This post was written by Jody Jonnson
Mobile operator 3 has unveiled a phone designed for accessing Web 2.0 services such as Facebook. 3 hopes the phone will do for data consumption what Apple’s iPhone has done for smartphone uptake: light the blue touchpaper. The device has been designed for always-on integration with a range of mobile social-networking and IM services, including Facebook, Windows Live Messenger and Skype.The phone is client-based so it synchronises in the background with web services such as Facebook, pulling in contact and profile data and updating it automatically.
PEbuzz.com, the Internet’s first social networking Web site for people who love gadgets, has already attracted more than 1,000 members since its launch last month. At PEbuzz (”personal electronics buzz”), tech enthusiasts can join a social network where they can discuss their favorite consumer electronics devices, create personal Web pages, and share their user reviews with the world. While the Internet is full of tech sites and social networking sites, PEbuzz wants to offer a unique combination of the two - just like its slogan says: “Connecting people through technology.” Here, members meet like-minded people, learn about personal electronics they’re interested in, and share their own experiences.
Nokia has acquired Plazes, which develops Web platforms for location sharing and publishing, making it the second geo-based company bought by Nokia. The deal allows Nokia to extend its context-based service offering with social presence and time-based activity planning features. Plazes adds the elements of place and time to social networking through features that allow people to alert friends and associates to their activities and locations. Users can also review their own and others’ past activities and share their experiences and make plans with friends, who can respond with comments and suggestions as well as their own location information. Using Plazes, users can also review their own and others’ past activities and share their experiences and make plans with friends, who can respond with comments and suggestions as well as their own location information.
Yaari has announced the release of Yaari 2.0. Yaari’s top priority for the new release was improving the site’s page load times. Yaari also introduced what it calls “Flirt” features, which are icebreakers of various sorts allowing users to meet others on the site with similar interests. One such feature, called Hot Yaars, asks users to rate their counterparts on a scale from 1 to 10. Yaari 2.0 offers increased security with spam-detection and privacy options, allowing users to choose whom they receive messages from, and who can view their profiles.
AdaptiveBlue has announced the launch of its new social networking web browser plug-in. The Glue plug-in works by showing users visiting a particular website what their friends looked at on the same site and any comments they had on specific item. Websites such as Amazon, Last.fm, Netflix, Yahoo! Finance, Wine.com and Citysearch are supported by the plug-in. Glue remembers the last 20 items browsed and allows users to click on a ‘Like’ button to show that they favour a particular product, as well as add comments in the ‘2Cents’ box.
Internap Network Services Corporation, a global provider of end-to-end Internet business solutions, has announced that it is working with SmacChat.com to provide spirited sports fans a forum for communicating about their favorite teams. Internap’s incomparable Content Delivery Network (CDN) is being leveraged by SmacChat.com to build an expansive online venue for its users that will be able to scale as memberships increase. Internap’s CDN enables SmacChat.com to stream online video, such as highlights and clips of different games. In addition, the CDN integrates ad services as well, providing an additional source of revenue for the site. Internap’s CDN is unique in the industry in that it is based on patented route optimization networking technology and Internap’s global infrastructure of Private Network Access Points (PNAPs).
Rocketalk has announced a partnership with LG Electronics India, following which all the new LG KT610 and KF750 mobile phone models will have the Rocketalk mobile social networking application pre-loaded on them. Subsequently, other models of handsets in 
Intridea Inc., the agile enterprise Web 2.0 company, has announced the general availability of CrowdSound. The new on-demand social feedback tool allows enterprise websites and social networking sites to gather, organize and respond to suggestions from their customers for just $10 per month. Because CrowdSound requires only minimal Web developer knowledge to implement, businesses of all sizes can quickly realize the power of interactive, Web-based customer feedback.