List of Opensocial Resources : v2

1.Create your own OpenSocial Container : A question which is asked to me very often but with no concrete answer .. i ask to visit the below URL

URL : http://code.google.com/p/opensocial-container-sample/
Getting Started : http://code.google.com/p/opensocial-container-sample/wiki/GettingStarted

2. Orkut Developer's Guide : For people like me who are just concentrating.. to create apps which runs perfectly on ORKUT (at least for now)

URL: http://code.google.com/apis/orkut/docs/orkutdevguide.html

3. Create your OpenSocial Apps : This tutorial is from Mr. Tim Longhurst.

URL: http://www.opensocialblog.com/2007/11/06/creating-an-opensocial-application-example-1-mini-google-search/

4. Latest Update on OpenSocial API : http://opensocialapis.blogspot.com/

OpenSocial - Should you trust Google?

Last week I was in Bangalore for a WebInnovation seminar during which I asked Marc Canter (Co-founder Macromedia and CEO of Broadband Mechanics - PeopleAggregator)...

'In the last week three partners of Google's OpenSocial (Friendster, Bebo and LinkedIn) have announced their individual platforms...why so? Do they not trust Google entirely?'

Marc's reply wasn't really clear - he talked about Bebo partnering with both Facebook and Google and then took the question on a different tangent...about MySpace and how they might never open their own APIs and how they are losing the social network war against Facebook.

Anyways I came across an interview of Marc today and here are a few excerpts from it:

Why shouldn't a company go for existing social platform (say from Google when it launches such a platform) rather than building its own?

It shouldn't. Absolutely not! Today, social networking is a commodity. It is same everywhere. Most sites have standard features, personal page, login page, group page etc. However, to have a compelling online experience you need not only differ from competitors, but also offer something more compelling.

Social networking features need to be everywhere; whether as a productivity suite or as an e-commerce tool.

There is a lot of money to be made in social networking. I believe the company who embraces it in the beginning will be the leader.

How is Google's OpenSocial different from existing social networks?

Today, OpenSocial mimics Facebook. It should be called open widget. However, this is just the opening move of a chess game. This is not the end but the beginning. The beginning for Google was to identify a hole in Facebook's strategy.

Facebook was great when it opened its platform to developers in May. The site was immediately flooded with several interesting applications. However, in the end, Facebook is just another closed system. It locks in its customers. In the end, it only works when you go to them.

Unlike Facebook, OpenSocial does not have its own markup language. It allows developers to write in normal java script and html with only minor adjustments needed for the code to work on its platform. Facebook requires use of FBML (Facebook Markup Language) for security reasons, but it also makes code unusable outside Facebook. OpenSocial will especially attract small developers who can create 'learn once, write anywhere' applications.

Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are today one way. But they should be two-way. OpenSocial will be first two-way API. Watch Google, it will get APIs into Maps, RSS Reader, spreadsheets and all probable places.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Wishing all of you a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Also wishing you Happy Development on the OpenSocial platform. We've been developing a couple of apps and are waiting for the Data APIs.

I think it'll take at least a good week or 2 after Google releases the Data APIs for any really cool app to get launched.

In the meanwhile enjoy this funny Christmas viral:

Orkut - OpenSpam

Though Orkut have introduced some new tweaks via which you can make your Album and Scrapbook restricted from the public - they've just been hounded with yet another problem!

Scrapbook Spam!

Recently someone created a script that allows you to so send scraps to multiple users at one go. Here's a screenshot of my Orkut Scrapbook and notice the "To scrap all your friends at once, click here!" beneath each post.



Though this might be a convenient tool for some (senders) it's a pretty annoying tool for the others (receivers).

What's dis-heartening is that Orkut has yet to respond to this with a basic filter mechanism. These are the same Google guys who are preaching a totally SPAM free environment for OpenSocial.

But a tight regulation on Spam might effect the viral nature of some apps and only the heavy-weights (like Slide, RockYou) might benefit.

OpenSocial - The opening move of a Chess game

This is just a thought provoking post. Get thinking. No matter what time of the day it is....
Take a couple of minutes off and just visualise the future.

The first move was a widget / appl platform, then was the Android gambit and the Google Profile defense coupled with a strategic attack with Knol.

OpenSocial is not going to be about just widgets, gadgets and apps. It's just the tip of the iceberg. What's in store?

