After speculation from last week, Sequoia backed Meebo launches Meebo Platform this evening, allowing third party developers to create applications for the Meebo web chat service. They’re celebrating the launch with a big party in San Francisco with hundreds of the company’s closest friends. Like Facebook Platform and the recently announced MySpace Platform it consists of a set of APIs to give developers access certain user features and information. Developers will be able to include Flash applets and Javascript snippets within the applications. Unlike MySpace and Facebook, however, the platform is not open to all who choose to come. The company is announcing four partners this evening and opening up a sandbox area for developers to build potential applications. Those that Meebo thinks will make the user experience richer, will be permitted to launch. Meebo Platform will allow developers to monetize their applications, but it’s not open. Meebo will sell ads into the applications directly and split revenue 50/50 with the application developers. Four partners are being announced this evening along with the launch. All are communication based: Tokbox (video chat), Talkshoe (conference calls on the fly), Ustream (lifecasting) and Pudding Media (PC to PC VOIP calls). Games and other types of applications will come next. Basically, any type of application that can benefit from having either instant access to friends who are online right then and/or the need to communicate with them via instant messaging, would do well on the platform. With the communications partners, they simply use the friends list and presence indicator to help start a voice or video communication on the third party platform. For gaming and other applications, it may simply embed a game within a chat environment, allowing players to communicate real time with each other. Meebo will also be hosting an open-door developer day on November 22 in their Silicon Valley offices. Developers can show up, show off their applications, talk to Meebo about potential applications, etc. We mentioned current Meebo user stats in a post about them last week. The image below shows the Tokbox application in action. CrunchBase Information Meebo Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
TalkShoe is a podcasting service and directory that combines recorded conference calls with revenue sharing for show hosts. It appears to be very simple to use and the community elements make me think this service could be successful. I can’t imagine many show hosts are going to make much money off of this, but the online video world has shown that when sharing is easy people will do it. If the world really is changing to put user generated content at the center of media, some body’s going to find the right formula for audio. This looks like a move in the right direction. Here’s how TalkShoe works. A Windows desktop client allows up to 25 people to participate in a conversation and chat behind the scenes. Calls are automatically recorded and entered into the site’s podcast directory. Show hosts receive money from the site’s ad revenues according to the number of their show’s listeners and for referring others to the service. Google ads, ads in feeds and audio ads inserted in the podcasts themselves will all be used to monetize the site. Conversations can be public or private and site visitors are encouraged to call in to live recordings underway. Participants can use telephone, Skype, Vonage or Yahoo to call in. The company says that SIP support is coming soon. Finished podcasts are entered into the TalkShoe podcast directory where users can write reviews and leave comments. The site is set up to encourage subscription and scheduling of future episodes. There’s not a whole lot of activity on the site yet, but it looks like it could really catch on. Featured podcasts so far include shows on Barry Bonds’ home run race, wine making at home, traveling in Italy and a debate between Mac and PC enthusiasts. Many people say that podcasting is still too difficult for non-technical users. TalkShoe seems pretty simple. If there really are a large number of people interested in creating or listening to home-made audio content, this service could be a good way for them to do so. → Read More
