offers many resources for entrepreneurs, such as groups, including the very popular “On Startups” group that has over 54,000 members. 

Entrepreneurs on LinkedIn should brand themselves properly so they can attract the right kind of business opportunities, and perform searches to find service providers or partners.  As an entrepreneur, you should also be looking to participate in LinkedIn Answers, events and applications to spruce up your profile and become a valuable member to your community.

5. Biznik

This isn’t another LinkedIn clone.  Instead, Biznik brands itself as a social network that “doesn’t suck.”  The Biznik community is composed of freelancers, CEOs, and the self-employed.  Like the other networks, this is a place for you to share ideas, instead of posting your resume.  It is mandatory for all members to use their real names and provide real data, and Biznik editors actually review all profiles to ensure compliance with that policy.  There are three levels of membership, including basic, active ($10 a month for an enhanced profile) and supporting ($24 a month for increased visibility).

6.  Perfect Business

If you want to meet thousands of serious entrepreneurs, experts and investors from a variety of industries, then Perfect Business might be the perfect social network for you.  The type of people you’ll find are potential business partners, potential clients and advisers. Additionally, the site has leading business partners like Entrepreneur and Virgin Money.

From business networking to a video center where you can learn from successful entrepreneurs, a business plan builder and even an investor center, you’ll have most of the resources you need to create or regenerate your business. There is a free basic membership and a gold membership that costs $29.99 per month.

7.  Go BIG Network

The Go BIG Network embraces job seekers, in addition to funding sources, service providers and entrepreneurs.  In this social network, you post requests for help, which are then routed to other people in the network that can answer your questions or support you.  Members of this social network can search through profiles of other members, contact them or post a request (a classified ad) to talk about what they are looking for (such as a business partner).  The profiles on this network are targeted and specific so it’s easy to find an investor in a particular region.

8.  Cofoundr

The Cofoundr network is made up of idea makers, entrepreneurs, programmers, web designers, investors, freelancers and executives.  The primary purpose of joining this network is to start a new web venture.  Unlike most of the social networks already listed here, Cofoundr is a strictly private network, which means that you can’t view member profiles before you register for an account. 

Membership requires having a valid university or work email address, which means high schools students and younger aren’t allowed.  The first thing you have to do is sign up, then specify your abilities and the people you are trying to network with and finally, post your idea on the bulletin board or in the forum.

9.   The Funded

The Funded is an online community of entrepreneurs who research, rate and review funding sources.  Entrepreneurs can view and share terms sheets to assist each other in finding good investors, as well as discuss the inner workings of operating a business.  General benefits of this site include viewing facts, reviews and commentary on funding resources, and accessing RSS feeds of the most recent public comments by members. 

By joining the site, you have access to detailed fund profiles with specialty, reference investments, and investment criteria, in addition to accessing partner vCards that have full contact information of all partners at venture funds.  In order to get any value out of this social network, you pretty much have to become a member.

10.  Young Entrepreneur

If you’re young, entrepreneurial and socially active or just curious, then Young Entrepreneur is a great starting point for you.  This community appears as a discussion forum, with topics such as e-commerce, search engine optimization, marketing, IT & Internet, and franchising.  Aside from their main forum and threads, there is a popular blog and some great videos. 

More business resources from Mashable:

- 5 Startup Tips From the Founder of Gmail and FriendFeed
- Startup Hacks: 7 Ideas for Building Your Team
- Startup Hacks: An Early Stage Checklist

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, askhamdesigns