Imagine a system which is so powerful - which knows who you are, who you are talking to and who you are ignoring. What you are doing and what your friends are noticing you doing? What you are buying and what your friends are buying? What you are searching for and what your friends are searching for? What kind of photos you are clicking and tagging and what your friends are clicking and tagging and what you are commenting on? Imagine someone who knows what you buy and what influences your decision to buy?

A girl who happens to be in your college and her profile page is one of your most regularly visited online spot - and you are keen on impressing her and the system knows that you are keen on impressing her and the system knows her more than you ever will...
So what does the system do? The system uses it's power...

How? What? Why?
ADVERTISING perhaps is at the base of it all. Unbelievable micro-level targetting. A system which know what you buy and what is had to do to make you buy something else.

A system which knows that at 15 past 11 AM everyday in the morning you happen to take a short break and glance at the Stock Markets - this is when you are most vulnerable to the ad of a financial product - And bang! There it is. The system is going to know each and everything about your online as well as offline behaviour. It's going to know that at 7PM you are going to be stuck in a traffic jam and are most probably surfing the web via your smart phone...

The system is Google.
And we are soon going to know...exactly how open...
...social is really going to be.

OpenSocial Partners

A lot of activity is being seen in the Social Network scene with Bebo launching it's own platform on the lines of Facebook and LinkedIn & Friendster also launching their platforms last week. It seems like most of the Social Networks are keen on having their own platforms up and running rather than relying only on Google's OpenSocial - which might be a pretty smart thing to do.

Anyways here is a list of all OpenSocial partners:

Bebo - Very popular Social Network in Europe especially the UK.

Engage - A dating centric Social Networking website.

Friendster - Very popular in South East Asia.

Hi5 - A social network which sees global usage with no particular country dominating demographics.

Hyves - Extrememly popular in the Netherlands

imeem - A popular Social Media service site.

LinkedIn - The most popular Professional Social Networking site. These guys recently launched their own platform and opened it for 3rd party developers.

NetModular - Social Networking + Blogging platform.

mixi - A very popular social networking site in Japan.

MySpace - One of the largest if not THE largest Social Networking site in the world.

Ning - An online platform for users to create their own social networks.

Oracle - One of the major companies developing database management systems and tools for database development.

Plaxo - Online address book service.

Salesforce - Salesforce.com is an on-demand CRM solution vendor. They have something called AppExchange which is a way for external developers to create add-on applications that will link into the main Salesforce.com system.

Six Apart - Creators of Movable Type, Typepad, Vox and former owners of LiveJournal.

Tianji - Chinese Professional Networking site

Viadeo - Another professional social networking site.

Xing - Yet another professional social networking site. Majority of users are Germans.

Plaxo and Ning released OpenSocial support within the first day of the launch, with Plaxo adding OpenSocial support to its Pulse feature and Ning adding basic OpenSocial support.

Developers who had already built applications implementing the APIs upon launch include Flixster, FotoFlexer, iLike, RockYou, Slide, Theikos, and VirtualTourist. We'll have details about all these apps soon.

Google Profile - A link in the OpenSocial chain?

Presenting the GProfile...



Google Profiles will be integrated in most Google services so you have a coherent identity and a simple way to manage your contacts.

Until now, you could create profiles in Blogger, orkut, Google Groups, Google Co-op and all of them could contain different information. You could also add photos in Gmail, Google Talk and orkut, so the situation started to become confusing.

"A Google Profile is simply how you represent yourself on Google products — it lets you tell others a bit more about who you are and what you're all about. You control what goes into your Google Profile, sharing as much (or as little) as you'd like."

Profiles are public and contain basic information about yourself: a nickname (the real name is displayed only to your contacts), your occupation, your location, a list of links, a photo and a short description. They are embedded as iframes in pages that showcase user-generated content (personalized maps, shared bookmarks).

These profiles could be the perfect host of ones activity stream and thats where I see the OpenSocial connection. Your public activities could become part of your profile...

Via: Google System

Facebook F8 vs Google OpenSocial

The Facebook F8 platform pretty much revolutionised the face of Social Networking. Opening up ones architecture for other parties required great courage and Facebook were able to successfully pull it off.

Growing valuation and massive increase in usage meant that Google had to respond. Orkut was and is still hardly used in the United States. It's not too popular with the Europeans either. Google knew that simply opening up their social network to 3rd party developers wouldn't be the best of options.

So what...?

They decided to go one step further and decided to come up with a system which would seamlessly fit into a lot of other social networks and together all of them would be able to beat Facebook with Google being the adhesive binding them all.

But will they be able to succeed?

3 reasons OpenSocial might be able to beat Facebook?

1) Developers might not need to make 10 or 15 different applications based on the API's of various different Social Networks. This is the prime weapon.

2) Streaming data out of the system - as compared to only feeding in the content. Allowing 3rd party applications a medium where they really stand to benefit in terms of traffic, usage and the ability to impart a better feel of personalization. Perhaps allowing inter-connectivity between Social Networks.
For eg: My flixster account is connected to all the Social Networks which I am on - and not limited to just one social network. If I write a film review on a movie on my Orkut Flixster app - all my MySpace friends get alerted about it too.

A lot of users might have accounts in multiple social networks - and many are pretty active in at least 2-3 of them. Especially when it comes to niche social networks.

3) Language. Facebook is highly limited to an English speaking audience currently and this is where the OpenSocial can really WIN big. Having a set of APIs where the back-end of an application works efficiently and the front-end serving up different languages depending on nationality, country and language spoken.

3 reasons Facebook might still have the last laugh?

1) Facebook has the most monetisable traffic - the US traffic. It's not to bad in the European countries either. Facebook Apps have increased pageviews and time spent on the spent to an incredible extent as compared to pre-F8 days.

2) They are the first movers. Few apps on Facebook have become the very reason why users log on to their Facebook accounts daily. Apps grow on you before they get virally spread and massively used and this has already happened on Facebook.

3) Facebook has Social Networking at it's core while Google has Search as it's primary focal point.

I am Open and Social - Funny Video

OpenSocial Developer's List - Mumbai,India

[Orkut OpenSocial - Community Invite]
Hi Guys,
Can we have a list of OS Developer in Mumbai/Pune. Please do post "Yes i am " if you are from mumbai or Pune.

Well, Let me give you the background to this List :
Couple of my friends/Developers are planning for a meetup to discuss the possibility and the scope of Opensocial. So anybody who wish to be a part can Post Below

Some of the RAW agenda/Topics we are working on:-

What is OpenSocial?
Opensocial Functionality
OpenSocial vs Facebook f8
OS Apps : Working with Flash
Orkut : whats next?
How to adapt/make use of Opensocial into Product(online media)
Who all are on the move..Opensocial/Facebook.

[Feel free to Suggest Topics.. and if you wish to showcase your work or wish to be a speaker. please do ping me or Post below.]

Dates : 3rd or 4th Wkend, January 08

Keep Sharing
- Martin Selva

Next Post : How to Create Open Social Apps for Orkut

I was just going through the Keyword List and found that people are really hunting for a basic Steps to create Opensocial Apps and landing up on this page..

So my Next post will be on "How to Create Open Social Apps for Orkut"

Developer's Poll on OpenSocial

RockYou talks about OpenSocial

DoodleMe - OpenSocial-App - Review

One more .. Smart OpenSocial App.. from iWiddit Team.
Let me just Copy and Paste What iWiddit says about their DoodleMe opensocial Application :

DoodleMe Board creates a drawing board on your webpage, and allows your friends to publish drawings on your profile. DoodleMe Board requires no plugins, and can work in virtually any web browser. You decide who can publish the board, as well as what color the board should be. Now your friends can leave you messages that you can really see! The board itself features 11 colors, different drawing widths, and ample chalk supply, but most importantly, when the drawing is finished, it can be published for all to see! This application will be configured to work with all opensocial containers. Let your friends draw pictures on your web profile! Get the XML: http://www.iwiddit.com/xml/doodleMeBoard_0.5_rel.xml

Screenshots:

Both images below depict DoodleMe Board running in Google's Orkut opensocial container. Using only thier mouse, visitors to your page can draw pictures, or write messages and save them for you and the rest of your visitors to see, but only if you allow them to.

DoodleMe sounds very known and the name itself says what the app is allabout. So franckly .. you really dont need to go ahead and explain what itz for... Right...by this the game is half won.. now what helps the user to make use of it the User Interface and simplicity in it.

I personally liked the way its done. - Clear and Simple. But i guess a bit of more work on UI front would have helped users.. to play around more. I would have simply adapted Paint Brush Layout. The reason behind is People find it easy to see what they have already tried out or Looked at. Even my mom.. knows how to use Paint Brush :) But i say "It Worth Adding this App to your Profile" - Great Job, once again.

DoodleMe Application URL : http://www.iwiddit.com/xml/doodleMeBoard_0.5_rel.xml

Developer : iWiddit

Web URL : http://www.iwiddit.com/apps/doodleMe_board